By Dave Mendoza

My Personal Tribute to a Great Man: Leader of Community, Knight of Malta honor, and a founder of the Second Harvest Food Bank.

In 1988 I recall attending a leadership summit for young adults. I was a lanky kid with bleached blonde hair, without owning a tie or dress shoes. It was at that time I recall growing up in a household which was economically rated at best, lower middle class. In my pre-high school years, my father worked at times two to three jobs to earn enough savings towards our first home in Huntington Beach, California. Orange County itself was an education, philosophically and as a location which fosters the old adage “Who and What will I be” when I grow up. At that leadership summit, I saw an entirely different world of formality, yes, but of ideas which I long held of my own articulated at that podium by the event’s speakers. One of those speakers was Thomas A. Fuentes, – the “Chairman” i.e., “Mr. Orange County.” He was a fifth generation Mexican-American with a booming voice that resounded throughout the room to the young aspirants throughout the room. He was an image that day of the Horatio Alger credo. A man from simple origins himself, with economic and political liberty as the ethos of his DNA – and that young man gravitated himself to the powerful and the political and became one of its own. He became synonymous with Orange County’s culture and the mandatory visit of those desiring California and the nation’s leadership mantles. I saw all of this in the man that spoke that day. More significantly, that day as I heard his story recollected as he shared it within the center of the room, I knew that life story had to be an evolution of my own. Over 20 years later it did. Aside from the talent acquisition industries more commonly familiar thought leaders, Thomas A Fuentes was “America’s Got Talent” of the early 1990s for me and I didn’t have to sing or dance or light fire to juggled objects – I simply needed to identify my core beliefs and my own gravitas. Thomas A. Fuentes saw it within me as a young man and he forced it out of me and gave me my first stage and an audience listened to me, because they saw Tom lead me up the podium on one than many other occasions.

You can assume that day I befriended him. I did. The relationship evolved over the years by introductions at one event to another until one day he took me aside and asked me to join him and his colleagues for dinner after he walked off the stage. Soon after, he called me to inquire if I would like to join him at an Ambassador’s diplomatic reception in Los Angeles. I was taken to my first, high-end restaurant where he was welcomed by awaiting fans within the corp of waiters who knew of his generosity. I would see this first hand at many dinners following at venues known and unknown – his aura was appreciated without limits or barriers of class. His kindness was legendary to the bus boy to the chef of many an establishment.

It must of looked odd to the powerful that he was accustomed to that he took to me. I was awkward, ill-mannered and badly attired especially for the venues we attended. When I spoke they listened, first because I was “Tom’s friend” but then I learned I had something to say. Tom helped with the presentation. He took me to get fitted with my first suit. He noticed a large brush in my pocket and taught me to minimize what I carry to the essentials. I went to my first country clubs where the wealthier chatted and I learned they had problems just like anyone else, they had condolences and secrets shared just as others had. Their personal lives where often more complicated or as painful and the luxury in the parking lot was often that silver lining. Tom had a summary comment after each introduction had passed and he would remark on what I noticed and what I often failed to. Every walk was a willing padawan’s tale as instructed by a jedi in his infinite wisdom.

There is a lot I can share but where I can and would we would lose readers in divergent views of partisan political agendas. This is my memorial to a man, and whereas I cherished his convictions and remain dedicated as such – they were my own then and now -he was more than a listening choir and I more so to him. He was my friend. He was a father figure of the most beloved kind. My own father, respectfully stated, was not one to teach how to use a hammer, or “how to” on a variety of matters. My home was a broken one, to describe it as dysfunctional is being generous. I learned by trying and failing, often. As good fortune would have it, I found someone who voluntarily and without self interest, cared to, in Tom Fuentes. He didn’t simply teach me to be the man I am today, “God Family Country” as my motto – he taught me that great deeds are often quietly dispatched. He taught me manners, literally, handing me the paperback memoirs of George Washington’s Book of Manners where my elbows were oft put at a dinner party. The art of the handshake, the tenor and limits to a compliment given and how to be taken, he taught me belief in one’s self was not by skill or desire but by conviction. Above all, he taught me to be comfortable in my own skin – and he started that journey. The special feeling of being something more important than self.

It was the personal side of Tom that I recall fondly as well. He made his philosophy tangible to others. Tom the leader, was also quietly man of the less fortunate. He founded the Second Harvest Food Bank and it was in such efforts his cadre of the powerful and the wealthy was put to its most ambitious use. He would shop garage sales, at first I thought it an amusing eccentricity – until I learned where would would drive to next and it was in those side trips he would find a perfect gift that had sentiment to a moment shared with a friend, or an appliance he knew someone needed but could ill afford. Every misfit object had a use.

Tom took me twice to Baja Mexico where he introduced me to a magnificent, family owned restaurant and hotel on the beach. He had seen the place develop from a small escape to extra floors and landscaping. The trips were actually an opportunity. We would deliver displaced wiring and cables for artisan families to create necklaces or other crafts to sell to market, and huge bags of beans, flour and rice to streets without roads or running water. He had quietly sponsored children with polio, and other illnesses, to visit specialists within the United States. He checked upon them and their family, regularly. I can tell you, his car trunk loaded with garage sale items, donated scraps and the like in no exaggerated manner – actually laid the foundations for impoverished families make craft work into small businesses that led to jobs in those communities. Floors of shanty town homes were built one on top of another as a direct result of helping others help themselves. I personally witnessed within one of these households two pictures adorned with flowers; Pope John Paul II and Thomas A. Fuentes.

I collaborated on over 25 campaigns up and down California’s length in the time I knew Tom, I started a group than grew into 800 strong that participated in the elections process. I gave a speech in front of 10,000 across the area we now know as John Wayne Airport and Tom introduced me then as he had at so many other events. I met Ronald Reagan, twice. I went through two cars Tom provided to me as gifts – the ‘drivable’ ones to that got me from A to B (most of the times LOL). In these instances I now had a variety of ties, dress shirts and other outward examples of being a ‘grown-up’ – but more importantly I had matured into someone who had the confidence to do so with Tom’s guidance. Becoming a guest at his family dinner table, babysitting Michelle, and his sons T.J. and Joey – it was an extended family to me. I will never forget those Thanksgivings I was welcomed to dine with Tom and Jolene and their kids, nor the times I had my girlfriends visit for his input.

20 years later, I regret that I became less involved in that part of life, the public life – and grew into my own career, had a family and moved from California to Denver. We saw less of each other and yet I connected with family within Facebook, or called and emailed my latest events. Our calls were less frequent, however I made sure that every highlight of life was communicated with him. When we last spoke I called to inquire about his progress with his liver transplant.

He knows I have a beautiful wife, two incredible children, three dogs – two of them named in a manner he would appreciate with a smile. He doesn’t know of my travels overseas and my adventures, but he would be proud I’d like to think. He doesn’t know about “Six Degrees from Dave” – but he knows me and that is all that simply matters.

Recently, It must be coincidence or divine intervention I did a random search online for a news feed on Tom’s name while settling into bed to sleep with my iPhone in hand. I learned that his cancer returned and that he was terminally ill. I was distressed to learn the announcement was last August 2011 and feared the worst that I may have missed his passing and funeral.

Thankfully my friend Nicole Suydam, CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, let me know there was still time to reconnect with my friend, Tom. I would have never forgiven myself if I learned after the fact and I had not had a chance to pay my respects in person.

As good fortune would have it, I had planned already to fly in to John Wayne from my home in Denver next week on March 3rd, Thursday night through Sunday early afternoon to take my 5 year old daughter Siena Blue to Disney as a surprise with her brother, Tino, who is now 19. I had planned the trip due to an obligation to give a speech in Singapore the week of her actual birthday on May 14th. The timing of that return to Orange County with my children was a coincidence was left me awestuck.

It would mean the world to me to have my children meet someone who had such an instrumental influence in my life. The man who bought my first suit, who had me babysit his children, visit Mexico to feed the poor, provided me the opportunity to serve as Field Representative for Orange County for President in 1992, introduced me to dignitaries and handed me my first Volunteer of the month award. So many experiences I would need bullet points to collect my thoughts – but above all he was a father figure to me who I cherished then and to this day.

He welcomed my request to visit him this week with an email I read yesterday. I was enjoying a favorite past time of mine, buying aspens to plant along the side of my backyard. I read it alone in my car in the parking lot and I am not embarrassed to state that I wept as I read it. He deserves my tears.

“I am sure that Our Lord has good in store for you, ahead.I am sure that you have been a good and devoted husband and father. May Our Lord reward you. Thank you for all the kindnesses, friendship, and courtesies that you have done for me in years past.”

Online search for a researcher has many benefits, but allowing me this one last chance to pay my respects to a great man was an unexpected one. This moniker of “misfit of unwanted toys” was once me as a lad, and he saw it differently. I look forward to my children seeing him in bed, seeing Tom as the one who took me under his wing, taught me to be a man of virtues and helped their father learn how to. My children are blessed recipients as a direct result of his guidance to share wisdom, to employ leading by example, and to love others yet to be known.

Indeed, Tom laid the groundwork into making me much of who I am today. The “El Dave” moniker as I am known in my industry, would most assuredly never exist in the form and extent as it stands today had it not been for Thomas A. Fuentes. “Making Others Famous”, “Passing it Forward” – are all things he personally instilled within me. I say this with no false emphasis, no pretense of flattery – but with all the force of my being.

Thank you Tom. You are a devoted humanitarian, father, husband, and friend. Our Lord will reward you and our own memory of your life; so well lived for so many, and it will remain our compass.

You are loved my friend.

Readers, please help me honor Tom by helping those in need. Of all his life’s passion his dedication to the “Second Harvest” is a lasting legacy to tens of thousands who have benefited. Please donate in tribute to his own contributions to the community HERE:

ABOUT SECOND HARVEST

In partnership with over 470 member charities, the Food Bank helps feed more than 240,000 individuals each month. Those served include the working poor, children, seniors on fixed incomes, single parents, the disabled, the homeless and individuals experiencing medical emergencies or recent job layoffs.

Don’t try pidgeon holing Charles Bretz … a gifted mind has many offerings.

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Charles Bretz manages Crowe Horwath’s Sourcing Team and is responsible for current needs and pipeline development in Audit & Financial Advisory, Tax Consulting, Performance (IT Consulting) and Risk Consulting. Other areas of responsibility include the Employee Referral Program, Vendor Management, Employment Advertising, Metrics & Analytic’s, Social Media for Recruiting and Recruiter/Sourcer Training. Charles is an integral part of leadership team implementing Crowe’s Jobs2Web efforts.

Charles has been a speaker at “The Learning Conference 2011,” and at Sourcecon Atlanta 2012. Reading his Sourcecon bio speaks highly of how much of an impact he has made in his career over the years; “Over all, Charles has over fifteen years of experience in recruiting and sourcing, providing strategic, tactical, and competitive intelligence to both private and public sector…As a sourcing guru, Charles is sought out for his industry expertise and has written articles for Talent Management Magazine, Recruiting Trends, Baseline Magazine, and many other publications. He has done multiple radio media tours speaking on social media and military recruiting. Charles is a member of the Staffing Management Association of Greater Chicago.”

I had the good fortune of being introduced to Charles by our mutual dear friend and colleague, Michele Porfilio at the Linkedin Talent Connect Conference in Las Vegas this past October and then again at ONREC in Chicago. In the six years I have been featuring the players of note within our industry, and the unsung heroes who contribute to their successes – my readers will recognize that I have stated often, that I was impressed by the expertise, the life story, or a certain character trait. In Charles Bretz, I was given front center seats in each of our meetings to observe all three factors for a compelling reason to share the story of my colleague, as a technically astute, hands-on sourcing expert, as a family man, and as someone I call my friend. Charles can speak as passionately about how he met his wife as his classmate sweetheart, his days as a prodigal musician who purposely missed key notes for a key scholarship to turn to other pursuits, and about sourcing methodologies and processes. In each subject matter, as noted, he speaks with the same emphatic tone, and sincerity that catches your complete attention. In all things, Charles sincere and for all these reasons I can honestly state I recall poignant and mundane aspects we communicated in vivid detail. You remember Charles, and you know he remembers you – its not that kind of passing in the hall way type of familiarity, but a kindred spirit with an intellect you want to collaborate in some manner. I’ll take a chance meeting with Charles anyway I can. A voracious reader has a lot of stories to share, and if anything else, I’d like to have Charles on my trivial pursuit team. Crowe Horwath prides itself as the little engine that could in the world of the Big Four professional services industry. They achieve much by having the very best and brightest staffing organization thrive on efficiency and they have the awards and best practice presentations at an industry function near you to see why. On a personal note, I was immediately able to discern why Michele Porfilio places such high regard and depends on his contributions to make her talent acquisition roadmap a destination worth venturing to. We all know of her own prowess on the speaker circuit, but Michele has an organization to run, and we see in Charles how the wheels spin, and the gaskets seal the center of excellence they are developing for a professional services organization of their scale. Hiring the right people are the true hallmarks of leadership, and in this person, we see one more example of why she succeeds. In Charles, I know, and desire, as his team members do – to see him succeed for what he can do as well as who he is as a person. In this instance, however, I invite our Six Degrees audience to read and learn first-hand why Charles Bretz is certain to be at a stage near you in the coming years as a subject matter expert.

