Company: Netflix Role: Senior Back-End Software Engineer Swati Sapar took a two-year break from her software engineering career to take care of her kids. She always planned to return to work, and felt ready when her youngest child started elementary school. Swati completed a returnship at Netflix, and now works there full-time as a Senior Back-End Software Engineer. She talks about her return-to-work experience at Netflix, how she slowly ramped…
Company: Volta Role: Director of Tax Cathy Kawamoto took a 13 year break from her tax management career to raise her kids. When they were in high school, she decided that it was time to return to a career in finance. During Cathy’s returnship at Volta, her extensive tax knowledge led to her managing the company’s tax department, and she now works there full-time as a Director of Tax. She…
John Marlia is a Total Customer Experience and Quality Manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) who recently managed his first returnee as part of his company’s inaugural returnship program with Path Forward. John talks about managing his returnee remotely, the steps he took to put a support system in place for her, and how the experience has changed the way he views returnships and talent. Company: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Role:…
I’m thrilled to announce the appointment of a new Director to the Path Forward Board: Gayatri Agnew. Gayatri serves on the leadership team of Walmart’s Global Responsibility division where she leads strategy and partnerships for Walmart’s efforts on economic mobility. Her work is focused on key issues such as employer practices change, improving work-based learning, and strengthening inclusion in communities. Her personal mission is for more people to find purpose…
Michelle Hopkins worked in finance across three countries and opened a women’s clothing store before taking a break to take care of her son. After over two years out and a family move to Seattle, she was ready to start a new chapter in her career. Michelle completed a returnship at Amazon, after which she was hired full-time as a Financial Analyst, and has since become a Senior Program Manager.…
Senior Director of Engineering Lilit Div helped kickstart the returnship program at VMware. She tells us about getting the program off the ground, her experience as a hiring manager, and how she and her team provided support and mentorship as their returnees transitioned back into the workforce. Company: VMWare Role: Senior Director of Engineering Tell us a little bit about yourself. How long have you been at your company? How…
Neema Bollampally had a varied career that took her from finance to non-profit management and corporate philanthropy. After taking a break to take care of her twins, Neema wanted to restart her career in tech. She talks about her returnship experience at LendingClub, how the skills she gained in multiple fields and her break have translated into her role as a technical program manager, and the importance of building a…
Lindo Payumo took a two-year break from his 20-year tech career to care for his mother-in-law. When he was ready to restart his career, Lindo completed a returnship at OSIsoft, where he now works full-time as a Product Support Engineer. He talks about his return to work experience, the importance of soft skills in product support, and how one of his customers got him featured in a company video. Returnship…
Trey Guinn followed a nontraditional path to his current career, which motivated him to take part in the returnship program as a hiring manager. He talks about his experience with the returnship program, where his first cohort of returnees is now, and the special qualities that caregivers returning to work have that other candidates often lack. Company: Cloudflare Role: Head of Solutions Engineering Tell us a little bit about yourself.…
One thing we hear, pretty frequently, is the idea that someone out of the workforce for many years must be “outdated” in terms of their skills. We hear this from returnees themselves. And we hear it, usually formed as a question, from some recruiters. This is especially true because of how many tech companies we work with, many of whom are focused on hiring engineers. If you haven’t worked in…
