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Job training programs believe in the value of interview prep. But each organization is busy, working to help many people improve their job readiness at the same time. Job interview prep, very time-consuming to do well, is often underinvested in. The lowest paying jobs may not have challenging interviews, but to get the jobs with career-growth and good pay, you need to interview well. That's where Talk Hiring comes in.
Before working on Talk Hiring, I was a software engineer. I felt increasingly guilty as much of my industry was writing code to automate the jobs of others.
In February 2018, I started volunteering with a workforce development nonprofit in Brooklyn. I loved helping low-income New Yorkers with their resumes, cover letters, job applications, and of course, interview skills. I had never done this work before but I was hooked, and continued volunteering weekly.
While volunteering, I noticed that the career development tools in the market didn't fit the needs of workforce development programs. Workforce development programs are doing extremely important work, but the tech industry has largely ignored them as customers of their products. Many participants of job training programs have limited or no access to computers with an internet connection. Some were skeptical about tools to download or create passwords for. Everyone was comfortable talking on the phone and texting. I thought that if there was an extremely simple, low-tech product that had industry-relevant interview questions, the workforce development industry would be interested.
Sean spent the first decade of his professional career as a collegiate springboard and platform diving coach, and most recently spent four years as the head men’s and women’s diving coach at Princeton University. During his time at Princeton, Sean recruited and coached divers who won Ivy League Championships, finaled at the NCAA Championships, and competed in the US Olympic Trials.
During his career, Sean has served on the board of directors for a non-profit, worked at multiple universities, founded and ran his own small business, and recently went through a major career transition of his own. Sean brings a unique perspective to the mission of Talk Hiring as a professional who has found success while managing a rare disability, Wilson Disease.
Sean was drawn to the mission of Talk Hiring because he knows how important it is to help people find and secure jobs that lead to sustainable careers. One of his favorite aspects of coaching is serving as a mentor to young people and helping them develop into adulthood. Over the past year, Sean felt driven to lean into this part of his experience fully and to transition in an effort to make a larger impact.
Sean currently lives in Philadelphia, PA with his husband, Stefan, and their two dogs.