Employee Stories

Cathy
Strategic Talent Sourcing Consultant,
Corporate Human Resources
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Former Chair Medtronic Women's Council Employee Resource Group

Before joining Medtronic, I was a field engineer for a company that designed and manufactured anesthesia equipment. After servicing equipment in a variety of hospital settings, I was promoted into a quality assurance engineering role, bringing the voice of the customer to the R&D and Manufacturing teams. While I loved contributing to the launch of a new platform product, the future work looked like it would be more iterative than true R&D, so I started paying attention to industry trends. Medtronic was acquiring a lot of companies, which was marvelous to watch as a stockholder. So, when a headhunter called about some exciting opportunities in Quality in the Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management group at Medtronic, I knew the company was investing in technology and had a strong pipeline of new products. After meeting a few people, I knew it would be rewarding to work for Medtronic, even though it required moving from Madison to Minneapolis – a tough move for a Green Bay Packer football fan.

Once I was here, I quickly moved up through the ranks in Quality. At the same time, the company tapped me to help recruit new engineers, because they knew I had a strong professional network. I was an active member of both the Society of Women Engineers and the American Society for Quality. Recently, I had the opportunity to move into a companywide Talent Acquisition area full time. I realized it was a great match for my functional and business skills, and provided an opportunity to broaden my leadership experience.

A key part of my role is to attract high-potential diverse talent in Quality, Regulatory, and Clinical functions. It can be challenging in locations that don't have diverse community demographics, but the culture within Medtronic is certainly diverse and inclusive. On one of my very first days at Medtronic, I remember my new team members talking about lutefisk, a Scandinavian dish that I'd never heard of. I shared my ethnic food experiences, and we all learned something that day. That memory has been a constant reminder that everyone here is very open to knowledge sharing, whether it's about cultural backgrounds, operating best practices, or product details.