Carol Fishman Cohen: Welcome to 3,2,1 iRelaunch, the podcast where we discuss return to work strategies, advice and success stories. I'm Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO and co founder of iRelaunch and your host, thanks for listening. Before we get started, I want to remind our listeners to register and go to our iRelaunch Job Board, because this is where we go to share relaunchers profiles with our employers that are hiring for career re entry jobs and programs. So it's important that your profile and resume be in there.

Today, we welcome Elia O'Rourke, who is a native of Mexico with an accounting degree, who found her path in New York City, where she met her husband during an exchange program. Elia took an eight year career break to raise her three daughters, and during this time, she also validated her degree through the World Education Services, and we're going to talk about that in a little bit.

In October 2021, Elia returned to work through Lockheed Martin's Chapter Next program where she worked for a year and a half as an associate proposal analyst and from there she was recruited by BBVA into a role as a global cash management implementation lead. Elia, welcome to 321 iRelaunch.

Elia O'Rourke: Hi, Carol. Thank you for having me. I'm very excited to be here.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Well, we really appreciate your support and advocacy to relaunchers everywhere. And also for sharing information about iRelaunch with all of them. Very much appreciated. So I want to start with your pre career break career and wanted to know if you could tell us a little bit about your background, what you were doing originally professionally, and then what prompted you to step away from the workforce?

Elia O'Rourke: Of course, Carol. So I was living in Mexico, Chihuahua, Mexico. I was working for this company, which I was, it is in the commercial and industrial field. So I was working in the accounting department in the corporate office. So I was doing my thing, you know, building my career, and I realized my salary wasn't going to get me, you know, what I needed if I decided to start a family at some point of my life. What I was comfortable where I was, I decided that I needed to do something to accelerate my professional development. So I was thinking, what can I do? And at this point, the best thing that I could do, was, oh, I need to learn English if I wanna work for a global corporation.

Right? So at that point, that was 2012 when I started thinking about it. . Everything is going global at this point. So I need to have a skill that I can use and my professional career. So then I decided to sign up for an international exchange program in the United States, so that's how I came here.

Once I was here, I came here to learn English, knowing the culture. I really wanted, my focus was like, I need to learn English 100%. I can perform a job and my English level will be professional and technical. So I, I came here, I did all the process and I met my husband and after 11 years, here I am with three kids.

So when I was pregnant with my first, we decided for me to stay, it made just way more sense, just taking care of the kids and I just remember growing up that was something that it was in my bucket list, right? When I have kids I need to spend time with them, especially when they're little. So it was easy because I still, I was still learning English.

I was still learning, the American culture, especially in New York, is very particular place to be, very different than the other states in the United States. So I started, I was just taking care of my kids, and then came the second, and then came the third. So what I was, it's like just having kids, right?

But, it was great being with them. I gained so much more than just, it was just a lot of joy. Just even the first thing, the first meal, the first step every single time along the way, it was just good. It was a lot of work, of course, but I enjoyed it, but it was always in the back of my head that I knew that I wanted to go back to work.

I just put it on the side. And to be honest, I focused myself in the kids, or all the time. Then at some point I started thinking, okay, I'm getting, my gap is getting, longer and longer. And at some point I knew if I don't know, I just felt like if I spending more time out of the workforce, it was going to be more difficult to go back.

And then my degree and my experience was from Mexico, so it was all this thoughts going on, but the kids needed me. And then we actually, when we have the two kids, my two daughters, we didn't expect the third. So it was a surprise. I was like, oh, now I need to stay more, I need to stay longer with the kids, which is fine.

But I just, I feel like at that point, I felt like I needed to go back. So, um, after I finished breastfeeding my third kid, I was, my third daughter, which is, she is adorable,

and then I said, okay, I need to go back and I started looking and I was like, Oh, maybe I'd do a certification, something that allows me to have a little more weight in my resume. Finally, I remember applying for Lockheed, that's in chapter next program.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Wait, hold on. Before we get to that, I had one more question I wanted to ask you about an intermediate step.

