Are you ready to take the next step in your career but unsure how to best showcase your skills and experience? At Travelers, as well as across the job market, countless opportunities are waiting for you. My team wants to ensure you are fully prepared.
Let’s start with how to write a resume. As one of the first pieces of information an employer or recruiter sees about you, your resume is one of your most effective personal marketing tools. It’s crucial that it communicates your qualifications, who you are, and what makes you unique.
Follow our essential resume-writing tips to help your application stand out, whether you’re ready to submit it now or just keeping it updated for when the right opportunity comes along.
Set Your Goals and Determine Your Skillset
Before you can sell yourself, you must know yourself—your work style and what you want out of a role. Consider your career goals, interests, and skills, and make a list. Include your strengths, experiences, and the aspects that have shaped you into the professional you are today. If it helps, complete an online self-assessment. Use the results to determine which skills are most transferable to the industry or company you aspire to join.
Do Your Research
Now that you have your lists of skills and strengths, you can match the most applicable ones to the resume you want to create for a specific role.
When it comes to your resume, it’s not one size fits all. Your resume should be tailored to the job you are applying for. Review the job description you are targeting and highlight the key competencies, required skills, and responsibilities. Match your top strengths to the role and incorporate them into your resume. This will help you stand out to the recruiter or hiring manager.
What to Include on Your Resume
Aside from including the top skills and strengths that align with a role, there are a few additional housekeeping items to note.
Given the length limitation and the fact that your resume is a snapshot of the skills that best align with the role you are applying for, including your LinkedIn profile URL offers additional space to expand on professional skills and experiences. If you decide to include the URL, ensure that your profile is active and up-to-date.
What Not to Include on Your Resume
Limiting the length of a resume isn’t always easy, but here’s some good news: there are a few resume sections that are no longer trending.
Formatting and Consistency is Key
The appearance of your resume matters. If your experience shines through, but your fonts don’t match or your lists aren’t succinct, the recruiter or hiring manager may doubt your attention to detail. Be consistent throughout your resume with style, font, and spacing. Ensure you use the same tense when writing—your current skills and work experience should be in the present tense, while former experiences should be in the past tense.
Use regular margins and a 10-12-point font in a basic, easy-to-read style. Utilize bullet points to highlight your skills rather than narratives or paragraphs.
A second set of eyes is always a great idea. Have a friend, colleague, or family member check your work to catch any errors or inconsistencies.
Finally, save and send your resume document as a PDF. This ensures all your formatting remains intact. You can also upload your resume to your profile on our Talent Community where our recruiters can see it, and send you relevant career opportunities. Not a member? Join here.
In Conclusion
We know that getting your resume up to snuff can be daunting, but your time is well worth it because your resume is your first foot in the door. A great resume that aligns with the company and specific role may lead to an interview with the recruiter or hiring manager, giving you an additional opportunity to shine as a professional in your industry. But interview tips? That’s a topic for another blog! Come back soon for more job seeking tips from my team at Travelers.
Brianna Sacerdote is a Senior Recruiter in HR Talent Acquisition at Travelers. With more than 5 years in recruiting, Brianna’s resume tips have helped many employees at Travelers to update their resumes to achieve career growth within the company, and now we bring them to you.
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Ever-evolving, innovating and growing, Travelers has opened a new office space in Midtown Atlanta’s Technology Square. The new location will serve as a location for our company’s expanding technology organization, offering new career opportunities in engineering, artificial intelligence and data science, among others.
“Home to some of the most prestigious engineering colleges and universities, Atlanta was a natural choice for our new office,” said Mojgan Lefebvre, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology & Operations Officer at Travelers. “We have had a substantial presence in Georgia for a number of years, and we look forward to creating an even stronger connection in the community by tapping into the wealth of tech talent in the region.”
Travelers has steadily increased its investment in strategic technology initiatives in recent years, with the goal of advancing its innovation priorities: extending its advantage in risk expertise; providing great experiences for customers, distribution partners and employees; and optimizing productivity and efficiency.
The new office, called Travelers Tech – Atlanta, will be located within the Coda building, a 645,000-square-foot facility that includes both Georgia Tech researchers and labs, as well as private corporate offices and coworking space.
