On March 24th, 2011 my client, Informatica was recognized with the 2011 ERE Recruiting Excellence Award for the category of as “Most Strategic Use of Technology.” The award was based on the talent strategy architecture I developed this past year to establish a sustainable talent library founded upon a robust, competitive intelligence model. More significantly, the research oriented product was made actionable, as a plug and play resource for our talent acquisition team to access search syntax which could adopt and refine itself in progressive updates.

The award is the result of an aspiration to contribute on behalf of the corporate staffing industry in a meaningful and substantive way. It is a recognition of which I am grateful and humbled by and, as such, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on the mentors, clients and friends which assisted in making this achievement possible.

First and Foremost, I thank my friend and mentor, Shally Steckerl, Leading Global Recruitment and Sourcing Consultant, Professional Speaker (NSA, for his hands-on guidance and support of my career goals,his thought leadership contributions and curriculum; all of which resulted in fundamentally changing the way I process and produce in regards to my craft. Years ago, he took the time and patience to smash my prior perceptions and “rebuilt” the thought engine of how I looked at data. It was his family that took me in and became my own when I was unknown and and a virtual blank slate. Shally took the care to review my nomination submittal draft and in those hours as in always; never refrains from challenging my thought process to his credit. His influence directly fueled my world travels as a speaker and opened my eyes in a way I never expected.

The award itself could not have been possible had it been for Brad Cook, Vice President of Talent Acquisition Management at Informatica. It was his recognition and investment in the feasibility and potential of my talent strategy proposal that produced the staging ground for this effort to become reality. He has been a remarkable corporate staffing visionary, eager to embrace new ideas and enact technology-based change , globally within the organization. I am proud to have him as a client and, most of all, a friend who genuinely contributes to my evolving consultation practice.

I thank Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business Division; more popularly known as its Gaming function, and it’s forward thinking, staffing management. Greg Hart and Danielle Monaghan assigned an opportunity to develop an industry best practices review which helped formulate some of the actionable recommendations that evolved into the basis of this award. Prior drafts of a competitive intelligence workbook were incomplete, until the broader vision of a product based, social media landscape roadmap were fine tuned within the best practices model in my deliverable. It was conceived at Microsoft and implemented as a refined proposal to be enacted at Informatica. Greg was especially helpful in helping me navigate the thought process of my deliverables and the results are a cornerstone of the vision bearing fruit.

I thank Carol Mahoney and Danielle Monaghan, as both former clients, friends and thought leaders for their encouragement and actionable input on both my deliverables and career navigation. The two are remarkable women and their leadership style says much about how they have molded, and in many ways, reinvented organizations in environments of change. I truly look up to them and thank them for caring about my career and my personal development.

What makes them directly attributable for this award is that both looked at my efforts and saw a ‘product.’ It was their direct review of my work that had me see the potential of the direction in which I was taking talent data – and I say this without overly stating how important their influence was in this matter. I could just as easily had tinkered and moved on had they not noted the significance of what I was trying to develop.

I thank Gerry Crispin, sage of all encompasses true thought leadership in the talent industry. He has made a career of contributing data driven analysis to the tried and true of best practices and fostered much of the meaningful conversation of impact of social media and emphasized the human aspect within the digital divide. He has made a career of making others known and recognizing conversations outside the norm of the conference circuit. Indeed, he makes chatter into an industry conversation. Several years ago when Shally introduced me to him, it was a phone call out of the blue from Gerry a few days later that was memorable. He took the time to ask about my goals and ideas and provided encouragement to put them to paper. In all certainty, I mark that conversation with all the significance that it deserves. It brought me out of my old environment into the new. He likely tires of my remarks in this regard, but it is sincerely stated and important to voice that when thought leaders encourage others to the stage of ideas … things happen.

All stated, nothing happens in a vacuum. My wife, Heidi, endures my long hours and my children, Tino and Siena Blue, recognize that my efforts contribute to their well being and for that I am consistently humbled and appreciative.

I thank the judging panel of the ERE Recruiting Excellence for this recognition, and I share it with every person who has taken the time to listen, question and encourage prior to and since.

