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Meet the Goodwill TalentBridge supervisor encouraging women to support women to achieve success

Posted by Goodwill Staff on March 19, 2021

Elizabeth

For Elizabeth Villalobos, her life’s work has largely been centered around helping others. She has served as choir director for her church since the age of 14 and studied to be a missionary. And, for over 11 years, Elizabeth has worked at Goodwill which has proven to be a very fulfilling way for her to give back to the community.

In her role as supervisor of talent acquisition at Goodwill TalentBridge, Elizabeth has managed the Racine office since 2014. There she oversees a team of recruiters and works with clients and job seekers to ensure they have a positive experience and their business and career goals are met. During her time with Goodwill, Elizabeth has managed hundreds of contract employees and was selected to be part of the team to launch and open the Gurnee, Illinois office from the ground up doing everything from hiring office staff to establishing client relationships that still stand today.

This past year, Elizabeth and her team were challenged to work creatively to come up with new recruiting strategies to find talent and help their customers. As many things went virtual during the pandemic so did the Goodwill TalentBridge job fairs. Last fall Elizabeth’s team planned a drive-thru job fair that would provide job seekers the opportunity to speak with recruiter without having to get out of their vehicle.

As a leader, she shared her thoughts on why it’s important for women to support other women in the workplace to reach your goals as a team.



What advice would you share with young girls about their future career journey?

  • Seek a mentor. Having a mentor can give you clarity and help build your confidence. They can encourage personal growth and help you identify your career goals.
  • Don’t let your fears drive your path. Try different things and learn from the experiences you have.
  • Ask for help. Too many times we are afraid to ask for help, but many other people hold a wealth of knowledge that they are waiting to share with others.


How can women better support each other in the workplace?

To better support each other, women should build relationships with the other women in their workplace. Find out who they are, where they come from and what their goals are. And, always try to be encouraging, honest and empathetic.



Tell us about a woman at Goodwill who inspires you.

When I was working in the TalentBridge office in Gurnee, Illinois I suffered from a lack of confidence. It was the first time I was responsible for so many customers and I needed to build strong professional relationships. When I needed help, I could always count on Suzanne Maldonado, vice president of TalentBridge and Workforce Connection Centers to share her honest opinion with me. She would offer suggestions on how to deal with a variety of situations and I always felt supported by her. Suzanne has a way of seeing the facts amid the smoke and flames! I learned how to build professional relationships and how to control my fears by following her example and will forever be grateful for the time she made to mentor me. Although her role with TalentBridge has grown over the years, Suzanne is still the same personable woman I have always know her to be. I know that I can always pick up the phone and call her and she will take the time to listen to me.


 

Written by Goodwill Staff

WISCONSIN
Mission Support Center
Tel: (414) 847-4200

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