Speaker 1: 0:00

I started to do that as like a side hustle and people started getting jobs. So I would always help people with their resume and then they would get hits back for job interviews and then they would start asking me the hard questions about salary negotiation. So then I was like maybe I need to turn this into an official business.

Speaker 2: 0:22

Hey everyone, this is Mike Roberts, creator of the Apprenticeship Playbook, and you're tuned in to the Skills First podcast. In today's world, Skills First, hiring is revolutionizing the job market and on this show, I sit down with trailblazers who are rethinking hiring practices and embracing experiential learning, as well as the people impacted. Follow along as we dive into tips, innovative ideas and proven strategies to help you navigate and thrive in the evolving landscape of modern apprenticeships. Okay, can you tell us who you are and what is it that you do?

Speaker 1: 0:58

So my name is Kanika Tolber. I'm from the Washington DC area. I do a lot of things actually, but I serve as a project manager in the ServiceNow space, so I work for a federal government agency. I also have my own company, career Rehab, where I am the founder and CEO and author of an organization where we help people rehab their careers. We help people transition into new careers, we help people level up in their existing career and we also help people that are looking to do a career change, whether they retired or whether they're just switching industries. I, primarily, have been working a lot with the technology industry, for the most part because that's what my background is in. But, yeah, that's what I do and that's who I am.

Speaker 2: 1:43

Nice and what got you into tech.

Speaker 1: 1:47

I've been in tech since 2005. So it's been a long journey. I went into tech because I was really, really fascinated with web development at the time and this is back when we had Dreamweaver Frontpage. Back in the day I'm telling my age now, but I just when the internet became really popular and we had AOL instant messenger, I was like, wow, this is really cool getting on the internet with dial-up. And I was like, mom, I want to go into being a computer, I'm going to go into computer science.

Speaker 1: 2:18

At the time my mom really wanted me to go into being a pharmacist, because she would always tell me that we will go to the store and the pharmacist was sometimes a black woman and we heard that pharmacists make a lot of money. So we'd go to the drug store and she was like, maybe you should talk to the pharmacist and maybe you should think about being a pharmacist, because they make a lot of money and it's a really good industry to get in. I said, no, I want to go into computers. So that's what I went to college for. I went to Bowie State University here in Bowie, Maryland, and it's the HBCU, and I just never looked back Nice.

Speaker 2: 2:56

Shout out to Bowie State and parents, because my folks were the same way. When I told them I wanted to be a programmer, they were like no one goes to school for that, you pick something else. And then I picked accounting and I was not set out to be an accountant. So I had a little bit of that same sort of twists and turns in the journey. So tell us a little bit more about the organization Career Rehab. You said Rehab.

Speaker 1: 3:26

So I started this company a couple of years ago when I first got my book deal. I have a book titled Career Rehab Rebuild your Personal Brand and Rethink the Way that you Work. So I had already been doing career coaching prior to establishing the actual company. I had been doing resume writing, career coaching, working a lot in my local community in the DC, maryland, virginia area. So I always was really helping people with their careers, whether it's job interview skills so I started to do that as like a side hustle and people started getting jobs. So I would always help people with their resume and then they would get hits back for job interviews and then they would start asking me the hard questions about salary negotiation. So then I was like maybe I need to turn this into an official business and then that's what I've been pretty much doing those types of activities for 10 years. But when I officially launched my book I said it's time to really solidify this and make this a sustainable business, and that's what I did back prior to the pandemic.

Speaker 2: 4:27

Nice. So what do you feel is like the biggest challenge for people that look like us to break into tech, like how do we and then how do we overcome that?

Speaker 1: 4:37

I think the biggest challenge is really being able to show the impact that you can make within an organization.

Speaker 1: 4:44

I think getting certifications, watching Udemy video, udemy videos or taking a boot camp I think all those things are great. I think the thing that we struggle with the most is showing our impact, meaning we don't always know how to go above and beyond to do that in a job interview process. Show projects, show a portfolio. Also, being able to really break down a solution by creating a mindset of being I'm going to analyze the problem, I'm going to troubleshoot, I'm going to configure and really come up with the solution, and being able to explain that solution in the interview process and just when we get in the job, we sometimes get in our head that we're not going to be able to be successful because we look at our peers or we look at other people coming in with more experience or more education than us. So I think we really need to take a back seat to just making ourselves feel more comfortable with explaining, instead of just trying to memorize information, being able to really implement it and explain it.