This is an opportunity to likewise show appreciation for indirect influences; if not necessarily attributable for this recognition that I wish to highlight as reminders of what makes this vocation special. Margo Rose and Her “Hire Friday” efforts contribute to the well being of others in a manner that doesn’t fit neatly into a category within our industry, but nonetheless is impactful. Helping others in need with the resources of the talent industry reminds us of significance of our vocation. Dennis Smith, who as a staffing manager was one of the very first to take Web 2.0 into practice and whose humor and insights as one of the pioneer bloggers in recruitment encouraged my domain name purchase and first blog post. He is a life long friend who deserves continual recognition as a pivotal player in my professional brand development. He might as well have created a clock widget of the many he introduced me to, – to count down my blog creation.

Which leads me finally to …

Thank you to my readers at SixDegreesfromDave.com for watching and reading as I have grown into who I am at home and at work. I promise to continue to contribute and share.

Best Wishes

• Linkedin
• Twitter
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• Business Website: “Professional TA”

When: Tuesday, July 13th
Where: Hyatt Burlingame (Bay Area)
Register to Attend: http://bit.ly/dyB0rO

Winning at the recruiting game is not just about finding the next great candidate…it requires influence; it demands edge; it depends upon diplomacy. Recruiters and Recruiting Leads: Sign-up for a career-changing workshop designed to increase your effectiveness as a talent acquisition leader.

Course Leaders: Mark McMillan, Executive Coach and Principal with Talent Function, and Carol Mahoney, founder and Head Strategist of Talent Acquisition on Demand, and former VP of TA for Yahoo! bring a wealth of staffing leadership experience to the room.

Don’t miss it! The day promise to be interactive, intense and impactful…sign up now.

Six Degrees: What types of training in sourcing/recruitment are available to you and have you taken advantage of?

CAROL: I am a trained facilitator and major proponent of Best Year Yet™, a process used to drive maximum team performance through planning.

In a nutshell, the process includes creating a vision for success that is compelling and, usually, nearly unattainable. The behaviors, practices and goals then follow from that vision. Then on a monthly basis, the team comes together to measure it’s progress against the behaviors, practices and goals they set up for themselves. Sounds simple…but having a facilitator outside the team keeps the derailers and excuses from getting in the way of success. Also, in my experience, at the end of the year the team is motivated by how closely it has come to achieving the nirvana state thought so unachievable the year before. It then propels the team to “ratchet it up” even more the following year.

In my past, I co-developed and facilitated a 2-day intensive training for companies called “Guerrilla Recruiting”. The tenets and foundation of Guerrilla Recruiting have shaped my philosophy about Talent Acquisition to this day. Central to an organization’s talent acquisition success is: an engaged executive and management team; a creative, competent and accountable recruiting organization; and a relentless focus on the candidate as the customer.

Six Degrees: What tools (technology or old school file folder, for example) did you first encounter early in your recruitment career?

Carol: Under my direction, I have implemented several software systems aimed at tracking talent and automating the talent acquisition process (Skillset Software, Restrac, Home-grown Filemaker Pro system, Icarian, Resumix, Vurv). In addition, I’ve tried at least as many solutions for tracking candidates, leads, etc. What I’ve found is that the technology is never as good as it looks and that human adoption is more important than anything. My observations:

A red-wagon can be a decent candidate delivery solution. At Synopsys while we were choosing an ATS solution, our req. load increased so we needed to do something. Enter…a red flyer wagon that we used to cart around the applicant flow to all recruiters. I don’t recommend it. And, yes, it was clumsy. But it was fast and every resume was seen by every recruiter.

It doesn’t matter how good the technology is, if the recruiter or sourcer doesn’t perceive that a tool adds value, the tool is ineffective.

A good 85% of recruiters hate a structured process imposed on them. If your tool also imposes a process, the likelihood of universal adoption is low. You can beat them mercilessly but they will evade you at every turn.

It’s not always “user error” or poor configuration decisions that make a tool bad. Sometimes the tool is slow; or the search capability is uneven; or it simply does not work.

