Changing All the Time - by Pamela Villars, Talent Development

Changing All the Time Before I worked for the American Cancer Society, I had a shelf life in jobs of about 3 years. Tops. And, no, I don’t get fired. But I do get bored and move on when I need more challenge. It’s been 7 years now and I’m still here. The key is that the Society changes – all the time. An inside joke here is that ACS means “Always Changing Something” and there’s a fair amount of truth there. (If you’re not adept at change or don’t like it, there are lessons to learn here.) I came to ACS as a non-profit professional with a counseling background and experience in treating addiction and was hired as the Quitline Counseling Manager, overseeing 60+ Quitline (QL) counselors. I used my counseling and management skills – and had to learn how a call center operates! I came in with computer skills at 2 (scale of 0 – 10) and can now navigate better that most of my friends. Oh, did I mention research design and implementation? No boredom here. Then, just as I needed a change, a job appeared at the National Cancer Information Center (NCIC) and I began designing clinical training for QL and NCIC Cancer Information Specialists. I was able to return to one of my loves – hospice care – and worked on an extensive End of Life project that ended up being presented at an international conference. Never one to say “no,” (and the Society always asks for more…) I managed part of the new hire training program too. That’s two jobs in four years… Later I changed jobs again and oversaw the curriculum design for all of the NCIC programs and now I work for the National Home Office (NHO) on their Talent Development Team. I work with leaders and managers from Divisions across the country, design leadership training, coach, and happily engage in our Yammer social media group. I’m at four jobs now and hope for more. ACS is “Always Changing Something” and that makes me one happy employee.