The HR Mentor
This is the podcast for emerging HR professionals to get practical advice, tools and strategies to build their credibility, confidence and ultimately a fulfilling HR career!
Episodes
In this milestone 100th episode of the HR Mentor Podcast, Melanie reflects on her journey creating the podcast, the key lessons learned, and audience feedback that has made the experience rewarding. She shares the origins of the podcast, aimed at helping early-career HR professionals navigate the job market through actionable advice.
Melanie reminisces on her favourite guest episodes and student success stories, emphasizing the pow...
If you're a new HR graduate or actively job searching for your first HR role, this episode is packed with exactly what you need to confidently navigate your search. In this episode, Melanie breaks down the most common entry-level HR positions, typical responsibilities, the key skills employers are looking for, and how understanding these roles can help you define your HR niche and build a more focused, successful job search strateg...
In this episode, I’m getting real about one of the biggest frustrations in the HR job search. If you’ve been sending out applications and hearing crickets, I know how tempting it is to blame your resume. But here’s the surprising truth: it’s probably not your resume holding you back.
Today, I share why clarity about your career goals, skills, and values is far more powerful than endlessly tweaking bullet points. I’ll walk you throu...
In today’s episode, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Greg Morley, a seasoned global HR executive, DEI strategist, author, and speaker, who brings over two decades of experience from companies like Disney, LVMH Moët Hennesy, and Hasbro. Greg’s journey is one of bold decisions, adventurous career pivots, and a deep commitment to inclusive leadership. From starting in a call center at GE to leading HR and DEI in Paris,...
Job searching as a new HR graduate can feel overwhelming—especially when rejections start piling up. But what if your mindset was the key to transforming your job search experience? In this episode, we’re diving into how shifting to a growth mindset can help you overcome obstacles, stay motivated, and ultimately land your first HR role.
I’ll walk you through five actionable strategies to develop a growth mindset, including how to r...
As a new graduate stepping into the world of HR, you’re entering a field that’s evolving faster than ever before. In this episode, Melanie breaks down the most important trends shaping the industry and what you need to know to stay ahead. From AI-powered recruitment tools to remote work policies, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategies, and the growing emphasis on employee well-being, we cover it all. Plus, I’ll share prac...
🎙️ Episode Summary:
I’m beyond thrilled to bring you this inspiring and insightful conversation with Melanie Denny! Melanie is a personal branding consultant, LinkedIn strategist, and founder of the Empowered Presence™ framework, helping brilliant women of color gain visibility and seize new opportunities beyond the 9-5. She’s been featured in Forbes, HuffPost, Yahoo News, Fast Company, NBC News, and more—and her expertise in self...
Welcome back to The HR Mentor! I’m so excited to be here with you again after a little time away. If you’ve been a listener for a while, you probably noticed it’s been about six months since my last episode. During that time, I stepped back to focus on some other priorities in my work and personal life, and today, I want to share what I’ve learned from that break and how you can start fresh and reignite your career goals as we step...
Do you struggle to make connections on LinkedIn? Does it ever feel awkward to reach out to people to introduce yourself or to invite them to a virtual coffee conversation? If that's you, this episode will change that for you.
My guest on the show today is Andrew Stoute. Andrew is a leadership and career development consultant and the host of Let’s Be Diverse, an HR podcast covering many topics to help inspire your leadership journe...
According to June labour statistics, the Canadian unemployment is up to 6.4%. In this episode, Melanie shares guidance on a job search strategy to overcome a downturn in the labour market. Because a downturn in the market doesn’t mean you can’t find a great HR job. But, it does mean you must be strategic about your job search. In Melanie’s mind, that means you need to focus on quality over quantity.
Listen in as Melanie explains w...
In this episode, my co-host, Michelle Amaral, and I had the opportunity to spend some time with Alfred Achoba from CMHA—Kamloops Branch. Alfred is the Executive Director and has been with the organization for over a decade. During our conversation, Alfred shared his personal career story and talked about why he pursued a career in community social services, particularly mental health and wellbeing.
Alfred also shares a lot of infor...
Today is a very special episode. I am joined by one of my former students and one of the first graduates from the HR Career Accelerator program, Trupti Patel. In this episode, Trupti talks about her career journey and how she went from being a job seeker to a job offer in less than five months post-graduation. If you are a job seeker struggling to find your way, this episode will guide you on the right actions to take and motivate ...
Have you been invited to a summer social event or activity? Did you delete the invitation or respond with a no-thank-you? If you did, I encourage you to listen to this episode. In it, I explain the benefits of saying YES to that summer social and how to mix fun with career acceleration.
Helpful Links for this Episode:
In this episode, my new part-time co-host, Michelle Amaral and I talk about something that I believe is critical to your HR job search. Networking is the key to success for so many new grads and professionals. But we also understand that it is not a comfortable experience for all job seekers. So in this episode, Michelle shares strategies for anyone who feels they are more introverted and fearful of networking so that you too, can ...
In this episode, I sit down for a conversation with Brent Pollington, the owner of a successful and award-winning recruitment firm in Vancouver, BC, called Express Employment Professionals. With a company track record of placing over 15,000 people with more than a thousand companies, Brent brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to The HR Mentor that will enlighten new grads and seasoned HR professionals alike.
During our conve...
I am so thrilled to kick off Season 5 with a very special guest. Sheryl Brown and I connected on LinkedIn years ago and have been sharing HR stories, parenting and work memes and inspiring empowering messages ever since. I finally convinced her to join me on The HR Mentor to talk about her career journey and it was truly worth the wait.
Sheryl's extensive experience in human resources is a testament to her adaptability and experti...
Welcome to the Season 4 Finale!
I decided about two months ago, after several exchanges with soon-to-be graduate students, that I needed to make this episode. If you have been following me since the beginning, you know I created this podcast to scale what I was trying to offer to new HR grads on a one-to-one basis. Of course, that quickly became unstainable, so with the idea of recording my guidance and advice and sharing it for f...
This episode has been a long time in the making, and I am so pleased with the result. Michelle was one of my earliest fans who later became my student once the pandemic began to subside. Since our first meeting, I knew she had to be a guest on the show!
I have watched Michelle transition from a student to an HR Generalist over two short years, and her accomplishments during that time have been incredible. She excelled in her studie...
If you are about to graduate from an HR program or you are a recent HR grad who is struggling with finding that first HR role, this episode is going to save you a ton of money and time. That’s right, money and time - something I am sure you value immensely right now. How am I going to do that? Well, I am going to be the friend you didn’t know you needed and I’m going to stop you from signing up for that certification program you ar...
In this episode, I am talking about something that I don’t see talked about enough: the uncertainty and anxiety that naturally comes with graduating from University or College. While it is a natural and normal experience, the fear and trepidation that comes with graduation can have negative impacts on students and it can impede their ability to move forward. This episode covers four actions or tips soon-to-graduate students can use...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.
"SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!