It’s not a matter of install, deploy and go. A tool must be constantly tended, maintained and improved. A company that neglects this usually hates their ATS.

A Talent Acquisition manager can’t be successful without the reporting that tools allow. Excel spreadsheets won’t do it for a mid-sized function or larger.

Six Degrees: How did your expectations of being a recruiter compare to the actual, first time you got on the phone or in the cubicle? In your opinion, how do people’s assumptions about our vocation differ from reality?

CAROL: When I started at AMD, it was a great training ground because we worked in cubicles and could listen to the recruiters on the phone and even in interviews. I had a pretty realistic expectation of what it meant to do recruiting and it was actually easier than it sounded. I got a “high” when I was talking with candidates and in the pursuit of a hire. I had no idea, though, how hard it was to serve the “other” client: the hiring manager. I vacillated between being a pleaser and being, frankly, a little arrogant and difficult to work with. It took a few years and a foray into the consultant world to really understand: the client is “king”. Yes, the candidate is important too. But no client, no candidate.

Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t…and how that was a learning experience?

CAROL: Looking at lousy management practices, one emerges as the winner. It’s assuming that what worked at one company will work at another. Best practices are great. I spend a healthy percentage of my time looking outward and understanding what’s working in my field. In my experience, however, one can make a huge mistake simply forcing what worked before (even at the same company) on your clients.

Conversely, it is critical to continually pulse your client organization to understand their needs. You can pick and choose from past approaches and other best practices; but then you must customize your solution, strategy, programs, etc. to fit the needs of your client.

Six Degrees: How do you personally expect to facilitate change within our industry, and/or at your place of work? If you started that process, outline the problem, your solutions, and the vision.

CAROL: If I could facilitate only one change to the Talent Acquisition management world it would be to nurture, inspire and develop career Talent Acquisition leaders. I am positive that focusing on leadership rather than deep recruiting expertise would strengthen the talent acquisition function and its influence on the organizations we serve.

Recruiting tools and best practices evolve constantly. And recruiting experts who understand the trends are critical to the function. But developing the leaders who know how to conduct the orchestra of recruiting experts will help the “music” sound better and, more important, ensure that the music is heard.

Six Degrees: “Best practice” you are most proud of developing (now or in the past) in your recruiting career?

Carol: In 2008 I introduced Best Year Yet™ to my direct report team. We set our vision and goals for the year using that approach and it was a backbone to successfully navigating one of the most difficult years at Yahoo! – the year Microsoft made the offer to buy it. I used it again in 2009 and again was able to align the team and move the organization toward achieving very aggressive goals. Though I didn’t innovate the approach, I introduced it to the team and now consider it a “best practice” for running a large organization.

Another best practice that I’m proud of developing for Yahoo! was its talent pipeline pods. The goal was to create pods of sourcers and recruiters who would fill the pipeline with qualified talent possessing key skills in advance of open positions. The pipelines were successful and are still producing results for Yahoo!

Six Degrees: What are some of the frustrating aspects/obstacles to your day to day as a staffing professional and in general?

CAROL: The most common obstacle to any recruiting organization is limited funding. A well-funded and highly accountable talent acquisition team can be the secret sauce of a successful business. Recruiters are happy, management is happy, candidates are happy, customers are happy and, eventually, shareholders are happy. A poorly funded talent acquisition team may be able to work miracles but not on a sustained basis. Recruiters love to do great work – so being put in a no-win situation where they can’t perform for their hiring managers makes recruiters crabby. And managing unhappy recruiters is worse than nails on a chalkboard.

That being said, I have NEVER worked for an organization that was flush with cash. So the trick is getting enough money in advance of the need to create results

Six Degrees: What are the most common themes of strategic and/or tactical mishaps involving past or present HR/Staffing org?

CAROL: Strategic blunders: In the haste of delivering recruiting services during a hiring spike, it is critical to ensure that you are crystal clear with executives about what deliverables they can expect as you ramp-up hiring. It sounds like a tactical blunder. However, failing to do so results in a credibility gap that is hard to repair! Executives must be clear about what they can expect from their recruiting organization IN ADVANCE of any needs. Under-promise and over-deliver. And keep the organization informed of progress regularly because of “selective memory syndrome”.

