Her Story
About Raquel
I originally studied communications in Mexico at Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas in Tampico, and I always knew I wanted to work with people. I started my career in public relations in Mexico, and when I moved to the United States after marrying my husband, who is from here, I began working in a corporate office in California as a receptionist. After helping the HR department for six months, they gave me the opportunity to become a human resources representative, and I really, really enjoyed that. I worked there for about a year and a half before my husband, who was in the military, got orders to move. I took a break from my career to support my family during his deployments and to raise our daughters, even volunteering in my daughter's school. When we moved back to Round Rock, Texas in 2015 after my husband retired from the military, I knew it was time to get back to the field I really love. I started as a front desk worker in a clinic, but then I said no, I have to go back to my field, which is human resources. In February 2018, I found a position as an HR assistant at a cleaning company, where I stayed until 2020. Then this opportunity with Hellas came in August 2020, and I've been with the company for six years now. I started as an HR specialist, handling behind-the-scenes onboarding like running background checks, drug testing, e-verifying, and daily communication with employees. In 2022, the position of onboarding coordinator opened up, and I said, well, you know what, I would like to definitely hop in into that, and they gave me the opportunity. Now my main role is orientation for all new hires, both office and field employees. We're a global sports construction company with more than 1,600 employees, and I have the opportunity to onboard more than 500 employees in a year. We also have an H-2B program where workers come from countries like Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala to help us during our busiest months from April to November. I recently obtained my OSHA 500 and OSHA 510 certifications from the University of Texas at Arlington in December last year, and the OSHA 500 certified me as a trainer. I also have a Corporate Trainer Certification with Six Sigma Global Institute. What I love most about my role is that I'm pretty much the one who welcomes every new employee, I'm like the first point of contact when they come over here. I get to present what we do here at Hellas, train them in our values, and make sure everyone who comes here gets trained in the right way. Even though my main school was not here in the United States, I was able to be successful in a very important company, and that makes me very proud. I feel like I have done a lot, enough, you know, to be out there, because as women, we have to manage being a mom, being a wife, and all those things.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Raquel
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The advice that I would give is just to never give up. You know, keep working, work hard, knock doors, you know, to ask for opportunities. That reminds me, like, when I came back to the job field again, after taking a break, I had to knock doors, you know, and ask, just give me an opportunity, you know? I know that if you give me a chance, you won't regret it. And since I started, I just kept growing. And that is true, you know, like, as women, sometimes we have to put aside our careers. Like, in my own personal experience, I put my career on the side because my husband was in the military and he had to deploy so many, many times, and then I had to stay with my kids. First, when I was pregnant, you know, I stayed alone for my pregnancy, and when my first kid was born, he was gone for a whole year, so I stayed by myself with my kids. It's like, we sacrifice a lot as women, you know? And once you're trying to go back into the job field, you have to knock doors and ask, hey, just give me an opportunity, I promise you won't regret it. And it is hard sometimes, you know? It is hard because, oh, I see this big gap, what were you doing during that time? I was volunteering in my daughter's school, I did that too. But maybe when they're trying to see in your career to give you a position, maybe it's not that relevant. But if you get a chance, you get to prove what you can do. You know, so just, like, keep going, and then once you get that opportunity, do your very best, you know? Always be professional, present yourself always appropriately, and, I would say, dressed for success.
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