“As a hub for innovation, Georgia is excited to welcome Travelers to Midtown Atlanta and looks forward to their impact working alongside our top-ranked higher education institutions,” said Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. “We’re proud to be the number one state for business, and will keep working to bring projects such as this to our communities.”
With a focus on creating customer-centric and digital-first solutions, the Travelers Tech team supports a culture that fosters innovation, design thinking and an agile mindset. Travelers has received several awards for its efforts, including being named twice to the CIO 100 list and receiving three Gartner Eye on Innovation Awards. Read more about technology at Travelers.
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By Lynn Simon-Thomas
Manager, Diversity Engagement
Talent Acquisition
So, you’ve done everything right. You built relationships through networking, you interviewed, and you were offered the position. That’s great!
It’s real. You did it! Now what?
As you begin your new role, it’s extremely important that you take time to truly understand your responsibilities and determine how you’ll add value to your new team. Below are four tips that can help you navigate your new role and help you be successful.
You may have heard the phrase, “No man is an island,” or “There’s no ‘i’ in ‘team’.” As cliché as they may sound, they’re both relevant to a new role, as well as your career.
While you will be responsible for completing your assignments in your new role, you will undoubtedly need assistance from others – your manager, co-workers, mentors – to be successful. Strong relationships in your professional life, or any other aspect of life, are built on mutual respect and clear communication. Never be afraid to put in the work necessary to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones.
Having a mentor, or mentors, can significantly improve your ability to be successful, not just in a new role, but in your career. A mentor should be someone with whom you would feel comfortable sharing your thoughts, concerns, dreams, and goals. Candid conversations about what is and isn’t going well can be extremely beneficial, especially when you receive honest feedback and guidance from someone you trust.
Building strong relationships involves sharing information, which includes positive career updates. When you land a new role, be sure to make your LinkedIn network aware of your recent career advancement.
In a brief post, use language such as “I’m excited to announce…”, or “I’m thrilled to share…”, or even, “Big news…” to grab their attention. You’ll receive several supportive responses that can enhance your confidence, and you may also reconnect with colleagues from the past who may prove to be helpful in your current role.
Your success is greatly dependent on how you manage your transition, especially within the first three months. There are many books, blog posts, articles and people in your circle that can assist you as you learn your new role, company and work environment.
New beginnings can be both exciting and intimidating, but with a little preparation, a few strong relationships, and some determined confidence, you’ll be successful in no time.
Trust me. You got this!
Lynn Simon-Thomas is Manager, Diversity Engagement within Talent Acquisition. Lynn has over 15 years of experience in recruiting and diversity engagement. She serves as the diversity and inclusion subject matter expert focused on the execution of targeted diverse talent sourcing strategies.
Connect with Lynn Simon-Thomas and other Travelers leaders on LinkedIn.
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Kay Edwards always knew she wanted to work in a collaborative and evolving field like technology, which led her to the Girls Who Code Hiring Summit last fall, where she connected with members of the Travelers Technology Team. The summit welcomed Girls Who Code alums and other women technologists seeking internships or their first professional role in tech.
“What drew me to technology is the collaboration – it’s a field that’s always changing, and you learn more and understand it better by collaborating with others,” Kay said.
“I became interested in tech careers after participating in bootcamps and training courses to expand my experience in software engineering.”
Armed with courses and coding experience, she was ready to bring her dream of a career in tech to life. “As soon as I connected with the team running the Travelers booth, I wanted to apply right away. I immediately felt that the Technology Leadership Development Program (TLDP) would offer a great learning experience with the opportunity for growth.”
Kay joined the TLDP in January 2023 and entered her first technical role in Personal Insurance Technology Compelling Offerings. “I’ve felt a lot of support through the onboarding process. My learning continues through the technical bootcamp I’m in along with other members of the TLDP. I am thankful to the TLDP for their support and investment in me as an employee.”
Kay is one of five women technologists who attended the Girls Who Code Hiring Summit and identified Travelers as a place they saw themselves starting their careers in tech. The four additional hires are slated to start their Travelers careers in June 2023.