Six Degrees: Considering all of the frustrations you have experienced in your career as a recruiter, — what inspires you as you continue in your career?

I also love the transparency of the recruiting business. It is enough of a numbers game to predict results and then bask in the success. Likewise, the accountability keeps the team on their toes.

Six Degrees: What one thing do you ideally hope to accomplish in 2008?

CAROL: I am in the business to solve Talent Acquisition management problems. This year I would like to emerge as the go-to person when high-technology HR and TA managers have a problem that they need to solve. I may not solve it myself, but I know that I will be able to help by bringing my network, my experience and my creativity to bear.

Six Degrees: Tell me something others may not know about you.

CAROL: I am an avid reader. Although I’m very social and love people, my favorite pastime is reading. I usually have 2-3 going at a time: 1 business or non-fiction book, and 2 purely entertainment books – 1 which I read and another which I listen to on my IPOD.

Six Degrees: How Are You Going To Change The Recruitment Industry?

CAROL: I see my company working arm-and-arm with clients to evolve the recruiting organization into a highly accountable, well-resourced effort of companies that depend on knowledge workers to win in the marketplace. Many companies are overly-fixated on cost and ignore the “art” of attracting and landing the very best talent. Likewise, other companies throw money at the problem with little result. I want to help develop the next generation of career talent acquisition leaders who drive outstanding results by: crafting a tailored and flexible TA strategy, developing MEANINGFUL metrics, and cultivating innovative teams that are a chapter ahead of the market.

Founded by Carol Mahoney, TA on Demand was launched to deliver recruiting management solutions to organizations that rely on talent to create competitive advantage. Most recently VP of Talent Acquisition at Yahoo, Inc. from 2003 through 2009, Carol has enjoyed a successful HR career, with a focus on Talent Acquisition. She is now leveraging her expertise to create a consulting practice focused on delivering Talent Acquisition Management solutions.

Past Clients & Employers:

Consulting

• Using structured methodology, assess Talent Acquisition capability and approach, outlining strengths and gaps.
• Create client plan to strengthen Talent Acquisition function.
• Coaching/Mentoring of TA Leaders
• Talent Acquisition program work
  such as…
  • Sourcing and talent pipeline program development
  • Employer Brand
  • Candidate Assessment & Selection

Team building

• Customize and facilitate Best Year Yet, a team building and
  goal setting process
• Assist in building a TA organization including
  • Assemble SWAT team to meet needs of unanticipated hiring demand
  • Identify and select top TA contributors, vendors & employees

Recruitment Process Outsourcing

• Staff and manage outsourced teams of recruiting resources

This profile is one in a series titled Monday Member Showcase. It was originally published on RecruitingBlogs.com, a recruiting and HR community, where I am a featured contributor. To read the whole series please click here.

Carol Quotables:
“‘the buck stops with me to ensure that talent acquisition efforts at my company result in producing the knowledge workers required to create marketplace advantage.’ It’s a tough, important, and sometimes lonely job. I know because I’ve had the job more than a few times in my career.”

“Central to an organization’s talent acquisition success is: an engaged executive and management team; a creative, competent and accountable recruiting organization; and a relentless focus on the candidate as the customer.”

“A good 85% of recruiters hate a structured process imposed on them. If your tool also imposes a process, the likelihood of universal adoption is low. You can beat them mercilessly but they will evade you at every turn. It’s not always “user error” or poor configuration decisions that make a tool bad. Sometimes the tool is slow; or the search capability is uneven; or it simply does not work.”

Carol Mahoney has always been an early adopter. In 2010 we find the vernacular passe’ but in the 1990′s she co-founded Guerrilla Recruiting” tactics, a hands-on workshop geared at helping high-growth companies compete. She was one of the first to recognize the significance “e-cruiting,” and was innovative in recognizing the value of hiring sourcers to use the internet to produce passive candidates.

