I recently looked into what my social good passion project is and realized that covering different ways to find work is tops on the list. One of the areas I am interested in are businesses that support ways to find flexible work, which not only parents but also millennials are looking into to support work life balance. I recently received a press release about a company called SkillBridge that was “founded with the belief that talented independent consulting professionals who are passionate about the work they do, should be able to easily connect with high impact organizations that need expert help“. Because I have an background in consulting this type of platform was very interesting to me. So I emailed them to ask if they could share a story on a consultant that used the site to find work. Here is SkillBridge‘s reply about an (inspirational!) woman named Anna Johnson:
Consultant Anna Johnson discovered SkillBridge after seeing a job posted on the 85 Broads website. She says, “I have a strong interest in retail and e-commerce, and I was looking for opportunities to continue my work in the industry. There was initially a project that was already staffed that had to do with a venture capitalist needing e-commerce research. A month later, I learned about the Warby Parker consulting job. After business school I focused on retail and e-commerce consumer strategies, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity for me to grow in.”
Anna continues, “SkillBridge sent out a scope of work that I knew I could handle. We exchanged a couple of emails a couple and we were all setup. The whole process was smooth and quick.”
On working for Warby Parker, one of the hottest startups in New York City, Anna adds, “I worked with Warby for six weeks. It was very easy to work with them. Really, they were the easiest to work with. They were very open to the framework I put in place, and they scheduled meetings and provided feedback in a timely fashion. It was all easy-breezy. I would totally work for them again, even full time.”
She found working with Warby to be a logical transition. “First, I presented project plan up front. I set the framework for how to get things done, and I made sure that Warby and I were aligned in our project goals before we even started. When you think about consulting, making sure you have the scope right and make sure you are staying within that scope are keys to success. I also leveraged training from my previous management consulting experiences to deal with large data sets,” she said.
This experience differed from others that she worked on previously because she was working alone, without a partner or a team. However, she loved the challenge and learned quite a bit from her time at Warby Parker and SkillBridge.
Anna says, “I transitioned into full-time employment after this experience ended. I realized I could manage this type of work and work full time simultaneously. I realized I gained a very valuable skillset by doing that after business school. I had the knowledge to excel, but I also had the process down too. I think having a plan when I first went in was very important.”
Disclosure: This is a press post. I am covering businesses that offer different ways for women to find work.
