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Blog Post: How to choose a CRM for your new recruitment agency

Added by Rhys Jones at 11:39am on March 7, 2023

Topic: Meet Susan Burns, Industry Thought Leader at Talent Synchronicity: to her presentations, or heard of fellow colleagues speak glowingly of her capabilities – needless to say I have been impressed consistently with her public figure. I can also say with pleasure that we all share our admiration for Susan’s consistent weekly live chat contributions to RecruitingBlogs.com, the Recruiting Roadshow and her upcoming session at RecruitFest in Toronto. It must be said, that having walked the streets of Amsterdam past midnight or dined, commiserated, and having corresponded with Susan Burns, “the person,” that my admiration is far more substantial in the compelling impact she makes as both a colleague and a dear friend. Her multi-faceted personality, conviction, and brilliance as a candid, thought-provoking, socially conscious friend and colleague are ever present. She is passionate in all things in life, and it is omnipresent when she evangelizes architecture aspects of Strategic Talent Planning, employment branding, and metrics that we as an industry excel through her contributions and it is in her valued friendship, that her gifts never cease to bring value. I applaud all her contributions in our industry – she lives and breathes “pay it forward” and it is a pleasure to know that the RecruitingBlogs Community have an opportunity to share the many value propositions Susan offers so selflessly and with such passion that Jason Davis and I so often witness on a personal level. Susan Burns is the “real deal” – and the community is richer for all she contributes. Susan, today as a friend, an advisor to SixDegreesfromDave.com, a personal mentor, and a thought leader we salute you, and it is ever so well deserved. Q&A with Susan Burns Six Degrees: Tell us of your Home World Susan Susan: I find a nice balance between taking on challenging physical activities and challenging career endeavors. Yoga, hiking and travel are among my deepest passions outside of work and when I can bring them all together its ideal. Two of my favorite hikes included a 100-mile trek through Torres Del Paine National Park in Southern Chile and a trip to Peru that included hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I’ve traveled to Mexico, Costa Rica and British Columbia for yoga retreats and find the week long immersions an incredible rebalancing to the stresses of life – even though the retreats often include 5 to 6 hours of physical yoga each day. Yoga is also part of my everyday life and an area of growing interest and commitment. In fact, I’m about to undertake a 200-hour, 3 week teacher training in the Berkshires this July. There are also many areas in which yoga philosophy and practice can carry over into enhancing business practices. The very act of being “present”, focusing on the mind-body connection, and building a sense of community are just a few areas that could add value to the business world. I’m planning on exploring these further through my yoga studies and practice. Six Degrees: How did you get started in talent management? Susan: When I began my career I was in general management. I managed specialty stores and then made the transition into department stores. I loved the hum and buzz of the business and, over time, as I took on assignments of increasing volume and scope the challenges of creating community within a store environment were quite enticing. In my last store manager assignment I was responsible for over $40 million in annual revenue, an employee population of over 350 and a management team of about 16. But, one thing was missing – the company invested little in development efforts and I was intellectually bored. So, I decided to take a bit of a sabbatical and go to graduate school. I actually thought I would leave retail but found I liked the interconnectedness of strategy, product and tangible results. There is something very unique about this within a retail environment and when you’re playing in high volume you can see these three come together quite quickly. After graduate school I joined Federated Department Stores (now Macy’s Inc.). At the time Federated owned Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s and generated about $15 billion in annual sales. Initially, my role was to lead the development of a centralized college recruitment and relations strategy. Federated hired about 550 college graduates each year and another 300 as summer interns. The year was 1998 and there was a lot of change occurring because of the Internet. One of the first things I had the opportunity to do was secure support to develop a website. I think there were about 6 people on the original development team and together we mapped out the strategy for what was to become Retailology.com. The timing was right and I was fortunate to have a really talented group to work with. We saw the impact and growing value of the site in a relatively short period of time, and could demonstrate to the organization the value of being online. One of the coolest things about Retailology is that it not only benefited Federated but it also became a tool to teach students about the retail industry. A couple of years later as Internet recruiting was growing quickly in popularity and the task of sourcing/hiring via the job boards was overwhelming, I had the opportunity to present Retailology as a strategic solution for hiring across Federated – which included hourly, management positions across every function, and college recruiting. We won the support of the divisions and quickly undertook the challenge of building 12 recruitment sites on the Retailology platform. The company had an autonomous culture and the structure and branding strategy at the time required individual branded sites. As a whole, the company hired about 110,000 people annually so this was a very cool opportunity. The change implications for this were huge – we would be moving from 100% paper-based processes to taking everything online. There were several key events that created tipping points along this journey and by the time I left Federated in January, 2006, the Retailology corporate strategy had generated over 38% of the company’s total hires and touched just about every functional area and position up to director/VP. Taking on a broader role also advanced my position with the company and allowed me to take on a greater scope of work that included employment initiatives, employment branding, recruitment technology – both selection and development, change management initiatives, recruiter education and development. The role became that of an internal consultant and over the 7+ years I was with Federated I had the opportunity to work with a number of very talented and committed colleagues. While it was a difficult decision to leave Federated I was at a point in my career where I wanted to take on a broader challenge. I had a hunger to experience another industry, immerse myself in a global business and take on a more holistic role in talent management. I was recruited to head up global staffing for Waggener Edstrom Worldwide (WE). WE is the second largest independent PR agency. They are the PR agency of record for Microsoft and also have growing practice areas in public affairs, healthcare, and consumer. Once again, I was fortunate to work with a very talented team of recruiters. While I only stayed with WE for about 18 months, great headway was made with advising the Board on workforce/talent planning initiatives, sourcing strategies, recruiting structure and processes, and introducing CRM technology. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Susan: There wasn’t a single event or mentor but a string of events and experiences that have influenced how I think about talent management. First, my role in store management. In retail you are uniquely dependent on talent. Whether it be the product design, assortment selection by the buyer, distribution by the planner, merchandising in-store, leading a department/selling team, or the last “12 inches” between the sales associate and the customer – its talent that makes the ultimate difference. Retail is also a business environment where you can see people’s careers move quickly. Seeing a sales associate promoted to sales manager or an assistant buyer promoted to divisional merchandise manager and eventually on to roles of increasing scope and responsibility is very rewarding! Second, coming out of graduate school I heard the same thing time and time again from my classmates – getting through to anyone in recruiting/hr was incredibly frustrating - whether callbacks, email responses, or just answering their phones. Many of my classmates were looking to make a career transition and getting a recruiter to look at their past experience and future potential was insanely challenging. The same thing would happen on informational interviews – hiring managers only wanted people who had done the job. Well, there’s evidence that indicates taking people with the potential and placing them in new environments leads to more creative thinking, innovation, personal growth and……better business results. And, while I couldn’t impact thinking across every aspect of an organization I could make a difference in how job seekers felt about their experience. I’ve been fortunate to have several mentors during my career. Mostly in the earlier days but that’s when I also think its most important. As I was “growing up” in retail it was at a time when mentor relationships developed more naturally. They not only helped me to understand the business at a more strategic level but to think broadly and creatively about building partnerships and getting results. Both of them were also terrific leaders and had their own unique way of building teams and camaraderie. Two of these mentors are still my closest friends today and are still the first people I turn to for guidance. THOUGHT LEADERSHIP RECOMMENDATIONS “Susan is smart, analytical and a great client. She knew what she wanted and was able to communicate that in an effective way. She brings original thinking and a wide network of information to any project she is part of. I have worked with Susan for several years including when she was at Macy's, Waggner and now at Talent Synchronicity. We have worked together on projects that involved selling concepts to senior management that were forward looking and not necessarily easy to get approved. Her combination of influencing skill, persistence and intelligence have led each project to a successful conclusion. She gets things done efficiently and effectively and is a good partner.” March 26, 2008 Kevin Wheeler, President/Founder, Global Learning Resources, Inc. “Susan puts recruitment process vision to work with quantifiable results. She tackled workforce planning, recruitment process and brand issues at Federated Department Stores by developing and implementing one of the first uniquely branded recruitment websites for the retail industry which resulted in tens of thousands of hires. Susan is top notch and I would use her to handle any workforce opportunity." February 22, 2008 Hank Stringer, Principal, QTalent Partners “Susan is a professional with a deep understanding of all three legs of the corporate HR platform: business strategy, HR process and leading-edge technology. Her depth of insight into ways to make HR a strategic business asset are both unique and extraordinary. It has been a real pleasure working with (and learning from) her.” January 7, 2005 Jeff Hunter, Senior Director, EA University at Electronic Arts “I've worked with Susan Burns for a little over a year now and I can say that she has the most strategic, forward-thinking and fresh approach to talent acquisition out of any leader that I've worked with in the industry. I've always said that I wanted to work with someone who I could learn from, who wasn't just pushing old ideas and who would challenge me in new ways. Susan has always managed to challenge me. She has a unique way of getting you to think about things differently. Susan is also amazingly connected in the industry and the relationships she has helped me form with thought leaders has been invaluable. She is an avid reader and spots trends and innovations before most people have adopted the known innovations. The talent acquisition community has mostly agreed that finding people with passion for their field is a key performance indicator. I've met few people with as much passion for our industry as Susan. She thinks way outside the box, outside the organization and outside the industry to come up with advances in our field that are truly innovating the way organizations acquire talent. Most notable is her work with retailology.com prior to joining Waggener Edstrom and the workforce planning work she is currently designing at our organization. If you work in our industry I hope you have an opportunity to meet Susan, collaborate with her, brainstorm, have her tell you to put on your kid glasses or just have a quick brainstorm with her. I think you will find that you walk away feeling like you have learned something new.” May 16, 2007 Steve Fogarty, Talent Manager, Adidas "Susan is a talented staffing and recruiting professional who brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the acquisition of talent and workforce planning. In her role with Waggener Edstrom, she was responsible for the global acquisition of talent and her work had a significant impact. Her passion and commitment were clearly evident and the results she guided were notable. A reduction in time-to-fill, a broad portfolio of sourcing vehicles, and several new creative staffing strategies and initiatives were all part of what Susan contributed to. Additionally, her leadership in guiding the Agency's Advisory Board through a workforce planning strategy advanced our staffing capability to positively impact the business. As a staffing industry leader she is broadly recognized for leading edge thinking and the perspective she offers to organizations and clients. Susan is smart, strategic and results-oriented. I see her as flourishing in an environment that has the management of talent as a critical business priority and where Susan can freely demonstrate her entrepreneurial and results-oriented talent." Daniele Joudene, SVP, People Services, Waggener Edstrom “Susan Burns is one of the most talented leaders in the talent management industry today -- smart, innovative, passionate, dedicated, and able to see and create solutions where most people can only identify challenges. Quite simply, she helped to make us better and more innovative as a company/partner, every step of the way. Our partnership in developing WetFeet Recruiter's Enterprise Interview Scheduling system, which delivered industry-first innovations in many areas, is just one example of one of her strongest personal assets: Susan gets results. The passion, energy, focus and commitment she brings to her work is simply extraordinary. What a joy to recommend her!” October 11, 2007 Gary Alpert, CEO, WetFeet Inc.…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:05am on September 8, 2008

