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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 Doug Kerken, RecruitingBlogs Activist - "The Tropical Feeling of Falling Three Floors Down A World Trade Center Elevator": ld rescue all the dogs that aren’t cared for properly. Homer wouldn’t dig that too much but he would sure have lots of friends and butts to sniff ... He’s our kid, he’s my little rescue, and our million-dollar baby" "... one of my colleagues and they had to find a bathroom, switch pants and clean the wet ones. I’m not kidding. This all happened in a 30 minute span. All I remember is pants under the hand dryer. That single event told me I have to source better, and ask better interview questions. " • RecruitingBlogs Profile • Linkedin • Facebook • Twitter • Website • Personal Causes: http://www.aspca.org/ • Location: Point Pleasant Beach NJ • Office: 732.903.6923 • Cell: 732.300.5159 • Personal Email Doug Kerken has been in the "Internet Recruiting" space going for over a decade. He has been through mergers, acquisitions, and total liquidations. What Doug refers to, as "The stuff that makes your skin thick and your eyes a bit keener." Doug began his career selling resume database access and job postings on a website called InfoWorksUSA in the late 90's. He recruited and sourced for a CMM and Function Point Analysis firm in New Jersey. He has worked at JobCircle.com, HireHealth.com, and BioSpace.com learning, selling, consulting, and schmoozing alongside "some of the best and most animated salespeople and colleagues ever." Doug loves working with HR professionals, "we are humans too, and for the most part we are a pretty cool bunch." Doug's Specialties include Job Marketing, Employment Branding, Employment Marketing Strategies, Career Fairs, Search Engine Optimization, Job Descriptions, Lead Generation, Forecasting, Cold-Calling, Negotiating, and Closing. Q & A with Doug Kerken Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world. DOUG: I’m lovingly attached to my girlfriend, my one and only, Amber Forbes. 2 years ago she moved all the way from beautiful, sunny, San Diego to Point Pleasant New Jersey to live with…me. We met at a Career Fair I was hosting while I was working the West Coast region for BioSpace.com. We don’t have any children but we do have a very needy mush of a Black Labrador retriever, Homer. He’s our kid, he’s my little rescue, and our million-dollar baby. He was rescued from a puppy mill and has had major reconstructive surgeries to correct lots of joint problems. He’s in great heath now and pretty much just wants to be on you, all the time. I’m a HUGE car and music guy, HUGE! I have an old Land Cruiser and a retired Police Mustang which I have now turned into a pretty nasty (but legal) race car. I love the science of space, planets, stars, nebulas, galaxies, random space dust, wormholes, you name it. I’m utterly astonished that we’re really so insignificant in this place we call space and I really do wish I was some type of scientist or engineer or astronaut. Mostly so I could take a trip to the dark side of the moon and break out a telescope. How cool would that be? I’m an animal lover, but dogs are my thing. Nothing against cats, but I’m allergic to them, so I stay away. Dogs on the other hand, love ‘em. I love big ones, little ones, hairy ones, crazy ones and even drooly ones too. My little man Homer is a rescue and I really wish I could rescue all the dogs that aren’t cared for properly. Homer wouldn’t dig that too much but he would sure have lots of friends and butts to sniff. I donate to the ASPCA regularly, and also random charities and walks, I also play in charity softball tourney’s that people ask me to donate to. Softball is a big part of my life as well. I play from April through November and It’s great, but I’m getting older and things are starting to hurt in places I never knew I had things. Six Degrees: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? DOUG: I’ve been in different parts of the staffing and recruiting the staffing industry since 1999. Worked for job boards, staffing agencies, hosted career fairs, SEO’s pay-per-click aggregators and I’ve even had a hand in publishing a magazine. Yep. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? DOUG: I actually got started in the industry selling resume database access and job postings to recruiters at a company called TheWorksUSA.com. About a year after starting there, I then made my debut as a recruiter at an IT staffing firm called Software Management Solutions (SMS). It was a very specialized shop focused on Function Point Analysis and the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). I was in charge of locating any and all Function Point professionals as well as their support staff, which would have included system admins, developers and project managers. It only lasted about half a year, but it was worth it and I learned so much. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? DOUG: The single most shocking event that changed my recruiting career was actually twofold. One of my admin candidates was on his way to an interview in the World Trade Center in May of 2001. He was a jittery guy to begin with, then an elevator cable broke and the elevator seemed to fall 3 floors in an instant. His bladder couldn’t handle it, his pants got wet, and it was our responsibility to clean him up before his interview. He was basically the same size as one of my colleagues and they had to find a bathroom, switch pants and clean the wet ones. I’m not kidding. This all happened in a 30 minute span. All I remember is pants under the hand dryer. That single event told me I have to source better, and ask better interview questions. Second part is, the next day, while at local New Jersey Technical Recruiters Association meeting, I was approached by one of the founders of JobCircle.com about selling their products to recruiters and HR. Based on what had just happened, I thought, maybe sourcing and recruiting isn’t my game right now, I should try my hand at the job board game again. The economy wasn’t great, and so were job boards weren’t killing it. So, I got fired for not selling enough in the 4 months that I was there. Never had a chance, but it was the best thing that could have ever happened. Do you have a mentor to whom you attribute your overall outlook on recruitment, capabilities, and/or model your career after? DOUG: That’s a great question, I have a few. The first is Matt Zeto. We worked together at TheWorksUSA , SMS, and JobCircle. He taught me how to sell and more importantly, how to sell to HR. He’s also the guy who fired me which gave me a chance to meet the guy that I’d attribute overall outlook to, Chris Amato. We’ve worked together since late 2001 at HireHealth.com, BioSpace.com, GetTheJob.com and OptiJob. He’s a clear thinker that knows what the industry wants and he’s great at adapting to the environment. He’s taught me how to think quickly and roll with the punches. Working with Chris, we’ve seen the recruitment landscape change and technologies come and go. We’ve survived the highs and lows and we’re