Women Who Werk
This week we are diving into women in the workforce with a Recruiting Specialist, Julia Federline. Read on or listen to the podcast to learn about the she-cession, things people can’t ask you in an interview, things that should stay after the pandemic, and more. These answers are shortened for the sake of the blog. To hear more in depth, listen to the podcast!
Tell me about yourself, Julia!
Julia: Hello everyone, my name is Julia Federline. I am an IT Recruiter with OakTree Staffing in Tulsa, Oklahoma. OakTree actually started in 1995. Our current owner, Lisa Wilson, started it with three other individuals. After about 6 years she bought out the other partners and expanded. We are now a certified woman owned business and are doing well!
Do you have any statistics about women in the workforce?
Julia: I solely focus on the IT and STEM type jobs, so about only 20% of the employees in these fields are women. A lot of schools, companies, and organizations are doing more to attract more women in the STEM field. But as far as outside of the STEM field, in general, women will only apply for a position if they feel they meet 100% of the qualifications, whereas men will if they meet 60%. So some recruiter insight: job descriptions are a wish list. Of course there are things that are truly required, but it is usually about 30-40%. Ideally they would like to see the full wish list met, but its not required. Women disqualify themselves from jobs way too early. Of course you don’t know what is truly wish list or required, but try to aim for 30-40%. The worse that can happen is you don’t get a call back.
Taliah: That makes sense but it is so shocking to me! So basically they are worried about teachability and if you are going to be a good fit for their company. That’s what I’ve noticed while growing up.
Tell me a bit about the company market and insight. Are minority quotas real?
Julia: Yes, that is actually real. Mostly for larger companies and hiring managers. Its been very apparent that people need to be more inclusive. I think a lot of companies are taking heed on that and trying to implement ways to be more intentional about it by setting those goals and quotas for new hires and promotions
Taliah: Then that brings up the conversation about people who say you should hire who is qualified. I went to UGA and they had these big names come to the career fairs. With it being predominantly white you know what kind of candidate you will probably leave with. I think if they went to HBCUs looking for the same candidates it will help them to diversify while still having the same caliber recruits.
Julia: Also, a lot of hiring managers can subconsciously lead more to hiring men, so that is why having the intent makes a huge difference.
Taliah: And we aren’t going to need these measures in place for ever. We are overcorrecting for the damage done in Jim Crow eras and beyond.
Julia: Right, it’s not a matter of trying to be discriminative towards those in the majority, its a matter of trying to be more intentional about inclusivity.
Let’s talk networking. Could you talk about networking for women and what we need to do in that areas?
Julia: The biggest thing is to just do it. Look through google or your Facebook events to get that face time. A lot of jobs, it does come down to who you know, especially if your resume is comparable to others. Also, don’t be afraid to have personal conversations. Don’t go deep into your traumas, but talk about your hobbies or the same college you attend. Those types of conversations leave a bigger impact than talking about the surface level topics that are easy to forget. The whole point is to meet and connect with people. The best way to be memorable is to develop those personal connections.
I know women don’t want to come off emotional or anything but there are so many ways to have that personal conversation. Don’t keep it just about business but find out some similarities with who you’re talking to.
How has your job changed, if at all, with the female recession because of the pandemic? Women are disproportionately affected
Julia: Personally, my job hasn’t been affected much other than work has been a little slower and adjusting to remote work. This time has been so much harder on women though as we are typically the primary caretakers of the home and kids (whether working full time or not). So many women are now working from home and have children who are also learning from home – everyone is home all the time. Before it was more separate with kids at school and work at the office. Now it’s all under one roof though and women are having to completely alter how to juggle work, kids, etc. Some employers are great about allowing flexibility and being understanding with these changes but it’s so hard for women who are expected to perform under the same standards and same hours as before when they have kids doing remote learning and at home all the time. Not to say that there aren’t men who have experienced this as well, but these burdens fall on women more so.
What things would you like to see remain the same that changed because of the pandemic
Julia: Remote work! Face time and working with your team in person is great. But the pandemic has shown that employees DO perform just as well, if not better when they have a remote option. Even if not 100%, not having to go into the office 5 days/week is so helpful with work/life balances. A lot of companies were against it before and were forced into a “trial run” and it has worked so well for so many places.
Remote interviews are great too. Especially places that do 2, 3, 4, rounds of interviews. Meeting someone in person is always good but if companies are able to do remote interviews more and save an in person meeting until the final step, this saves people so much time. It’s difficult for people to interview who are still working and saving the drive time to and from (sometimes multiple) interviews can help open up more opportunities for people. This is just as much (if not more so) the case with working moms. Along with all of the responsibilities of being an employee and a teacher and a mom and everything else, weeding out hours for an interview can be almost impossible – cutting down on the time required for this can be a huge help.
Can we talk a little bit about the stigma women feel around "having to choose" between a family and a career?
Julia: This is something I love about OakTree. When I first started and met with Lisa, she gave be a background on OakTree and why she started her own business. This was one of the main reasons. She was raising three young boys at the time and the strict hours and lack of flexibility was so hard. Not everyone has the option or desire to start their own business and “having to choose” is something SO many women face. I don’t have a clear answer for this but a HUGE thing women can do when starting their career, changing their career, looking for a new job, etc. is to do your research! Read everything you can on the companies website, read through their benefits/perks, read reviews, talk to current or past employees… find a company that prioritizes their employees and home life too. Some companies are much better about this than others – it just takes some digging. This is an area where it can be SO beneficial to work with a recruiter as well because 9 times out of 10, a recruiter will be able to help with details and environment of a company or a team. This is a problem that I don’t think will ever go away in part because of the pressure we as women put on ourselves. We have to also remember that we are human and can only do so much. Set boundaries for your home and workplace and don’t feel like you have to say yes to everything. Taking care of yourself and your mental health goes such a long way and can provide so much energy and clarity when having to juggle seemingly endless responsibilities.
Any questions women don't have to answer in an interview?
Julia: These types of questions are actually not even legal to be asked in an interview. Most managers are aware of this and won’t ask these things up front but will try to go a round about way by asking things like “tell me about yourself” or “what do you do in your free time”. These types of questions are perfectly okay to ask. As women though (and depending on the company you are interviewing with) be cautious of how you answer these open ended questions if you think having a family or children now or in the future could affect your candidacy for the job. Employers want to know who they are hiring outside of how you act/perform in the workplace and I think that’s fair – you’re potentially going to be spending a lot of time with this new hire and their actions could affect your brand/company. But you don’t have to talk about your kids or husband or soccer practice, etc. Keep it more broad and simple. As a mom/wife, it can be so hard to not talk about your kids – they’re your whole world. But, a tip I give to anyone I have going in for an interview is to find out who you’re interviewing with and do some research (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) see if you have any common interests, went to the same college, from the same hometown, etc. These types of questions are great ways to casually incorporate similarities you might find and you have some things to talk about other than your kids/family. This is another instance where a recruiter can be super helpful because many times, we have worked with the manager or various interviewers and can give you pointers specific to that person, team, company, etc.