Crowe Horwath is a top 10 public accounting and consulting firm, growing at a double-digit pace for more than 40 years.It is a professional services firm with offices throughout the United States, including California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas. In addition to its U.S. presence, Crowe serves clients worldwide as an independent member of the Crowe Horwath International global professional services network. Crowe’s services include assurance, benefit plans, financial advisory, forensic services, performance consulting, risk consulting, tax and technology, among others. Crowe customers primarily consists of large and middle market public companies and large privately held businesses.

According to Accounting Today, SourceMedia’s publication servicing the public accounting profession in the United States, Crowe brands itself as “The Unique Alternative to the Big Four.”

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

CHARLES: Married for 13 years to Stacey Bretz. We first met in the 3rd grade and grew up a few blocks from each other. We were friends throughout school and briefly dated in High School and again after attending separate colleges for a year or so and final got back together the third and final time the day before Thanksgiving in 1995. I have two wonderful children, John (11) and Jessica (9) along with 2 loving dogs Izzie, a Kelpie which is an Australian sheep herding dog and Quincy who’s a shepherd, retriever mix and who will fetch a ball till your arm falls off.

We love to travel and camp. We started out tent camping, but a few years ago, we got tired of sleeping on the ground and we purchased a pop-up trailer a few years ago. Our next camping trip will be with friends to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, going to see and explore the west side this year as we visited the east side of the Michigan UP last year. One of our favorite family activities to do while camping, or for a day out at home, is Geocaching. Geocaching is an outdoor activity using a GPS to find hidden containers called geocaches, or caches, anywhere in the world. Caches could be as big as a bread box or as small as the very tip of your pinky and most are hidden really well in fallen logs, under rocks, bridges, park benches, basically anywhere. It’s a great, fun family activity that teaches navigation, map reading, observation and most importantly gets you outdoors. I enjoy winding down at the end of the day by reading books and magazines. I usually will read 3-4 magazines and 1 book a month.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?

CHARLES: Hard to believe but 15 years, doesn’t seem that long.

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

CHARLES: I started at a Management Recruiters International franchise in 1996 as a full lifecycle recruiter in Accounting and Finance. Days after September 11, 2001 the agency transitioned me into a sourcing/candidate development role for the Biotech practice which was severely lacking candidates and I fell in love with this piece of the recruiting process. I loved the challenge to find and engage talent. In 2006, I decided to transition to the corporate world and I became the first sourcer that CDW Corporation, a B2B reseller of technology products and services, hired. In February 2011, my network informed me of a great opportunity and in March I joined Crowe Horwath LLP as the Sourcing Manager for our experienced hires. The sourcing team is responsible for identifying talent for our tax, audit & advisory, risk and performance business units. Roles include accountant, auditors and IT consultants from Senior to Partner levels nationwide.

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

CHARLES: I would say when I transitioned to a pure sourcing/candidate development role in 2001 at MRI. If not for that, I don’t know if I would have found the sourcing function. Sourcing was in its infancy at the time and the agency provided me time to learn and grow in my new profession.

Six Degrees: Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, aor model your career after?

CHARLES: There are so many. Some of them may not even know it, but I would say a few of my biggest influences are Shally Steckerl, Glenn Gutmacher and more recently Glen Cathey, Mike Notaro, and Michele Porfilio. There are many more that I have not mentioned and it’s no slight to them.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your role at Crow Horwath LLP

CHARLES: Currently I’m the Sourcing Manager at Crowe Horwath LLP. I oversee the day to day sourcing team (5 sourcers), our Employee Referral Bonus Program, vendor management from a tools and resource perspective, source metrics/analytics and training. I also am involved with our employment branding and social media from a recruiting perspective.

Six Degrees: (A) What other companies’ recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples?

CHARLES: Being that Crowe Horwath is an Accounting & Consulting firm, I always keep an eye on what our competition is doing, so Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG. On the IT consulting side, I watch Accenture, Avanade and Protiviti to name a few. Of course Microsoft, Starbucks, Dell, Deluxe and Sodexo keep raising the bar as well.

Six Degrees: (B) In what aspects are their talent acquisition organizations mentionable in terms of best practices?

CHARLES: I would say one of the common traits they all have is that they are forward thinking and not afraid to fail. By that, I mean they are willing to try new approaches that are well thought out and they execute them for a long enough period where you can measure their impact.

Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future?

CHARLES: The greatest impact I see is the lack of students in the STEM curriculum in our colleges and universities. We already have a shortage of talent in these fields and with less and less students going into these professions it will only get worse. In order to compete, these highly skilled and high paying roles will have to move offshore in order for our company’s to grow and survive in the global economy.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry:

CHARLES: I’m a member of the Staffing Management Association of Chicago and I try to attend as many of their events as I can each year. This year I attended Jobs2Web Collaborate 2011, LinkedIn’s TalentConnect 2011, Onrec, and I co-presented at The Recruiting Learning conference. I’ll be presenting at SourceCon this February.

Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche?

CHARLES: Since I joined the firm in March of this year, I did not see the effects that it had previously. Currently, it’s had little effect on us from a recruiting perspective. In fact, we are back to or above normal hiring for Crowe.

Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities. Are there specific groups, both online and in-person that have proved fruitful in extending your personal brand and job seeking prospects?

CHARLES: I try to identify 3-4 people attending each event I attend that I never have met or spoken with that I target to introduce myself to. I have a specific reason for selecting each of the people I target and why I want to expand my network with them. I also try to identify how I can provide value back to them as well so we both benefit.

Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do?

CHARLES: Realize that you cannot just take, but have to provide value back. Also, if your network reaches out, get back to them in a timely manner. Even if it’s just letting them know you got their message and need a few days to get back due to work or personal demands. Don’t be a black hole and just not respond.

Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?

CHARLES: Preparing myself to take my boss’s job or a similar role elsewhere. I’m not ready yet, in my opinion, so I’m learning everything I can from her and others to take myself to the next level.

“Working with Charles has been an absolute delight. His social media savviness and competitive intelligence gathering skill sets are key differentiators. He’s an experienced sourcer with many candidate wins under his belt. Charles is focused on producing results for his internal clients. He prides himself on being able to overcome an internal clients expectations and most of the time exceeds them. He’s a true resource to the team as he is a foundational element to the success of the entire Talent Acquisition organization.” February 24, 2011
Jen Klein, PHR, Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition, CDW

“Charles is undoubtedly the most resourceful & talent sourcing specialist I’ve had the pleasure of working with during my contract at CDW. From a personal standpoint, he is a warm, friendly & genuine team player who is a delightful professional to partner with.” November 7, 2010
Leahanna Horn, Contract Recruiter, Horn Consulting Services

“Charles is extremely knowledgeable and an expert in technology and online media.” December 29, 2009
Mary Pilot, Account Manager, NAS Recruitment Communications

“I have worked with Charles now for the past 2+ years while at CDW. Charles is a consummate professional and always a pleasure to work with. He is prompt and an honest individual who can relied upon for all things related to recruitment and reporting. He is extremely knowledgeable about the industry and business trends. In addition, he is very well networked. Charles has provided me with some excellent candidates for roles I have worked on and is always open to feedback. I have truly enjoyed working with Charles, and I highly recommend him!” December 18, 2009
Jennifer Pither, CIR, Corporate Sales Recruiter, CDW Corporation

“Charles is a talented researcher and sourcer, knowledgeable about where and how to identify passive candidates. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him at CDW, where he has helped identify candidates for various positions. Charles stays tuned into the various websites and utilizes unique techniques to work his magic.” December 27, 2007
Lynn Saratore TopLinked, CDR CIR PHR, Senior Recruiter, CDW

“Charles has been able to find the proverbial “needle in the haystack” when other avenues have come up dry. He makes an effort to understand the requirements and responsibilities of the position being sourced for in order to target appropriate candidates.” December 12, 2007
Beth Lewis, Senior Technical Recruiter, CDW

“Charles has an ability to source for and find specific candidates utilizing self developed techinques. He is particularly skilled in identifying the passive applicant” December 7, 2006
Paul Kinderis, Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, CDW

“Charles was a very valuable contributor at OSG Global. He is that rare person on who one can rely. He fully understands responsibility and the necessity of supporting his team and his company. He is an unselfish contributor. Charles, an early innovator, easily ventured into and mastered new territory. He then was able to clearly communicate what he had learned to others. I found him to be dedicated, optimistic and strong of spirit. He was successful in his efforts and invaluable in the high level of success then achieved by OSG. I endorse Charles with absolutely no reservation.” December 17, 2009
Ward Larkin, Managing Director, OSG Global

“I had the pleasure of knowing Charles while working at OSG Global he was very innovative in researching and finding candidates that normally were not available by traditional means. He was very supportive and to this day a great friend.” August 28, 2008
Randy Rose, Account Executive, OSG GLOBAL

“I have known Charles for 8 years and he is incredibly talented. He is an exceptional researcher and recruiter and is able to drill down to identify passive candidates. He is constantly coming-up with new ideas to enhance his skill set.” April 6, 2006
Shena R. Barlas, Sr. Director-Executive Search, OSG Global

“Charles is an invaluable asset in my work. He is able to keep current with technology, uncover hidden candidates and constantly bring new tools and ideas to the table. He is organized and efficient – and even attempts to train me!I would highly recommend Charles!” March 30, 2006
Marybeth Haas, Director, Statistics and Analytics Practice, OSG Global

“I worked with Charles for 2+ years at OSG. His sourcing skills are exceptional and he became the go-to person in advising us on the best approaches and methods for the sourcing of potential candidates for our clients using the internet, associations, user groups, etc.. He has an excellent network of individuals in a similar role at other organizations that he can tap into on a moments notice.” July 25, 2005
Mike Madura, Recruiter, OSG Global

Today I endorsed Alex Putnam on Linkedin as follows:

“A rustle in the leaves, a water cup stirs circled waves – it is a prelude to what mighty force is fast approaching …. and with force it did and with impact – for I am describing the arrival of teh Social_T-Rex that is Alex Putman.

I was fortunate enough to have Alex as one of my featured interviewees on my blog, sixdegreesfromdave.com and it is still one of the most read of interviews to date. I was flattered to know my blog inspired his goal to be the most networked in Atlanta but that was nearly three years ago and his outreach far exceeds those boundaries.

When I asked Alex what was the most impactful memory in his staffing career, on your sourcing/recruiting career – he answered in a manner much like my own sentiments: “going through a company closure (Panasonic) and a layoff from the very next job. I incorporated myself, built a home office and began my journey of becoming highly networked”

Alex has done it in his own style, with his own witty and thoughtful approach to what he writes and how he engages others. That featured article is the reason this series exists – it allows the unsung heroes to have the light shine on them for their own individual contributions. Alex’s ambitions match his successes. Once decided he proceeds and never fails. I admire Alex and I strongly recommend someone who has done so much to fuel blogging and best practice sharing., I salute him!” September 28, 2011″

When I completed my recommendation, I smiled and decided we needed to share Alex with the Audience again to remind the recruitosphere of someone special:

“Never quit. It is the easiest cop-out in the world. Set a goal and don’t quit until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don’t quit until you reach it. Never quit”
Paul “Bear” Bryant

• RecruitingBlogs Profile
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• Community Volunteering: Habitat for Humanity of Atlanta (3 consecutive build years), Sentinels of Freedom (Gwinnett County, Georgia), Susan B Komen Breast Cancer Walk
• Personal Causes: Angel Tree Program, March of Dimes, Toys for Tots, and Church Outreach
• Phone: 770-346-7216 (o) | 678-557-0469 (c)
• Email Alex alex@alexputman.com, or aputman@eusebeia.com

Alex Putman is the first of a series on the most active members of the RecruitingBlogs.com community. He has contributed recent blog posts that have attracted attention such as “Dirty Words Recruiters Use“, “Be a Social T-Rex“, “Do Your Prospects Know“, and “Big Shoes Leave A Lasting Impression.”

Alex enjoys consulting & coaching other recruiters in techniques that enhance their marketability and capabilities. He has lead workshops for new and seasoned recruiting professionals via a managed training program focused on goals, objective and time management. In the past decade, Alex’s teams have been responsible for the fulfillment of 3,200+ requisitions and job orders.

Alex has a driven passion for utilizing social networking/social media, to benefit human resource services, talent acquisition, career coaching and assisting people in their search for career fulfillment.

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

ALEX: I have been married for 7 wonderful year to my wife Tifany. We have 4 children including our beautiful twin daughters Alexis & Kathryn (6 yrs old), Gabrielle (3 yrs old) and son Corban (18 months).

I am extremely active in the lives of our children; participating in their many church and school events. I believe one of the greatest gifts given to us is the ability to see the world through the eyes of our children. This blessing has changed my entire outlook on life.

My personal hobbies include home renovation projects, working outside, getting together for cookouts with friends (especially during football season) and reading the Bible. I also enjoy Golf, College Football (Roll Tide), Basketball, pretty much a sports enthusiast. I am a strong family person; I do everything with my wife and children! We have a strong commitment to giving back within our community. I have had the honor of working with The Habitat for Humanity – Atlanta in partnership with 13 other local technology organizations. As a deacon at Shadowbrook Baptist Church, I am embedded in a multitude of activities offered at our church. My wife and I are invested in the College & Career class, Awana, and Children’s Worship.

Warm and fuzzy: Every month I take one of our daughters out for a date night! They enjoy going to the mall, having dinner at McDonalds and getting a giant pretzel. I hope this never changes!

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?

ALEX: I have been in the industry for 13+ years. I started in executive recruiting and then made the change to the corporate side (Panasonic). Once I made this change my career rapidly progressed from an individual contributor to the HR Manager for Employment, Immigration and Employee Relations. We grew form 88 people to 450 with a Canadian office. After 6.5 wonderful years, we closed the facility.

