We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Fiesta George a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
What began as a COVID / pandemic-led boredom project has now evolved into a full-fledged regular podcast. For over 15 years, I have advised friends, family, coworkers, jobseekers, and hiring managers on personal branding, interview tips, resumes, and the hiring process. I wish I had started much earlier in documenting my advice and expanding it to help even more people. The podcast is my way of continuing to help others on their career paths and businesses looking to hire top-tier talent.
When I look at some of the content creators I admire who have a large following and successful business as a result of it, I know that if I had started branding myself sooner, I would have had a greater impact on even more careers and businesses than I do now. In my current role, I am grateful for the opportunity to mentor CEOs and HR heads on best practices for scaling their talent attraction, acquisition, and retention processes. Imagine if I had started a podcast, YouTube channel, or monetized my content when I was just starting out in my career. I’m still learning how to expand my podcast and reach an even larger audience. Things like SEO, Marketing Analytics, and Social Media were not even a thought when I was in college as a Communication Arts / Public Relations major, so I am now having to learn and teach myself the tricks that can help me achieve that goal.
Jessica Fiesta, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a Recruiting and Talent Acquisition Maverick with over 15 years of experience leading small and midsize organizations on their talent attraction, selection, and retention strategies. Currently, I am Head of Talent Acquisition and Compensation for a private-equity consulting firm, Atlantic Street Capital Advisors. In my role, I oversee multiple companies and serve as a fractional leader within many of these organizations to oversee recruiting, employer branding, onboarding, and training. My podcast, Jess Get Hired, focuses on discussions on the latest trends impacting the job market, introducing the latest in HR Technology, and sharing conversations with top disruptors in the talent space.
I help jobseekers and business professionals level up their career opportunities. I provide coaching and mentoring to businesses that are looking to hire top-tier talent. Over the course my career, I have hired thousands of people. Many of these people I continue to mentor throughout their professional careers and help them with their professional development. My goal is to use my podcast as a platform to help reach even more people and eventually, turn my brand into a full-time consulting business.
In the meantime, I enjoy mentoring others and sharing my knowledge to the candidates, business professionals, and companies I support and welcome new connections.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My podcast’s mission is to help job seekers and business professionals advance their careers while also assisting companies in finding top-tier talent. My ultimate goal for my podcast is to grow it into a full-fledged consulting business so that I can scale the number of companies and people I help every day.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
In my personal and professional life, I’ve had to make many pivots, but each time has allowed me to reroute my path and vision. I’ve been laid off, fired, and furloughed a few times. Each time, the uncertainty of what was ahead and the fear that I would be unable to provide for my family seemed to undermine my confidence.
It’s tough to hear the words “we are eliminating your position,” especially when you believe you are at the peak of your career and genuinely love your work. I was in charge of Talent Acquisition for a large retailer and had the opportunity to build the recruiting process and the department from the ground up. I created a new program that we rolled out nationally and were in the process of implementing in all of our stores. I also hired and was training a team of people for a new department we established to help with candidate experience and onboarding. We were in the process of consolidating our call center operations and I was credited with bringing everything together. In fact, I had been asked months before to relocate to our corporate headquarters and had just found the perfect apartment when my boss called to tell me that they “didn’t need a Director level position at this time.” I felt confused, hurt, angry, and deflated. All of the time and effort I put into the company felt pointless. My confidence was shattered as I questioned my abilities. Despite the fact that they allowed me to work until the end of the year or until I found a new job, I continued to push many initiatives through but knew I needed to find my next career pivot.
My new job was looking for a new job. Fortunately, the person who hired me for the position I was about to lose had moved on to another company. I’ve always believed that you should never burn bridges and instead invest in the relationships that will make you stronger. My former boss was a mentor to me, so he recognized my dilemma. He was aware of my work ethic, drive, and abilities. He was in a position to look for another Talent Acquisition leader, but he couldn’t bring me in at my current level. I knew I needed a job, but I also needed a leader who believed in me and a company that would value my efforts. I knew that if I worked just as hard, the title and the money would eventually follow. So, I took the leap and took the job. Sure, on paper, it was a demotion, but I knew that if my mentor and my boss believed in me, I could prove why I am worth what I am.
Fast forward, I am thankful and grateful I stuck it out. Despite being furloughed during the pandemic, I was able to return to work in a capacity even greater than I could have imagined. Now I work on the firm’s other side, advising our private equity clients on talent strategies.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jessgethired.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessgethired; www.instagram.com/jessekaigee
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessgethired
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/fiestageorge
- Twitter: @IFillURJobs
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JessGetHired
- Other: https://linktr.ee/jessgethired Find Jess Get Hired on your favorite podcast platform iTunes, Spotify, Goodpods, iHeartRadio, Amazon, and more!
Image Credits
Gary Alves, Photographer