So you went through a process of validating your degree in the United States, and I wanted to know if you could walk us through that because I had never heard about that before and I didn't know that there was an official process to do it.

Elia O'Rourke: Yeah, of course. So I have a friend that I met through the exchange program I was on and she was studying the Valhalla Community College and I remember she mentioned that she validates some of her credits from college here.

So I just asked her, so she sent me this link to the website. So that was the, World Education Services. So I learned that you can validate your degree online. You can do it, you can do the process online, but you have to send the papers via mail. And it's really easy. You just have to meet all the requirements, which entails official translations of your degree and, copy all your credentials as well as the other documents. Once you have all the paperwork, you can send it via mail through the organization and they validate it. The only tricky part, I will say, is that whether you have your official letter with your grades, that has to come mail it from the University or college to them. For private colleges, it's fairly easy because they have these services, but like I went to a public college, which is, it's a good college from Mexico, well recognized, but still public, so they don't have these services.

So what I did with the help of a friend, went to the university, ask for, with my permission, because I have to write a letter with a sign, not, notarized that he can have my records, and then he got my official letter with my grades, put in an envelope, they stamp it there, and he's, they seal it, and they send it to me, and as soon as I got the package, I send it.

One of the important things, do not open that package.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Right.

Elia O'Rourke: Because they make it, put it in another package and send it directly to the organization, the West. org. And that's all I did. It takes a little bit of time, the process when they validate. And then at some point you get all your credentials via mail and you actually get a batch that you can use digitally.

Hopefully.

Carol Fishman Cohen: So it essentially validates that you have a full fledged bachelor's degree from an accredited university in your home country.

Elia O'Rourke: Yes.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Is that the idea? I see. Wow. Very interesting. I, that should be relevant for some of our audience members. Elia, the other thing I wanted to ask you is the beginning parts of your job search, were you putting applications in and not getting a response?

How did you start thinking that you were maybe going to go through a returnship and not, and Lockheed Martin, I know you told me you found out about that online, but I just wanted to know some of those intermediate steps before you found out about that program that were part of your job search.

Elia O'Rourke: Yeah, so I started basically googling everything that I call, the good thing about now is that you can find every information online.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Yes.

Elia O'Rourke: I was applying for different jobs, something that will match with my background. And then in one of those search I literally found that out there was programs that you can return to work. And they weren't many companies like now, back then, because that was, I always started looking, just looking around without applying anything.

That was before COVID and I found out that there was an option, right? And I was like, oh, it's interesting. So I used that, I just have it there on my radar. So when I was ready, I will apply. And I did apply to a lot, I remember, without, going through any return to work programs. And I would definitely get rejected.

And I was like, Oh my goodness, how am I going to, how am I going to actually land a job here? I have no experience in United States. I, they don't know if I actually speak English, and my degree is from a school that probably nobody knows in United States. So that was challenging for me, especially, psychologically you're like, well, I know things, but nobody knows me here.

And that was one of the things that I was like a little bit intimidated, I guess, too. And then, I mean, I know it's not a big deal, but for me, I'm very self conscious, aware of my accent, and I was like, maybe they're not gonna understand me. You know, it was multiple things going through my head.

So then finally when I was ready to go back to work, I started going through all the return to work programs that they were out there. So I applied, but I, at that point, I was like, okay, my third, my third girl, she's still, she was still little. So I was just finishing breastfeeding. So it was like, she still needs me here just in case she needs breast milk or something.

And so I would, I say, okay, I need to apply. So I have very particular filters that I need to make it work with my schedule and my kids in my life. So it has to be something that I can work remotely. It has to be something that doesn't start like, at school time so I can drop the kids. So everything was like needed to be worked perfectly.

So when I got reached out by Lockheed, it was just the perfect setup for me, with the ability that they provide. So I, they say, okay, you can work remote. And I was like, Oh, perfect, cause I didn't know at that point that I could work remote. Some of the positions have 50 and 50, but then all the team was working remote.

So we're just worked out well. And you know, we were still in the COVID era. So that I was lucky too. That was a lot of options to work remote at that point. So I could do remotely. And since it's only the four days, they have this policy where they work the 4/10, when you work your four days, from Monday to Thursday.