I then went to work for a DoD contractor in the satellite communications (VOIP) field and found myself in the growth mode again (375 employees to 600 in 1 year!!!!). Too fast, we began to experience the pains of layoffs. I then incorporated myself (Eusebeia Consulting Group LLC www.webstarts.com/eusebeia. I quickly picked up 2 contracts as a consultant, one with Danger (www.danger.com) – they make the Sidekick for T-Mobile and another with Synergis (my current employer). I then decided to go to work growing a staffing firm, and what an adventure it has been! Recruiting has provided for my family over the years and I am grateful to this business and the many wonderful people I have met along the way.

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

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

ALEX: Wow, huge question! I would have to say going through a company closure (Panasonic) and a layoff from the very next job. I incorporated myself, built a home office and began my journey of becoming highly networked. This is about the time I discovered people like Dave Mendoza existed. Prior to this I was in my corporate shell and let people come to me. I established a goal, “be the most networked person in Atlanta!”, Still working on this one, but the point is, I was able to quickly transition to perm placement from home and contract recruiting. I never missed a beat (or paycheck) and learned that having a strong network means everything (the 400 people from Panasonic all went to other companies, many of which I still do business with to this day!)

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

ALEX: Many! Dan Bell from my first role was a recruiting machine. This man billed $1.5 million per year by himself! Many would not call Dan the “easiest” person in the world, however he instilled a sense of urgency in me early on. He once told me that he was scared to go to the bathroom during the day because he may miss a call that would lead to a placement!

I do plan to meet several “on-line” mentors at Recruitfest this year! This may come as a surprise to these people, but Jenny DeVaughn (whom I have met recently), Maren Hagen, Scott Love, Bill Radin (first person I heard speak) and you Dave are people I see on-line and love your stuff! The Recruiting Animal has some great stuff as well! I really try to find the best in their field and learn as much as possible!

Six Degrees: Tell us about your position as Director of Recruiting at Synergis:

ALEX: I am the manager of recruiting and currently have 4 direct reports (have had more prior to this year). I am part of our leadership team and have indirect responsibility for sales. Our total staff (Atlanta HQ) is 15 people. I have introduced a lot of social networking techniques and each team member has a personal branding plan. We boast a national client base with 300+ clients serviced. In conjunction with my recruiting, I maintain a few clients with whom we do a good portion of business (one client was $300k in sales last year — goes back to my Panasonic network). I am also a member of the leadership function and involved in the corporate growth and planning of the company.

Six Degrees: (A) What other companies’ recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples?

ALEX: TekSystems comes to mind, they are huge (12% market share), but what a success story. I respect them for their model, not their size. Apex Systems is a prime example, look at how fast they have reached the $360 million mark (10 years). Many other successful companies have utilized their model and are among the top in our industry.

(B) In what aspects are they superior?

ALEX: These companies have unbelievable training programs! I was fortunate to go through a strong training program, but TekSystems sets the standards. They really invest in the success of their employees.

Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why?

ALEX: I know everyone is still buzzing about social networking / social media, but it is a trend that is here to stay! People are so busy and we are use to getting our information in “bits”. I recently read an article on vlogs (video blogs), I believe the industry and technology are merging and we will see this more the norm!

Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry:

ALEX: Conferences are great! I am extremely excited to attend Recruitfest this year (booked and ready to go)! I regularly attend the Technology Association of Georgia conferences, The Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce meetings and the High Tech Career Ministries. Our company is a member of TechAlliance (formerly NACCB) www.techservealliance.org and we attend their annual conference in November. Last year I attended a “Lead Like Jesus” conference where Patrick Lencioni presented (great speaker).

This year I will be attending RecruitFest and possibly ERE (potential schedule conflict). I have worked closely with the Georgia Institute of Technology’s career center and participated in roundtable presentations. I am actively seeking opportunities to speak and be published. I am currently working on my first book and my goal is to speak at a major conference or forum in the near future.

Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Has it effected your job or that of your fellow team members within the organization? strong>

ALEX: We are in the IT industry and although we have not been hit significantly, we have experienced some down time. In January of this year we (the leadership team) scrubbed our budget to the bare bones. We were able to plan for the year accordingly and to date have had a small increase in sales over last year, added to our sales and marketing functions and remained in the black for 2009.

Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities.

ALEX: So many! For two years I have aggressively encourage my team to develop their personal brand. We developed plans and events for them to attend. I created my own Yahoo user group (ConnectHiTech) as my initial platform into the social networking world. Recruitingblogs.com has been a real catalyst for blogging. This is something I always wanted to do, so I took the chance and my first blog written was a feature. After this boost of confidence, I have become a blogging machine ? I created my moniker “The Social T-Rex™” and have been running with this brand! I am currently developing a logo, website and many other features around this brand!

All of these have proven to be fruitful in extending my personal brand. My on-line brand has widened tremendously and has actually led to referrals, contacts and placements!

Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do?

ALEX: Don’t be scared! I know talented people, writers, speakers etc that are just scared of what people will think. I have learned, some people will like me, some will not…part of life! But by all means, put yourself out there and see what happens! In conjunction, be yourself, don’t be something you are not. If your personality can come out in writing or interviews then you will gain respect of peers and others (even if they don’t like you personally).

Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?

ALEX: My ultimate goal is to be a motivational speaker! I want to write a book (professionally and personal ideas) to incorporate my life experiences to help others maximize their potential. I want to be the guy that is sought after for speaking engagements works hard from home and creates a socially big personal brand….maybe as big as a T-Rex!

What do I need to get there? Advice and assistance from people already there! Jenny DeVaughn has a “pay it forward” concept and I firmly believe in this. If those who are already there can pull us up and then we become the ones pulling others up, everyone wins!

Vice President of Workforce Solutions
Synergis

“Alex is a great manager and very results-driven. He is fair and always willing to take time and discuss anything that you feel is important. Alex has many years as a successful recruiter himself which makes him a more understanding manager over recruiters. He’s open and honest and most trustworthy. Alex is a great family man and a very devoted father as well as an effective manager…always has a smile.” August 24, 2007

Sharon Greco Spangler, CPC, Sr. Technical Recruiter, Synergis

“I have been working for Alex for about 2 years and he has been a great manager, mentor and leader for our recruiting team. Alex is constantly trying to find ways to improve our recruiting processes to make us more efficient in our jobs and is always willing to jump in and help out when needed. He truly cares about the success of every member of our team and will do whatever it takes to ensure that we achieve our goals and satisfy the needs of our clients. I have a lot of respect for Alex because he is very honest, ethical, diligent, and hardworking, and doesn’t believe in the word “can’t!” He has also been instrumental in getting the sales and recruiting teams to work more cohesively and effectively together to produce greater results.” September 10, 2009

Denise Wicks, Principal Recruiter, Synergis

“Alex is one of the most well networked, ethical individuals I have ever met. He has made a huge impact in transforming Synergis into an organization with efficient policies and procedures, and he has a knack for recruiting and training amazing people. I have enjoyed working with Alex not only on a professional level, but also a personal one. His positive enthusiam for the industry is contagious. I am honored that I have had the opportunity to work with him for the past 2 1/2 years.” September 25, 2009

Shanna Bradley, Account Executive, Synergis

“Alex is an excellent manager with outstanding leadership skills and work ethic. Alex leads by example and has made me a better professional through his mentoring. I would highly recommend Alex!” October 7, 2009

Rob Larson, Senior IT Recruiter, Synergis

“I’ved had the pleasure to work with Alex Putman on many occasions. He is very professional and always provide excellent service. I would definitely recommend anyone considering him to utilize his services.” July 12, 2010

Darius Hunter, MBA, Owner, 1st Class Resources

“Alex is an individual who takes his profession very seriously. If he tells you something, believe it. Alex is also “just one of the guys” with great communication skills, and a high level of integrity.” July 13, 2010

Ben Kirkland, Sr. Forensic Investigator, Fiserv

“Alex brought the best of all worlds to HR at Panasonic. He not only had a unique ability to locate and acquire the talent we needed in the company–he also had his finger on the pulse of the employee population. His keen insights and advice kept us from getting off track more than once. I would welcome the opportunity to work with Alex again.” July 14, 2010

Dr. Jim Marion, PMP, President, Panasonic Mobile Communications

“Alex is a dedicated and skillful recruiting professional. I had the pleasure of reporting directly to Alex. He is a strong leader that is constantly working to move his team forward. He takes a genuine interest in the professional growth of the individuals on his team. He was very open and listened to what his team had to say at all times and valued our expertise. Alex is a top-notch recruiting executive that has the ability to create, restructure and improve recruiting functions in any type of organization. It was truly a delight to work for Alex.” December 8, 2010

Annellie Holmes, HR/Recruiting, Rockwell Collins

“A wonderful person with an exceptional attitude. He is very professional and easy to work with.” January 10, 2011

Diane Hosch, Senior Documentation Specialist, Panasonic

“When Alex served in the Reruiting Manager role at Synergis he hired me right out of school to be an Associate Recruiter. Alex was instrumental in providing me with the training and knowledge I needed to be successful as a new recruiter. Within five months I accomplished the necessary milestones to move into a Technical Recruiter role and I attribute much of that success to Alex and his ability to be a servant leader and take a vested interest in my recruiting goals. I’ve now known Alex for almost four years and I can truly say that he has all the values that you would want in a manager/leader. He knows how to hold others accountable, how to encourage and motivate, how to lead by example, and how to be solution focused. He’s also an excellent writer and is very creative and innovative!! I have a huge amount of respect for Alex and can’t say enough good things about him!!” May 13, 2011

Janna Tucker, Technical Recruiter, Synergis

“I worked directly for Alex when he functioned as Recruiting Manager at Synergis. Alex is forward thinking, detail oriented and really cares about the growth and development of his employees. Alex excels at building teams and he grew and built an fantastic team of recruiters here at Synergis.” August 16, 2011

Christy Cifreo, Sr. IT Recruiter, Synergis

“I have worked with Alex at Panasonic as well as at Danger and found him to be a great recruiter. He is one of the best out there when it comes to finding the right talent for you. On his most recent assignment at Danger, Alex was able to produce outstanding results in extremely challenging circumstances. I have no hesitation in recommending Alex’s services to anyone looking to recruit top talent!” January 2, 2007

Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, High Integrity
Joseph Mathew

“The most valuable relationships in business are built on trust. Alex places a high priority on the success of those he works with. His combination of knowledge and personal character provides a refreshingly positive business atmosphere. Truly, he is a great guy to work with.” November 22, 2007

Tim T., Financial Advisor, Strategic Financial Management, LLC

“If you ever need someone to speak to your group about integrating social media in you marketing plan, Alex is your man.
I learned more in 30 minutes by listening to Alex than from all the articles and “how-to’s” I reviewed.
He clearly lives and breathes social media – let him show you how to use it in your organization.

Chris Harlow, Sr Executive Advisor, Career Concepts Inc

“Alex delivered relevant information in a format that was fun and easy to understand and implement. I see Alex as an expert in social media and will look to him for help again in the future.” August 9, 2011

Rebecca Bowen, Employer Relations Specialist in Career Services

“I had the opportunity to meet Alex through Birmingham Recruiter’s Network. As a referral from one of our members, we invited Alex to speak on Social Media at one of our monthly luncheons. His presentation and knowledge of the topic was spot on! Since then, I have had the opportunity to network with him on another front, using social media to assist me in a personal job search. Through his guidance, I was able to market myself and open other doors of opportunity that would have otherwise been closed. Not to mention, Alex is down to earth and easy to talk with and always willing to lend a guiding hand. I would recommend Alex Putman for any opportunity he is challenged with.” August 16, 2011

Wade Roley, 2011 President, Birmingham Recruiter’s Network

“A rustle in the leaves, a water cup stirs circled waves – it is a prelude to what mighty force is fast approaching …. and with force it did and with impact – for I am describing the arrival of teh Social_T-Rex that is Alex Putman.

I was fortunate enough to have Alex as one of my featured interviewees on my blog, sixdegreesfromdave.com and it is still one of the most read of interviews to date. I was flattered to know my blog inspired his goal to be the most networked in Atlanta but that was nearly three years ago and his outreach far exceeds those boundaries.

When I asked Alex what was the most impactful memory in his staffing career, on your sourcing/recruiting career – he answered in a manner much like my own sentiments: “going through a company closure (Panasonic) and a layoff from the very next job. I incorporated myself, built a home office and began my journey of becoming highly networked”

Alex has done it in his own style, with his own witty and thoughtful approach to what he writes and how he engages others. That featured article is the reason this series exists – it allows the unsung heroes to have the light shine on them for their own individual contributions. Alex’s ambitions match his successes. Once decided he proceeds and never fails. I admire Alex and I strongly recommend someone who has done so much to fuel blogging and best practice sharing., I salute him!” September 28, 2011

YOU Dave Mendoza, Talent Acquisition Strategies | Social Media Architect | Blogger | Consultant | Sourcer | Recruiter, Six Degrees from Dave

Friends,
I will be sharing tidbits of my learnings as I travel from EMEA to India the next two weeks.”Dave Mendoza Tales From Paris, Luxembourg, Uk & India”

In the interim, I wanted to take this moment to share something rare. El Dave is Interviewee not Interviewer today!

