Hired in May of this year, Sarah Collins, PWSA’s new Talent Acquisition Specialist, hit the ground running, leveraging her tech-savvy skillset and dedication to building a more diverse workforce to jumpstart significant recruitment improvements within the Authority.

What improvements did you make to PWSA’s recruitment process?

Right after I was hired, I was asked to build an e-recruitment process within our hiring platform. Our main goal here was to move away from a paper process and towards a digital application process, making the hiring experience easier for our applicants and streamlining that work for us. The project was really exciting for me. Not only did I have to “jump right in” and build the whole module myself (within about a month, no less!), but I also undertook the training of our employees on the process itself. This last piece really allowed me to get 
to know our remote sites and the employees who work there more. 

What are you undertaking on the diversity and inclusion hiring front?

PWSA wants to build the most diverse workforce. That’s a sizeable challenge for any organization, and we’re doing a few things to move the needle on this. What I think works is establishing, building, and maintaining partnerships with organizations that have a diversity and inclusion mindset and local universities or industry organizations to publicize our open positions. And the new e-recruitment process, which makes our hiring experience better, doesn’t hurt!

Why is diversity and inclusion important?

Without it, life would be boring! A diverse and inclusive workforce allows us to better innovate, collaborate, and come up with better ideas and strategies to address our challenges.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I take jazz and tap dance classes. My husband Chris and I are outdoor enthusiasts, and we love to hike and camp – this past spring we backpacked the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. And we adore our rescue cat, Frank.