So I was like, okay, if it's 50 and 50, it's only two days that I have to be away from home. So it worked out well, and I was lucky enough to get that call.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Wow. So just to clarify for the audience, as the Lockheed Martin program, so you had a remote opportunity, there was some flexibility to it and the schedule they work are Monday through Thursday, 10 hour days and people are off on Friday.

Would you add flexibility, some flexibility on the other, on two of the four days that you were working?

Elia O'Rourke: Yes. Yes. So basically, what they have, they're not all the positions, but most of them, I mean, on this, you're on, okay, on the floor working on the production, that's different schedules, but for the, you know, the people that were not on the production floor, it's Monday to Thursday.

So it's kind of semi scheduled. You do 10 hours every day. You can with, you can wiggle around some rooms. So sometimes if I had, like I remember having prepared for a meeting, I have this meeting every Thursday, so I stay late Wednesday, so I can, and then you're basically, as long as you're doing your job, you're doing, within the normal hours and it was, it was very flexible, especially I was lucky enough to have a really good team and just a culture.

The culture that they have is very good, especially for people that we not just, you know that we have kids, so we need some, some amount of flexibility. I mean, with them, I guess my, the way that my path started there, I was, to be honest, very intimidated, Okay, so I'm coming back to the workforce after over eight years, I never had a job where I have to speak English every single time.

I then, I don't, like, do I know what to do? Are my skills still there? You know, always the the pressure, it was just like a riding a bike, especially, for companies like Lockheed is a lot of like security with this stuff. I remember, they send me the computer setting up the computer was a whole process. Like, and I figured out and I was like, okay, that was the first step, yeah, first hump, okay done everything good and you know, they have really good processes in terms of the training so everything is like there. They train you, you know, like very efficiently where you actually excel in your job when you can really perform what you're supposed to be doing. So that was very good for me.

And just having that collaboration with the team, we're literally working so missions can get accomplished, right? And, literally. Literally, exactly. So I will, we all have our back. Okay. Listen, I'm going to vacation. I have to take the kids there. I covered your stuff. I covered your stuff.

So just having that support, it was, it made my experience very rewarding with them. And, we were a tight team. We were communicating with each other. We were making sure that everybody have the support that they needed. And also, being away from the workforce, it's just makes you like more focused on okay, I haven't been in at work for a lot, almost for a decade.

So I, I was making sure that I can, listen, every single word they're saying, so I can learn what the process is in my job, responsibilities. So I was just like, focussed.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Actually, that reminds me of one of the questions I was going to ask you. So you have an accounting degree. And your role, was it accounting related?

Or, what, did you have skills that you needed to update? And had you done any updating while you were on career break? Or did you come in pretty much cold?

Elia O'Rourke: So I didn't do anything, to be honest, when I was in a career break, but learning English, I will just I just remember having my first kid, I didn't know any like medical terminology.

My husband, they say kidney, what is that? And I started teaching myself English and I put like programs like Gray's Anatomy, and I put the captions, and I learned, okay, tissue, okay, I know what it is. Okay, this, and when I was my second kid, I knew everything about it, so nobody will tell me what it is.

I was just, okay. I know what this means and I will do that with everything, right? That's the only thing I did, I'll say, I have this other website that I use to learn English, like more, like slangs and different things, pronunciation, like you say, oh, I passed the test with flying colors, like I had to learn what flying colors mean.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Right. Right.

Elia O'Rourke: You know, study phrases. That's what I did. And in terms of the work experience, when I was in Mexico, I worked for a few companies that they were manufacturing in the, within the manufacturing industry. So I knew already like the, what they call the ERP processes, like enterprise resource planning.

So that helps me definitely to land the job. And I knew how to use SAP. And to be honest, when I started, I was like, do I know this software still? And I mean, it was,

Carol Fishman Cohen: Was it very similar to what you left,? That, that specific software?

Elia O'Rourke: Oh, you know, my background is very diverse. I work for accounting, but then I worked for in the manufacturing industry. So I have a little bit of like a mix of experience. So that helped a lot.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Yeah.

