Tell us about yourself and your career.
My name is Melanie Deutsch and my experience is in banking. For the past 18 years, I have brought a holistic approach with my background in retail banking, marketing, and bank operations. Most of my career was in some facet of banking.
Why were you looking for a job?
I was a Team Leader at BB&T until January 2019 when, due to restructuring, my position was eliminated, taking me on a different journey in 2019.
How did you discover PAGCG?
I was at the Chester County Public Library in Exton, went to the research section, and realized that they have job hunting sections! I picked up one of the calendars, which I found out later, was Lynne’s calendar. I saw a class for LinkedIn 1 of 3 and a free headshot and thought it sounded great. Through an acquaintance at the Chester Country Chamber of Business and Industry, I met Drew Braun. He was the co-host of the King of Prussia chapter, and he invited me to their chapter.
How did PAGCG help you in your job search?
I was doing multiple things throughout, but the events and networking helped solidify focus. The Philadelphia Area Great Careers Groups(PAGCG) helped me hone in on my elevator speech, brand, and networking skills. I took the Job Search Accelerator All-Day Workshop, and that gave me some great tools I used in my job search. I took advantage of the many programs they had to offer. PAGCG showed me the different capabilities of LinkedIn and how to make the page look the way it needed it to be.
How did you find your job? How long did it take?
I was actively looking for six months. I did many different things to get this particular position and started networking early, even before joining the group. I was networking in different chambers, specifically the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry; at the PAGCG King of Prussia meeting, someone shared information about an opportunity; I connected with the hiring manager and went through a series of interviews to get the job.
What kept you motivated during the job search, especially during the downtimes?
What kept me motivated were the people that I met. I met so many wonderful people on this journey and so many people in the same spot I was in even though our situations were unique. Having that kind of support was very motivating, knowing if I had to do this on my own, I couldn’t have done it. Supporting other people also gave me an outlet to help others. It’s the camaraderie where people would help me, and I would help them.
What were the lessons that you learned during your job search?
Never let your stuff go stale: don’t let your resume or your LinkedIn profile go stale. Always be networking even though your networking may be different, and you aren’t starting from scratch.
Do you have any networking tips or tricks that you can share?
Start with who you know, and don’t be afraid to reach out to people and have conversations. It’s about conversations because it’s how you build your brand. It does take time to develop, and I learned how to get better at it. Have conversations because you never know where your path is going to lead. Be open to all possibilities.
What will you do in your new role?
Manager of Client Services in the financial services industry.
What is one takeaway or nugget of wisdom that you would like to share?
It’s all about networking. Don’t spend all your time on the computer or the job boards. The job boards have their place, but I learned to balance the job boards and networking.