Rather than referencing an interview of a corp staffing leader I engaged in to share their best practices … Today I share my own. I was interviewed by Luxembourg’s Leading Magazine “PaperJam” and I shared my own personal insights of the corporate staffing environment – the dysfunctions, the trends where inroads on innovation are being made – and my hopes.

QUOTE: “The Talent Strategist, blogger and sourcing consultant explained the ERE Recruiting Excellence Award for competitive mapping and talent strategy architecture he developed for Informatica in an event sponsored by OTYS recruiting technology. He talks about gathering competitive information using social media and other public domain web tools.”

VIDEO of my post keynote speech Interview discussion: Click http://bit.ly/k2uKkn

The Interview article itself is available as an online pdf – the second of two covers, starting on page 40
Click: http://bit.ly/iUQ1JG

I’ll be back in two weeks. In the interim, I’d appreciate friends who have a moment to tweet the links referenced. Thanks so much

• Doug Munro, Staffing Director at Interferometrics
• LinkedIn Profile
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Corporate Website
• Office (703) 227-8415
• Cell: (202) 957-4620
• Email Doug
• Music: Depeche Mode, Sade, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Coldplay
• Books: Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, Shutter Island, Black Hawk Down, The Road, The Da Vinci Code
• Movies: The King’s Speech, Do the Right Thing, The Godfather Part II, The Godfather, Good Will Hunting
• Television: The Wire, Fringe, Cougar Town, American Idol, and Modern Family

Six Degrees: How many applicants at your present employer do you estimate are hired from your corporate website as compared to how many are hired through referrals?

Doug:I’d say we are at roughly 10% employee referrals, 40% direct sourcing, 30% external job postings (job boards and niche sites), and 20% through our website. Among my goals are to increase the figures for employee referrals by engaging our folks and keeping them abreast of what we need and increase traffic to our site to bolster that figure.

Six Degrees: What is the source of the “Most Hires” collected from at your present employer? (In terms of Quantity #)

Doug:Direct sourcing accounts for the highest figure. Because of the very limited pool of qualified candidates with the requisite security clearances there is a constant need to ferret out talent.

Six Degrees: What is the source of your “LOWEST COST OF HIRES” – (least amount of invested resources for the easiest hires, regardless of quality) at your present employer?

Doug: I would say external job postings. I’m able to cross-reference postings on a multitude of sites to generate a steady flow with a minimal investment of resources. Integrating that with targeted efforts to drive traffic to our site builds a robust model; it creates a schema that works for me even when I’m not working, which is the essence of efficiency.

Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review?

Doug:Currently the most significant group is Intelligence Analysts with very agency-specific backgrounds, but I also target highly-cleared Information Technology specialists in a broad range of disciplines: Software Engineering, Database Development and Administration, Systems and Network Engineering, and Systems Administration. One of the great things about working in such a clearance-centric recruiting environment is that I have had to recruit against a wide variety of positions, in and out of IT. I’m fortunate to be able to evaluate candidates with diverse skillsets.

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

Doug:In the last couple of positions training took a back seat to adding additional job boards and human resources, so I wasn’t able to do much in the way of formal training. Interferometrics, however, has an excellent benefits program in that regard so I’m currently evaluating a variety of courses, seminars, and certifications. I can’t wait to get started!

Six Degrees: What recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit?

Doug:There weren’t any tools in place when I arrived at Interferometrics. The first step has been to establish a proper foundation for recruiting: adding functionality to the website, fully utilizing the available targeted job boards, and beginning to forge a translatable company culture. Once that foundation is more fully realized we’ll start adding more tools to the mix. We recruit only within the United States, so translating our approach into different markets isn’t a factor.

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

Doug:Contrary to those who know me who believe I was alive during the Lincoln administration, things weren’t significantly different when I started recruiting. Information was stored to a higher degree in hard copy form, which I don’t miss at all. One thing I do remember fondly is hand written thank you notes being utilized far more often. Something about someone taking the time to put pen to paper and mail a note still resonates with me.

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?

Doug:I think I generally believed it was a pretty easy job: get on the phone, talk to people, give them jobs. I knew it was a little more complicated than that of course, but it was a shock to the system to learn how much went into effective recruiting: the sourcing, the learning curve on position requirements, candidate management, client management, compensation negotiation. I was amazed at how many elements there were and how much information I had to absorb.

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

Doug:There have probably been hundreds of them, but I recall becoming acquainted with a very successful recruiter who was incredibly aggressive in his dealings with candidates. He would literally bully them into making choices that favored his clients. It clearly was working for him somehow, so I tried to incorporate some of that pushing into what I was doing…and it was a complete crash and burn. It didn’t suit my mentality and I was obviously projecting something insincere when I did it. I learned the importance of finding your own voice and staying true to it. Each of us has unique qualities that we bring to the job; while it’s important to always look for ways to improve it is imperative to stay true to who you are.

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.

Doug:In my current role I am focusing on employee engagement and company branding. The Federal marketplace is insanely competitive and as a Small Business we have to be able to differentiate ourselves in a positive way to attract and retain the best talent. It’s also very easy for our onsite personnel to identify more with their COTR’s and corporate partners than their own company. I’ve made it a point to involve our people in discussions on how we can develop an even more effective benefits package, shared with them insight into what the company is doing in a broader sense, and solicited their input as to how they envision the company developing. As I’ve recruited, I’ve gathered feedback from candidates on their impressions of the company and how various components resonate with them. Though we’re a 30 year old company, there is an opportunity to significantly impact its culture. My theme to both existing staff and those I’m recruiting is that we can actively create the kind of company we want to work for.

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

Doug :I don’t believe I’ve reinvented the wheel on anything. I’ve tried to incorporate the best of what I’ve learned through experience and exposure to other recruiters’ practices into my methodologies. If there’s one thing I’ve found important it’s to try to incorporate something personal into every encounter. It’s important to relay technical detail in a conversation, but I look for a way to interject a personal experience into the communication. I think that it’s vital to connect in a personal fashion; we’re not selling cars, we’re selling what is a huge part of a person’s life and I think candidates are better able to connect to it if they can see their recruiter in human terms.

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

Doug:That could be a very long list: finding the right people with the right skills to meet our technical requirements, working with our partners and the government to get those people through the system, managing the expectations of all parties in the process, getting all those disparate parties to respond in a timely and complete fashion…the list goes on, but if it was easy where would the fun be?

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

Doug:I think in the best circumstances Recruiting and Human Resources work in parallel. As recruiters we’re trying to identify top performers and sell them on a position; HR serves to both protect the employee’s interests and make sure all of us are abiding by pertinent law and guidelines. I’ve seen instances where HR can lose sight of that imperative and not serve as effectively as an employee advocate but rather become more of an employer watchdog. We all represent the company, but the employees have to believe that they have someone internally looking out for their best interests above all else.

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?

Doug:It’s the people, Dave. Every day I get to meet dozens of people in person, on the phone, through the Internet…and all of those interactions have an impact on me. I learn something every day and what’s better than that? I’m also fortunate in that much of my work ends up, by extension, supporting mission-critical efforts that impact National Security. There’s definitely a satisfaction to that.

Six Degrees: What one thing do you ideally hope to accomplish in 2011? (OR) Six Degrees: What one thing do you find most ideal given the opportunity to develop/ implementing/ invent professionally that has yet to be done.

Doug:Aside from my immediate goal of helping grow Interferometrics, I’d like to become more engaged with the recruiting community at large. I’ve made strides in that area, but I’d like 2011 to a breakout year!

Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug?

Doug:I’d definitely like people to check out www.interf.com. We’re a very cool company and we have an extraordinary history; we’ve engineered some amazing scientific breakthroughs and have a long list of notable accomplishments. On a side note I’d like to plug a movie directed by an old friend of mine named Andrew Shortell. It’s a horror movie called Psych 9 and it’s being released here and in the UK. If you like the genre you’ll love it…you can learn more at www.psych9.com.

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

Doug:I’m just going to keep pushing forward and trying to soak up all the amazing innovations and new insights that the industry is generating. I’ll apply my perspective and personalize everything I gather, but ultimately the journey is what excites me. It’s an enormous, collaborative community and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

“The very first word that comes to my mind every time I hear Keith’s name is “FourSquare”, for his constant need and desire to check in every place we go! I’ve known Keith though for many years and he is an awesome resource for Intel and one we are happy to have held on to for so long! He is ALWAYS the guy I go to when I need a vendor “negotiated” and my regular sounding board when considering new tools/technologies in the recruitment space. Recently I had the privilege of speaking with him at #ERE Expo 2011 and I’m never anything less than impressed by his professionalism and knowledge of his business.”
Tiffany Peery, Virtual & Marketing Program Manager –
Intel US College Recruitment & Internship Programs

• Keith Molesworth, Staffing Channels Manager at Intel
• Phoenix, AZ
• Linkedin Profile
• Twitter Profile 1: & Profile 2
• Personal Causes: Kiva, Mercy Corps, United Food Bank
• Phone: (480) 723-7718
• Email
ERE Expo Slide Presentation: “Social Media Strategy Secret Sauce: How Intel Makes Data-driven Decisions”
Career Highlights:
• Staffing Channels Manager at Intel
• Business Analyst Business Analyst – Global Staffing at Intel
• Vendor Management – Global Staffing – Business Analyst at Intel
• Program Manager, Employee Referral Prog /Staffing Vendor Management at Intel

You’re tweeting, you’re sourcing on LinkedIn, and you just hit the 1,000 fans mark on your Facebook page. Now what? How are you measuring your presence and success in the social media arena and what are you doing to optimize? These are the questions Intel asked itself not too long ago. Conference attendees at ERE Expo Spring 2011 were treated with a peek behind the curtain at Intel. Keith Molesworth, along with fellow co-presenters at Intel outlined “Social Media Strategy Secret Sauce: How Intel Makes Data-driven Decisions.” Their presentation shared the story of how their corporate Talent Acquisition organization empowers its employees to engage in social conversations to market its products, amplify its employment brand, and source great talent. I had the pleasure of observing and learning from Intel as they detailed what social channels it is using in the U.S. and globally, how it is engaging with candidates, and a deep dive into the data and results they’ve developed as a team.

I had the opportunity to sit across, break bread and discuss talent engagement strategies one-on-one with both Keith Molesworth and Intel’s Recruitment Marketing Program Manager, Allen Stephens at a dinner hosted by Jobs2Web recently. Beyond Keith’s gregarious sense of humor, is a genuine passion for innovation and collective teamwork. How could I possibly not meet Keith and not ask him to share his insights with our audience at Sixdegrees? It is a pleasure to introduce both his insights and his expertise with you today!

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

Keith: I’ve been with Katherine for about 4 years now. I have more fun with her than I have with any other person I’ve ever known. She’s my best friend and I feel lucky every day. I have two awesome boys from my first marriage, they’re 13 and 10 and they keep me really busy with the usual sports running around. My oldest loves football, it’s his thing. He’s the kind of football fan that watches College Spring games on ESPN. My younger son is more of a baseball kid. Living in Arizona allows us to spend lots of time playing sports – except in the summer when we lay low (and inside). I don’t have any pets, but I pet-sit for friends often enough to remind me why I don’t have them.

I used to volunteer at an ESL program, but it’s been a while since I’ve been able to make that happen. Fortunately, Intel not only supports but encourages volunteerism so I’m able to volunteer at my sons’ school and Intel even matches that time with donations to the school. Also, Intel offers a bunch of group volunteering activities in which I participate. In recent years we’ve donated our efforts to a food bank and a local Hospice. I don’t have as many cool hobbies and pastimes as I did when I younger, as I mentioned much of my time is spent running kids to practices and games and of course work. When not doing that I enjoy watching movies from Netflix, mostly documentaries and dramas, of course I love comedy too. My Netflix queue has a couple of hundred movies in it, so, like my DVR, it taunts me. Also love reading and I subscribe to way too many magazines. I Enjoy reading non-fiction but growing up was a huge Steinbeck fan, in fact I’ve read everything he wrote. Lately I’ve become a fan of more “modern” fiction like Roth, DeLillo and Colum McCann. The one hobby I still try to fit in is Genealogy I think because it combines my interest in research and history and, of course, family. I traced a few lines back as far as 1650. I know that my relatives come from England, Wales, Germany, what is now Hungary and the Czech Republic.

As I mentioned above, my kids play a lot of sports and I love photography so I have hundreds, if not thousands of pictures of the boys playing football, baseball, basketball, soccer, etc. At a very early stage in my academic career I was a Photography major, but once photography became about assignments and homework it stopped being fun. I take lots of photos now of things that interest me.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?

Keith: I started out working in Staffing after Grad school (Go Ducks) and a short stint at a VERY small software company (4 employees small). I joined Volt as a recruiter about 14 years ago in Seattle. I worked for Volt and another agency in Portland before I was hired at Intel as a contract recruiter. I’ve had a bunch of jobs at Intel since 99 but all of them in the Staffing organization. Everything from Recruiter and Staffing Consultant to Business Analyst and Vendor Manager. Today, I’m Global Channels Manager and I also oversee the Global Employee Referral Program.

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

Keith: I kinda stumbled into recruiting. After I finished grad school with a Masters in Industrial Relations I had a tough time finding an HR job. My first job (after temping for a few months at Sears in Eugene…is there anything more depressing than taking that freshly minted Masters degree and making about $7/hour putting together store displays?) was working for a small Software Company in Portland. We didn’t do much recruiting, but I did a little bit of everything else from training new clients, telephone support and payroll taxes. After a while there, we got transferred to Washington State and that’s when I got the job with Volt. Initially, I worked in their South Seattle IT branch, then the onsite recruiter for Weyerhaeuser. The program manager and I shared an office next to the photo lab in what could likely be considered the basement. After about a year, we were transferred back to Oregon and I moved to the Portland IT branch. I did a short stint at another agency in Beaverton, and in Dec 1999 was hired as a Contract recruiter at Intel. It’s been a while since I was actually working as a recruiter. As I mentioned for the past 6-7 years I’ve been outside the more operational parts of Recruiting, supporting those who do the recruiting with implementations and improvements to tools and business processes.