Elia O'Rourke: Once I was there, I was able to do the job, no problem. And I learned a lot of things. Like we use, all the platforms like, Microsoft Dynamics and, that I learned, so, I was just like getting ready to learn everything, just, basically, I remember one of my coworkers, she was the most experienced of the of the team. I remember my goal was like, I need to be friends with this person, because she know everything. Until these days we're very good friends. Then we have another young girl, she was very good at explaining things, very thorough.

You know, we have all their, we have all the, other team member that she ended up being my friend too. You know, we work very well together. Our dynamic was great. And then she was, I remember, new to the team too, a little bit. She was like, I don't know, like she was just new as well, but not as new as me.

And I remember bouncing off ideas with her. So it was just, it's, just people, smart people willing to help, humble, that they're really taking the time to train newcomers.

Carol Fishman Cohen: It sounds like you were having an incredible experience there, you went through the returnship program, you continued, you worked there for a year and a half. Culture is great. Everything was great. Something very unusual happened to you in that BBVA, the company that you're working for right now, actually approached you with an offer that you couldn't refuse. So can you talk to us a little bit about what you're doing now and what is interesting about that role?

And also I'm just thinking about it, when you took that role, you weren't, you weren't coming off of a career break. Right. You were coming off of a full time job. So that, did that, I guess if someone offers you, makes you an offer you can't refuse, then you have less of an issue about confidence and how you're doing in the interview because they want you.

So that's pretty cool. Can you just comment on some of that?

Elia O'Rourke: Yes. I, when I was at Lockheed, I remember it was just coming, the annual review. So that was very exciting for me. And then I remember looking around, obviously you're out of the workforce and then you feel like you lost all those years when you were were really gaining, with all the things, but I'm not even in that career, right?

I was staying with your family. See all those memories that you're not going to, you're not going to live again. And, but then, you know, from the professional perspective, you know, I was like, okay, so I'm back in the workforce. I had to start over, square one, because unfortunately, that's how it happens sometimes.

And I was like, and then I have this company offer me, you know, basically in terms of, rank, right?

Two more steps up on the ladder and I was like, okay, so I guess, coming from analyst to senior analyst, both, unit analyst and going to senior analyst is two steps up to the ladder.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Yeah.

Elia O'Rourke: And I remember, I was, always looking around. I say to everybody, just have your, you know, your doors always open because you never know.

Carol Fishman Cohen: That's true. Every, everyone, career break or no career break.

Elia O'Rourke: Exactly.

Carol Fishman Cohen: You're supposed to always be open.

Elia O'Rourke: Always be informed, always be out there.

Always, knowing what's going on. So you can, you never know. So the company and then your team is, that's it. So I was always open to new opportunities. So then I remember inquiring about this internship in investment banking. It it sounds interesting. I've been, I listen a lot of podcasts too about different things and finance and things like that.

And, I knew all about it. I mean, no, I knew from the informational perspective, no experience perspective, and they say, Oh, we have that. And they reached out to me right away and they say, Oh, we have this. And I was like, Oh, you know what? Maybe it's, I thought at that point it wasn't a good path forward just because I was very confident.

I was very comfortable in Lockheed, having a team, things were looking good. And I was learning so much, I was, flexibility wise, great. My life was aligned with my work, with my kids, with my family, with my personal, whatever I want to do personally myself.

And then they say, okay, no problem. So I say, you know what? Thank you. Appreciate your reach out, blah, blah, blah. But they say, Oh, you know what? We spoke with a hiring manager, the hiring manager, and they do actually have a full time position open. Would you like me to pass you to the interview to the next round?

And I was like, Okay, I didn't know, I didn't know anything to be honest. I said, okay, well, let's, let's see, right? So I just started passing all the filters and then finally, receiving offer letter and it was, it was like, okay, it was like I put everything in the balance for this they offer me this and, by the time everything just happened so rapidly that I had to take a decision and I took the job.

I just couldn't say no at that point.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Tell us a little bit, just explain for our audience the kind of company that BBVA is and also what your role is.

