After Hamed Seyedi was laid off from his director position of 15 years, he decided to continue his education and earned a digital marketing certificate as a part of the Workforce Partnership’s continuing education program offered in partnership with UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies. The certificate program covers the upfront tuition costs, allowing students to focus on learning new skills while receiving job-readiness guidance from our career navigators. Hamed spoke with our marketing and communications team about how his journey through the program lead him to a role as chief of staff at Revive Media.
Deciding to go back to school was no easy decision. As someone with over 20 years of work experience who previously held a director position, I thought getting a new job would be simple.
The initial job search was challenging, I felt overqualified for many of the jobs that I applied for and senior level jobs were scarcer than I anticipated. My expertise is in traditional marketing. I knew that I needed to learn digital marketing if I wanted to be competitive in the job market. When I came across the Workforce Partnership, I was hesitant to apply. Upskilling was not my only objective, I needed to know that I could find a better career after I completed the certificate training.
My concerns around the job search were quickly diminished when I found out how connected the Workforce Partnership is to reputable companies. Having access to their network of businesses and career navigators was an asset of the program. I truly appreciate the work that my career navigator did on my behalf, and we built a trusting relationship. The job leads they sent me were ones that I was interested in applying to and matched my career goals.
When the Workforce Partnership connected me with Revive Media, I was immediately impressed by the work the company does and was eager to apply. I was initially denied the internship role I applied for, but with persistence I leveraged my sales management background to get an interview with the CEO. After our conversation, they customized a leadership role to suit my previous experience. I am so thankful to Revive for allowing me to be part of their team. I look forward to going to work remotely every morning, which I haven’t felt for a long time.
After going through the program, I know I made the right decision. I would not have my current role without the Workforce Partnership. I would recommend this program to an entry-level candidate looking to make a change earlier in their career, who understands their goals and is ready to commit to them.
I advise anyone in the program to take advantage of their time with instructors. Each quarter, look for internships or other project opportunities with companies, even if it’s just for a few hours a week. Start looking for jobs 3–4 months before the end of the program because it will take you at least that long to ramp up. Be ruthlessly persistent. You can’t reach out to a hiring manager only once. You still need to keep in touch with people who turned you down six months ago and stay on their radar, as I did with Revive Media and many others.