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

Keith: Because I fell into recruiting part by accident and part by necessity when we moved, I’d say the most impactful event was being hired by Volt back in 1997. In fact, I still keep in regular contact with the manager who hired me in the Seattle office.

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

Keith: I have had a number of people whose vision and outlook on recruiting have shaped how I think. Fortunately, I still work with a number of them at Intel on a regular basis. There are also other recruiters that I’ve worked with over the years whose opinion I still value and I connect with them whenever I need advice.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your role as Channels Manager and ERP manager for Intel

Keith: I work with our channels vendors (job boards and social media outlets) and oversee a couple of teams comprised of regional owners in those areas. I work very closely with Allen Stephens and his team who own Employer Marketing and Branding. We recently created a dashboard for Intel to measure the performance of our channels, this has been instrumental in helping decide where to invest and disinvest in channels and it also helps Staffing build credibility with hiring manager as we build out sourcing plans using this data. We’re still looking at adding new functionality to the dashboard including some level of predictive intelligence. That’s still in the works.

I’m also heading up the effort to re-ignite our ERP program and looking at new ways to improve it. Finally, I’m driving an effort and coordinating with a number of stakeholders and partners in Staffing, Communications and IT to build out our Mobile recruiting roadmap.

Six Degrees: What other companies’ recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples?

Keith: In our channels and marketing and branding space we pay attention to companies like Deloitte, AT&T, Sodexho, PepsiCo and Microsoft, but we’re not limited to just a few companies. We try to pay attention to ANYONE who is doing anything interested and innovative in the recruitment space.

Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why?

Keith: Two things, and no great insight here, but Social Media and Small Form Factor devices will have a big impact on how we all do our jobs.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry:

Keith: Recently we stepped with our efforts to talk about what Intel is doing in the recruitment space. Personally, I’ve been on a panel at HCI last year and just recently Allen Stephens, Tiffany Peery and I spoke at ERE in San Diego. Other members of our team have spoke about Social Media and recruitment.

MEET OUR NEWEST GUEST WRITER Hint: He metaphorically drinks Tiger blood and in truly is always **”WINNING!”** and does it all while being sane!

• Doug Munro, Staffing Director at Interferometrics
• LinkedIn Profile
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Corporate Website
• Office (703) 227-8415
• Cell: (202) 957-4620
• Email Doug
• Music: Depeche Mode, Sade, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Coldplay
• Books: Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, Shutter Island, Black Hawk Down, The Road, The Da Vinci Code
• Movies: The King’s Speech, Do the Right Thing, The Godfather Part II, The Godfather, Good Will Hunting
• Television: The Wire, Fringe, Cougar Town, American Idol, and Modern Family

As part 2 of a 2 part series on Doug Munro, we asked and he delivered on sharing his best practices as the staffing director operating one of DC’s best known Intelligence Staffing Experts. He is our resident “Spook Superstar” and I am delighted to announce he will be a guest writer on “Six Degrees from Dave“.

Over the last three years one familiar and often visited friend has been Doug Munro. Though we haven’t met in person as of yet – social media has provided a varied platform for our ideas to be shared, and more likely than not … our own strong political views. Suffice to say our views on the day’s events are rarely in agreement but a touch of enjoyable spice to the day’s dialogue. Our chats make the mornings lively. Passion for love of country is a wonderful thing, and coincidentally – it’s his day job. Doug specializes in the DoD and Intelligence Community niche of staffing. In all our exchanges, he is the willing sounding board and he does so with wit, charm and above all, grace. It is a pleasure to give that written word another venue and to concentrate on Doug the personality, Doug the professional and as a friend to community. I am confident we will be hearing more from him in the months ahead and jump in together in the driving process.

Six Degrees: How many applicants at your present employer do you estimate are hired from your corporate website as compared to how many are hired through referrals?

Doug:I’d say we are at roughly 10% employee referrals, 40% direct sourcing, 30% external job postings (job boards and niche sites), and 20% through our website. Among my goals are to increase the figures for employee referrals by engaging our folks and keeping them abreast of what we need and increase traffic to our site to bolster that figure.

Six Degrees: What is the source of the “Most Hires” collected from at your present employer? (In terms of Quantity #)

Doug:Direct sourcing accounts for the highest figure. Because of the very limited pool of qualified candidates with the requisite security clearances there is a constant need to ferret out talent.

Six Degrees: What is the source of your “LOWEST COST OF HIRES” – (least amount of invested resources for the easiest hires, regardless of quality) at your present employer?

Doug: I would say external job postings. I’m able to cross-reference postings on a multitude of sites to generate a steady flow with a minimal investment of resources. Integrating that with targeted efforts to drive traffic to our site builds a robust model; it creates a schema that works for me even when I’m not working, which is the essence of efficiency.

Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review?

Doug:Currently the most significant group is Intelligence Analysts with very agency-specific backgrounds, but I also target highly-cleared Information Technology specialists in a broad range of disciplines: Software Engineering, Database Development and Administration, Systems and Network Engineering, and Systems Administration. One of the great things about working in such a clearance-centric recruiting environment is that I have had to recruit against a wide variety of positions, in and out of IT. I’m fortunate to be able to evaluate candidates with diverse skill sets.

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

Doug:In the last couple of positions training took a back seat to adding additional job boards and human resources, so I wasn’t able to do much in the way of formal training. Interferometrics, however, has an excellent benefits program in that regard so I’m currently evaluating a variety of courses, seminars, and certifications. I can’t wait to get started!

Six Degrees: What recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit?

Doug:There weren’t any tools in place when I arrived at Interferometrics. The first step has been to establish a proper foundation for recruiting: adding functionality to the website, fully utilizing the available targeted job boards, and beginning to forge a translatable company culture. Once that foundation is more fully realized we’ll start adding more tools to the mix. We recruit only within the United States, so translating our approach into different markets isn’t a factor.

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

Doug:Contrary to those who know me who believe I was alive during the Lincoln administration, things weren’t significantly different when I started recruiting. Information was stored to a higher degree in hard copy form, which I don’t miss at all. One thing I do remember fondly is hand written thank you notes being utilized far more often. Something about someone taking the time to put pen to paper and mail a note still resonates with me.

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?

Doug:I think I generally believed it was a pretty easy job: get on the phone, talk to people, give them jobs. I knew it was a little more complicated than that of course, but it was a shock to the system to learn how much went into effective recruiting: the sourcing, the learning curve on position requirements, candidate management, client management, compensation negotiation. I was amazed at how many elements there were and how much information I had to absorb.

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

Doug:There have probably been hundreds of them, but I recall becoming acquainted with a very successful recruiter who was incredibly aggressive in his dealings with candidates. He would literally bully them into making choices that favored his clients. It clearly was working for him somehow, so I tried to incorporate some of that pushing into what I was doing…and it was a complete crash and burn. It didn’t suit my mentality and I was obviously projecting something insincere when I did it. I learned the importance of finding your own voice and staying true to it. Each of us has unique qualities that we bring to the job; while it’s important to always look for ways to improve it is imperative to stay true to who you are.

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.

Doug:In my current role I am focusing on employee engagement and company branding. The Federal marketplace is insanely competitive and as a Small Business we have to be able to differentiate ourselves in a positive way to attract and retain the best talent. It’s also very easy for our onsite personnel to identify more with their COTR’s and corporate partners than their own company. I’ve made it a point to involve our people in discussions on how we can develop an even more effective benefits package, shared with them insight into what the company is doing in a broader sense, and solicited their input as to how they envision the company developing. As I’ve recruited, I’ve gathered feedback from candidates on their impressions of the company and how various components resonate with them. Though we’re a 30 year old company, there is an opportunity to significantly impact its culture. My theme to both existing staff and those I’m recruiting is that we can actively create the kind of company we want to work for.

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

Doug :I don’t believe I’ve reinvented the wheel on anything. I’ve tried to incorporate the best of what I’ve learned through experience and exposure to other recruiters’ practices into my methodologies. If there’s one thing I’ve found important it’s to try to incorporate something personal into every encounter. It’s important to relay technical detail in a conversation, but I look for a way to interject a personal experience into the communication. I think that it’s vital to connect in a personal fashion; we’re not selling cars, we’re selling what is a huge part of a person’s life and I think candidates are better able to connect to it if they can see their recruiter in human terms.

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

Doug:That could be a very long list: finding the right people with the right skills to meet our technical requirements, working with our partners and the government to get those people through the system, managing the expectations of all parties in the process, getting all those disparate parties to respond in a timely and complete fashion…the list goes on, but if it was easy where would the fun be?

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

Doug:I think in the best circumstances Recruiting and Human Resources work in parallel. As recruiters we’re trying to identify top performers and sell them on a position; HR serves to both protect the employee’s interests and make sure all of us are abiding by pertinent law and guidelines. I’ve seen instances where HR can lose sight of that imperative and not serve as effectively as an employee advocate but rather become more of an employer watchdog. We all represent the company, but the employees have to believe that they have someone internally looking out for their best interests above all else.

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?

Doug:It’s the people, Dave. Every day I get to meet dozens of people in person, on the phone, through the Internet…and all of those interactions have an impact on me. I learn something every day and what’s better than that? I’m also fortunate in that much of my work ends up, by extension, supporting mission-critical efforts that impact National Security. There’s definitely a satisfaction to that.

Six Degrees: What one thing do you ideally hope to accomplish in 2011?

Doug:Aside from my immediate goal of helping grow Interferometrics, I’d like to become more engaged with the recruiting community at large. I’ve made strides in that area, but I’d like 2011 to a breakout year!

Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug?

Doug:I’d definitely like people to check out www.interf.com. We’re a very cool company and we have an extraordinary history; we’ve engineered some amazing scientific breakthroughs and have a long list of notable accomplishments. On a side note I’d like to plug a movie directed by an old friend of mine named Andrew Shortell. It’s a horror movie called Psych 9 and it’s being released here and in the UK. If you like the genre you’ll love it…you can learn more at www.psych9.com.

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

Doug:I’m just going to keep pushing forward and trying to soak up all the amazing innovations and new insights that the industry is generating. I’ll apply my perspective and personalize everything I gather, but ultimately the journey is what excites me. It’s an enormous, collaborative community and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

• Doug Munro, Staffing Director at Interferometrics
• LinkedIn Profile
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Corporate Website
• Office (703) 227-8415
• Cell: (202) 957-4620
• Email Doug
• Music: Depeche Mode, Sade, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Coldplay
• Books: Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, Shutter Island, Black Hawk Down, The Road, The Da Vinci Code
• Movies: The King’s Speech, Do the Right Thing, The Godfather Part II, The Godfather, Good Will Hunting
• Television: The Wire, Fringe, Cougar Town, American Idol, and Modern Family

Over the last three years one familiar and often visited friend has been Doug Munro. Though we haven’t met in person as of yet – social media has provided a varied platform for our ideas to be shared, and more likely than not … our own strong political views. Suffice to say our views on the day’s events are rarely in agreement but a touch of enjoyable spice to the day’s dialogue. Our chats make the mornings lively. Passion for love of country is a wonderful thing, and coincidentally – it’s his day job. Doug specializes in the DoD and Intelligence Community niche of staffing. In all our exchanges, he is the willing sounding board and he does so with wit, charm and above all, grace. It is a pleasure to give that written word another venue and to concentrate on Doug the personality, Doug the professional and as a friend to community. I am confident we will be hearing more from him in the months ahead and jump in together in the driving process.

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world, Doug

Doug: I’m blessed with an amazing family. I’d been married once, but eventually divorced and as time went on I started making peace with the idea that it might not happen again. I had a full, happy life but wasn’t getting the “thunderbolt” from anyone I was meeting. I met my wife through a friend and she was a bit intimidating; she was so gorgeous I found it hard to form sentences around her, but I finally summoned the nerve and asked her out. She said yes and we’ve been together ever since. Beyond her obvious beauty, Michelle has a passion for life that colors every part of the world we’ve built together. I tend to be fairly laid-back and her emotional fire and unwillingness to accept stagnation in life are great counterpoints to that; she helps me to keep looking ahead and demanding more out of life. My love for her is unlike anything I have ever experienced.

We have a seven year old son and he is a piece of work: loving, charming, bombastic, and of course happily destructive! It seems like I blinked my eyes twice and William turned seven. He makes me wish I could wrestle time into slowing down, but watching him grow and develop into an amazing little man is an incredible journey. He reminds me every day how important it is to hold onto our curiosity and sense of amazement about life.

We also have my wife’s eighteen year old daughter living with us. She came to us three and a half years ago after living with her father for a good part of her life. It was definitely an adjustment to have a teenager suddenly appear in the house, but Natalie is an extraordinary young woman and I am fortunate to have had the experience of developing a unique bond with her. I could not love her more if I had been there when she was born. She’s off to college in the fall and I know I’m going to miss her terribly.

We’ve also got an adopted cat named Hannah and a poodle named Heidi. We’re fortunate to have a wonderful network of friends and we love to have a full house, so there’s always plenty of noise and laughter in our home and I love it!