Girls Who Code is an organization with the goal of closing the gender gap in technology. Through immersion programs, leadership development and career exploration, Girls Who Code brings technology education to students and early career professionals.
Travelers has teamed up with Girls Who Code since 2020, each year hosting two-week Summer Immersion Programs for high school-aged, aspiring women technologists students to gain hands-on experience and mentoring.
Travelers will host its next Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program in the summer of 2023. Read more about Travelers Technology and Girls Who Code.
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In 2022, we marked the 15-year anniversary of Travelers EDGE® (Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment). Since 2007, Travelers EDGE has provided a unique, sustainable school-to-career pipeline for hundreds of students. As we mark this milestone anniversary, we look back on the extraordinary achievements our alumni have accomplished and the legacy they have left behind. We reached out to Travelers EDGE graduates to hear their stories and learn about the success they forged for themselves and their families.
“Strength in Diversity” – Belma Pehratović (2020 graduate)
“How you do one thing is how you do everything.”
That’s Belma Pehratović’s piece of advice for future Travelers EDGE scholars. Belma says Travelers EDGE instilled a sense of pride in her that she now carries with her everywhere.
“Travelers takes diversity and inclusion seriously,” Belma said. “And I take that seriously. They don’t just put their name on things and provide financial support – they foster their programs to be inclusive, impactful and helpful to those they affect.”
Belma is a first-generation refugee. She came to the U.S. in 2000 from Bosnia and Herzegovina and has lived in Hartford ever since. She learned about the Travelers EDGE program in her junior year of high school and made it her mission to be selected as a scholar.
The next summer she succeeded and started her first internship with Travelers.
After being selected as a Travelers EDGE scholar, Belma decided to attend the University of Connecticut (UConn), a Travelers EDGE partner school. Not only was she able to choose a school that was the right fit for her, but the program also helped her to choose without immense financial pressure.
“If it wasn’t for [Travelers] EDGE, I wouldn’t have been able to choose UConn,” she said. “The financial burden was lifted.”
Belma emphasizes that Travelers EDGE opened many doors for her but acknowledges that being a Travelers EDGE scholar is also a lot of work.
“We had to start college classes before everyone else through summer bridge programs,” she said. “We had monthly meetings and we constantly had to revise our resumes to ensure we stayed ready and prepared for the job we wanted.”
The program’s mentoring resources also helped sharpen her professional skills. This guidance helped her navigate her way through the corporate world, not just as an employee, but also as a woman working in technology.
“The mentorship that Travelers EDGE provides is great because it teaches you everything,” Belma said. “When I was in college, I struggled with finding mentors from similar backgrounds, that understood the challenges that come with being from a minority group. Travelers EDGE helped me see that the differences in my background can be my strength. I am happy to be here, and I am grateful to work in a company that celebrates and leverages my diversity.”
Belma now works at Travelers in PI as a Data Engineer on the Machine Learning Operations team within Data and Analytics and says she loves it. She reiterates how low the odds are for first-generation refugees to make it as far as she did. She often thinks about how different her life would have been if she had stayed in Bosnia, or if she had not been introduced to Travelers EDGE. This realization has shaped what success looks like to her.
“I didn’t have professional role models to look up to – now I have little cousins, ages five and eight, who follow everything I do,” she said. “Now, I measure my success in and outside of work by how good of an example I can set for them. You have to believe in yourself, trust your abilities, and set the tone for generations to come.”
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When Hurricane Ian made landfall last September it devastated a large swathe of Florida’s coastline – including Sanibel Island, a small vacation spot about an hour from Fort Myers.
Residents and businesses across Sanibel’s 16 square miles were now in need of help. One such business, a grocery chain that provided essential supplies to Sanibel’s residents and workers, was one of those businesses.
Luckily for the owners of this grocery store, Travelers Claim professionals Kevin L. and Scott C. were already on the case.
The grocery store’s corporate office asked the Travelers team to join their mitigation company in assessing the damage to the store, along with getting any repairs started as quickly as possible.
Kevin and Scott flew down to Florida and started to plan. First hurdle? Getting onto Sanibel Island.
