Career Path of a Diversity and Inclusion Talent Leader at Techtronics
Teobesta's career journey showcases a willingness to embrace "leap of faith" career changes, starting with a biology degree and clinical diagnostics work before transitioning into sales and then recruitment. This led to leadership roles in talent acquisition and global diversity, equity, and inclusion at a technology company, where they significantly reduced "time to fill" for open roles and developed a global DEI strategy.
Leadership, Career Pivoting, Sales and Recruiting, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Problem-Solving
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Teobesta Ashenafi
Global Diversity and Inclusion Leader and Americas Talent Acquisition Leader
Global Technology and Measurement Insight Company
UC Davis
N/A
Biology & Related Sciences
Electronics & Semiconductors, Technology
Human Resources (HR)
Took Out Loans, Immigrant, Greek Life Member, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Teobesta's career path showcases the value of embracing diverse experiences. From a science background to sales and recruiting, her willingness to take leaps of faith highlights the transferable skills gained through various roles.
2. Her success in building a new business unit at Michael Page, generating $1.2 million in revenue within the first year, demonstrates strong business acumen and leadership.
3. Her experience in significantly reducing the time-to-fill for requisitions (from 120 days to 78 days) in her role at Techtronics underscores her ability to drive efficiency and improve processes within talent acquisition.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path? Please start with your experiences in college, any internships, or jobs you've had leading up to your current role.
Yeah, absolutely. When I was at UC Davis, I majored in biological sciences with an emphasis in neurology, physiology, and behavior, and a minor in African American studies. While at Davis, I joined a sorority and held many leadership roles.
I also founded the Ethiopian and Eritrean student union. Stepping into numerous leadership roles on campus, I also dedicated time to research. My initial plan was to enter the medical industry.
After graduating from UC Davis, I worked in clinical diagnostics for about five years. While I loved the sciences, I realized it wasn't the right fit for me. So, I made a pivot.
I'm an avid reader, especially biographies, because I enjoy learning from individuals and their life journeys. Reading books from great leaders and CEOs, I noticed a common theme for those successful in the business world: starting in sales.
So, I decided to take a leap of faith and transition into sales, starting with door-to-door sales. Graduating from UC Davis, working in clinical diagnostics, and then transitioning to door-to-door sales was a huge leap of faith in myself.
The recurring theme in my story is consistently taking leaps of faith, with a core belief in myself and my abilities. To the outside world, going into door-to-door sales might seem unusual given my background, but it was a fantastic opportunity.
It allowed me to learn the art of influencing and sales, understand myself better, and truly grasp the business world. I did that for about a year before transitioning to Michael Page, a staffing agency.
Many in the staffing world don't realize recruitment is a viable career path, often falling into it. I was at Michael Page for five to six years, growing within the ranks and performing well.
I was then asked to build a brand-new business for them, which had never existed before me and my team. In our first year, we generated $1.2 million in revenue, which was massive.
Over the years, I grew the team and the business, achieving 30% year-over-year growth for two consecutive years. This was in recruiting for property and construction in the Pacific Northwest.
A friend then reached out about a fantastic opportunity to help lead and elevate the talent acquisition team at a company called Techtronics. I love problem-solving and leadership, and one of my favorite aspects of my job is developing my team.
I took that opportunity and joined Techtronics as the Americas Talent Acquisition Leader. I was able to create a lot of process, improve systems, and build a stellar recruitment team with strong business acumen. I also grew within the ranks myself.
As mentioned, I enjoy taking leaps of faith and growing my career. I raised my hand for an opportunity to take on a global diversity, equity, and inclusion role. By then, I had built a strong talent acquisition team.
When I first started, our average time to fill a recruitment role was around 120 days. Within my first year and a half in that role, I was able to reduce that to 78 days, a significant improvement.
I took another leap of faith and asked for an expanded role. With the TA team being so strong, it allowed me to step away from the day-to-day details of recruiters and take on this global DEI role.
This was a fantastic opportunity to build a global strategy, something I had never done before. I learned how DEI plays a key role in the entire employee lifecycle. It's a great role for widening my HR experience and continuing to grow.