Six Degrees: What do you do outside of the industry to enjoy some R&R?

Doug: To be honest, I’ve lost touch with some hobbies in the rush of family life. With a full load of work and responsibilities I find the most rewarding pastime to be time spent together. We love to explore and are fortunate to live in a place that is close to some truly fascinating and beautiful locations, so we take day all the time. We travel well as a family, so whether it’s a short trip or an extended vacation we have a blast. I have personal interests in politics and history; living in DC is amazing in terms of all the history and museums available to us. He probably enjoys it more for the treats he ends up getting, but William and I love exploring the museums around town. When babysitting arrangements permit, Michelle and I love sampling the wide variety of exceptional restaurants in DC and some drinking and dancing around town with friends (Michelle dances and I drink, a perfect pair). I love movies and see as many as I can; in fact, Michelle and I’s longest standing date is watching the Academy Awards every year.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry?

Doug: I started in 2001, so I have a big anniversary coming up this year. I’ve learned so much and seen so many changes that it feels like it’s been much longer!

Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter?

Doug: I’ve done a lot of things to make a living over the years. I’ve been a Bartender, a Bar Manager, a Mortgage Broker; I’ve even done voice-over work. I was looking for a change back in 2000/2001 and realized that living in Washington, DC it might make sense to get into something related to politics. I did some work in the national fundraising office of a Senate campaign, but wanted more. I connected with a gentleman named John Miyasato, who is a very successful political consultant here. We talked about the political arena for a while, but he brought the conversation back to a technical recruiting firm he owned and eventually offered me a job. I knew NOTHING about recruiting or Information Technology, so it was quite an immersion. Most of our clients were in the DoD and Intelligence Community, which added another interesting element. It was a great fit from the start: the connection to people, the fluid nature of IT, and the excitement of supporting mission-critical efforts. I was fortunate to find my way into that job and the subsequent corporate recruiting positions I’ve had; the beauty of the whole experience has been that I have learned a great deal from some very savvy people, but have also been thrown into the deep end of the pool along the way and had to figure out a lot for myself. That combined education is invaluable.

At Crossroads I began as a recruiter, but the role was more like what we’d refer to now as a Sourcer, though it wasn’t as sophisticated as that. I had a knack for making strong personal connections with candidates, so I quickly progressed into full lifecycle recruiting and then into account development and management. Selling prospective clients on our value-add was challenging at times, but helped thicken my skin and has helped me in subsequent roles, even where business development wasn’t a direct component of my work. I was getting my first lessons in Information Technology at the time, so the combined necessity of building a knowledge base in IT and learning to recruit successfully was challenging in the best way imaginable. The other layer was that most of our clients were in the DoD and Intelligence Community space, so I had to learn the intricacies of clearances and recruiting in classified environments. We would tackle any challenge, so the Crossroads years allowed me to recruit for the full range of IT disciplines and up to the highest levels of clearance.

From there I moved to be Manager of Recruiting at Integrated Communications Solutions, a Federal Systems Integrator specializing in Network Engineering, Information Security, and Information Assurance. It was a wonderful exposure to the corporate side of the fence. As an agency recruiter one of the challenges was to get as much information as possible from the client; beyond that, I would often chafe at a client’s inability to make the offer I wanted for my candidate. Once I got to ICS the walls came down and I was able to see everything. I participated in proposals, learned how pricing was done, became more knowledgeable about bill rates and wrap rates and how they affected competitive bidding, gained intimate knowledge of the relationship between government COTR’s and contractors, and most importantly was able to see directly into the details of the requirements. It was also my first deep foray into Cyber Security and that proved fascinating and enlightening.

I recently joined Interferometrics as Staffing Director and it qualifies as my most unique challenge to date. I’ve been tasked with creating a recruiting model nearly from scratch, so I’ve been able to apply all of my experience in a condensed time frame. One of the intriguing elements to this position is that Interferometrics provides both services and a unique product line-we are one of only two companies in the world that produces an effective Transmitter Location System. We have a history of unique scientific and technological accomplishments to go along with the services we provide and it differentiates us from many companies in our space. Of course, I’m still sourcing IT and Analysis specialists with high-level clearances, but the tangible value of selling a product as well is exciting to me.

Six Degrees: Tell us more about work on behalf of Interferometrics, Doug.

Doug: In the past I have been in charge of recruiting teams and the chance to mentor and collaborate has been very rewarding, but at Interferometrics I am a one man show. It is a challenge to build a foundation where none existed and help craft a brand and culture that sells our unique place in the industry effectively while simultaneously doing full lifecycle recruiting to fill very specific positions with high-level clearances for our existing contracts. That, however, is also the most exciting element of the work, the chance to build something from the ground up. The company has been in business 30 years but has never had a dedicated recruiting component, so I get to build the sand castle myself.

Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your recruitment industry career?

Doug: I don’t think there was one event so much as an evolution. Job boards and the internet have been around for some time, but the last few years have seen an explosion in the ways that people connect. Social media is likely the most obvious area and I was admittedly a little late to the party and am still soaking up as much as I can. Integrating LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook into a cohesive web of connection and information exchange has changed the model dramatically. It has accelerated the pace of information sharing and changed the way candidates and recruiters interact. We’re able to paint so much more vivid a picture with these tools and I believe it’s made all of us more discerning in our professional choices, while at the same time putting so many more choices in front of us. The level of connection available to us now is unprecedented and it has become imperative to navigate that universe effectively.

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

Doug: There was a Vice President at Crossroads named John Capozzi whose influence still sticks with me for a few reasons. One, he was always looking for another way to get things done, constantly thinking out of the box. It’s very easy to get stuck in rote practices-they may even be successful-but it’s important to keep looking for a different path. He was also incredibly persistent. Phone calls, emails…he stayed after candidates and clients alike until there was resolution. Too often we meet with a little resistance and become frustrated; even if the outcome is negative, it allows you to move forward and hopefully learn something in the process. Our president at Crossroads, John Miyasato, was also a great tutor. He had a very analytical mind; he was able to break a situation down into its components and simplify the approach. He also taught/forced me to be self-analytical down to a fine point. Every call, every email, every blog should have a reason behind it. I find myself still sometimes writing down what I want to accomplish before making a phone call, then checking myself afterwards to see where I succeeded and where I could have done better. I have John to thank for that. From both of them I learned the importance of effective communication and how each layer builds to the next. Even as the ways and means to communicate explode the basic rules still apply; a phone call is better than an email and a personal meeting is better still. With each layer we are able to deepen the connection and minimize misunderstanding.

Beyond that, there are people like yourself Dave; you, Glenn Cathey, Stacy Donovan Zapar, Marvin Smith, Gerry Crispin, people who are constantly pushing the envelope on how to source talent and create a brand and culture that evolves with the technologies that are emerging. I haven’t had the opportunity to meet any of these folks in person, but their influence is significant. Their constant quest for improvement and growth, coupled with their willingness to share their knowledge, is both inspiring and instructive to me.

Six Degrees: What other companies’ recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples?

Doug: I have a lot of respect for Sodexho, Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft to name a few.

Six Degrees: In what aspects are they superior?

Doug: I believe the common threads are innovation and engagement. They are constantly tweaking their model and trying new ways to attract and retain talent. The engagement aspect starts in their recruiting approach; they’re transparent with information and maintain steady contact throughout the process. It extends to the structure of their corporate environment; they’re inclusive, receptive to new ideas, and allow the employees to have a tangible stake in creating the company they want to work for-I think that attitude bleeds into everything they do.

Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future?

Doug: Given the arena I work in, the Federal budget is a big concern. Drawdowns in the DoD and Intel budgets will impact all of us in this space. Work is being eliminated, bill rates are being squeezed, government agencies are crossing contractors over to Fed positions, and one of our challenges is going to be guiding candidates through that evolution. Changing jobs isn’t going to mean an automatic pay increase any longer, so how do we explain the situation and how do we differentiate ourselves from our competition in the pursuit of talent? There will always be work in these arenas, but we are going to have to be aggressive and creative in the way we market ourselves and the ways in which we engage and reward our employees.

Six Degrees: Have you broadened your involvement within the staffing industry?

Doug: I have not had nearly the opportunity I would like to attend conferences and share information with others in the staffing industry. Typically I have attended job fairs targeting the talent pool I’ve been sourcing, specifically cleared candidates. I also attend industry-related events like AFCEA and DHS-sponsored events in DC. One of my goals is to get more personally involved in the larger staffing community, but I haven’t become a media mogul just yet!

Six Degrees: How did the recession effect your particular industry niche?

Doug: As an industry I would say the primary effect has been the increased pressure on the DoD and Intelligence Community to pare down their budgets and transition their contractor workforce to a Federal one. As bill rates get squeezed in such a competitive marketplace it becomes even tougher to vie for talent. We’re still asked to provide candidates with exceptional experience, high-level education, industry certifications, agency-specific backgrounds, and the highest levels of security clearance civilians can obtain. Yet in order to aggressively bid for work, even work where we might be the incumbent, we have to slash our rates and that often makes it difficult to pay the salaries to which candidates have become accustomed. It’s an ongoing challenge to create a broader compensation package and attractive culture to make our company stand out from the crowd.

I was personally affected by the recession. I was laid off from my last position. They were very gracious about it; I had done work I’m proud of and helped them grow and add some superb talents to the team and they treated me well. However, some leaner times in the beginning of my tenure there left a mark and the ongoing struggle to grow in the ultra-competitive Federal market forced them to change lines of credit. The new line left them temporarily cash-poor and quick action had to be taken. Since there were other recruitment resources in place, I became a luxury in the moment and was among a group of people let go. I don’t believe they saw it coming and I certainly didn’t; I bear no ill will, but it was definitely a shock to the system. I reached out to everyone I knew and was thankfully inundated with both well wishes and concrete leads and connections. My unemployment was blessedly brief. On the other hand, it was a chance to put on jobseeker shoes again and be at the other end of the recruiting conversations. I spoke with some extraordinary people, but also some that have a long way to go to be a service to the industry. It was very instructive, but more than that I touched on the emotions that so many are feeling these days. It is, no matter what the circumstances, a personal blow to lose your job and the fears and questions it engenders are difficult to manage. If anything I hope the experience added to my empathy for everyone touched by this economic downturn.

Six Degrees: Aside from simply the generic term “Networking” what specific efforts have you made on your own behalf, or on behalf of colleagues to broaden your opportunities.

Doug:I have been working to broaden my base in the online community through LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. I’ve grown my LinkedIn base exponentially over the past two years and reached beyond areas specific to my work. I began tweeting last fall and have started getting increased traction there; its immediacy is very attractive and has forced me to seek out relevant content, which has the ancillary benefit of exposing me to a wealth of pertinent information. I had historically used Facebook purely as a personal forum, but now I’m integrating them all. Beyond the numerical aspect of increased connections, one of the great benefits to that unified exposure is that it gives prospective employers and candidates the chance to see beyond my job title and function and view me as a complete human being. There are risks of course; I try to be very aware of what I’m sharing, but I want to be a part of the human experience, not just a job peddler. I share connections with anyone to whom they might be a benefit, I put candidates together with other employers if I think they might be a fit for them, and I counsel candidates who don’t fit our requirements on how they might improve their job search. I think it’s important to do these things for their own sake, but I believe they pay off in tangible ways as well. My current position was facilitated by Debbie Peda of The Josef Group; she was in the process of establishing a fee agreement with my current company but knowing I was looking she pre-sold me to the CEO as an in-house alternative. Relationships like that are priceless.

Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what not to do?

Doug: Don’t try to be something you’re not. It sounds so simple, but I think we can all get caught up in trying to measure up to something we believe is important. Put yourself out there honestly. Use your own voice and be sincere and direct about what you’re hoping to gain from the connection. Okay, I guess I strayed from the “don’ts”, but it all relates. Don’t pretend to be an expert, don’t promise something you can’t produce, and don’t ever minimize any connection-every encounter adds to who you are and what you can accomplish.

Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there?

Doug: In the immediate I want to help Interferometrics grow, establish a foundation that can outlive my tenure here, and contribute to a culture that everyone in the company can be proud of. Beyond that, I’d eventually like to work with one of the large corporations that are doing such amazing work as it relates to attracting talent (ideally in San Diego!). I have only worked in relatively small companies. That experience is extremely rewarding and offers an unparalleled sense of satisfaction when you can contribute to growth, but I would like to be involved with a larger corporate being at some point as well. I’d like to experience the difference in scope, see what I could do with additional resources to leverage and a big name flag to wave, and soak up the lessons as to how a large corporate entity is able forge their identity and engage their employees.

“Doug and I have collaborated over the past year or so on business matters that are beneficial to both of us. Doug is a person who maintains the highest level of integrity and is a trusted business partner. Doug is well connected, thoughtful, honest and resourceful. He comes with my highest level of endorsement. .”
Lee Wanless, Internal Recruiter, Applied Network Solutions, Inc.

“Doug was a terrific manager and mentor. He came to ICS when I was still figuring out what a recruiter was and he really led the way for me. He taught me a lot of tips and tricks to help me successful and was always a great motivation.”
Chrissa Dockendorf, Talent Acquisition Supervisor, Integrated Communication Solutions, Inc.