“The causeway had washed away – it was washed away,” Scott said. “The only way onto the island was by hitching a ride with the local fishermen, who you could charter to bring you over.”
Local consultants advised Scott and Kevin to postpone their inspection until the causeway was repaired – in other words, simply sit and wait.
Time was working against Sanibel though. “We knew we couldn’t wait,” Kevin said. “The only other food provider on the island had already been deemed a ‘complete loss.’ This grocery store was essential to providing supplies and food to repair crews and emergency workers.”
Kevin and Scott finally secured a charter, and they were on their way.
The grocery store manager and representatives from the store’s mitigation company were waiting for Kevin and Scott by the docks.
“It was too far to walk to the grocery store, and the streets were impassable for cars because of the storm,” Scott said. “So, they gave us bikes. But there were only 3 bikes, not enough for everyone there plus Kevin and I.”
“They did say there was one tandem bike in the back we could use though,” Kevin said. “Nobody had used it in a while, so we had to inflate the tires.”
Kevin and Scott said they trekked out on their tandem bike together (Scott in front and Kevin in back). As they rode along, they saw the damage that had wrecked the island.
“The devastation was vast. One part of the street was completely washed out,” Kevin said. “There was a lot of debris – debris everywhere, and 3 or 4 feet of flooding.”
Despite this hardship, Kevin said he was moved by the support from the local community. “Eventually we had to swap out the tandem bike for another one. Luckily, residents were leaving bikes out at the edge of their property. They had signs on them that said, ‘Please use and return.’ Seeing that level of support was really amazing.”
Once they arrived at the insured’s location, they immediately got to work.
“Everybody was on the same page,” Scott said. “We identified areas of damage and did an in-depth analysis while the mitigation teams began disposing of trash and drying the inside of the store, essentially salvaging what could be saved.”
At the end of the day, Scott and Kevin were able to get in contact with the grocery store owners and answer their questions. The rebuilding process could begin.
“Other business owners told us later that they hadn’t heard from their insurance companies for months,” Kevin said. “Being on site, putting ourselves out there, we weren’t going to wait for the causeway to be rebuilt. We’re going to do what we’re going to do. We biked alongside our customers and built a connection. We put our feet in the same shoes. I think it built trust that led to a quicker resolution.”
“The owners really wanted to open back up and be the light for the rest of the community,” Kevin said. “They wanted to be there for everyone else—just like the residents who left their bikes out.”
“It takes a village,” Scott noted.
And that village is doing its part to uphold the Travelers Promise, taking care of our customers, communities and each other.
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Amber Abernathy, Account Executive at Travelers, has been awarded with the inaugural ‘Alumni Spirit Award’ by Girl Talk, a nonprofit organization focused on peer-to-peer mentoring with teen girls.
The ‘Alumni Spirit Award’ is the first ever award given by Girl Talk. According to the organization, it is given to a Girl Talk alumna for inspiring confident leaders through the work they have done with the organization.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Amber said. “I got the phone call and was very surprised. I feel so grateful to be honored by an organization that I love and have grown so much with.”
Amber has been involved with Girl Talk since she was in sixth grade, when she worked with a high school mentor. She loved the program and became a mentor when she reached high school. From there, Amber has stayed active with Girl Talk, speaking at their Girl Talk Camp during the summer, working to build out the organization’s alumni network and contributing to other Girl Talk programming.
“Girl Talk is all about leadership, confidence and learning how to be the best version of yourself,” Amber said. “I honestly used to be so shy, I wouldn’t talk to people. I have always been a quiet person, but Girl Talk taught me how to be a quiet leader in the workplace and build confidence in that type of leadership.”
Amber joined Travelers as a Posse Scholar intern in 2017 through the company’s Posse Foundation partnership. After the internship, she was hired full-time as an Underwriting Professional Development Program participant and now serves as an Account Executive. She says Travelers is a workplace that feels like home.
“Travelers has provided me the flexibility and work-life balance to be able to volunteer with organizations like Girl Talk and give back to my community in ways that I am passionate about,” Amber said. “It’s truly an amazing feeling to be celebrated at work for things I do outside of work. The company celebrates me in all parts of my life.”