Elia O'Rourke: Yeah, so BBVA is a Spanish bank. They have this, the CIB segment in the United States. And they do have CIB and the commercial segment in other geographies. They have, basically, the main presence is in Latin America. It's very big in Mexico, actually. It has a big presence in Mexico, and they have a few parts of Europe like Spain, Portugal, and they have a little, they have presence in, in, in Turkey as well. So what I do part of the global cash management sales team, so I coordinate all the implementation projects for big corporations of all the services that the bank offers to these companies.

So basically what I do, I coordinate our IT teams, our technical teams, the clients technical teams, our local teams and their local teams in implementation projects of these services. So basically, I'll do all the documentation part and I make sure that all the items of the project, items like technical items and documentation items are moving forward until we come on to completion.

Carol Fishman Cohen: You know, it's so interesting. I'm just listening to you talk about what you're doing, and I'm thinking of you a few years ago, can you even imagine that you would be having this conversation and discussing this role that you have when you were on career break?

Elia O'Rourke: I never thought, to be honest, I never thought I would even be invited to a podcast in the United States.

I actually ended up in New York, not knowing that I was going to be there. Actually, when I started the program, I want to go to California. I ended up in New York. So, you know, life just takes its own course. And, I'm honored to, to be here and also to, to be part of the financial world as well, right?

I mean, we see it everywhere, right? You've seen the, in the movies, you've seen the news and, when they came with the offer in BBVA, I was like, Oh, this is a really good door opening for me. So I get there and I have to highlight, I don't have the banking background, like a lot of people, I guess the catch was that I could speak English and Spanish and speak Spanish from the business perspective.

So that was, I guess, one of the skills that we're really looking for, because it's very hard to, and not just that, but understand all different cultures, right? Like, and just being here in New York City, you have so many, they're so diverse, you know?

Carol Fishman Cohen: Yes, that's for sure.

Elia O'Rourke: I have friends from, from Turkey, I have friends that they're Ukrainians and Hispanic and everywhere, right? Polish, like my kids go to a school where there's dual language Polish program. They're not Polish, but you know what? Go.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Right. Interesting.

Elia O'Rourke: You get to know different cultures, be exposed to different things. And, being, that was, my strong skill is knowing both languages, knowing the cultures and interpersonal skills.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Right. Well, wow, Elia, thank you so much for walking us through your very successful career path and relaunch. There's so much here to unpack. We're coming to the end of our podcast time.

So I wanted to close by asking you the question that we ask all of our podcast guests and that is, what is your best piece of advice for our relauncher audience, even if it's something that we've already talked about today?

Elia O'Rourke: Sure. So I'll say just knowing, to every relauncher that you are worth, you're worth that.

Don't feel like, Oh, I have this gap and I just don't know if they're gonna offer me a job. Just remember that you're worth whatever your experience is and then just knowing that the best asset is yourself. And you're coming here to bring something to the table and it's always a two way street.

They're not doing you a favor and then you're not doing them a favor. It's a mobile relationship and just keep learning, you know, try to, you know, and stay, stay, uh, informed about the current events.

That's important as well.

Carol Fishman Cohen: Yeah. No, this is such great advice, and just from the way that you're answering questions and talking about, how you approached all of this, you can tell that you are a lifelong learner, and you're a curious person, and that is a theme that, that runs through when you're talking about your whole career relaunch journey.

So, Elia, thank you so much for joining us.

Elia O'Rourke: Thank you. Thank you for having me. It was a lot of fun. And I hope some of you guys get motivated with this and feel free to reach out if anything. I'm always willing to help anybody who needs any resources.

Carol Fishman Cohen: That is so wonderful of you and so generous. And people can connect with Elia on, on LinkedIn.

So I want to close by thanking all of you for listening to 3,2,1 iRelaunch, the podcast where we discuss return to work strategies, advice, and success stories. I'm Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO and co founder of iRelaunch and your host. Be sure to visit iRelaunch.com to access our many return to work tools and resources and to sign up for our mailing list so you can get our weekly return to work report featuring career re entry jobs and programs.

Thanks for joining us.