Topic: BOUNTYJOBS COVERS UP FOR TALENT ACQUISITION REPS OF THEIR CLIENTS AND ALLOWS THEM TO FILL THEIR DATABASES FOR FREE!!!: his experience has also proven to be as awful as the first. I would like to know if anyone else has had a similar experience with Bountyjobs. In my first experience, I was working on a position for a client in Iowa. This was a Sr. Purchasing Manager position. I submitted several qualified candidates for this position via Bountyjobs. My point of contact was as usual, a Talent Acquisition Rep for the client with the open position. I found that this Rep was very unresponsive, and ignored messages via the Bounty Wall and Candidate Wall. This is the preferred method of communication, for Talent Acquisition Reps, an in a few moments you will know why. I submitted 6 candidates for this position, before actually filling it. However I did not fill the position, by sending the candidate via Bountyjobs and communicating with the client via the site. I repeatedly requested feedback on submittals of candidates, due to the fact that all candidates were interested in the role, and wanted to know if there was interest on the client side. After repeatedly being ignored by the Talent Acquisition Rep via Bountyjobs, I began emailing the Rep to request feedback. All emails were also ignored. After about a month, I received an email from TA stating that a phone interview was requested on one of my candidates. luckily, that candidate was still available and interested. The candidate did the phone interview, and called me right after, very excited, stating that it went well. After a week, I reached out to see if there was feedback on the candidate via email as well as via the candidate wall on the BJ site. No response. None at all! After another week of the candidate calling and requesting feedback, I tried reaching out again, no response. I finally asked the name and contact information of the Hiring Manager that interviewed the candidate, and reached out to him. He provided feedback, stating that the candidate was not quite a match for the position. After doing that, the same day, I asked the HM if it was okay to send him the other candidates that I submitted via BJ to him directly, and he said that was fine,because he really needed to get the role filled. I sent over all 6 candidates, only to find out that after a whole month of sending candidates, the HM had only seen 1 of the candidates I submitted. Subsequently, one of the ones he had not even seen, that I submitted via BJ, got the position and is still employed with the client to this very day. After I filled the position, the TA called in and complained to BJ that I was "aggressive" and that she did not want to work with me again. That was okay with me. Second horrible situation. I submitted a candidate via Bountyjobs to UTC Aerospace Systems for a position in Troy, OH. Candidate was not hired for that role. However a month later, this same candidate gets hired for a position with Pratt & Whitney. in Columbus, GA. Pratt & Whitney and UTC Aerospace Systems were basically the same company. They were both under United Technologies. Under Bountyjobs guidelines, if a candidate is hired within 6 months by a client, even if they did not get the original position they were interviewed for, the firm that submitted the candidate, is owed a fee. So I reached out to the HR Department at Pratt & Whitney in Columbus, GA, and explained the situation to the HR Manager. The manager told me flat out, "we do not owe you a fee, because we are not UTC Aerospace Systems and we do not use Bountyjobs" After this I reached out to Bountyjobs regarding the situation and Jeff Pacyna (Enterprise Account Specialist with BJ), stated that a fee was owed. He stated that he would get Chris Mason (VP, Customer Success with BJ), involved to get the matter resolved. Chris Mason reached out to me and requested that I not reach out to anyone at UTC regarding this matter, because they would get things taken care of. I waited over a year to be paid that fee, which was about $16k. Once a fee is owed, it is supposed to only take 60 days to get paid. But this one took over a year. I had several conversations via email and telephone with Chris Mason over the course of a year, with him assuring me that the matter was being handled. Chris Mason said that he had been in contact with UTC and that things were being handled. However I still had not received the fee. I finally reached out to the Director of Talent Acquisition at UTC. Chris Mason did not know I was even connected to this person. This contact checked into things and revealed that no one at UTC knew anything on this matter, which meant that Chris Mason lied to me for over a year regarding this situation. I finally had to threaten Chris Mason, to go public with this information, and in about 5 days, payment was received. During that year, I suggested to Chris Mason, that Bountyjobs just pay the fee that was owed to me, and handle their own collections with UTC. However, he stated that BJ does not pay out fees until the client pays BJ. I felt that maybe he did not want to hurt their relationship with UTC, and that was not my desire either, because I had built great rapport with UTC, and placed many candidates with them, so hurting the relationship would not benefit me in any way, however I still needed to be paid. After receiving the information from UTC, I called Chris Mason and told him what I found out. He denied everything of course, but offered to pay me 10% of what was owed to me, until the entire fee was paid. I turned it down, because I waited over a year. A year in which he lied to me repeatedly regarding this matter. I told him that if the entire fee was not paid within 5 days, I would go to NYC, where Bountyjobs is located and stand outside one of the local TV Stations, and that I would not leave until someone let me in to tell my story. Needless to say, I received the fee a few days later. About a week after, I was called by Chris Mason to state that UTC no longer wanted to do business with me, and that I was being removed from the BJ site. I did not care at all, because, if they were willing to allow this company to do something like this, I no longer wanted to deal with BJ anyway. Third horrible situation. I was engaged on a Procurement Manager position for Harris Corporation. Position was in California. My point of contact was not a Talent Acquisition Rep, he was a contract recruiter working for YOH, name Vinay Singh. Vinay called my office one day, after i submitted a candidate. He was very rude, and asked if we were even speaking to the candidates that we were sending because all of them were way off the mark. He was so rude that I ended up hanging up on him. By this time, I had already submitted 4 candidates, and by the way, one of my candidates got hired. But not after Vinay went into BJ and rejected all my candidates, and closed out the job order in the BJ system. However, the candidate that was eventually hired, was doing interviews with Harris Corporation all along. The candidate called me after an onsite interview to let me know how things were progressing. So I sent Vinay an email to ask why the candidate was rejected in BJ, and Harris was still interviewing this candidate. He never responded, But later that say, I received a call from BJ, stating that Vinay called to complain, stating he felt threatened when I spoke to him via telephone, which was totally untrue. He knew that I caught him trying to do what we as recruiters refer to as a "Back Door Hire" My candidate called me that afternoon stating that Vinay Singh told her that if she kept communicating with me it would "hurt her chances at getting the position" These were his exact words. I couldn't believe this. All the while Bountyjobs is threatening me, stating that if they keep getting complaints I will be removed from the site. Despite the fact that I had proof of what he was doing, because the very candidate that Harris was about to hire, was showing as rejected in their system. So I reached out to the HM at Harris and explained all of this to him. He in turn, reached out to the TA Director with Harris and explained what Vinay Singh was attempting to do. The very next day, Vinay Singh opened a duplicate of that same position, and BJ reached out to me stating that I needed to re-submit the candidate to BJ. My candidate was eventually hired. BJ gave me NO support, in fact, they claimed that I was attempting to hurt their relationship with Harris Corporation, even after knowing all of what I speaking about here. So they basically took the side of the TA, even though I caught him red-handed, trying to steal that fee, and showed BJ the proof. BJ gets a percentage of all fees, so I explained to them that if the fee was stolen from me, it was being stolen from them as well. However they did not care one bit. Fourth horrible situation. After Bountyjobs kicked me off the site, I went and pitched Harris Corporation directly, and was awarded a Direct Placement Agreement with their company, and no longer had to go through Bountyjobs. I began submitting candidates to them directly. A few months in L3 Communications merged with Harris Corporation, and they are now called L3Harris. After they merged, a few weeks later I was notified that all outside recruiters would have to work through Bountyjobs. Any recruiting firm that had a current contract agreement with Harris, would be given a login, to engage and work on their positions. I did not like this, but really had no choice. All external firms that had a current contract were given "Preferred Vendor" status in BJ, and instead of BJ taking their usual 25% of the fee, "Preferred Vendors" only have 3% of their fee taken by BJ. Again, working with BJ turned out to be another nightmare. Our point of contact are now, talent Acquisition Reps for L3Harris, and it's much of the same. Ignoring requests for feedback on candidates submitted. Candidates being interviewed, without the knowledge of the firms that submitted them. Complaining to BJ when we email the TA Reps is HUGE. However these same TA Reps email us all the time requesting interviews with candidates, etc. But when we email them, due to their lack of response, they call and complain to BJ, stating that they want all communications with outside firms to be via BJ. However I have seen them not even log into BJ for weeks at a time. While candidates are calling and asking for feedback. Clarissa Wiley with L3harris is a prime example and there are others. Clarissa will email about a candidate she is interested in having do a telephone interview with a HM. Candidate does phone interview, and then you hear NOTHING. No email responses, no responses in BJ after repeated attempts, etc. Then, when you send an email, after she has no problem emailing you about something she wants, trying to get feedback, she "only wants contact via BJ". Looks very strange huh? Well before I wrap this up, you will know exactly why. In BJ, there is a feature called "taking a flier". This is where you can actually pay a fee to BJ, to have a candidate submitted to a position, even when a TA will not engage you on a position. Last month, I tried to get engaged on a Sr. Electrical Engineer position in Northampton, MA, however AMBER HEINLEIN (TA AT L3HARRIS) refused my engagement request. So, I "took a flier" and paid about $30.00 of my own funds to submit a highly qualified candidate. After submitting this candidate, I waited a week to see if there was any feedback. My messages were completely ignored. Then after about another week I tried messaging AMBER HEILEIN again via BJ. She responded "no interest, thanks!" I responded asking if there was any feedback on where this candidate fell short and never received a response to this day. I knew how good this candidate was for that role, so I became suspicious. I honestly did not think she even submitted the candidate to the hiring manager. I was looking through my linkedin.com contacts, and realized that I was connected to the person that appeared to be the Hiring Manager for that position and I was right. We were connected. So I sent over my candidate's information to him via linkedin.com, and he replied with interest. He responded that he had NOT seen that candidate's information before. So it was just as I thought, she had never even submitted him to the HM. All after I paid my own funds to submit the candidate. What recruiter in their right mind, is going to pay to submit a candidate, already knowing that the candidates' information will not even reach the Hiring Manager? I don't know any recruiters that stupid. However, I did not mention to the HM, that I had already submitted this candidate. The next day, I get an email from AMBER HEINLEIN, stating that I am to stop messaging the HM on linkedin.com immediately. However linkedin.com is a public forum, and I can communicate whoever I want, and they are free to communicate with me. Later that day, I get a call from Bountyjobs, as expected. The rep at BJ states that AMBER HEINLEIN is complaining that I am emailing her and that she wants all communication to go through BJ. However I NEVER emailed her, that was a lie. I never even responded to the email she sent me telling me to stop messaging the HM. It's funny, when I got the call from BJ, I asked the Rep at BJ, t produce an email that I sent to AMBER HEINLEIN and she couldn't. It;s also funny I asked her if AMBER HEINLEIN said anything else about why she was complaining and AMBER HEINLEIN mentioned nothing about the linkedin.com situation. I assume what happenedcis that the HM has to go through AMBER HEINLEIN to schedule candidates for interviews, and when he approached her about the candidate that she NEVER SUBMITTED TO HIM, AFTER I PAID TO HAVE HIM SUBMITTED, she got pissed. Which means that not only does Bountyjobs take recruiters' money to have candidates submitted and in many cases the candidates NEVER reach the hiring managers. They also are used to cover up these types of things that the TA's are doing. It's almost like extortion. They threaten to kick you off the site for basically doing your job as a recruiter. What is going on is that the higher ups in Talent Acquistion with the clients do not know, or do not care what theses reps are doing with these Bountyjobs logins. Or, the TALENT ACQUISITION REPS DO NOT WANT EMAILS FROM EXTERNAL, RECRUITERS, SO THAT THERE IS NO INFORMATION TRAIL ON HOW THE RECRUITING IS BEING HANDLED. Let's be honest here, if they were actually doing their jobs, they would not need external recruiting firms in the first place. But from situations like this, i can see why jobs are staying on client's job boards for extended periods of time. ALL IN ALL BOUNTYJOBS IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS SOME VERY SHADY PRACTICES!! AND I AM CERTAIN I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON WHO'S HAD THESE TYPES OF EXPERIENCES WITH THEM!…; Added by Tony Marshall at 7:32pm on May 19, 2020