What makes Carol unique however is how she treats people. I have had the pleasure of visiting the Yahoo! campus on two separate occasions, and I was immediately aware that a special culture had been fostered under her leadership. A Margarita machine, balloons, and schwag galore were within my peripheral vision and employees were … happy. It was downright festive as it was hectic; a bee hive swarm of activity with a common vision. When you walk the halls with her, take an elevator – it’s never quiet, the pulse of the organization followed Carol and it was contagious. It was the only campus I have ever walked into where you had the pervasive feeling this staffing organization was a family not simply a team. Talking to her, you have the sense that she is one of the most elite of subject matter experts in her field, and yet she has a familiar, approachable air around her that is filled with a bellowing laugh.

To make the point sink in, when I first visited Yahoo! my ears had popped on the plane and I could barely hear a thing, and it was her laughter catching fire within the cubicles assembled throughout her floor that resonated that this was the place to be. It was obvious that her recruiting org had enlisted enthusiastically on behalf of her War for Talent. She was the boisterous thinker overseeing the battle plans in all things.

Today, Carol Mahoney is the leading the way with “Live and Leap, Inc.” The company, founded in June 2009, is comprised of two separate ventures: F5, Forums for Females Focused on a Fabulous Future; and a consulting arm dedicated to providing on-demand Talent Acquisition capability and support for high-tech companies – most recently Juniper Networks.

Prior to founding Live and Leap, Carol was Vice-President of Talent Acquisition at Yahoo, Inc., where she built a formidable global talent acquisition machine that produced thousands of high-profile hires to fuel Yahoo’s hyper-growth. In her 20 year HR career, Carol has held a variety of leadership and consulting roles for high-technology companies including Intuit Inc., Apple Computer, Synopsys Inc., Digital Equipment Corporation, and Advanced Micro Devices. Carol graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world, Carol.

CAROL: I’ve been married to Frank for 22 years. We have a 21 year old son, Douglas, and a beloved labradoodle, Luke. I live on the ocean in Pacific Grove, CA and I enjoy the gorgeous seaside as much as I can. I walk along the trail daily and often take the laptop down to the bench across the street to bring the concept of “working at home” to another level. I’m absolutely passionate about using my energy, connections and sense of humor to inspire women to create a “fulfilling, fabulous future”. To that end I produce a blog and have sponsored 2 forums for females.

Six Degrees: How did you get started in the recruitment industry?

CAROL: A hiring freeze at AMD took me away from my dream – a marcom job. The dream job that went “on-hold” gave way to an interim job as recruiter. I never looked back. I loved the recruiting game and quickly found that I loved to manage recruiting and HR. I was one of the youngest Recruiting Managers when I put the management career on hold to spend more time with my one and only son! The result was that I began contract recruiting – a job I thought would allow me to balance my role as mom more easily than a corporate manager role. The rest is history. I re-entered the work world as head of TA at Synopsys and continued along that path (with one notable detour – more later) until I left Yahoo! last year as Vice-President of Talent Acquisition. The exception? A brief detour in charge of Recruiting Operations with ProQuest (now Duran HCP) that also included developing and delivering Guerrilla Recruiting™ in partnership with at Gardner Consulting.

Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career?

CAROL: The biggest impact to my recruitment management career came in 1999 when the rolodex gave way to what, at the time, I dubbed “e-cruiting” I knew that sourcing would never be the same and had to trick my employer into hiring sourcers who would use the internet to produce candidates. It was a resounding success and today I’m blown away by the frontiers yet-to-be conquered, as social networking bulldozes onto the recruiting scene.

Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after?

CAROL: I have many mentors – mostly women – who have taught me about great leadership. I believe at the heart of any great organization, are great leaders. This applies to talent acquisition organizations as well. So I continually strive to hone my management skills, my strategic mind and my ability to connect with others in the pursuit of a meaningful, successful career. Mentors include:

Cheryl Van, ex-VP of Talent at Yahoo! – she taught me that engaging your heart is as important as engaging your head. Great leadership means bringing the whole woman to work – and that means bringing compassion and respect too! Every night she walked the halls to encourage people to go home – work-life balance actually meant something to her.

