Tabitha Rosenblum, Deployment Technician at VMware

Tabitha Rosenblum is returning from a 11-year career break after her extensive 15 years of IT work experience. She faced a period of hardship due to serious health struggles which she greatly persevered, thanks to her newfound passion for outdoor activities. She’s now successfully back to work at VMWare.

Like every other returner, Tabitha faced a lot of challenges when returning to the workforce. One that predominates all else was finding an organization that would believe in her skills, again!

Up Close with Tabitha

Tabitha, tell us about your extensive work experience prior to taking a break. 

I worked in Information Technology in various roles for about 15 years. My last job title was System Administrator, but I had some opportunities to gain experience in networking and kept my hand in for desktop support. I really enjoy desktop support – when someone is so frustrated they want to throw their computer out the window, I come to the rescue! Watching the lightbulb go over their head when I do training is absolutely heartwarming!

What prompted your break?

I had some health problems and needed to take some time off. Between the medication and an injury that put me on crutches for a year, I ballooned to 200 pounds! Last year, I lost 35 pounds, once I was able to stop taking the medication that impacted my metabolism. When I had partially recovered, but not enough to work full time, I helped my roommate’s mother and father. The mother was diagnosed with colon cancer. Her doctor told her she had 6 months to live. Instead, she hung in there for 6 years! Then, my roommate’s father was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease and put on dialysis three times a week. Between us, sometimes it felt like I had a full-time job just going to doctors’ offices! When they felt well enough, I took them out to vintage car shows, movies, nature that was accessible by scooter and walker, and so forth. Even though we aren’t genetically related, they consider me part of the family. I’ve known them for over 20 years.  

Now he is doing well enough to scooter himself to his appointments. Another friend is also visiting to take care of him sometimes. So I thought, it was time to focus on myself again. Then COVID hit, so that became another setback for me.

During your 11 year career break, what did you do to keep yourself up to date? Did you take any classes or complete any training in preparation for your return to work?

While I was in the NOVA ProMatch program, I volunteered as a greeter, and to do technical support. Once COVID hit, I still continued doing technical support, but strictly online. Most of the questions were regarding Zoom. I was able to help them figure out how to handle Closed Captioning to make meetings accessible for people who are hearing-impaired. In addition to myself, two other people in my cohort had some degree of hearing loss.

I also got my Cisco Certified Network Administrator and Cisco Certified Network – Switch certification and was working on my A+ certification. I took classes at Foothill College for hands-on experience, rather than strictly learning online.

What has been one of the more challenging parts of returning to work?

The most challenging part was finding a company willing to give me a chance! I had wrist surgery about a month before I started, so I was worried I wouldn’t be physically capable. My orthopedist and physical therapist cleared me, with a few restrictions. My supervisor allowed me to adjust my schedule so I could attend PT, since I didn’t have any sick leave saved up. She was absolutely astounded by my progress, and agreed that my work helped me heal. I’m now back within the normal range of motion and strength!

Would you recommend a return-to-work program to others who are looking to restart their careers?

Absolutely! Returnships are incredible opportunities. They also can be used in conjunction with volunteering to show employers what you can do and gain references. In my case, it’s not an internship, rather a standard contract just like they have for the other employees in my department. They were specifically looking for a qualified returnship candidate, since my supervisor was a returnee himself.

What do you advise to other returners? What kind of preparation would you suggest potential returnees do before applying for a return-to-work internship?

I found the ProMatch and JVS job programs incredibly helpful! Mock interviews, advice on my resume and LinkedIn profile, connecting and support from other job hunters, and so forth. It can feel very discouraging and intimidating getting back out there after a long break. The social networking and offering help and encouragement to each other made a huge difference!

Can you share your experience with the hiring process at Akraya as a WBW candidate?

It was the second-easiest hiring process I have ever experienced! I signed up as a WBW candidate about 2 years ago. Palak Abrol reached out to me about one position initially, but decided the following day that this would be a better fit. The onboarding team made everything easy, and they answered any questions I had promptly.

What was your experience getting started at our client, VMware?

I had two interviews and both were absolutely fantastic! They were very professional, but not at all stilted or awkward! I immediately felt comfortable. It felt like an interesting conversation, rather than a strict interview format. 

My first day was very funny! The person who was responsible for setting up my account had taken a PTO, and the hand-off didn’t happen. I set the Mac and PC for myself, but both had hardware issues, so I picked another set of those. Our lunch time traveled to the year 1969! (The Doordash website somehow selected that as the year for delivery). My supervisor was impressed by my poise and equanimity in handling it all, as well as my can-do attitude. I was able to accomplish a lot, even without any account or network resources. I think it cemented in his mind that he’d made the right decision! Everyone has been really welcoming and helpful and very accommodating of my hearing loss. When I meet someone new, I joke “I can’t lipread your hair! Even with the masks, it still makes a huge difference if you face me.”

Working for VMware has given me so much structure and confidence. It’s been the best re-entry experience I can imagine! I’ve had a rough time dealing with my physical challenges (with my wrist, and the procedure I had a week ago that required me to take a week off from work). In the same week, my “Bonus Dad” who I had been caring for had a heart attack during dialysis and had to go to the ER, a very dear friend passed away, and my cat was diagnosed with cancer. It was a lot of grief, on top of the stress Covid has put us all through. The appreciation, caring, and support I have received have really been heart-warming!