Blog Post: Top 4 Virtual Event Platforms for Your Next Virtual Career Fair: For the event industry, especially career events, 2020 has not been a kind year. Instead of a catastrophic regression, however, the industry has found a new way to…; Added by Ngan Pham at 6:59am on July 13, 2021

Topic: Meet Craig Campbell, Principal at Talentwoo, Veteran Strategic Sourcing Manager & Industry Speaker: raig Campbell. It is a pleasure to feature today someone with as varied contributions and personal appeal as Craig. He has been a talent acquisition leader with 15 years of experience creating strategic talent programs including, but not limited to sourcing, recruitment marketing, college, diversity and workforce analytics. Craig attributes his success to having worked with world class companies such as Manpower International, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Starbucks Coffee Company and most recently MGMMIRAGE. These experiences have afforded Craig a depth and breadth of recruiting insight and best practices across these various industries. If you ask Craig the secret of his success, he will tell you he owes it to his years having an opportunity to showcase effective internal consulting skills, a strong bias for innovation and an ability to connect the dots between business strategy and talent strategy. Jason and I first met Craig in Las Vegas at the Recruiting Roadshow and he has been a ceaseless advocate for our efforts towards building community. I am a fan and a friend, and I see Craig going places as far as his imagination allow him, and I see no limits to that end - only fresh beginnings. Q&A with: Craig Campbell Six Degrees: Tell us about your home world, Craig. Craig: I have a smart, hot girlfriend and I’m the father of beautiful 11-year-old daughter. As of late, I’m really upgrading my daddy skills because my daughter is now a pre-teen and has started wearing a training bra - HELP! I love to devour good books that are mostly non-fiction. A few of the more recent I’ve read are “A Sense of Urgency by John p. Kotter; a re-read of “The DIP” by Seth Godin, “CrowdSourcing” by Jeff Howe and I’m bouncing around the chapters of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. My favorite book is called A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from inner City to The Ivy League by Ron Suskind. I’m a sports fan, but not avid because I prefer playing vs. watching. I played college basketball, which deeply influenced my sense of team, my desire to win and some of my approach to recruiting. I’ve dabbled in martial arts over the years, Tae Kwon Jo, Jujitsu and even tried mixed martial arts some years back. I decided to quit the MMA that after a co-worker upon seeing a few bruises on me, came into my office one day and said to me “I know the first rule is that there isn’t one, but are you in a fight club?” I thought it was pretty funny, but a couple of months later I experienced what they call a rear naked choke and didn’t sleep that night because I thought my throat would swell and cut off my breathing. To be clear, I wasn’t naked when this happened, it’s just non technical name for it...lol. Anyway, after that, lets just say I sought out other hobbies and decided to watch UFC from the sofa. I’m a “geek” and would consider myself a very early adopter of new hardware and software technology of all kinds and In case you were wondering, I’m a Mac with PC roots from my days at Microsoft. I love metaphors and my favorite one right now is one that I read in a guest blog post on cheezehead. Paraphrasing: You have to ask yourself - are your recruiting solutions painkillers or vitamins. I might extend that and add placebos. I’m a fan of painkillers Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Craig: I’ve been in recruiting for about 15 years and done everything from professional, college, diversity, workforce analytics and branding. I got started by being a recruiting champion when I was working in the insurance industry. It wasn’t my fulltime job, but when they would invite my out to the events, the engagement, the process and end game came very naturally to me and shortly thereafter, I started to explore this profession called with recruiting, which I didn’t really know existed. The most exposure I had to recruitment was my experience of being recruited for sports in high school, which did and still does influence my recruitment style today. One of the cool things about my summary of experience is that I’ve been able to scale across different industries and functions from temp to perm, software engineers to ecommerce to retail and most recently hotel casinos. I’m primarily a recruiting programs guy, eg. Sourcing, employee referral, college diversity, etc. and my best work zone is start-up, turnaround or growth challenges vs. maintenance. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Craig: I think the event that had the most impact on my recruiting career was while I was at Microsoft during the dotcom era. It was fierce direct competition and I loved it. I was a senior member of the college recruiting team and we were as many as 500+ college candidates a year and it seemed as if there was a new start-up attacking our talent pool every week. These were the days when college students were getting huge cash signing bonuses, BMW leases and other crazy tactics to close the best and brightest. The bottom line is that it was such a sweet intersection of systematic logic; creativity, candidate experience and the tenacity to win that sealed my love for the game of recruiting. What I’m proud of in that experience, is that so many of the individuals that my teammates and I hired during that time went on to become high performing leaders in the organization. • I would also reference MGMMIRAGE. First and foremost it’s Vegas baby! It was very unique set of challenges that mostly revolved around solving for • the sweet spot of high touch and high volume • how to differentiate your employer value proposition in an extremely hyper competitive market in one geographic location • managing hiring manager complacency around attracting the hourly job seeker • External factors of housing foreclosures • Successfully developing and managing the employer value proposition against the perception of the lifestyle of Vegas These were really juicy, highly engaged challenges that many times were a moving target and I think will continue to be a moving target. It gave me the opportunity to dig deep into these challenges end to end at the property level and collective as an organization. The internal consulting and change management skills were truly battle tested. I think Las Vegas has a ton of runway for recruiting solutions. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Craig: I give extra props to the recruiting philosophy and talent mindset at Microsoft during my time there. However, I attribute my overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities to the collective recruiting community more so than any one individual. In addition I tend to be influenced by the parallels of many non-recruiting professions. The just in time (JIT) product delivery models of Dell and Wal-Mart, the brands of Nike and Apple, the customer service/experience delivered by Starbucks and Nordstrom’s, the Porters 5 Forces for strategy and the recruiting prowess and discipline of schools like USC, North Carolina and Duke Six Degrees: Tell us about your daily duties Craig: I’ve typically managed small SWAT teams and my primary responsibilities have been focused on the following areas: Strategy: Utilizing the best workforce analysis to customize and prioritize talent needs Identify the most compelling and relevant employer brand messages leverage technology to build recruiting capacity. Sourcing: (professional, college, diversity) Make it my business to know where candidates live, work, and play and I take us there: physically and virtually . Develop and tap into deep and complex social networks Recruitment Marketing: Build talent channels in the same way the business builds supply chains.Translate the voice of your brand to help candidates understand why they should work for you. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Craig: As of late, I’ve been following and really like the execution of Sodexo. Their presence and execution of recruiting in the social media space has been impressive. They are also doing a great job at segmenting and customizing content for their respective talent pools such as military, diversity, college and alumni. The most impressive thing about there ability to launch, execute and leverage these tools is that it requires end to end support and buy in when not everyone “gets it.” Having spent most of my career in big corporations, its not always easy to get these types of strategies and tactics off the ground in the early adoption stage. Shout out to Arie Ball and the Sodexo talent acquisition team. I would also call out EA and how they’ve led the way in how they leverage a CRM approach vs. core ATS, In addition to that, I like the way in which they use events to transfer the virtual relationships into in person engagements. Shout out to Cindy Nicola and Sean Rehder of Talent Logistics on that work. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Craig: As fundamental an effective as it has been for many companies, Employee referrals will continue to have an impact on my work and the industry. Generally, I don’t believe it’s been optimized. Although recently there are some yet to be proven tools on the market that leverage social networking platforms like facebook, linkedin, etc…I think there is huge runway in the employee referral channel. Six Degrees: List/detail speaking events, awards, publications, where you have you represented your company: Craig: I have spoken at ERE, NACE and Diversity Best Practices, but no awards to mention. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Craig: My next career goal is to build and lead a start-up or turnaround recruiting function that literally leverages the best practices of business strategy, technology, marketing and customer service instead of an aspiration. I the main things that I need is an organization and team with a strong sense of urgency, an entrepreneurial spirit, reasonable resources and the right capabilities appropriately aligned and lastly trust and autonomy. Game on… Recommendations for Craig “Craig is a true professional in Human Resources. He is an excellent strategist who thinks outside of the box to develop creative initiatives and processes. Craig has an unique understanding of the importance of "branding" within Human Resources and business in general. His valuable experience and thinking is emphasized with his ability to quickly develop credibility through executive presence and influence skills. I would sieze the opportunity to work with Craig again in the future. He will be an asset to any organization that thinks strategically about Human Resources.” December 15, 2008 Michelle (Bray) DiTondo, VP Human Resources, MGMMIRAGE-New York-New York “I had the pleasure of getting to know Craig through my teams support of his initiatives - looking back, we learned something new (and important) in every interaction. He has the ability to take very complicated, large scale situations and quickly identify the most critical, though often subtle, details. Then, after creating and analyzing multiple potential solutions, effectively communicates to any level of audience which is the best and why. Craig is strong from strategy to execution, and from C-level to individual contributor. If you're building a team, make sure you have Craig on yours!” October 25, 2008 Mike Inman, Corporate Strategic Sourcing, MGM MIRAGE “I have working with Craig on several recruiting events, diversity events as well as business planning. In each case, Craig has demonstrated great passion with the ability to generate good ideas. He was very thorough in his work and laid out plans that allowed the group to move forward in a positive direction.” October 7, 2008 Cordell Jones, Lead Program Manager - Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft “Craig has been a huge asset to our company both from a leadership standpoint as well as supporting our talent initiatives. Craig has brought business intelligence and insights which have been "game changers" for our business. I hope to have the opportunity to continue to work with Craig in the future.” July 3, 2008 Mark Avery, Director Strategic Sourcing, MGMMIRAGE “Craig is someone who creates a vision, explains the vision, and then delivers the vision. Coming from an exceptional background of work experience, Craig continues to push and to lead his employers in the "talent economy" in new and innovative ways.” June 16, 2008 Sean Rehder, Talent Management Consultant and Developer, MGM MIRAGE “Craig brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. Over the years he has provided me with great advise and support. He is well connected in the recruiting industry and is always willing to share his knowledge with others. I would welcome the opportunity to work with him. Cody” May 25, 2008 Cody Horton, SPHR, Talent Acquisition Manager, Dell “Without a doubt, Craig gets "it". He truly understands how recruiting impacts business not just from a hiring perspective but from a "bottom-line" perspective. He is extremely creative when it comes to the business of recruiting and sourcing strategies. I am looking forward to working with Craig again in the future.” May 22, 2008 Shea Putnam, Partner and Branch Manager, Coolhires “Craig is a polished, confident staffing professional with a plethora of knowledge in all areas of the staffing industry. He is able to use his marketing and strategic thinking along with creativity to bring new meaning to outdated programs and processes. His ability to look at the staffing industry out of the box, from a consumer level rather than an employee level, enables him to create innovative programs that are far reaching within an organization. He is a charismatic and engaging speaker who is able to deliver high level information in corporate vernacular or “see spot run” fashion. He has been an enlightening person to work with.” May 21, 2008 Lauren Burke Bennett, Consultant, MGM MIRAGE “Craig, has been an valuable resource to me. He offers wise counsel and is a big thinker who has helped me identify actionable solutions to staffing challenges (ATS, employee referral program, sourcing strategies, etc.) Craig's quickly understands complex problems and offers thoughtful, clear and insightful solutions. Whenever, I have an idea I want to brainstorm and/or challenge, Craig is the first person I call.” May 21, 2008 Jojuane Porter, Manager, Recruitment Process, Tools and Metrics, Kohl's Department Stores “Craig is a dynamic professional that has a tenacity to uncover every stone until he locates the ideal result. He possesses the incredible ability to multi task, think out of the box, leverage hard to find resources, and initiate projects with long term benefits to both stakeholders and sponsors within the organization. Moreover, Craig continually brings concepts and ideas that are generations ahead of current corporate models, including time, cost and quality value propositions. Craig offers a relentless approach to extraordinary achievement. I believe that he is a valuable contributor to the MGM MIRAGE enterprise.” May 20, 2008 Lance Greeninger, Div. Corporate Recruiting & Human Resource Initiatives, MGM MIRAGE “Craig has the ability to not only create a vision, but to see that vision through right down to the tactical level and foresee any operational impact the vision may have on different verticals within the organization. Knowing this, Craig will reach out to these stakeholders and involve them at the beginning stages in order to achieve the critical buy-in to foster the success of the vision/project. Bottom line, Craig brings vision, foresight and attention to detail to MGM MIRAGE.” May 20, 2008 Andrew Heckert, Manager, Strategic Sourcing, MGM MIRAGE “Craig is a talented,creative, and smart staffing professional. He has the ability to access situations quickly and put together programs and solutions that not only work well, but can scale and be reproduced. He's responsive, proactive and a great person to work with. I'd work with Craig again and I highly recommend him.” May 20, 2008 Jerry Montgomery, Recruiter, Amazon.com…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 1:36am on February 9, 2009