Libby Sartain, ex-Chief People Officer, Yahoo! – the woman laughs louder than I do…a feat I thought was impossible! She taught me that a successful woman doesn’t need to button up so tight that she doesn’t even recognize herself. Libby allowed her personality to color her leadership and she was best when she was unadulterated and un-cut!

Sherry Whiteley, SVP of HR at Intuit – some of us suspected that she was a fortune teller on the side. She had an uncanny “gut” and her intuition complimented her intellect allowing her to achieve near-miracles on a frequent basis. I thought my intuition was something to keep quite about, even embarrassing, until I met Sherry. Now I wish it was as honed as hers.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your current projects.

CAROL: While I’m currently a one-person show, I intend to grow this year. I am president, the number one consultant, the bookkeeper and web master. Offerings Include:

• For larger companies or ones with an established TA function:
o Assemble, deploy and manage outsourced SWAT team (recruiters, sourcers, program owners, etc.) to address specialized or unplanned recruiting needs.
o Best Year Yet™ for Talent Acquisition: Partner with Talent Acquisition head to customize and facilitate a team-building and goal setting process that will ensure maximum performance of team. (I did this for 2 years and I am a huge proponent of the process!)
o Deftly manage key projects or initiatives that have no internal owner (e.g. branding campaign, social networking strategy, systems deployment, etc.).

• For smaller companies or those without a TA function:
o Assess and recommend TA Strategy and Plan based on needs of company vs. TA capability. Implement plan if required.
o Interim recruiting leader – temporary, part-time and outsourced.
o Apply expertise and network to identify and select talent acquisition contractors, employees, vendors.
o RPO: Staff and manage outsourced teams of recruiting resources. Efficient and compliant.

Six Degrees: What speaking events, awards, publications, have you been featured to represent your company?

CAROL: I’ve had a number of speaking events in the last few years for organizations like Kennedy, SHRM, AustralAsian Talent Conference, HRTC, and many more.

When I headed at Yahoo! my branding efforts yielded several webby’s – for our careers site and our branding campaigns. In addition, under my reign, Yahoo’s revamped career site won best career site through ERE.

Six Degrees: Tell us about Your new venture, Carol

CAROL: I founded Live and Leap, Inc. in June, 2009. It is the umbrella company for two separate consulting ventures: Talent Acquisition On Demand – a Talent Acquisition management solutions company; and F5 (Forums for Females Focused on a Fabulous Future) – a venture dedicated to providing tools, inspiration and support to women compelled to transform their lives.

Today, I’m focused on getting the word out about my Talent Acquisition practice – what I’m doing and why.

Six Degrees: What is Your Company’s Value Proposition?

CAROL: I love leading Talent Acquisition. But instead of working “inside” running one organization at a time, I’m interested in broadening my reach and leveraging my extensive Talent Acquisition management background, experience and access to talented recruiting resources to benefit a host of organizations in a variety of industries. My solution offerings, though varied, are designed to help the leader in any organization who says, “the buck stops with me to ensure that talent acquisition efforts at my company result in producing the knowledge workers required to create marketplace advantage.” It’s a tough, important, and sometimes lonely job. I know because I’ve had the job more than a few times in my career.

When I was VP of Talent Acquisition at Yahoo, I often looked for consultants with recruiting expertise and management savvy to augment my leadership team during peak activity periods. While recruiting and talent experts were available in the consulting marketplace, I found that Talent Acquisition Management consultants and experts were in short supply. I’m a talent acquisition management veteran who has “been there and done that”. I have the perfect background to help clients bridge TA management gaps through consulting, tools and coaching.

Six Degrees: What is the pricing structure for your services/products?

CAROL: Pricing will vary depending on the assignment. In general, I plan to offer my services on a retained basis for less than 1/3 of the cost of a contract recruiter.

Six Degrees: Do you blog?

CAROL: Right now I do a blog for F5 – focused on supporting women in transformation. I plan to start a TA blog on management as soon as I have a little more fodder.