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This year, we welcomed more than 400 interns under the umbrella. We sat down with three of them to learn their stories and hear about their summer experience with us.
Anjali A.
While working towards earning her PhD in statistics, Anjali A. of Amherst, Massachusetts has spent this summer here at Travelers interning under the Data Science Leadership Development Program.
Anjali, who has one more year in her doctorate program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was introduced to Travelers through a modeling competition held at her school. She admits that although insurance was not necessarily her first choice for a career, her interest was piqued shortly after she learned about all the fascinating data and insights that could be collected from insurance, as well as the employees that she had the opportunity of engaging with.
“One thing I love about my team is how open everyone is to sharing knowledge; I really look forward to presenting my work and discussing my work with my teammates,” says Anjali.
At the conclusion of the summer, Anjali hopes to have gained as much knowledge about insurance products as possible and to have built a broader skill set as a data scientist. She says, “Every single call I’ve had with someone here, I’ve learned so much; I learn something new every single time.”
Rising senior at the University at Buffalo, Elijah K., joined Travelers this year as an LDP summer intern. Majoring in finance and working under the Operations Leadership Development Program, Elijah says an average day for him can begin anywhere from capacity reporting to mid-year cutoff reporting.
Elijah discovered Travelers three years ago through a family friend that had suggested he apply to the Claim internship program. Following his brief introduction to the company and several interviews, Elijah spent two summers virtually working in Claim until he accepted a position in Operations this summer.
He says, “[At Travelers] There are a lot of diverse roles you can be a part of. If you get tired of one thing, you won’t have to leave. There’s still another part of the company you can get training on and transfer to.”
By the end of the season, Elijah hopes to take his developed skill sets as an intern and apply them as a full-time employee in Operations. His advice to future interns is to truly understand the importance of networking. He says, “The more people that you meet, the better.”
Originally from Ukraine, Kateryna Y. is spending her second summer under the umbrella as an intern for the Finance Leadership Development Program. Arriving to the United States in 2004, she now resides in Connecticut where she attends Central Connecticut State University double majoring in accounting and finance.
The opportunity to intern at Travelers was offered to Kateryna through her sources and professors at her university. She says, “Once I learned more about Travelers, I realized how many opportunities there are for learning, especially so early on in your career.”
One of Kateryna’s biggest learning opportunities this summer so far has been co-leading the LDP Intern Newsletter. Her new leadership position has helped her create relationships with members of other Leadership Development Programs outside of Finance, as well as develop strategies to keep track of personal and collective deadlines.
After finishing undergrad, Kateryna aims to one day work full-time in the FLDP. She advises future interns at Travelers to never stop networking. She says, “Your internship is your opportunity to learn not only about your specific role, but also about how the company works, its goals and its culture. Building your network early on in your career is very helpful for your growth in the future.”
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By Lynn Simon-Thomas
Manager, Diversity Engagement
Talent Acquisition
I often get calls from friends, colleagues, and family members seeking advice on how they should prepare for an interview after they’ve already scheduled it. Usually, the beginning of the conversation is loaded with anxiety because the mere thought of interviewing makes many people uncomfortable and nervous. On one hand, I can understand because some interviewers put candidates through an experience similar to a Senate confirmation hearing. On the other hand, I find it confusing because when you apply for a job, that usually means you believe you’re qualified to do it based on your experience. And who knows your experience better than you?
That question is the basis for one of the first questions I often ask when interviewing a candidate which is, “Why did you apply to the position?”
Point blank, why are you seeking another job? And particularly, why this job?
I always ask this question because it forces people to take a step back and really investigate the “why” behind their job search. It also inspires honest introspection and self-reflection, which can help determine whether a position may be the right opportunity. When you unequivocally understand your “why” and you are self-aware enough to know your strengths, as well as the things you need to improve upon, you become a much stronger and appealing candidate.
In addition to knowing your “why,” it’s also important that you have a solid understanding of the current job description. Do you clearly understand the tasks you will be asked to complete if given the role? One way to obtain this clarity is to ask the recruiter to share some insights into what the hiring manager seeks in a candidate. Armed with that information, be sure to ask yourself if you truly have the proper skills needed to succeed in the role. If you don’t, that can be okay if you consider the opportunity a “stretch” role and you have the desire to obtain those needed skills.