Topic: Meet Geoff Webb, Hewitt Associates Sourcer & Toronto Community Activist: fferin Grove Park and volunteer within the parks and communities movements in Toronto. • Office/Cell Number (O) 416-530-4271 (C) 647-226-9322 • Email Geoff Webb has over 10 years of experience with Recruitment and Resource Management with some of the top consulting companies in Canada and the United States --- "Geoff is Canada's Most Connected Recruiter". In addition to his sourcing expertise, Geoff specialties include: Recruitment, Resource Management, Training and Coaching, Career Transition, Health Services and Privacy. Q&A with Geoff Webb Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. Geoff: I live in Toronto with Michelle (we’ve been together now for over a decade), we have two daughters Inanna is six years old and Dara is two years old, we currently take care of three cats, a cockatoo (named Cookie) and a dog, wow, we really have too many pets. Not only am I a Master Sourcer, but I’ve been involved in Canadian politics for over 20 years, in that time I have worked for two Prime Ministers, one Premiere and a number of Members of Parliament. As well, I was once held by the Secret Service at the White House (it wasn’t my fault I swear). I was there on a school trip, a friend threatened to burn down the building, I got taken in for standing beside him (such an idiot). I am currently very involved with the Parks and Communities movement in Toronto, where we try to focus communities around urban park spaces. If you want to see a great model for an urban park check out www.dufferinpark.ca - we rock. When we’re not volunteering I like to spend time with my two little girls, we hang out a lot with friends in the parks, but also like to go rock climbing, we are all avid rock climbers (so if you know of any good rock, I’ll climb it). Currently my eldest daughter and myself are trying to figure out if it’s possible to build a zipline in our backyard Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Geoff: started out in recruiting at Parachute Community employment centre in 1989, so I have been in the staffing industry for wow, for 20 years now. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Geoff: Funny story actually. I didn’t want to be a recruiter. At first I went to theatre school and aspired to a career as a Stage Manager. I’ve always had an artistic side of me, however, after about three years of Theatre School I decided that I really couldn’t stand actors and that might get in the way of a career. So I went to work for my friend Tim McVegh who ran a community employment centre (Parachute, named after “What Color is your Parachute”). My job there was to assist underemployed youth in the Regent Park area of Toronto to get on-the-job skills training through a Government of Ontario program called Futures. That got me hooked so I worked my way through school and got my certification in Human Resource Management. When I did the course I thought that I wanted to be in Training and Development, but during my coop I ended up working for Canadian Tire as a Staffing Assistant. Now this is where it got really interesting, growing up my father was a professor of cognitive science at UofT and so we had a lot of computers around the house. I got the job at Canadian Tire because they were implementing a new ATS called Restrack Hire (which eventually became Taleo) and I understood both the HR world and the technology world, and Canadian Tire was the first company in Canada to implement the system. My role was to work as a Jr. BA on the implementation. Through that process I became very interested in Recruiting and started to assist on some of the Campus recruitment initiatives. And that’s how I got started in Recruiting. Since then I have mainly focused on Technology hiring because I have a love of Talent Acquisition and Technology. After Canadian Tire I worked briefly for a year with a Technology agency called Ian Martin IT, until the VP and a good buddy Craig told me that he didn’t “want to hold me back from something better” (no Craig Silverman it wasn’t you but I love that line). I then spent the next few years working for Computer Task Group on the IBM account as an RPO recruiter, this gave me the opportunity to manage recruiters as well as move my young family to Vancouver for a year…since then Vancouver has been our second home. It also gave me the opportunity to meet some really great American recruiters and learn the phrase “that dog won’t hunt”. After deciding to return to Toronto I worked for Xwave, Cognicase and then CGI (where I briefly delved into the world of Resource Management). After leaving CGI in 2002 I started to really become interested in the Candidate Generation or Sourcing side of the business. So I started my own company and with the help of my friends at Head2Head worked for companies such as T4G, Microsoft and Tucows (thanks guys). I then did a pure sourcing gig at Intuit for two years where I had the great pleasure of working with some of the best sourcers in North America under Traci Wicks (who btw rocks). I also got to attend the first Sourcecon and really started to delve into my community of peers. I am currently working with Hewitt Associates on the Central Sourcing team, again, I am very lucky to work with such a dedicated and smart bunch of folks under the inspired leadership of Chris Gould and Cynthia Wehrenberg. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Geoff: I can remember the day when the sourcing world really opened up for me, during my stint at Microsoft Canada I sourced and recruited for the Enterprise Services team. Let me say that it was a challenging assignment, as you had to find people that not only excelled technically but also were prepared to go on the road 80% of the time. We were using all the usual channels at the time, however, one day I was having lunch with a couple of the folks who were Technical Evangelists, and they were talking about the Microsoft Developer contests that were going on. It sounded both interesting and a lot of fun, so I inquired further about, well, what the heck they were. At the end of the conversation I was dumbfounded to find out that we already knew most of the best talent out there through the contests, but no one had thought to connect the contests to Talent Acquisition, and that’s when it struck me, everything can be about recruiting. You just need the proper recruiting ecosystem in your company. That’s when sourcing became really interesting for me, the more creative the approach the more exciting I get about it…and over the years I’ve done some crazy things, set up hotdog stands across the road from competitors, rode the elevators looking for contacts, crashed conferences to meet with developers. But I’d have to say that was a defining moment for me. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Geoff: you know I can’t say that I have any one mentor, however I have to give props to some folks for really opening my eyes to the sourcing world and community based recruiting. A big prop has to go out to my friend and mentor Traci Wicks at Intuit, Traci really taught me two valuable lessons 1.) that online communities are great but always need to be supported by direct human connection and 2.) your sourcing strategy no matter how complex should always answer the question “how am I going to move this person from a prospect to a hire”. I will forever carry those lessons with me. As well, Leslie O’Connor gave me the opportunity to connect with so many people that share a common passion for sourcing through the Sourcecon venue. I owe many of my relationships with my fellow sourcers to Leslie. Speaking of community builders I would be remiss in not giving a shout out to my fellow Torontonian Jason Davis, Recruitingblogs has been a great place not only to connect to the recruiting world but also to see how vibrant online communities can be created and maintained. Also huge shout out to all those sourcers and recruiters that I connect with regularly to share ideas…unfortunately to numerous to all name here. Six Degrees: Tell us about your position at Hewitt: Geoff: Currently I am a Sourcer on the Central Sourcing team at Hewitt Associates, I work on a team of seven sourcers under the direction of Cynthia Wehrenberg, besides my everyday sourcing duties of finding the best and brightest of the HRO world I also work on researching and evaluating new sourcing tools and technologies and then showcasing those technologies to the team. Further I am involved with the team building out the Hewitt social media strategy (with my good friend the brilliant Michael Marlatt), an opportunity that I am very excited about. I am extremely proud to be working on a sourcing team that has come so far so fast, in six months we’ve really become a force to be reckoned with in the Sourcing world, I would put us up against any sourcing team out there today, yeah, I mean you - bring it. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Geoff: Wow, so many, however, if I had to pick the top three I have always admired the work that Marvin Smith has been doing over at Microsoft, building Talent Communities that are true self sustaining and self propagating. I also really enjoy the work being done by Chris Hoyt and Amybeth Hale over at AT&T around the integration of their social recruiting elements, and last but not least I am a huge Josh Khan fan, he’s both a cool and very smart guy and understands that not every tool is made for every job. (B) In what aspects are they superior? Geoff: you know in all these cases including Hewitt, I am highlighting companies that are daring to be different, to push the boundaries of traditional Talent Acquisition, to really delve into social recruiting, daring to make mistakes and learn from them. I have a lot of respect for any company that puts themselves out there and is prepared to make some big OOPS. Another very important lesson that I learned at Intuit was if you aren’t making mistakes then you’re probably not innovating. In all my favorite companies I see a lot of innovation in our 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? Geoff: Hmmm, let ‘s see, Job Boards, yeah, they’re going to replace Third Party Recruiters…wait, wrong decade. No, seriously for me it’s got to be two things, 1.) the emergence of social media, and when I say that I don’t just mean Facebook, Linkined, Twitter, I am thinking beyond that with Diigo and Del.i.cious and other social bookmarking sites like Stumbleupon, I am talking about blogs, widgets, anything that can tell me more about you as a person other than your resume and can allow me to connect with you as a person more fully and 2.) (this is me Faith Popcorning a bit here), the fact that the future of Sourcing will be less about resumes and more about the content, I as a Sourcer I will be more interested in what you demonstrably know than what you have written on your resume. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: Geoff: Granted I haven’t been a huge conference attendee (probably that long trek across the border), however, I have religiously attended both Sourcecon conferences and have attended Recruitfest and RNG here in Toronto. I look forward to the day when Canada can say that we are in the Talent Acquisition conference game, I hope that day will come soon. Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? Geoff: I have been very lucky not to be a member of the unemployed up to this point during the recession. However, I know many of my fellow recruiters and sourcers that were downsized during the recession. To try to combat some of the effects of the recession in Toronto we started a monthly meetup of recruiters, hoping that the direct connections that we make will entice folks to help each other seek clients, new gigs, contracts, whatever they need. 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. Geoff: Well, let’s see, the last time I was looking for work I started a Facebook group and called it “Help Geoff Webb Find a Job” and invited all my “friends” to the group, I would then keep them updated about my job search status, I also run a number of social networks for Canadian Recruiters and have invited my Linkedin friends to a Ning group called “Friends of Geoff Webb Worldwide”. I help to run the Sourcecon Ning site and I am a regular contributor to Recruitingblogs.com. I also have one of the largest Facebook networks of recruiters on Facebook - all these media allow me to stay in touch with my community and share information with them. As I stated above I am also the organizer of the Toronto Recruiter Meetup and I am often called upon by community groups in Toronto to set up their online social media. I would start my own radio show, but Animal has that covered. 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? Geoff: Don’t ignore people, and be your authentic self. The best way to tick people off is ask them for something and then ignore them when they come calling to you. I try my best to answer every wall post, every Linkedin inquiry, every Tweet that I get, otherwise, I’m just another avatar out there. As well, do “pay it forward”, helping someone today can often become an opportunity of tomorrow. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Geoff: I’m torn there…on one hand I would like to be the Talent Community Manager, and work within social media to grow and enrich Talent Hubs or Communities by providing interesting and rich content but also introducing an element of the human touch, I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I’m learning. I could also see myself as the Product Manager for the next killer recruitment app out there, again, not there yet, but I’m learning. Industry Recommendations for Geoff Webb “Geoff and I worked together at Intuit, as Senior Recruiters, and then he moved into the Candidate Generation Team. He is passionate about building recruitment pipelines, creating sourcing strategies, training peers in technology tools that increase their ability to effectively use the newest and latest & greatest tools and, last but definitely not least creating new social networks. Geoff is an Excellent Sourcer, with many tools at his disposal and full of ideas, strategies and networks. He brings alot of tools and ideas to the Table and can help a Recruitment Team and the related Business Groups find a good solution to enable them to Hire the right people and talent!” October 17, 2007 Linda MacNeil, Senior Recruiter, Intuit Canada Inc. “Geoff strives to always look at new innovations in sourcing from a technology perspective. If there is something new out there he is the expert. Geoff also is a GREAT trainer and is committed to training new sourcers so they become successful! When brainstorming with Geoff there are no obstacles always solutions. Thank you Geoff for being such a committed innovator in sourcing.” August 13, 2007 Top qualities: Personable, Expert, Creative Traci (TWicks) Wicks “Geoff managed a heavy recruitment load, and was successful in establishing a user group for Java programmers. He always knows about the latest technology and sourcing strategies, effectively determines technical competence among candidates,, and managed the hiring relationships with ease. He is a pleasure to work with and is willing to share ideas and best practices.” September 10, 2007 Janette Richards, Recruitment Consultant, Intuit, Inc.…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 8:03am on July 6, 2009

