Michelle Mendoza:

Turning Experience into New Opportunities

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Michelle Mendoza began her career in high-tech and medical device corporations, guiding employees and leaders while recruiting top talent and helping organizations grow. Throughout her career, she has served as a trusted advisor, a role that has always set her apart as an HR professional and coach. Her responsibilities expanded beyond recruiting into full HR business partner roles, supporting employees and leaders through every stage of their careers, from hiring to exit, always with a focus on creating a positive experience, even during challenging transitions.

Her path was not linear, and that is what made it meaningful. After years in corporate HR, Michelle took a role at a nonprofit, an experience that ultimately inspired her to launch her own business in 2010. She began offering HR advisory services to small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofits and has since expanded her work to include executive and career coaching. She has earned HR certifications (SPHR, SHRM-SCP) and a Senior Professional Career Coach (SPCC) credential through the International Association of Career Coaches, combining her HR expertise with her passion for guiding professionals in their career growth and development.

Michelle’s story shows that pivots can be both big and small. You do not have to discount what you already know. Instead, you can use your experience to build new skills and forge a new path.

Michelle’s advice for job seekers over 40:

• Be resilient, creative, and embrace agility

• Keep an open mind, consider new industries with growth potential or adjacent roles where your skills can shine in new ways

• Focus on your transferable skills, they may open doors you have not yet imagined

• Treat your job search as a strategic initiative by building your brand and networking with key contacts and recruiters

Michelle’s story is proof that a career can evolve in exciting ways, and it is possible to keep discovering new passions no matter what your stage in life.