Laura Fischer

I really do have a strong work ethic, and I believe that I go above when there's a goal. I always see myself reaching it, so if the goal is 20 people, I shoot for 30 people because you're going to have dropout and people who even at the very last minute don't want to give their driver's license or passport to prove who they are. I'm big on CYA, so if they want more than 20, I want to get them. Communication is really, really important to me. I see your job description and you're requesting this and this, but I need to know what's not on the job description that you need. What systems are they using? If I send you somebody that has all of this but they don't work in an agile environment or are Scrum certified, will they still fit in your team? You really have to be able to pull that information out so that the client trusts you too, and they'll give you all kinds of feedback, and you can do a better job because you have all the information, not just part of it.

The best career advice I ever received is that if it feels right in your belly brain, in your gut, in your heart, then it's the right step and the right thing you should say or do, and if it doesn't, don't do it, don't say it, back away. It's really about building the rapport and long-term rapport, because you meet people once and then you meet them again, and there's relationships where you have managers that say, hey, I'm working here now, are you interested? I think being true to yourself is really what that is. Honestly, if it doesn't feel right inside of you and you get that little voice in your head or that voice in your gut, you honestly and truly have to listen to it.

Women do a very good job in this industry. I believe there's womanies and there's mannies, and a lot of times men are short in their sentences, they're a little more aggressive, they can be more pushy, and you can give more information, again being transparent, being open, being honest, getting the right people. Just keep doing it, just keep working, and just kind of ignore all the noise. There aren't always going to be people that are so excited that you're doing so well, that you've won awards, and that you're number one out of 500 globally, which I was. There's other people that are just going to be jealous, even if they say good job. You just have to let that go and ignore it, and you have to truly, again, be true to yourself.

There's always the opportunity to grow, but some of the challenges are when companies say, oh, we're a healthcare company or provider, and you've done a lot of IT and finance. I'm somebody that is able to work on a janitor position or a CEO position, and I've worked on all of those. I mean, everybody wants the best they can have, right? They want to do a good job, they want to make the most money they have, and I treat everybody the same. But I'm noticing sometimes some companies are like, oh, we just want IT, or we just want finance and banking, or we just want healthcare experience, but I have a lot more than that. So probably the challenge is people trying to pigeonhole and focus and have the blinders on. But there's still a lot of opportunities out there for next step and next level, and as much as I love the company I'm with now, I'm still always open to other opportunities that bring me more responsibility and more challenges.

Being honest, being transparent, and being diplomatic. Sometimes some things that you honestly have to say may not be the most, they may not be what somebody wants to hear, but you do have to say it, so you still can be transparent and honest and diplomatic. And loyalty. I am loyal.