Linda Ferreira Lands as Senior Systems Administrator at Bed, Bath & Beyond

By Rita Williams

Linda Ferreira began her new job as Senior Systems Administrator consultant at Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBB) on April 21, 2014. She had been in transition since October 2013, shortly after moving back to the United States.

Linda describes the hiring process as “fairly quick” after she found a job posting on LinkedIn. “I reached out to my first level contacts on LinkedIn, but none of them had strong ties to anyone at BBB, so I just tried my luck at applying via the company website and actually got a call back for a phone and then a face-to-face interview.” Two days after the in-person interview, Linda was asked to come on-board as a consultant. She will become permanent once a current headcount freeze is lifted.

Linda singles out her experience in committee work at PSGCNJ as an important factor in her quick hire. She served on the Training Committee, which “was very helpful in that it kept re-enforcing all the things we need to do for the interview process. Just hearing it month after month was very helpful.” Her activity on the Technology Committee, as well, “contributed to making me feel positive and upbeat.”

During her transition, Linda felt that PSGCNJ´s weekly speakers were very educational and motivational, as well as the opportunity to meet people at the weekly general meetings: “ I always felt very supported and comforted by the PSGCNJ family, the wonderful people you meet along the way who are so supportive and know what you´re going through.”

Her PSGCNJ experience was helpful in other ways as well. Linda suggests that people in transition follow the advice given in the Accelerated Career Training (ACT) sessions: “Write down all of your accomplishments and update your resume periodically so that you´re not scrambling the next time you´re in transition. Write CAR (challenge-action-result) stories down for each one of them and save them for future interviews.”

Linda’s advice for job-seekers is directly related to her own experience: “Take the ACT training and join a committee. Attend the meetings and meet great, knowledgeable people.”

Good luck to Linda in her new role!