If and when the opportunity presents itself, be sure to ask potential co-workers to describe the culture within the company and department, as departmental culture can sometimes differ from the overall company culture. Enjoying what you do, and with whom you do it, is extremely important for your emotional well-being. It can impact your daily motivation, drive, and overall contribution to your job and the company. Take an honest look within yourself to uncover what makes you happy in your current job. Try to identify those things that bring you joy at work and make you excited to start your day. The ability to explain what you need from a job, as well as the opportunities you see in your next role, can go a long way towards ensuring the role is right for you.
Finally, once you have a better understanding of the role and what the hiring manager may be looking for in a candidate, you should be able to clearly articulate what you bring to the table through relevant examples of how your current skill set makes you an ideal candidate for the position. Perhaps you helped to improve a vital process that saved your current department a significant amount of money. Or maybe you were instrumental in turning overall customer sentiment from negative to positive. Regardless, when you can demonstrate that you have the expertise and experience to help a potential manager solve the problems they’re currently facing, you dramatically improve your chances of landing the role.
To help you remember these guidelines, I’ve created a short list of tips that can help you ace your next interview.
Interviewing Tips:
Concentrating on these four things can help you navigate your next interview successfully and remove some of the pre-interview anxiety many people experience. Good luck!
Lynn Simon-Thomas is Manager, Diversity Engagement within Talent Acquisition. Lynn has over 15 years of experience in recruiting and diversity engagement. She serves as the diversity and inclusion subject matter expert focused on the execution of targeted diverse talent sourcing strategies.
Connect with Lynn Simon-Thomas and other Travelers leaders on LinkedIn.
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By Lynn Simon-Thomas
Manager, Diversity Engagement
Talent Acquisition
For some people, making professional connections can be a rather challenging and intimidating task. Then, when you throw in extraordinary times like those in which we’re currently living, the fear factor goes from, “What if I blow this because I say something silly?” to “What if I blow this because I look a mess on camera?” I know, I get it. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
One thing to keep in mind when you’re networking, whether virtually or in person, is that the other person is just that: a person. Just like you, they are a human being who has dreams and goals, family and friends, strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and, of course, quirks and idiosyncrasies that make them unique and interesting. Who knows? You may have something in common, but you’ll never know if you don’t accept the invite, phone call or email to connect.
Once you’ve made a new connection, it’s important to stay connected, even when you are unable to do it face-to-face. It’s no secret we’ve all had to get used to having more Zoom conversations than we care to count and learning how to “show up” in a virtual environment is an art in and of itself. But just about anything is possible when you focus and commit adequate time and effort.
If you stop to think about it, everyone (yes, even you) has a network. Starting with family and friends, you probably have people you can count on to help guide you with sound advice, as well as those who may periodically seek your advice. Professional networks are no different. They’re just as, if not more, important than personal ones, as they can impact the trajectory of your career path. And just like any living thing, they need to be fed and nurtured to remain healthy. As a Diversity Recruiting Manager, I regularly share articles or just send a note to my connections to say, “Hello.”
In 2021 we started a program called Just Coffee at Travelers to help facilitate network building. The goal was to connect several passive candidates with leaders at Travelers for an informal, yet professional, conversation via Zoom. To ensure both parties remained at ease, we reminded them that the conversation was not an interview, but really an opportunity to make a new connection and build their respective networks. Just Coffee has been well-received by both candidates and Travelers’ leaders, which has shown me that many people are still open to the idea of spending 30 minutes with another human, simply for the sake of getting to know someone new. That’s networking at its finest.
Networking is an art that must be practiced regularly. Below I’ve included a few tips to help you improve your networking skills.
Lynn’s Top 4 Networking Tips:
Lynn Simon-Thomas is Manager, Diversity Engagement within Talent Acquisition. Lynn has over 15 years of experience in recruiting and diversity engagement. She serves as the diversity and inclusion subject matter expert focused on the execution of targeted diverse talent sourcing strategies.
Connect with Lynn Simon-Thomas and other Travelers leaders on LinkedIn.
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