“Watching Carol Mahoney in action was like seeing the leader at the World Series of recruiting. For nearly six years Carol successfully orchestrated the recruiting efforts that resulted in the hiring of thousands of exceptionally talented employees worldwide. The largest increase in Yahoo!’s history. Carol raised the standards and wrote the book on how to create a successful world class recruiting team (is the booking coming soon, Carol?). Without missing a beat she built & motivated a talented staffing team of over 250 people, she created a award winning career portal, nearly eliminated the use of outside agencies and she effectively brought executive recruiting inside. Her legacy included leading effective marketing campaigns over several years (& won numerous awards), and spiking the employee referrals to an all time high. No wonder that Carol is in demand on the speaker circuit and not just because of her superior reputation as a brilliant & innovative recruiting visionary but because she is also a rousing story teller with fabulous sense of humor. I would the welcome the opportunity to work for her again.”
Noelle Tardieu, Recruiter for Talent Acquisition, Yahoo!

“I have worked with and for Carol Mahoney for nearly 10 years and two companies. At Yahoo! Carol built a small and poorly organized staffing organization of 35 to nearly 250 at one point. Carol has an amazing strategic ability coupled with operational rigor to develop a high performing and (multiple) award winning organization. She brings humor, candor and an amazing ability to not only see the big picture but pull the right talent into the right jobs to achieve amazing results. I say today, what I’ve said before, “I’d work for Carol anywhere.””
Stephanie Prout, Sr. Manager, Talent Acquisition Programs, Yahoo!

Carol Mahoney – VP Talent Acquisition & Mobility, Yahoo! A leader in its field, Yahoo! still has to compete for the best talent in a highly
competitive field. To ensure success, Carol digs deep into the strategies and tactics that deliver top talent.

Jumpstart Your Talent Acquisition Strategy

• Tips and tricks for strategies that cut through and deliver top talent
• The pros and cons of a centralized recruitment function
• Sourcing vs. recruiting – what’s the difference?
• Avoiding the pitfalls and learning the drivers of a successful talent strategy

Carol Mahoney

Carol Mahoney is VP of Yahoo! Talent Acquisition and Mobility; she joined in late 2003 to help advance the talent agenda for the Internet giant in anticipation of hyper growth. She has leveraged her 20+ years of staffing experience to build a formidable talent acquisition machine for Yahoo! that has produced over 10,000 high profile hires over the past three years.

Carol has held a variety of HR leadership positions as well as provided subject matter consulting for companies like Intuit Inc., Pro-Quest Inc., Synopsys Inc., Digital Equipment Corporation, and Advanced Micro Devices. In the late 90′s, Carol combined efforts with Gardner Consulting to create and deliver “Guerilla Recruiting”, a hands-on workshop geared at helping high-growth companies compete in the war for talent. Carol holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Santa Clara University.

View my profile on RecruitingBlogs.com

LinkedIn | Bio | MSN | Skype

By Dave Mendoza, Master Cybersleuth, JobMachine Inc.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Carol twice for substantive discussions and on each occasion, she embodied the consummate big thinker with a genuine, larger than life personae which easily provokes ideas, friendship and memorable reflection. Great things are afoot at Yahoo!’s Talent Acquisition as she continues to enhance a world class talent organization which reflects her hands-on, passionate embrace of strategies and tactics.

At Kennedy Conference & Expo, Carol presented hands-on tools and techniques to jump-start your talent acquisition organization with organized principles that work best – a centralized, de-centralized, hybrid, and how to set up a sourcing organization. She explored the different roles of the sourcer from that of the recruiter, while taking due note of the pitfalls to avoid.

It’s not just about sourcing. It’s not just about hiring good recruiters. Creating a high performing talent acquisition machine requires a winning strategy, priorities that bring the strategy to life, simple operating mechanisms to ensure the machine is well-oiled, and the best recruiting talent available. In her role as VP of Talent Acquisition and Mobility at Yahoo!, Carol Mahoney has had to dig deep into the strategies and tactics that identify and deliver top talent in a highly challenging field. Along the way, she’s also had to develop some new tricks, all of which she’ll share with you and help you apply to your own talent acquisition program:

LinkedIn | Bio | MSN | Skype