As a Talent Acquisition Coordinator at Virginia Transformer, I gained hands-on experience managing full-cycle recruiting, employee onboarding, workforce coordination, and retention strategies within a large manufacturing environment.

My role placed me in direct contact with department leaders, executives, and employees throughout the organization, particularly the people I had recruited and onboarded. This gave me a unique perspective on the employee experience beyond simply filling positions. I became increasingly interested in how recruiting, workplace culture, retention, and the company's public identity all connected.

Building Talent Partnerships

I helped develop career and recruiting relationships with Virginia Tech, Virginia Western Community College, and Roanoke College, representing Virginia Transformer at career fairs, promoting employment opportunities, and exploring opportunities for the company to sponsor and participate in campus events.

As those relationships developed, I began exploring the possibility of creating a more structured college internship program for technical and administrative positions. This was especially relevant to departments such as testing, where the company needed specialized talent, including electrical engineering students and graduates.

Thinking Beyond Recruiting

Working so closely with the company's workforce naturally led me to think about the bigger picture. Virginia Transformer was entering an important period of growth, including plans for a new corporate campus and expansion into EV battery charging infrastructure.

I began asking a simple question: What should Virginia Transformer look like as it enters its next chapter?

That question led me to develop a conceptual rebranding and marketing strategy that explored how the company could modernize its identity while maintaining its reputation and history as the nation's largest transformer manufacturer.

The concept focused on making the brand more modern, recognizable, approachable, and connected to the region, while creating a stronger identity that could support recruiting, business development, community engagement, and the company's future expansion.

Although I ultimately never submitted the proposal, the project became an important learning experience. I worked closely with the marketing department and began looking at the company not simply from a recruiting perspective, but through the lens of brand, culture, talent, community, and long-term growth.

That experience reinforced something I have come to recognize about my work: I am a creative strategist first. Whether I am working in recruiting, branding, business development, or marketing, I naturally look at how the pieces connect and where an organization can improve, evolve, and tell its story more effectively.