Topic: Meet Mark Rinovato, Broadcom's Corporate Staffing Pioneer of Sourcing, SEO, and Employee Branding - Goes Solo: 8-0133 • Mobile: (949) 395-9593 • Email Ever live "down the street from someone" and only years later, thousands of miles away reintroduced yourself and communicated and learned what an exceptional innovator you missed a coffee or a lunch with when you had the opportunity? Of course you have; these are digital times, but alas, the virtual handshake allows us to recover bona fides. In this instance, a staffing manager who was an early disruptor within corporate walls was only a few miles away when I lived in Irvine before I escaped to the Rocky Mountains. Today, I give thanks to RecruitingBlogs Monday Member Showcase series for the opportunity to share a discovery of a true industry innovator, Mark Rinovato. This week, I am honored to feature his extraordinary legacy of achievements during his tenure at Broadcom; mainstreaming sourcing efforts, in addition to introducing SEO and employee branding as a vital strategic staffing component. Mark served as Manager, Strategic Sourcing at Broadcom, he oversaw a budget of $1.5M where he initiated the creation of the strategic sourcing function and managed a team of eight Sourcing Specialists dedicated to passive candidate identification and pipeline generation through sourcing channels. He created the company’s first Employment Brand that is now used in all career-related advertising and communications in order to convey the true company culture. Mark implemented Search Engine Optimization technology for the career site that resulted in Broadcom’s open requisitions landing on the first page of Google search results. His efforts translated into the Successful development of identifying over 5000 qualified engineers to the database within six months. As Manager of Global Staffing at Broadcom, he managed a budget of $3.5M and directed a global team of 28 including recruiters, sourcing specialists and coordinators in support of the Broadcom’s recruiting strategy and execution worldwide. He created Broadcom’s Employee Referral Program that produced a third of all company hires. His staffing organization grew Broadcom from 2,500 employees in 2004 to over 7,000 employees in 2008. In all, Mark’s efforts averaged over 1400 hires per year for four years, - exclusive of acquisitions. Recently, Mark has initiated his own contingency search firm, “EMR Search Partners” which provides talent acquisition solutions to the high technology industry. EMR provides search services on a retained, contingency and contract basis. He has diversified his clientele with start-up venture funded firms as well as large established companies. Q&A with Mark Rinovato Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. Mark My wife, Edie, and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in Februrary on the island of Bora Bora, Tahiti. It was spectacular. We met in Los Angeles, where I was starting out my recruiting career with an employment agency on Wilshire Blvd. She was working for a restaurant located in the same building. We know we made a great team. My wife is Hungarian born and actually escaped from communist Hungary in the 70’s with her mother and eventually made their way to Los Angeles. That’s an entire novel in itself! As it turned out, we started our own restaurant in Los Angeles, a Hungarian/Continental restaurant, and it was quite successful. I found myself recruiting by day and helping with the restaurant at night. I would not recommend this. We sold it 4yrs later, but the marriage is still going strong. Six Degrees: What's a day in the life for you Mark? Mark My main hobbies are golf, music and movies. I don’t have enough time to play a lot of golf, but I get out when I can. I’ve been to many PGA Tour golf tournaments, including the US Open at Torrey Pines in 08. It was a spectacular event. Having been in the restaurant business, my wife and I also share a love of gourmet cooking and wine, and we love to entertain friends. We also love to watch classic movies. As far as music, my tastes are pretty eclectic, and include folk, rock, jazz (especially latin jazz) and classical. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? Mark: I’ve been in the staffing industry for over 30 years, so I’ve seen a lot of changes, especially with the technology. When I started in the industry the most innovative technology was the phone system. Come to think of it, we may be coming full circle with smartphones and the mobile internet. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Mark I was asked by a friend in Los Angeles, who had just been hired by an employment agency there, to talk with this agency about getting into the business. This was a small firm just starting up, and I was about the 6th employee. I ended up being with that agency for 7 years going from a Recruiter to Management, and we grew from one small agency to 5 agencies with 20 employees each. The success I experienced there was very exciting, especially for a young man in his early 20’s, and really set the tone for my career in this business. I was hooked. I still am. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Mark That’s a tough question. There have been so many important events. But I would have to say that starting my own agency was the most important. There is something about going out on your own, with no support other then your belief in your own abilities, that really defines who you are. It requires you to be creative and do more with less, but it also gives you the freedom to do all of the things that you could not do working for others. As an example, the first firm that I worked for was slow to adopt the PC, networking and recruiting software that was then coming available, pushing it off into the future because of the expense. When I started my own business I immediately bought a software package designed for search firms and automated my business. It happened to be on the Mac as that was the only GUI available and I couldn’t deal with DOS. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? Mark Actually, there were two individuals that I would say I modeled my career after. The first was the owner of the first agency that I joined and was with for 7yrs. I saw how he ran his business and how successful he was, and that inspired me to learn recruiting and start my own business. The second was a corporate staffing manager with a Fortune 100 corporation who helped me transition into corporate recruiting. He gave me an opportunity and opened up that side of the business for me. Six Degrees: Tell us about your last position, (responsibilities, size of your staffing organization) : Mark I spent the last 8yrs at Broadcom Corporation, a $4.5 billion communications semiconductor company. I started out as a contract recruiter, and eventually progressed to Manager of Global Staffing and then Manager, Strategic Sourcing. The teams that I hired and managed were instrumental in growing the company from 2400 employees to just over 7500 employees in 4yrs. Most of these hires were highly skilled engineers, hardware and software. The staffing department had 25 recruiters and sourcers at one time, and we were an excellent team, but recent budget cuts have eliminated most of them. It’s the worst time I have ever seen in our industry. Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review? Mark The talent groups that we focused on at Broadcom were primarily design engineers with either IC design, systems design or embedded software design expertise. Within these groups is quite a bit of specialization, as the company has over 22 different product lines. But those are the basic talent hubs, and they were all supported by my teams. We also recruited for other support functions, such as finance, IT, HR, etc. Six Degrees: What types of training in sourcing/recruitment are available to you and have you taken advantage of? Mark We had access to a lot of good training. The three primary training courses for staffing were: The Adler Group – full cycle recruiting, including interview and assessment. JobMachine – Sourcing AIRS Xtreme - Sourcing All of these vendors did an excellent job of coming on site and conducting professional training sessions that had a great deal of benefit to my teams. 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? Mark The main tool was the ATS system, from VirtualEdge, and that system was implemented worldwide. We used all the typical job boards. Job boards were a tool worldwide as well, but only Monster worked reasonably well overseas. Most countries and regions have there own local boards that do better then Monster, CareerBuilder, Hotjobs and Dice. Of course, everyone had a LinkedIn Recruiter account, which is quite effective everywhere. Other sourcing tools included ZoomInfo, Broadlook Diver and Profiler, InfoGist, TalentHook, and others. We also used Search Engine Optimization and built an SEO site with TalentHubs. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Mark Microsoft is a name that keeps popping up on everyone’s top ten list. Also, I hear a lot of good things about Ernst and Young. We had a Broadcom employee leave to go to work in E&Y’s college program as a recruiter and described the experience in glowing terms. A lot of industry leaders in sourcing seem to have come from Microsoft. Six Degrees: (B) In what aspects are they superior? Mark Most companies with superior recruiting functions have the support and commitment of top executives who understand the importance of recruiting to the company’s success. This translates into budgets that allow staffing leadership to hire the best recruiters and sourcers, and implement the best tools and methodologies. The best recruiting departments have a strong strategic approach to staffing, along with a superior process. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn’t…and how that was a learning experience? Mark Most of the big mistakes I have made were the result of lack of communication. Nothing leads to disaster like making decisions in a vacuum. Probably the best example of this happened when I became enamored with Web 2.0 job boards and thought that I needed to add one to my company’s toolbox. I did my due diligence, checked out all the top contenders and made my selection. I even had a small team of 2 recruiters who also participated in the demo’s, and they were also positive, so I was comfortable with my final decision. I was so sure that this was a great product that I failed to involve the larger team of recruiters and sourcers who would be using the product on a day to day basis. It turned out that, even after extensive training, they were not getting the results from this new product, and simply stopped using it. I had wasted tens of thousands of dollars of the company’s money and valuable training and recruiter time. The result was no results, and no ROI. No matter how cool a technology seems, you need to make sure that it can produce the desired results and that you have buy in from the majority of users before going with it. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Mark Obviously, the financial meltdown and deep recession has had a strong impact on the recruiting industry. No matter what part of the business you work in, you have probably negatively impacted by this downturn. Corporate recruiting budgets have been sharply curtailed. Many friends of mine on the agency side, both retained and contingency, have painted a very bleak picture of the current market. While this too shall pass, I think the severity of it will make companies hesitant about committing to hiring fulltime employees and push them towards more outsourcing and contract labor. The cost of healthcare is also a factor that will encourage this trend as well. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: Mark The most interesting groups that I have been involved with recently are CSLE (Corporate Sourcing Leadership Exchange) and OCTane, which is a local business group here in Orange County, CA. CSLE is focused on sharing information and stimulating ideas about Sourcing as a center of excellence in corporate environments. It is always enlightening to hear what other top corporate staffing teams are doing internally, especially with regards to sourcing. OCTane is a group dedicated to the branding of Orange County, CA as a destination for high technology and medical technology firms and talent. Sahali 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 - If so, to what extent? (If you have been laid off, tell us about the experience, when it happened) Mark Well, it has affected me quite dramatically. The entire strategic sourcing function was eliminated, along with my position as manager of that team. Many recruiters were also let go, as were other departments in HR. So the recession has had a very negative impact on me, and many of my colleagues. I’ve been through a number of these recessions, and they are always bad news for the recruiting industry, but we always bounce back. 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? Mark We have some local groups here in Orange County that have been a big help so far. There is a group called HR Connections, which is sponsored by LHH, that brings together local HR talent at monthly meetings. We share job leads and job hunting advice. Also, InContact HR puts together great networking events for HR professionals nationwide. I’ve also joined a few promising groups on LinkedIn such as Corporate Recruiters, Personal Branding Network and Cybersleuths. I’m looking forward to getting more involved in networking and branding through these and other groups. 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? Mark My advice would be to pick and choose carefully the networks you decide to become a part of, and then really participate as much as possible. You have to give something in order to get results. Not contributing to the networks is a mistake that I have made in the past, mainly because I’ve been too busy, but also because I was did not incorporate it into my daily routine. I plan to change that. LinkedIn has been my main professional network so far. I have used Facebook primarily for personal contacts. And of course Twitter looks to be a great tool that I’m just getting started with. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Mark I did a lot of soul searching over the past couple of months as to which direction to go in. I initially thought about going for another Manager or Director of Staffing role in a corporate environment. But I have decided to start my own search and consulting business instead, and I’m in the middle of launching this new enterprise. It may seem an odd time to be launching a business of any kind, let alone a recruiting business, but recessions are often the best times to start a new business. We’ve hit bottom, and nothing but growth lies ahead. I’m looking forward to the challenge. Happy Holidays, from SixDegreesfromDave.com…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 4:25pm on November 29, 2009