“During the two-year period I worked with Doug he demonstrated excellent capabilities as a corporate recruiter. For example, in many instances Doug was able to recruit a large number of highly qualified technical staff within a very few days when contracts were awarded with a short ramp-up period. He also consistently demonstrated a capability to recruit excellent project managers and other key personnel resulting in a high degree of customer satisfaction. Doug is a team player and he is well liked and respected by both employees and management.”
Wayne Bavry, Director, National Security and Financial Services, Integrated Communication Solutions

“Doug is the consummate professional. As a recruiter, he has come through for me more times than I care to count.”
Edwin Covert, CISSP, CISM, PMP, Senior Program Manager, Integrated Communication Solutions

“I worked with Doug when we were involved in a proposal in which I would be the requirements analyst. He was responsible for finding the staff required for the proposed tasks. There are three attributes for which I can vouch in his behalf:
(1) Attention to details: he made sure that all proposed staff met all requirements.
(2) He managed all changes that evolved as the proposal effort progressed.
(3) Most important from a personal point of view, in an activity involving bringing in new personnel, he strives to make potential recruits feel welcome.

In my extensive job hunting experience, Doug is by far the best recruiter I’ve come across.”
Alfonso Dominguez, Requirements Analyst, TCDI

“Doug is an experienced technical recruiter who has worked both the Agency and in-house side of the fence. A quick study and persistent recruiter, Doug is able to adapt to any environment and can work effectively with candidates and clients. He also was a great networker with other recruiters and agencies. Doug will fill the positions that need to be filled, and make all parties happy about the process.”
John Capozzi, Vice President, Crossroads Consulting

“Doug is a dedicated, aggressive, and friendly recruiter. We worked together to grow a company from 15 to 60 people in less than two years. As an outside consultant, Doug took the time to learn our company and provide top prospects that really fit our job requirements and culture. Not only is Doug a great recruiter, but he is a good friend and I would definitely work with him again.”
Larissa Fair, Platinum Solutions

“I have known Doug for several years now. We had the opportunity to work together when he was a recruiter for a staffing agency and he provided us with quality candidates. We have since worked with him helping to staff his positions at ICS. He has always been professional and just a pleasure to work with. I consider him a friend. He has great interpersonal skills and is extremely knowledgeable about recruiting.”
Debbie Peda, President, The Josef Group Inc.

• Cindy Cloud, Informatica Talent Branding Consultant
• LinkedIn
• Blog:Certainly Cindy
• Community Volunteering: Silicon Valley ASPCA
• Personal Causes: Animal Rights through World Wildlife Fund
• Number: 408-813-7726
• Email: cacloud@gmail.com

Cindy’s background is in marketing communications with a specialty in employment branding and talent attraction programs. Cindy does it all, from collateral and web design and development, through production for video, multi-media and presentations. She has a special flair for producing creative, integrated strategies and promotional campaigns that get results.

I met Cindy at Informatica through her consultation efforts with their talent acquisition organization. She is the linchpin in rolling out the marketing aspects of the talent strategy recommendations I developed in coordination with the HR leadership team. She has implemented a global, targeted, social network presence and developed on-going marketing campaigns with analysis to maximize the company’s ROI. Above all, she has spear headed the redesign of Informatica’s Careers web site in alignment with the launch of their Talent Community strategy implemented on the Jobs2Web platform.

Implementing an integrated employer brand did not start at Informatica – it transcended following her contributions at Cisco where she managed marketing and communications activities for Cisco’s Global Talent Acquisition team and Cisco’s Partner Talent programs.

Cindy developed a globally integrated approach to branding across both Professional and University hires; producing the videos, designing the collateral and developing the integrated messaging.

Cisco Careers Video

Cisco University Program Video

Cisco Belgium Careers Videos

Cisco India Careers Video

Cisco Finance Careers Video

While it’s not traditional for Six Degrees from Dave to interview the employer branding aspect; it’s an imperative contribution to the talent strategy equation. The bells and whistles of social media do not chime effectively on their own … they need a conductor to entice a candidates into following. Cindy Cloud represents the best of the new breed that ensures the symphony is in pitch and makes the work of talent sourcing strategists, such as myself all the easier. Having a rare resource in place within corporate talent acquisition organizations enables me to maximize my effectiveness.

Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

Cindy: I’m living the good life with my two, four-legged kids in Los Gatos, California – Ernie San, a six year old pure bred Siamese cat and Dharma, a three year old pure bred Tibetan spaniel. They are the current loves of my life; they warm my heart and keep a smile on my face. Life in Los Gatos is fabulous. It has a small town feel with a cosmopolitan atmosphere – great restaurants and night life too. That must be why my friends and family come to visit so often. Well, that and the fact that Big Sur, Monterey and Carmel are in my backyard. It’s only 20 minutes from the beach and 10 minutes to redwood forests, it’s perfect for me – I love the ocean and the mountains.

When I’m not out and about exploring and photographing my local environment, I enjoy cooking for my friends, and doing volunteer work for the Silicon Valley ASPCA. I’m grateful that I can give my time to just play with the animals, giving them the much needed attention while they wait their turn for adoption. Animal rights are important to me. Animals of all kinds, domestic and wild need advocates around the world to ensure they are not abused – for fun or profit. Last year, through a networking advocacy group, I and 10 others were able to shut down two puppy mills in North Carolina.

Six Degrees: You’re an outdoors enthusiast – how does this translate into your work life?

Cindy: I like to test my limits, physically and mentally – especially when someone says that girls can’t do that! When you combine those attributes with passion and vision you have the recipe for my outlook on life. I’ve always had a vision when it comes to my work life. I know what I want, what I am good at, what challenges and inspires me, and I go after it. Passion and vision are very powerful keys to success in any job role, especially when opportunity meets determination.

I have a pioneering spirit that attracts me to adventurous activities in work and at play. I am passionate about international travel and when it is combined with adventure, even better. I recently got back from a trip to Costa Rica where I had my first discovery scuba dive and met up with an eight foot manta ray. The high lite of all thrills so far has been zip lining over the Costa Rican rain forest tree tops – eight lines in total with the highest one at 536 feet, the longest line at 2, 940’ and the fastest speed of 50 mph. Now, that got my blood pumping.

Six Degrees: How did you get started in Employer Branding?

Cindy: I spent the first 20 years of my career in sales and marketing roles in the consumer electronics industry, working with companies such as Pentax, Kodak and Phillips Consumer Electronics. I have always been interested in electronic ‘gadgets’ that are fun and can enhance one’s life. Combine that with a love and talent for educating and it was a natural career path to move into hi-tech. When I came to the Silicon Valley, the internet was in its infancy and I immediately knew it was the next big ‘consumer gadget’, so I set my sites on working for Cisco, and moving from marketing consumer products to pitching routers and switches!

Over time, I realized the mystique of new technology was not inspiring any longer. I realized that using my advertising and branding knowledge to market jobs to people in the high-tech industry would bring more satisfaction. It is also an area that suits my pioneering spirit as not many HR organizations have deep knowledge on marketing or branding in general. In this niche, I often get to pioneer and create new ways to attract talent.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your consulting efforts on behalf of Informatica.

Cindy: My current assignment as a Social Media and Employer Branding consultant, is working with Informatica’s Global Talent Acquisition team to revive their employer of choice branding and marketing strategy. There is a lot to do, as they need a complete over haul – from web design to messaging, and a social media presence. The heavy lifting will come as I build out their social media presence across LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. I love these ‘soup to nuts’ projects as they give me the chance to pull together an integrated approach to branding, which is the most effective way to measure the impact it has on the candidate experience and on Informatica’s corporate brand as well.

I have been at it since November 2010, and the first project out the gate in March is a new SEO optimized web platform for their careers web site. This will be the ‘center of the universe’ for all of Informatica’s sourcing activities and ties back nicely to the core messaging on their social sites. With all the buzz around social media now, it is quite the exciting time to be in the recruiting arena, and a boon for employment branding. I’m really looking forward to leveraging this medium to better understand the behaviors and expectation of job seekers. I believe that success in marketing anything, a job, product or service, comes from how effective was the messaging – did it influence the recipient in a positive manner and move them to take the desired action.

Over the coming months we will be doing the same activities for Informatica’s University recruiting efforts. This audience is fun to target as the branding can be a bit lighter and more aspirational. As a techie myself, I like marketing to this audience as they use all the latest communication vehicles – and now that is the mobile platform. Working with new platforms and media keeps me engaged and tests my creative thinking abilities. I love the challenge of how to say more with less space.

Six Degrees: Tell us of an event that had an impact on how you view the importance of Employer Branding?

Cindy:I can recall clearly how Cisco’s TV ad campaign ‘Are You Ready’ affected me. When I saw these powerful ads it was at the time I was trying to get hired at Cisco and was continually turned away due to my ‘low-tech’ background. To say the least, my experience with their recruiting left me with an unfavorable impression. I was about to give up on pursuing employment with them, feeling that it was a stuffy corporate environment when I saw the TV ad. They spoke of the company I wanted to work for, unlike what I was shown in my interviews. I was so emotionally moved by these well produced ads – they spoke to the ‘urgency’ and ‘opportunity’ behind the impending change the Internet will have on our global economy. In the closing the ads posed the question everyone needs to ask is: ‘Are you ready?’”. I was ready to be apart of that change and committed myself to over come the barriers on my employment pursuits. This series of events made it clear to me how important it is to have employer branding aligned to corporate branding. By having a consistent and ‘emotional’ story that aligns recruiting messaging with the corporate vision and mission, it enhances the candidate experience and decreases the time to fill positions because job seekers are ‘pre-sold’ on the aspirational aspects of the career opportunity.

Six Degrees:What other companies’ Employer Branding do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples; in what aspects are they superior?

Cindy: Adobe is one of my favorites. It is apparent, just from a visual point of view, that they live their brand – creative, innovative, passionate. In Adobes’ words, they say this about their culture “From day one, the company has cultivated a culture of creativity and innovation and has always sought out passionate people to join its mission to revolutionize how the world engages with ideas and information.” You can see that what they state about their work culture is true by the quality of products they produce and the quality they put into their user experience. Not to mention their high-caliber marketing communications collateral – from print to web they are always at the cutting edge.

At the core of all branding is emotion. A strong employer brand is an emotional response that employees have to their work, their colleagues and the company culture. It is a reflection that employees truly believe in and promote a company’s mission and vision. When employees join Adobe, they know that they have the opportunity to do innovative work in an environment that encourages them to excel. Employees join Adobe and stay because they feel there is a connection between their deepest aspirations and what the organization offers. Delivering the brand promise at Adobe starts with creating ownership in their people; and they did this right from the time the employer brand was developed. They hire and train employees for values and behaviors, not just skills. By doing this consistently, they maintain a strong employer brand – the entire enterprise ‘walks their talk’, employees, marketing, and products are in unison.

Six Degrees: What industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why?

Cindy: I think it will be mobile devices for sure, smart phones. Because everything is telling us that the WAP-enabled (Wireless Application Protocol) cell phone will soon be bigger than the World Wide Web we know today. We are entering the world of M-branding. The impact on branding in general will be a challenge. The question to ponder is “how do you build a brand on a canvas smaller than a matchbox? Branding on mobile now has limits to the number of colors that can be used and little scope for graphics, in addition, the user is paying for every second it takes for them to receive a commercial message.

However, the upside is this boon in mobile devices will bring an increase of mobile innovation including faster download speeds, new display options, and cheaper services. I do not think this will bring brand limitations, but instead I believe it will provide brands the capability to keep their website offerings consistent with their mobile offerings. Instead of mobile taking over, I think it will be a combination of mobile and web. No matter what kind of device you are using, I believe the focus will be consistency throughout.

Six Degrees: What companies do you like today that have a branded mobile employment presence and why?

Cindy: PepsiCo has a very sexy look and is a content rich application that offers up their latest videos, tweets, employee blog entries, job search tools and job alerts. Although PepsiCo is a consumer brand, I really see this approach having an impact on University recruiting where the audience uses mobile devices constantly and for recruiting in geographical locations like India and China, where there are more cell phones in use than computers. India is the world’s fastest growing wireless market, with 771M mobile phone subscribers as of February 2011. It is also the second largest telecommunication network in the world in terms of number of wireless connections after China.

The outstanding feature of the PepsiCo application is the social networking abilities that connect people in their Talent Community with their recruiters and with others in the Talent Community. I see this new generation of mobile apps opening new opportunities to corporate recruitment organizations to engage with their target audience. Until now, mobile apps were ‘just’ an extension of the career site and social media activities. This is a great way to serve your audience with relevant information, including job openings anytime and anywhere but it was mainly one-way communication.

Six Degrees: What do you see as the biggest opportunity / growth area for employer branding in the technology marketplace?

Cindy: It would be in University and College recruiting in general. This is the time to take advantage of using technology instead of geographical presence to brand oneself at more universities. By developing an employer branding strategy for University hires across many schools it will make the employers corporate identity stronger as well. In addition, the strong need to build a pipeline of talent that is educated in niche skills and advanced technologies makes this approach extremely valuable to employers such as Informatica who do not have a mature employer brand and few resources to implement activities on campus. By using technology to reach this audience, it sends the clear message that Informatica is indeed in the technology sector – one of the challenges they have is establishing awareness around what industry they are in as their products and services touch any organization or enterprise that uses computers from transactions or interactions – that’s everyone.

The approach to University recruiting has been to focus on the top talent from the top schools. That strategy still works for well know companies that have resources and money to spend. However, the advantage is really to the companies that understand the future of hiring in general and to graduates in particular in today’s world- the fact that this talent group’s priorities have shifted from salary and benefits to putting greater value on corporate values and culture when choosing employers. In other words, the level of academic skill is less important than the person’s ability to apply those skills within the specific company culture. Employers who realize that personality and culture are fundamental words for successful employer branding will know why it is more important now to college recruiting than ever before.

