Despite the downturn in the economy, some financial services companies are holding their own and hiring people, especially in areas such as IT. Genworth Financial is one of those companies. Genworth Financial has more than $103 billion in assets and 15 million customers worldwide. Genworth has earned the highest company ratings in its industry. It is a leader in long-term care insurance and annuities.

Christina Hollingsworth will be the first one to tell you that IT resides at the core of Genworth Financial's business operations. As corporate IT director at Genworth Financial, she oversees the strategy, planning, and execution of the company's enterprise finance technology acquisition and integration. Hollingsworth has earned a stellar reputation for leading global teams and initiatives and partnering with multiple suppliers.

Like many IT executives, Hollingsworth has to be sure that she has a well-stocked pool of qualified personnel who are not only technically savvy but can lead IT projects. She says, "In the past, IT professionals have been very good about executing on initiatives, or basically carrying out what they were told to do. Today, things have changed. Given the speed at which technology is evolving, we need people who can develop strategy based upon trends in the industry, can translate those trends into action, and then can execute on those initiatives."

In fact, Genworth Financial has deployed new technologies such as desktop video and software as a service, which manages travel expenses and investment portfolio expenses. The company also has a social networking pilot underway that is similar to Facebook. In fact, they call it Spacebook. Hollingsworth says, "As a global company, we have both employees and contractors working at a variety of locations. The best way to get good ideas is to have many ideas coming from our global talent pool. Our Spacebook will make it very easy for people to tap into these resources."

In this podcast, Hollingsworth talks about what skills people in IT need today, how recent IT graduates can chart a course for leveraging their skills, and what unemployed IT professionals need to think about when looking for a job. In addition, she also talks about Genworth Financial's career development program and the company's green initiatives.

Bio

Christina Hollingsworth is the corporate information technology director at Genworth Financial, where she has worked for seven years. The company recognized Hollingsworth's leadership skills by awarding her the 2005 Platinum Compass Award for excellence in performance execution. Before coming to Genworth Financial, she held technology leadership positions at Minerals Technology and GE Financial, before it became Genworth Financial. She has a Masters in the Management of Technology from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School and Penn Engineering.

Resources

Production Credits

Elizabeth Ferrarini, Executive Producer

Tom Parish, Host and Audio Producer

Doug Marcis - Audio and Music Editing