Blog Post: Forget Big Data. Recruitment Has a Huge Data Problem.: Whenever I see an article on Big Data and how it's going to revolutionize HR from…; Added by Joel McLean at 5:13pm on August 14, 2015

Topic: Fifteen (15) Open Positions | Open to Splits: jwallace@bearITstaff.com | Joseph Wallace, VP of Technology / Principal Engineer |: ong Windows 2000/2003/XP system administration skills; experience with Active Directory and security hardening of Windows systems • Additional experience with RedHat Linux EN4 & EN5 and/or Solaris 8 & 10 desired. • Knowledge of server virtualization technologies desired. • Knowledge of Centrify Direct Control or Vintela VAS, and VMware desired. • Knowledge of advanced application server configuration including performance tuning, clustering, etc. • Basic knowledge of relational databases desired (Sybase, MySQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL). • Basic knowledge of networking concepts and protocols (SNMP, TCP/IP, ftp, NFS/Samba, etc.) • Experience with Symantec/McAfee Antivirus Corporate benefits include: • 401K; • Family medical and dental with minimal employee contribution; • AFLAC; • 20 Paid Time Off Days; and • 10 paid holidays. Interested candidates MUST possess an active TS/SCI clearance. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2. Title: Software Integrator (Active TS/SCI Needed) Skills: SW integration, Systems Integration Location: Baltimore, MD Position Type: Full-time / Permanent Job Description: Experienced SW integration and test, ability to write and modify Unix scripts (Bourne, C, Korn, others) and Windows scripts; excellent troubleshooting skills; familiarity with Unix and Windows; additional familiarity and understanding of Web Services, Oracle, and Sybase a plus. Knowledge of the SIGINT domain and SIGINT COTS/GOTS is a plus (GALE, SOAP, CETS, NCCT, S3B, and ONEROOF). Responsibilities include the integration of software products and applications. Preparing COTS/GOTS packaging for builds, coordination of the builds with the partner and answering the partner's questions. This person must also provide build, integration and partner status to IPT leads as well as work with the other IPTs/Working Groups as necessary. This is a hands-on position with integration and lead responsibilities and also includes maintaining integration documentation. Compensation is commensurate with experience. Corporate benefits include: • 401K; • Family medical and dental with minimal employee contribution; • AFLAC; • 20 Paid Time Off Days; and • 10 paid holidays. Interested candidates MUST possess an active TS/SCI clearance. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3. Title: Database Engineer (Active TS/SCI Needed) Location: Baltimore, MD Position Type: Full-Time / Permanent Position Description: The DCGS-A program is developing a Service Oriented Architecture bringing together over 15 Oracle, Sybase, MS SQL Server and MySQL databases running on Linux and Windows. DCGS-A needs talented, experienced database engineers who can take an idea, run with it, and see it all the way through to completion. Our database engineers support the following activities: • Support data integration efforts • Develop security hardening, auditing, and maintenance scripts • Analyze performance at the OS, database, and SQL level, including trace file analysis • Assist application developers with database problems • Upgrade and apply patches to databases • Minimum of 6 years of experience developing, administering and troubleshooting Oracle or MS SQL Server databases Minimum of 2 years of experience working with Oracle in a Linux or Unix environment, including shell scripting and analysis of CPU, memory, and disk bottlenecks. Corporate benefits include: • 401K; • Family medical and dental with minimal employee contribution; • AFLAC; • 20 Paid Time Off Days; and • 10 paid holidays. Interested candidates MUST possess an active TS/SCI clearance. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 4. Title: Software / Systems Integrator (Active TS/SCI Needed) Location: Baltimore, MD Position Type: Full-Time / Permanent Position Description: • System administration knowledge of Unix, Linux and/or PC based platforms; knowledge of server virtualization technologies • Integration and Troubleshooting of COTS/GOTS packages and custom designed software on a variety of workstations, networks and communications equipment. Experience with the integration and troubleshooting of large-scale systems including: o Integration of J2EE/Web Services applications in the following web technologies: BEA Web Logic, WebSphere, JBoss, HTML, JSP, JavaScript, and Web services. o Troubleshooting applications involving a wide variety of programming & scripting languages (C, C++, Java, Perl, UNIX shell scripting and Visual Basic). o Integration of automated solutions for packaging and deploying software (InstallShield, Altiris, Wise, WLST, etc.). • Basic knowledge of relational databases desired (Oracle, Sybase, MySQL and/or Microsoft SQL). • Basic knowledge of networking concepts and protocols (SNMP, TCP/IP, ftp, NFS/Samba, etc.) • Knowledge of advanced application server configuration desirable, including performance tuning, clustering, etc. • Experience with collaboration tools (IBM Sametime, InfoWorkSpace, NetMeeting, Psi Jabber, Wildfire EIM server, Trillian IRC client, Outlook) • Attention to detail and excellent troubleshooting techniques • Ability to support short-term travel (1-2 weeks) is a plus (not necessarily a requirement). Corporate benefits include: • 401K; • Family medical and dental with minimal employee contribution; • AFLAC; • 20 Paid Time Off Days; and • 10 paid holidays. Interested candidates MUST possess an active TS/SCI clearance. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5. Title: Software Security Engineer (Active TS/SCI Needed) Location: Baltimore, MD Position Type: Full-Time / Permanent Position Description: The candidate will be responsible for: 1. Evaluating the system impact of all security related vulnerability analysis for the creation of Software Change Requests & Software Problem Reports (SCRs/SPRs) for all product lines across the Windows, Solaris, and Linux operating systems. 2. Ensuring the SCRs/SPRs are implemented as scheduled. 3. Ensuring applicable documentation is updated and/or applicable information is disseminated to the Information Assurance group. 4. Providing weekly status reports, as applicable, to various managers. Other responsibilities will include: • Maintain database of security assessment information (working with Information Assurance group) • Assist in identification of test bench needs to facilitate security development and verification • Assist in the mentoring of engineering personnel on security awareness in software design, implementation and testing Technologies involved (willingness to learn): • Networking and operating systems security (Windows 2003, XP, and Vista, Solaris 8 and 10, RHEL 4 and RHEL5, VMWare, Group Policies, Firewall/DMZ, Intrusion Detection Systems, JEDI, system auditing and collection tools (Event Tracker), anti-virus products, file integrity tools (tripwire/aide/WhatChanged), etc…) • Application Security (Java/J2EE, C++, .Net, Database, Web Services, etc…) • Scripting languages used for implementing security settings and tools: (Unix Shells, Perl, VBScript, etc…) • Security assessment tools (CIS, DISA Gold, Retina, SECSCAN, nmap, etc…) • Others (PKI, LDAP, DNS, Active Directory, Authentication & Authorization, Single Sign-on, Security Patch Management, etc…) Corporate benefits include: • 401K; • Family medical and dental with minimal employee contribution; • AFLAC; • 20 Paid Time Off Days; and • 10 paid holidays. Interested candidates MUST possess an active TS/SCI clearance. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5. Title: Senior Technology Professionals (Active TS/SCI Needed) Location: Baltimore, MD Position Type: Full-time / Permanent Job Description: We have a number of opportunities for senior technologists at one of our client sites in Baltimore, Maryland. We are looking for mature, seasoned, senior technology professionals who are able to work within a large, mature organization. Candidates must have software or systems engineering background, and be familiar with service oriented architecture (SOA) and/or large scale systems integration principles. The candidate must be familiar with working with developed software, and integrating commercial off-the-shelf software packages. Experience with traditional system / software development life cycles as well as Agile development methodologies is vital. Exposure to and understanding of all aspects or specific aspects of the development life cycle (e.g., engineering, design/development, test/integration) is important. Use of automated design, development, and test tools is also desired. The candidate must be able to work across all parts of the organization, develop a strategy and plan for the adoption and integration of the new test methodology, and coordinate the implementation with senior management and organizational leaders. Critical Skills: (Any or all) • Requirements Analysis and Design, data mapping, etc.; • Design Tools (e.g., Rational RSM, ALER, etc.); • DODAF Artifacts development; • Service Oriented Architecture and familiarity with Java implementations; • Familiarity with heterogeneous data environments, data adaptors, and working external content providers; • Architecture experience with distributed systems; • Java development experience; • Various Java Frameworks (e.g., J2EE, JBoss, etc.); • Web services, portals / portlets, SOA integration experience; • Automated test tool experience (planning and execution) at both the user keystroke and interface/WSDL levels; • Test execution; • Test script development; and • Systems / architecture design of large scale distributed systems. Specific Opportunities: • Integration & Test Lead • Software Development Lead • Software Architect • ILS Deputy / SI ILS Lead • Integration & Test Engineers • Systems Engineers • Proposal Team Support. • Technical Volume Team Support Corporate benefits include: • 401K; • Family medical and dental with minimal employee contribution; • AFLAC; • 20 Paid Time Off Days; and • 10 paid holidays. Interested candidates MUST possess an active TS/SCI clearance. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 6. Title: Senior System Architect/Engineer (Ability to obtain TS/SCI Clearance) Location: Conshohocken, PA (zip code 19428) Job Description: THIS POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED. 6/29/09 Joseph Wallace We have an immediate need for a Senior System Architect/Engineer to work at our Conshohocken, PA customer facility. In this position, you will be responsible for providing system architecture and engineering support to the GCCS-I3 program, and directly to the GCCS-I3 Lead Engineer. Your duties will include researching current and future technologies to advise on GCCS-I3 future architecture decisions, and be able to brief government agencies (including DISA, DIA, JDISS) on technical aspects of GCCS-I3. Your duties will also include system architecture, design and development of prototypes, translation of functional requirements into technical requirements, peer reviews of design/code, and general assistance to developers with design, development, testing, delivery, and support. The following are the Basic Qualifications for this position: Candidates must be US Citizens who are eligible to obtain a Top Secret/SCI security clearance. A Bachelor Degree and a minimum of 8-11 years experience in design and architecture, as well as Java, JavaScript, JSP, XML/XSLT, JMS, J2EE, EJB, web service, and relational databases is required. Candidates must have extensive knowledge in software design and development concepts, practices, and procedures utilizing Java/Web/Web Service Technologies, and excellent personal interaction and communication skills. Semantic Web technologies (RDF/RDFS++/OWL-Lite), RESTful web services, and WebLogic is a plus. Experience with automated test frameworks and JUnit are also a plus. U.S. Citizenship is required. Clearance Level: Ability to obtain and retain a Top Secret/SCI security clearance. Travel Requirements: 25% of time, to locations such as Washington, DC, and San Diego Corporate benefits include medical and dental with minimal employee subsidies, 401k, AFLAC, 20 Paid Time Off days in addition to 10 holidays. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 7. Title: Software / Systems Architect (Active Secret Clearance Needed, TS/TSCI Desirable) Location: Baltimore, MD Position Type: Full-time / Permanent Position Description: We have a number of opportunities for senior technologists at one of our client sites in Baltimore, Maryland. We are looking for mature, seasoned, senior technology professionals who are able to work within a large, dynamic organization. Candidates must have a software or systems engineering background, and be familiar with service oriented architecture (SOA) and/or large scale systems integration principles. The candidate must be familiar with working with developed software, and integrating commercial off-the-shelf software packages. Experience with traditional system / software development life cycles as well as Agile development methodologies is vital. Exposure to and understanding of all aspects or specific aspects of the development life cycle (e.g., engineering, design/development, test/integration) is important. Use of automated design, development, and test tools is also desired. The candidate must be able to work across all parts of the organization, develop a strategy and plan for the adoption and integration of the new technologies, processes, and tools, and coordinate the implementation with senior management and organizational leaders. Interested candidates MUST possess an active Secret clearance, TS/SCI desirable Critical Skills: (Any or all) • Requirements Analysis and Design, data mapping, etc. • Design Tools (e.g., Rational RSM, ALER, etc.) • DODAF Artifacts • Service Oriented Architecture and familiarity with Java implementations • Familiarity with heterogeneous data environments, data adaptors, and working with external content providers • Architecture experience with distributed systems • Java development experience • Various Java Frameworks (e.g., J2EE, JBoss, etc.) • Web services, portals / portlets, SOA integration experience • Systems architecture and design of large scale, distributed systems Corporate benefits include: 401K, Family medical and dental with minimal employee contribution, AFLAC, 20 Paid Time Off Days in addition to 10 holidays. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 8. Debugger Developer Enhance, test and debug GDB-based debugger for an advanced, highly dense multi-core architecture. Qualifications • 1-3 years experience with GDB internals, especially with the server side of the GNU debugger • BS or MS in Computer Science/Engineering • C/C++ and Linux/Unix experience • Computer architecture oriented • Strong analytical and problem solving skills • Good written and verbal communication skills • Ability to work in a fast-paced, schedule-driven environment • Flexibility and willingness to adapt easily to evolving requirements • Ability to work independently to solve difficult problems and implement solutions +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 9. Cluster Management Software Developer Design, implement, test and debug a highly reliable, distributed system. Qualifications • 3-5 years experience developing applications with a background on system software and/or distributed systems • Familiarity with BSD sockets API or distributed systems • Proven experience designing scalable and reliable software, and with parallel file systems • BS or MS in Computer Science/Engineering • C/C++ and Linux/Unix experience • Computer architecture oriented • Strong analytical and problem solving skills • Good written and verbal communication skills • Ability to work in a fast-paced, schedule-driven environment • Flexibility and willingness to adapt easily to evolving requirements • Ability to work independently to solve difficult problems and implement solutions ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 10. Control and Monitoring Software Developer - Contractor Design and implement a comprehensive suite of control and analysis tools whose aim is to monitor and maintain the proper health of a large-scale computing system. Qualifications • Proven full software development life cycle experience • 3-5 years experience developing complete applications in C/C++ • Proven experience developing C/C++ database applications using a major DB API: MySQL, PostgreSQL, dBase, DB2, SQLite, eSQL, etc. • Proven experience developing GUI interfaces in C/C++ with a major GUI package: wxWidgets, Qt, GTK+, MFC, etc. • Proven experience writing applications from algorithms and/or numerical recipes • BS or MS in Computer Science/Engineering • Computer architecture oriented • Strong analytical and problem solving skills • Good written and verbal communication skills • Ability to work in a fast-paced, schedule-driven environment • Flexibility and willingness to adapt easily to evolving requirements • Ability to work independently to solve difficult problems and implement solutions ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 11. Software Technical Support Engineer In this position you will focus on diagnosing, reproducing and fixing software issues. Additionally, you will be responsible for developing tools as needed to improve software development process. Responsibilities You will: • Serve as the first level of customer interaction for software bugs • Create reproducible test cases, file bug reports, and initiate delivery of fixes • Design and develop software tools (applications and scripts) to improve software development process Qualifications • Background in programming using C/C++ programming languages • Background in script languages: BASH, Python, Perl, etc. • BS or MS in Computer Science/Engineering • Computer architecture oriented • Strong analytical and problem solving skills • Good written and verbal communication skills • Ability to work in a fast-paced, schedule-driven environment • Flexibility and willingness to adapt easily to evolving requirements • Ability to work independently to solve difficult problems and implement solutions +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 12. Software Integration Engineer In this position you will integrate system software with a unique large-scale supercomputer hardware at customer sites. This includes installing system software stack, being principal point of contact with the customer, assisting the customer with programming techniques, performance enhancements, problem identification and resolution. Qualifications • System software installation experience • Extensive experience with scripting languages • Background in programming using C/C++ programming languages • Understanding of very low-level interactions between hardware and software • 1-3 years of operating system or numerical analysis experience • Ability to respond to changing customer priorities • Experience maintaining clear and detailed logs of system status, errors and hardware/software changes • Ability to travel to customer sites • BS or MS in Computer Science/Engineering • Computer architecture oriented • Strong analytical and problem solving skills • Good written and verbal communication skills • Ability to work in a fast-paced, schedule-driven environment • Ability to work independently to solve difficult problems and implement solutions ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 13. Software Testing Software Tester Design, implement and execute test plans for various components of system software. Qualifications • 1-3 years experience with white and/or gray box testing. Additional experience in other areas of software testing is considered a plus. • Proven experience understanding product requirements and functionality, in order to design appropriate test plans and test cases to verify features and functionalities • Proven experience reading, understanding and analyzing other developers' code (primarily C/C++) • Ability to identify bugs through systematic testing • Proven experience with scripting languages and other automation tools • BS or MS in Computer Science/Engineering • C/C++ and Linux/Unix experience • Computer architecture oriented • Strong analytical and problem solving skills • Good written and verbal communication skills • Ability to work in a fast-paced, schedule-driven environment • Flexibility and willingness to adapt easily to evolving requirements • Ability to work independently to solve difficult problems and implement solutions ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 14. System Administration Junior System Administrator Manage Linux, servers, multi-user compute notes, and Windows on personal workstations. Primary duties • Install and update hardware and software, perform routine maintenance • Evaluate, test and install hardware and software updates. Write or modify simple shell scripts. • Coordinate procedures with software engineers to minimize impact on their work environment. Maintain current knowledge of system administration best practices. Under supervision from Senior System Administrator, implement and maintain best practices in backup, user administration and security. • Monitor availability of external resource and act as first contact for outages. As time permits, assist Senior System Administrator in upgrading systems, system performance and procedures. • Other duties as assigned Required skills • 3-5 years experience in Linux/Windows administration, preferably on multi-user systems • 2-3 years experience with/knowledge of RPM-based package management • Bachelor's degree in Data Processing or equivalent, plus experience in a business/commercial environment • Background in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, preferably system administration • Familiarity with shell scripting and at least one other scripting language • Experience with installing and updating anti-virus software • Hardware knowledge sufficient to do first-level troubleshooting, installation of new devices, memory upgrades, etc. • Familiarity with networking hardware and terminology • Ability to work with end users of varying skill levels • Customer service skills • Organizational capability • Detail oriented and good at executing tasks on schedule despite distractions Desired skills • C, C++, and/or Python programming skills • Ability to create spec files and source rpms • Knowledge of additional Linux distributions • Experience providing reliable services to demanding clientele • Experience with imaging and image distribution • Database administration +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 15. Technical Writing Technical Writer - Contractor The primary deliverable for the position is technical manuals based on oral and written content from systems software engineers. The programming manuals will be used as the primary reference manual for our customers who are also very technical high-performance application programmers. These manuals are also intended to be used by the administrators of the system software, and therefore will also address ordinary day to day tasks and troubleshooting methods. Responsibilities In this position, you will be delivering a variety of documents such as application notes, user guides, and developer manuals ranging in size from 1-100+ pages. Your responsibilities will include but not be limited to: • Interacting with engineers, managers and teams working on advanced system software development under challenging release schedules • Responsible for the technical writing on a user-focused documentation of software products • Defining and applying required styles correctly and editing for clarity • Defining and following guidelines and formatting instructions • Participating in document reviews and inspections • Making revisions and edits as needed • Other related technical writing functions Qualifications • Demonstrable experience (+3 years) as a technical writer • Evidence of technical writing education credentials • Ability to write clearly and concisely, and create manuals from engineering specifications • Proficiency with computer and/or publishing tools • Be able to generate and modify text, tables and illustrations • Having experience with software end-users is a plus ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++…; Added by Joseph Wallace, VP of Technology at 1:20am on June 30, 2009

Topic: Meet Steve Rath, Mickey Mantle of Contract Recruiters, Proud Braves Fan of Square Pants: ave along with some of my other paintings of Pete Rose, Jim Rice, Ali/Frazier, and Rocky." RecruitingBlogs Linkedin Profile Twitter Facebook Website Phone: (770) 803-0444 Email Steve Rath is a Microsoft staffing consultant alumni with over 20 years of diverse experience aligning talent strategies with business strategies. He is an experienced talent acquisition consultant and trainer. Steve has worked with companies of all sizes in the retail, financial services, manufacturing, software, and Internet sectors, offering unique talent acquisition and training strategies with a Client Service focus. His particular expertise is in recruitment strategy design, recruitment process optimization, recruiting/sourcing, and applicant tracking software implementation. Steve has a bachelor of arts degree in Computer Science with a focus on Personnel Management. Steve Rath is a noteworthy feature for me on a personal basis. Knowing him honors two cornerstone aspects of a life well lived for me. (1) Did you ever meet someone that within 24 hours you know you made a life long friend? One of significance? To be distinguished in your personal and professional pursuits is an accomplishment. In Steve, I firmly believed then and have since reflected that I was fortunate to have been at the right place and at the right time introduced by the right person. (2) Do you have a mentor, a brethen of sorts who consistently introduces you to people of significance? Someone who sees a connection potential amongst individuals beyond the sharing of stats and 'how to's' that often represent professional environments and has you break bread with them? To have such a friend who contributes actively to your circle of established friendships is likewise a professional/personal milestone. I have one. You may know him - his name in our industry is akin to the names "Cher" and "Prince." He had me sit next to Steve Rath. I am grateful on several levels to have two such friends who make me a better human. That warm smile upon reflection is what Steve Rath produces in so many conversations. He is the type of person you tell your proudest moments - not for the sake of braggacio, but because you know as he listens he identifies with what it means to you and he wa ts you to succeed just as you wish for the Steve in your life. It's not even necessarily a reaction tied to trade news. It can just as easily be about your kid's spelling bee or the day you planted a new tree in your garden. You may hesitate to share it, Who wants to be perceived as having odd pleasures? But Steve will smile and tell you, "That's great I remember how excited you were when you saw it on the lot." Steve is someone I can tell that to. This is the Steve I know. Steve is also that person you tell the embarrassing tales to, and he can often win the game no one should wisely desire to win. My one named friend is the model of that friend aacrchetype, now Steve is a fellow tribe member. The ego is two doors to the left, we can just sit here and mind our own time. We often do and we do it in the splendor of one another's company. Today let me stand up and genuflect as I present an opportunity to meet my friend and colleague, Steve Rath. Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. Steve: Originally from NY state, I graduated college in 1985 from State University of New York - Potsdam with a degree in Computer Science (and a minor in Personnel Management). I spent my first 12 years as a developer/programmer. I moved from Poughkeepsie, NY in the late 80’s to Raleigh, NC and then to my final destination, Atlanta, GA in 1990. I like to think I was one of the reasons why the Atlanta Braves started their incredible Division winning streak after I moved to Atlanta! It was in Atlanta where I meet my wonderful wife Marjorie with her intoxicating southern charm. We will be celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary this September 2009. She keeps me both focused and grounded and she’s my biggest fan. I have three wonderful boys – Nicholas Dominick (12), Anthony Stephen (3), and Charles John (1). I stay quite active as a result of my two youngest and have become quite the Spongebob Squarepants fan. Growing up I bled baseball. I couldn’t get enough of it. I played it as an 8 year old and in college as a walk on at Florida Institute of Technology (FL Tech). My dream was to play professional baseball. Of course my favorite team was the NY Yankees – Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Dave Winfield, and Phil Rizzuto (as an announcer). Those were the days. I was also an avid Chess player and #1 seat on my High School Chess Club. One of the only students to have lettered in Baseball, Soccer, and Chess! Today I’m a huge Hockey fan. I enjoy following the Atlanta Thrashers as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins. We go to as many games as we can as a family as we thoroughly enjoy the overall experience. One of my favorite hobbies is art. I used to draw my sport hero’s as a kid – sketches, pen and ink, and acrylic paintings. One of my most cherished art pieces is a drawing I did of Mickey Mantle of the NY Yankees. Mickey signed my work back in the late 70’s. I framed it and currently have it proudly displayed in my man cave along with some of my other paintings of Pete Rose, Jim Rice, Ali/Frazier, and Rocky. Six Degrees: How many years have you been the the staffing industry? Steve: I’ve been in the recruiting/staffing industry since 1997 and recruiting 100% since 2002, so 7 years. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Steve: Upon graduating from SUNY-Potsdam I started my career in the software industry as a developer working primarily as a contractor to various IBM facilities in the East Coast. I had very technical jobs during that time which required much of my time with my eyes glued to the terminal (yes we had terminals – no PC’s or workstations or Laptops!). I found that I started enjoying my interactions with people more than with computers and took interest in a possible career change. In 1997 I had the opportunity to change careers and enter the staffing agency world - placing people like myself to work with clients in Atlanta, GA. I started my staffing agency career with a company called Carson Associates (now part of Spherion). It was with Carson Associates where I cut my teeth on the Sales/Account management/Recruiting side of the business. I was responsible for managing the Atlanta based Coca Cola Account as we were one of several vendors working exclusively with KO at the time. It wasn’t long after Carson Associates sold to a publicly traded company (Norrell) that I joined MATRIX Resources as a Sales Representative responsible for opening new business. After several years with MATRIX (2 President Clubs and performer of the month), I joined Comprehensive Computer Consulting, Inc. (CCCi), an established Atlanta staffing agency founded in the 70’s. In 2004 I took my knowledge of the staffing agency world and applied them directly to my clients as a corporate recruiter/staffing consultant. What has made me successful in my career as a Recruiter/Staffing consultant in the IT industry has been my unique combination of my technical background as a Developer interlaced with my knowledge and skill of a recruiter. I have always maintained an edge over my recruiting colleagues in my dealings with hiring managers and candidates. Understanding the needs of a hiring manager has allowed me to translate that need into viable candidates. Also understanding the needs of candidates and establishing a bond of trust, has helped me maintain relationships beyond the current requirement and create a future referral base. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Steve: Probably the single event which had the most impact on my recruiting career would have to be the transition from the technical industry to the staffing agency industry back in 1997. The transition from developing to staffing was one of the toughest times I can remember. I recall thinking many times during that transition – where is the project plan to account for my time!! Six Degrees: Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? I have had several mentors or influencers over the years as I traveled this long and winding recruiting road. There is one in particular who has greatly influenced my approach to the staffing industry to which I attribute my overall outlook and successes. She actually mentored me during my initial years in the staffing industry. She inspired me with her work ethics and her honest approach with people. She was never quick to judge and displayed the utmost in patience. She knew how to deal with people and operated solely on trust and integrity. Her actions always spoke louder than her words and her knowledge and passion exemplified her dedication to our industry and aspirations to positively influence others around her. Six Degrees:Tell us about your latest contract recruitment efforts Steve: Well Dave, this is an interesting question as I’ve been engaged on many staffing projects over the past few years. I’ve taken projects where I’ve simply sourced (Microsoft), as well as projects where I’ve consulted with staffing departments of small to mid-sized organizations (Manhattan Associates, Hanna Strategies, RightNow.com) and functioned as a full life cycle recruiter (Home Depot and Genesis10). I am currently working on an engagement with RightNow Technologies. The are a small to midsized global company focused on creating CRM software. I was hired to evaluate their staffing process and recommend enhancements, best practices, optimize recruiting strategy, and sourcing techniques. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? Steve: This is a difficult question to answer as the ebb and flow of recruiters add to and take away from a successfully operated recruiting department. The team and its leadership typically account for a successful operation. I know most all operations I have been involved with have operational issues to contend with and ultimately it’s the leadership which provides the direction and compliance. (B) In what aspects are they superior? Steve: The aspects which make one companies’ recruiting operation superior over the other is a solid foundation of sound processes put in place. Processes that account for both the hiring manager experience as well as the applicant experience. Personal accountability and the support of executive level to ensure compliance must exist to some degree. Bottom line is the superior recruiting operation sends a clear and consistent message both internal and external of its company. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? Steve: Well, besides the fact that our economy has severely affected the overall health of our recruiting industry I’d have to say technology wise the explosion of Web 2.0/social networking has positively impacted my work. Why? Finding and reaching out to talent has reached a new level for recruiters. While traditional methods of networking have always had there place, creating virtual business and social networks have made it easier to connect taking advantage of economies of scale. With the explosion of blogging, LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, recruiters now have access to a resource pool larger than anyone could have ever imagined. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? Steve: My next career goal is to take my consulting to the next level. Continue assisting small to midsized staffing organizations realize their potentials – building best practices, staffing optimization, sourcing strategies, branding, best practices for applicant tracking utilization. While I have enjoyed the tactical side of recruiting and staffing, I’m enjoying the strategic side of building stronger organizations. To get there is to continue building my resume. My business currently relies on referrals and recommendations. As I continue to build my reputation and my network, I believe my business will also continue to grow. Recommendations For Steve “I have known Steve since 2002. Steve is extremely professional and trustworthly. Steve truly cares about his clients and always wants to make sure they are not only happy with his services but that he does everything possible to ensure they are given the best service. Steve has a wonderful personality. Steve is very smart and a quick learner. When you meet Steve you will be able to tell right away, like I did, how much he cares about people.” November 30, 2008 Susan Van Dyke, IGT “We brought-in Steve to take the lead in staffing for our IS, SAP, and Thin Client Engineering groups... he did just that. Steve immediately took the reigns thus allowing for the Staffing Organization to flex with the growing needs (strategic and tactical) of the company. Steve met and exceeded the expectations of all our groups (including the SAP department, in which IGT heavily utilizes SAP apps and modules). Steve truly understands Staffing and how to effectively manage the groups with whom he works.” September 26, 2008 Cory Burk, Program Manager - University Relations, IGT “It was indeed my pleasure to have Mr Rath working with our team. He has an excellent understanding of the technical recruiting world. The groups he helped us support at Microsoft (through sourcing) are some of the more difficult teams to please. His understanding of the roles, technologies and his sheer ‘stick-to-it” style was a BIG PLUS for us. He was on point for helping us find some KEY HIRES for critical projects. I am hopeful that our paths will cross again!” August 2, 2008 Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Creative Angela McLaughlin “Steve is an excellent recruiter who helped me source for numerous positions while he worked for Microsoft. His expert advice and all his dedication throughout the recruitment process were paramount. His support and understanding of the recruiting process as well as the technology space makes Steve an outstanding asset for any company.” June 17, 2008 Doug Kester, Technical Recruiter, Microsoft “I am very impressed by the speed and responsiveness with which Steve and his team have responded to my queries and concerns. This is very difficult to do when working with such high-value clients as Steve does, which certainly send to him hundreds (thousands?) of requests daily. He is a real responsiveness star, and a role model for recruiters everywhere.” May 15, 2008. Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, On Time Bernard Hayes, PMP, The Home Depot “I had the privilege of working with Steve in Home Depot's Supply Chain group. His passion to attract right talent to the group and more importantly, post-recruitment follow-through is amazing! Steve is one of the most sincere HR recruiters that I have seen.” December 8, 2007 Vijay Sankararaman, Sr.Manager, Supply Chain Technology, The Home Depot “I have had the pleasure of working with Steve now for several months. He is by far one of the most ethically, hard working recruiters that I have worked with. Steve is a dedicated worker and always seeks to do the right thing. He is also a great resource of information and always willing to do what is best for the customer! I have enjoyed working with Steve because you don't have to second guess or wonder if he will meet your expecations.” July 5, 2007 “Steve started with Manhattan Associates as a Contractor and eventually moved into the Manager role. Our team rallied around him at all times. Steve has a strong recruiting foundation and understanding of recruiting. His skills, knowledge and experiences allowed the rest of the team to focus on our recruiting and know we were headed in the right direction. Steve is a solid asset to any Talent Acquisition team.” April 21, 2009 Greg Freed, Senior Technical Recruiter, Manhattan Associates “Steve was a pleasure to work with and is one of the best recruiters that I have ever had the privilege getting to know. Steve consistently follows up on candidates finding the best fit and is willing to listen to exactly the type of person that I am looking for. He is open and honest and a great communicator. Steve also has tons of industry knowledge and seems to be connected everywhere. He really made a huge impact on the Corporate HR recruiting team. He brought in the right people and was able to motivate his associates getting things done. If you are looking for a recruiter then I would highly recommend utilizing Steve’s talent. He is one of the BEST!” May 15, 2008 Lyndon Kolb, Strategic Account Management - Hardware, Manhattan Associates “Steve Rath is an effective, results-oriented manager who works well with all levels of the organization. He ensures that his direct reports have what they need to be successful in their roles. He gives a great deal of feedback and manages his recruiters' workloads well. He is very easy to work for and work with.” January 18, 2007 Barbara Marks, Corporate Recruiter, Manhattan Associates “Steve invited me to come aboard with Manhattan Associates as a contract recruiter. The 3-month engagement was extended twice to seven months. We worked beautifully together because Steve was even-tempered, steady, always encouraging and kind to candidates and colleagues, even in the midst of learning his new role as Recruiting Manager, implementing a new enterprise applicant tracking system, and enduring increasing governmental recruiting regulations. He really does a great job of helping others move along gently, no matter the pressure on him. We were friends before I went there. We are even better friends now!” January 18, 2007 Saron Sarkisian “I worked with Steve to help find several people to expand my Siebel and SAP teams. Steve went out of his way to find high quality people and to do them quickly and efficently. He was exacting in his screening and his can-do attitude made working with Steve a pleasure. He was creative in his searches and problem solving, while meeting all deadlines. I would recommend Steve and would certainly enjoy working with him again.” December 3, 2007 Stephan Cavarra, IT Application Dev Mrg, Hanna Strategies, LLC. “Steve is an excellent hire for anyone looking for a top notch recruiter. He has the ability to hone in on what the needs are and drive to filling the needs in a quick and efficient manner. Steve and I worked together for a while and once he understood what I wanted he was a bulldog. Great catch for any company looking to grow their talent base in all aspects.” November 30, 2007 Annant Patel, Manager - Supply Chain, The Home Depot…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 12:36am on June 15, 2009