Georgene Huang was two months pregnant, unemployed and looking for a work environment that promoted women and offered decent maternity leave policies. Yet asking questions about aspects of a job during interviews, she worried, seemed like an invitation for rejection. Searching for answers online didn’t help. Then the penny dropped: When Huang realized how hard it was to find the insights she needed, she stopped interviewing and decided to do something about it by starting a company called Fairygodboss.

That was three years ago. Since then Fairygodboss has grown into a powerful site where women can learn about each other’s work experiences in a confidential space. Huang and her co-founder, Romy Newman, have raised $14 million and built a full-time team of more than 40. In September, Google picked Fairygodboss to be one of a dozen companies to take part in its first accelerator program for women founders.

Huang is Fairygodboss’s chief executive. And though the coronavirus has pushed many businesses, including Fairygodboss itself, to lay off employees, advice and education about how to find the right next job has never mattered more. Better news: Huang says that she sees the hiring tempo picking up.

In this third conversation in the EdSurge miniseries, supported by Peak State Ventures, with female entrepreneurs building businesses at the intersection of learning and working, Huang shares her insights into the complexities of the current job market.

Huang: It’s a moment for self reflection. We believe next year will be better. The number of jobs posted on our site are back to pre-pandemic levels. And we’re having energized conversation with companies around diversity. The people who have found a way to find hope—who are staying positive, improving their resumes—they inspire me.

Read the full article about workplace resources for women during COVID-19 by Betsy Corcoran at EdSurge.