Speaker 2: 5:53

Nice? Yeah, absolutely. I think when you get those core issues that I think a lot of people deal with imposter syndrome it's only exacerbated when you don't see a lot of people that look like you, and then you don't have a lot of people that you can lean on. And so I'm just amazed at the work you've done so far to publish a book and be out there trying to get people jobs, and so I'm wondering what makes you so passionate about tech? What's your why?

Speaker 1: 6:17

I just believe that tech is an industry where there's a lot of endless opportunities. There's a lot of possibilities. I started my career focusing on being a SaaS and NET developer and then I leveled up and moved into being a project manager. Then I started to focus in on other technologies like Drupal and WordPress and focused on doing a lot of website migration projects for big organizations.

Speaker 1: 6:45

I think there's no one-size-fits-all to this industry. You can do so many things and you constantly can be learning, and I always say the more that you learn, the more that you earn. And that's what inspires me to inspire others to say years ago it was a different technology that was hot and popping. Now it's cloud, Now it's AI, Now it's Internet of Things, Now it's cybersecurity. There's so many ways to continue to learn. And now I'm focusing on service. Now I wasn't. Four years ago I wasn't even had, not even I was not even introduced to service now. So every time I go to a new role or new opportunity, it gives me an opportunity to learn something new. So that's what I love more about tech.

Speaker 2: 7:35

Yeah, absolutely, and to me that helps to make the barrier a little bit lower. It's still a big challenge for people to rewire their brain, to be in tech and to think like problem solvers, but the fact that it changes so quickly means that it's almost like always, a horse race. You got to constantly be learning and so you can almost always jump in and you can be pretty proficient pretty quickly if you put the effort in. It's not like you have to take years of experience in order for you to get in and actually start moving up the ladder, so to speak. So I hundred percent agree.

Speaker 1: 8:07

Yeah, I agree too. Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 2: 8:11

What do you most look?

Speaker 1: 8:15

My next big goal is to really focus in on making career rehab its own ecosystem, if that means anything. I met you through Arlen's group and being a part of a lot of different masterminds and being a part of a lot of different groups where there are people that are trying to change the world, just like me, being able to continue to develop my piece in that big change right. So I have been doing twitter spaces for two years. Twitter spaces has been something that I really enjoy doing. I didn't even know audio technology or audio production would be something that would be something that I enjoy doing. I want to launch the career rehab podcast show. I want to make sure that I have a career rehab academy, specifically for the people that have been following me that really need more additional help.

Speaker 1: 9:13

I want to also make sure that I stay intentional about creating really good content online that is free and disposable, the way that I have been doing it thus far and some things always won't be free, right but there's a lot of opportunity for me to spread my wings as a content creator and as a CEO of the company. I foresee myself really working with more organizations to help more people that look like me get into these roles. That's been like my, my, that's where my heart is the most, because I've been in Fortune 500 companies, I've been in federal government organizations and I see that there's not a lot of people that look like me and you and I know how to tell them what the blueprint is, and I think showing them that roadmap and letting them know that they could do it it brings me a lot of joy to my heart. So that's the goal is to continue the work that I've been doing, but take it to a whole nother level nice, I like it.

Speaker 2: 10:18

So who's somebody that you'd like to give a shout out to, or any shameless plugs?

Speaker 1: 10:23

Shameless plug. Go buy Career Rehab the book on amazoncom. It's a very short read but it's a very good read. If you are in the process of transitioning at any level within your career, I think Career Rehab will definitely help you build your personal brand and it will definitely help you understand how to get the money, power, respect within any organization or even within your business. So check out Career Rehab I think it's a very great book and just stay tuned to my monthly Twitter spaces that are going to take place all 2023.

Speaker 2: 10:59

And just stay tuned to my monthly Twitter spaces that are going to take place all 2023. Nice, all right. So last and most important question what's your favorite snack?

Speaker 1: 11:07

Favorite snack Popcorn.

Speaker 2: 11:09

Nice, that's mine right now. I've had many in the past, but yeah, popcorn's lit.

Speaker 1: 11:16

Yeah, popcorn's lit. I love kettle corn butter popcorn. Yeah, popcorn's lit. So I love kettle corn butter popcorn. I'm not really big into the caramel type popcorn, but I feel like the popcorn is good because it's healthier, so I like to get the smart popcorn.

Speaker 2: 11:30

There you go, love it. Thanks so much, kanika, for coming on the program. Appreciate it. Thank you. You've been listening to Skills First, the Apprenticeship Playbook podcast. By the way, if this is valuable to you, don't be lame. Share the game. This is how we know you love it. If you're a company thinking about changing how you hire, please share it so we know this type of stuff is what you want.