MAPS-San Francisco Bay Area: Job Seeking 3.0 – Hacking the Job Hunt

On August 6, 2025, the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of Women In Bio hosted a virtual workshop titled Job Seeking 3.0, led by career coach Heather Ramsey. Drawing from her extensive experience in sales, executive coaching, and HR, Heather offered practical, current-day guidance to nearly 100 attendees on mastering the five pillars of a successful job search: résumé, LinkedIn, networking, interviewing, and negotiating. She emphasized using AI tools to tailor résumés and cover letters. Still, she cautioned against copy-pasting—encouraging participants to add a personal touch and align every line to a company’s values. Heather advocated for lean, job-targeted résumés exported as PDFs, free of symbols or complex formatting to ensure ATS-compatibility (Applicant Tracking System). She advised that LinkedIn profiles should mirror résumés, include a recent photo, a custom URL, a personality-infused ‘About’ section, and list both volunteer work and career breaks as legitimate and relevant experiences.

Heather also coached participants on building smarter networks by pursuing warm introductions, booking short informational chats, and following up with personalized notes that show genuine enthusiasm for the role and company. She urged attendees to stay active even during holidays and to make the most of in-person networking opportunities. For interviews, she recommended staying calm, using confident body language, and responding with the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method, followed by a clear takeaway of what was learned. Her negotiation tips included researching compensation benchmarks, asking for offers in writing, taking time to review, and requesting adjustments before signing. The session balanced strategy and empathy, giving attendees timely, actionable advice and renewed confidence in navigating today’s job market. The highly engaged audience brought thoughtful, real-world questions that added depth and energy to the discussion.

Submitted by Kanupriya Daga