Six Degrees: What would you like to expand on in your repertoire of banding skills?

Cindy: I’ve always been interested in ‘branding’ work place environments. You may ask, ‘what is that? Well branding environments extends the experience of an organization or company’s brand, or distinguishing characteristics as expressed in names, symbols and designs, to the design of interior settings. It is the practice of leveraging the workplace to help deliver the identity attributes, personality and key messages of the company. This can be done through the use architecture, images, choice of colors, finishes – any way that expresses the core elements of the company’s brand name.

I see many benefits of a branded environment that directly and indirectly influence employer branding. Internally, it can translate into higher employee satisfaction and retention, increased productivity, and better understanding of an organization’s mission, vision and values. In addition, it certainly can help in the interview process when candidates visit corporate locations, as they can see the brand promise is alive and not just some words on a paper or phony hype from a recruiter. External benefits that indirectly influence the employer brand include improved brand position and communication, better customer recognition, differentiation from competitors and higher perceived value from investors.

“Having hired Cindy into my group previously, I knew her wealth of knowledge around marketing and communications would be a great fit for this HR role. Cindy’s energetic and enthusiastic approach can take a simple concept and turn it into a great product. The Staffing organization still uses many of her marketing ideas, concepts, and output today. I hired Cindy to help drive a change communication strategy to 3500 global sales professionals. She was able to leverage her extensive marketing, communications, and advertising background to develop an awesome communications program. Cindy has the ability to “pull the rabbit out of the hat” on every project. Just when I thought she had out done herself, she would take the next deliverable to new heights. Cindy has been one of the most creative people I have worked with. I highly recommend Cindy, and would, and did hire her again.” October 1, 2009. Top qualities: Great Results, High Integrity, Creative
Brad Cook, Vice President, Talent Acquisition Management, at Informatica

“Cindy’s knowledge and skill at managing a wide range of marketing communications activities are only surpassed by her energy and enthusiasm for Cisco. Cindy takes a balanced approach to every problem: from brand strategy to budgets, time lines and tactics, she has a firm grasp on the entire assignment.” October 20, 2008 Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Creative
Mike Sanchez, Senior Brand Strategy Manager, Cisco

“Cindy was very instrumental in helping me implement communication strategies, which greatly improved relationships with my business partners as well as with my team. She has the ability to quickly assess issues, learn the business and assist a client to create, and implement appropriate marketing and communication strategies.” December 10, 2008 Top qualities: Integrity, Expert, Creative
Sylvia Flores, Global Staffing Manager, Cisco

“Cindy has an excellent command of what digital media and business communication requires, from strategy, to content, to execution. She works closely with the business to understand the messages they want to convey and understands what it takes to get the job done whether it is written, visual or video based and has fun doing it!” October 30, 2008 Top qualities: Fun, Expert, Creative
Denni Oravec, Global HR Programs Manager, Cisco

“Cindy is a very detail-oriented individual with a keen eye for not only creating amazingly high quality marketing collateral but also managing projects through to completion. I worked on several projects with Cindy that required her technical expertise and she came through every time with flying colors. I would be more than happy to work with Cindy on future projects should the opportunity present itself.” December 10, 2008 Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Creative
Brett Klinker, Global Human Resources Manager, Cisco

“Cindy provided key support to our Partner Talent Programs. She was responsible for the Talent Marketing and Branding programs on a worldwide basis. She excelled in her work and was fully committed to deadlines and the team.” November 21, 2008 Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Creative
Celia Harper-Guierro, WW Partner Talent Programs Director, Cisco

“Cindy is a very knowledgeable marketing professional. She stays on top of the industry and is very creative. She brings a wealth of knowledge in multiple areas such as: communications, presentation skills, collateral development, video development and scripting, web design/development and much more… She is results driven and thinks out of the box.” July 8, 2009 Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Creative
Mimish L’Esperance, WW Partner Talent Programs Manager, Cisco

“Cindy has that rare combination of strategic thinking combined with very talented execution skills. From developing your Communications strategy, to Power Points that sizzle, informative program newsletters WIKIs and more. Additionally, Cindy does a great job interacting on all levels as a team player and I recommend her highly.” September 3, 2010 Top qualities: Integrity, Expert, Creative
Theresa O’brien, Marketing Programs Consultant, Cisco

“I have worked with Cindy for over two years and she has skillfully managed multiple projects for Cisco at one time, involving resources spread over a number of locations and number of different stakeholders. She is very talented and a great person to work with, who has won praise from all Cisco Groups she is been part of.” April 23, 2009 Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Creative
Rajesh Ramachandran, Controller, Quovera, Inc.

“Cindy brings insight and wit to the projects we worked on for her at Cisco Systems. She excels at understanding the big picture while remaining detail oriented. She is a pleasure to work for.” April 17, 2008 Top qualities: Personable, Expert, Creative
Liz Gorman, Owner, Project Film & TV

“Cindy is a joy to work with. She has the talent to make the most difficult project to appear easy through her positive “can do” attitude. Cindy is both a strategic thinker and executes in detail the projects she works on. Great influencer, she builds bridges and leads to action to meet deadlines. Very creative and fun, her presence in a group is a source of inspiration.” April 22, 2009 Top qualities: Great Results, Integrity, Creative
Dr. Monica Cocojnaneu, Sr. Channel Manager, Cisco Systems

“I have known and worked with Cindy for longer than I care to admit! She is one of the most sought after consultants in the High Tech Connect Network. I always enjoy speaking with her and anticipate the rare times when she has room on her plate for more work. There’s a reason Cindy keeps busy — she’s awesome at what she does! From marketing communications project management to PowerPoint creation to technical writing, Cindy’s output is always top-notch. Never turn down an offer to meeting with Cindy or have coffee with her. You’ll come away with a smile!” April 24, 2008. Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Creative
Michelle Stewart, Client Manager, Hi-Tech Connect

“While I was managing our product management group, Cindy worked in corporate sales and marketing and supported my team’s efforts. Cindy did a great job in creating marketing programs and materials for our first efforts going into law enforcement, real estate and entertainment verticals. I found Cindy to be smart, energetic, and a pleasure to work with. She played an key role in getting our business going and her impact lasted well past her tenure at IPIX.” October 23, 2008 Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Creative
Joseph Ortiz, Senior Director, Product Management, IPIX

• Linkedin
• Facebook
• Twitter: @constantsearch
• Website: TheConstantSearch
• Blog: Staffing for Women
• Office: 651-342-1620
• Email:

Our audience was intrigued – the topic of women in staffing is one rarly addressed specifically, and one with its own challenges and opportunities.

Today we follow-up with the second half of our interview with our friend, Marni Sampir.

Marni: As part of our staffing division at StaffingForWomen.com, we realized that there is more we can do than provide a service to our clients. We feel our mission is better served supporting our candidates and staff. As a female business owner and mother, I have many challenges to overcome every day. But the biggest challenge I have is getting out of my own way. As I go through my journey I come to realize that I need to share what I have learned and support others. You read about amazing companies like, Deloitte, Kraft, General Mills, just to name a few. These companies have won honors as being top companies for women to work for. That’s great, but what if you don’t work for them? The “Glass Ceiling” is a great concept, but it is broken. It has brought to light the problems women have faced in the workplace, and we are grateful. My question is, “does it fix the problem”? The answer is “no it does not”. We as individuals have to learn how to get out of our own way. We as women have to learn how we were designed, how we think, how we feel and how to manage ourselves. StaffingForWomen’s vision is to provide information on challenges we face as women. We are constantly searching for tools and technology to support our candidate’s personal and career goals. This is a “work in progress” and we look forward to this journey.

Six Degrees: What will this do for your clients?

Marni: We are looking to build a “best in class” Talent Management Process. Through Training, Career Planning, Onboarding and Performance Management our candidates will become the top talent your organization needs to succeed. Historically, Contract or Temporary Staff has had the stigma of being “C” players. We would like to do our part to change that. Our clients will be expected to do their part in supporting the processes we have established. If you choose to “drop the ball” on your end, our partnership will end. This is a team effort, and we take that very seriously. For our clients we also provide a strict “Job Sharing” management process. This will enable you to support a workforce that need to be more flexible or work less than a 40 hour week.

For everyone to benefit from StaffingForWomen.com, communication is the key ingredient. So please feel free to add your thoughts, ideas and what you would like to see us provide. Whether you are a candidate or a client it is important to “Speak Up”. Because we all need a woman’s intuition.

Six Degrees: How many applicants at your present employer do you estimate are hired from your corporate website as compared to how many are hired through referrals?

Marni:

• 75% of our hires are the result of sourcing through LinkedIn.
• 15% are the result of an ad we placed on LinkedIn.
• 10% are the result of me sourcing on the web and Jigsaw
• 5% are referals

Six Degrees: What is the source of the “Most Hires” collected from at your present employer? (In terms of Quantity #)

Marni: LinkedIn by far

Six Degrees: What is the source of your “LOWEST COST OF HIRES” – (least amount of invested resources for the easiest hires, regardless of quality) at your present employer?

Marni: Jigsaw

Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review?

Marni: NEW Network of Executive Women is a group I am interested in. There are many women organizations out there, but very few that are corporate based. Given the fact that I own a small business, I do not have the support of a corporate setting. Other strong groups like NAWBO and WBENC are geared towards small business owners. I enjoy being a part of an organization that discusses the challenges women face in a large corporate environment

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

Marni: Anything that has to do with Social Media! When I first started recruiting, I took any class I could on hiring, interviewing, job boards and recruiting. Now, I read Mashable everyday-my favorite blog.

Six Degrees: What recruitment software tools do you use in your day to day recruitment activities & do they translate effectively within all of the different countries where you recruit?

Marni: Outlook, Sendouts for our ATS. I still an “Constantly Searching” (shameless plug) for the perfect solution. Sadly, the older I get, the more confusing technology seems to become. When did I start becoming my parents?

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

Marni: I did two things right away. Every new search was given a job number starting with the year. So if was the 30th job we received that year it would be 2007030. This way if we happen to be working on multiple HR Manger roles at the same time, we could distinguish them. Also, any cost associated would have this number referenced for ROI costs. The other thing we did was every search had a file folder with 5 dividers in them. EVERYTHING went in there, resumes, notes, job descriptions. Before we had an ATS system it was a great way to keep things organized. I just pulled out a few old folders the other day and contacted a few candidates. It was nice flipping through paper again instead of staring at my computer!

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?

Marni: It’s not about recruiting, it’s all about sales. More importantly, it’s not whether or not the candidate can do the job, but will they fit in with the culture of the company? But more important than that to me is, will my client have what they are looking for. To me my candidates are more important than my clients. Companies will recover if a candidate leaves or doesn’t work out. But to this individual it can have a major impact on their lives if things do not work out.

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

Marni: YOUTUBE! I tried advertising my jobs on Youtube, I sound like I a 12 when my voice is recorded. It can have its advantages when telemarketers call my house and Ask for my parents. They are always “not home”, ends the phone call quickly.

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.

Marni: I would like to utilize the tools that companies use in managing and growing their talent. Implement this process in my temporary staffing business to help our contract staff learn and grow, to be more affective at their jobs.

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

Marni: Onboarding. Most of my clients are smaller, mid-size businesses. I feel that most candidates don’t move from their current positions because of fear. The fear of the unknown is a big factor in candidates turning down offers. Developing an Onboarding process can help a candidate feel a part of the organization before they even start. This will also force my clients to think about the candidate and their first 30-60-90 days on the job.

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

Marni: I have a hard time with the fact I can’t always help everyone that is referred to me. Many times and friend or candidate will refer someone to me. I take that very seriously, this person thought enough of me to suggest that I can help. I am often on the phone all day, so one more phone call can be hard to fit in. I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but I am not a career counselor or an outplacement service. Many times people think that because I am a recruiter I can help people that are unemployed find a job. I wish I could, and I do whenever I can. There have been occasions in the past where I have taken the time to show people how to use LinkedIn and find open positions. Only to get stabbed in the back when I don’t continue to spend time searching for jobs for them or finding out names of hiring managers for them. Makes me wish I trained horses again, people can be annoying some times.

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

Marni: Even if you have all the latest technology set in place to automate your recruiting and hiring, there is still a person on the other end of it. That will never change.

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?

Marni: I am not a doctor, or a scientist creating the next wonder drug, but I change people’s lives. I will share this story with you. I placed a candidate for a VP of Operations role this summer. He said this to me and it sums up why I do this. He said, “My wife and I have dreamed of moving back home and finally settling down out west to be by our families. My job is very demanding; I don’t have time to think about my family’s future. One day I am sitting at my desk working away and I get an email from some annoying recruiter. I get emails from recruiters every day. But this time I stopped and read her email a few times. She said “how would you like to move back out west”? I thought, “How did she know I wanted to move back out west”? What he didn’t know is that on his LinkedIn profile I read where he had grown up and where he went to college. So I thought, maybe he wants to move back there. On with this story… He goes on to say that 3 months later they are living their dream in the mountains, all because of some crazy recruiter and an email. This is why I love my job, I change people’s lives.

Six Degrees: What one thing do you ideally hope to accomplish in 2010?

Marni: Starting my staffing business, The Constant Staff, Inc. with my other piece to that- Staffing for Women When you need a woman’s intuition…

Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug?

Marni: Not really, having you put my name up in lights will be overwhelming enough

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

Marni: One person at a time