still out there making a difference. Six Degrees: Tell us about your organization, OptiJob : DOUG: Our organization, OptiJob isn’t a huge company but each one of us has specific roles in the OptiJob machine and we all get along very well with each other because we’ve been together so long. Currently, my title is Business Development Director. That means on any given day I can be the sales manager, reseller contact, partner manager, tech guy, resident auto mechanic, happy hour location manager, driver, breakfast order guy, and also business development director. I’m sure most people who read this interview can relate to that. Six Degrees: (A) What other companies' recruiting operations do you admire or have heard are best-practice examples? DOUG: I admire large companies like Hyatt and Microsoft that are using their established brands to pump out great, engaging content to their millions of potential applicants every day. Organizations like ARINC, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and Gulfstream Aerospace are doing great things as well. I also admire the companies in our space like Jobs2Web and Arbita who, like OptiJob, have great ideas and technologies that will undoubtedly help companies solidify their position in the changing web 2.0 environments. (B) In what aspects are they superior? DOUG: I think the bigger companies have a name that goes a long way and they’re using it to their advantage. The smaller companies don’t necessarily have the huge name recognition the big guys do so it’s their content and their message that drives their applicant traffic. We’re always working together on great ideas to attract candidates in places they never thought of. It’s not easy, trust me. Six Degrees: What recent general news story or industry trend do you feel will have an impact on your work in the future? Why? DOUG: Well, I think the whole Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN Twitter thing has really helped put the social media/social news scene in the spotlight. Now it’s pretty hard to avoid it, the Web 2.0 revolution. It’s all around us. Everything we do is centered around a Facebook page or a tweet, a Digg page or a YouTube video. Our favorite actors, politicians, sports stars, even random people who we didn’t know existed 2 years ago are now influencing us in ways we never thought imaginable. My work is constantly impacted by someone’s blog post, or website, or a tweet that can radically change the way we think or recruit. Companies are racing to get on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, even to the top of the Google listings. It’s making us think harder and faster than ever to come up with more innovative things to make it easier for companies get there. Six Degrees: Tell us about your broader involvement within the staffing industry: DOUG: I try to attend as many conferences, meetups, and industry events as possible. I’ve been and still go to events like Search Engine Strategies, SHRM, ERE, BIO, AAPS, DIA, you name the acronym, and I’ve been there. This year has been tough though. You see, I’ve just turned 30 and this seems to be the time where all of my friends want to get married, but they hesitated to check the schedule of some of these events. I’m slated to miss pretty much everything this year, but watch out, I’ll be back in 2010. I haven’t done much speaking at said events, although I’d love to. I think I have a unique ability to relate with lots of different types of people and I also have a great way of conveying my ideas and opinions. If you want, I’m ready to go. Sign me up to speak at your next event. Six Degrees: Can you detail how the recession has affected your particular industry niche? DOUG: The recession has definitely affected the staffing/recruiting industry as a whole, from job boards, to SEO’s, to advertising and staffing agencies, you name the industry niche, it’s taken it’s hit. The recruiters and sales people, who haven’t produced, have been the ones that have felt it the most. Every company has had to make some kind of cuts. In most cases I’m close to, people are given a new lease on life and a unique opportunity to re-brand and network themselves and really learn a lot about what they’re capable of. I have also found that this particular recession has enabled me to get back in contact and even do business with some of the greatest minds I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. 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? DOUG: For the most part, I’ve been trying to practice what I preach. Becoming involved in all the social and professional networks where not only my peers are, but also places and networks where my clients also want to be seen and heard. I’ve attended local Meetup groups and other networking groups that I never thought I’d be going to. But, to get ahead and make the right friends, you have to go outside the box. A great example is RecruitingBlogs.com. I always had a profile, but I wasn’t active. I found myself reading everything I could and even commenting and chatting with my peers and colleagues. I’ve since joined all kinds of different communities and networks and it’s really given me the opportunity not only to learn, but also sell my ideas to a broader audience. I’m not much of a blogger yet. Mostly because I’m not sure if I want to blog about the last concert I saw, the awesome steak I had or the wild conversation about user-generated content I had with my client this morning. Maybe I’ll just start blogging about all three. But, if I do start, will anyone even read it? Six Degrees: Given your own Trial and Error experiences as a Networker, what advice do you have for your peers on what NOT to do? DOUG: Be passionate. It’s easy to connect with someone who’s passionate about what they’re selling or their abilities as a recruiter. It makes you want to learn from this person and absorb everything they’re saying. I know for sure that I’ve been boring and I’ve looked like I’m just going through the motions, and I’ve blown it. I’ve also tried to be too slick and also blown it, quicker. Also, don’t be someone you’re not. Be genuine, don’t over promise, and don’t make outrageous claims that just can’t be backed up. When I go to networking events there are people you want to network with and then there’s others who can come across as totally unbelievable. But, no matter what you’re doing, you want to get people to trust you and enjoy talking with you. If not, they’ll see right through you. Then word spreads and you’re doomed. Six Degrees: What is your next career goal? What do you need to do to get there? DOUG: My next career goal, that’s a great question. Well, besides honing my skills and helping grow OptiJob to take it to the next level; I guess my ultimate goal is join my peers as a thought leader in this industry. Our industry is chock full of outstanding talent and great thinkers that the road ahead won’t be easy. I know it will take a lot of hard work, a lot of blogging, great feedback, results, and most importantly, respect. It’s not easy getting people to trust you and what you think. Maybe this interview will help. But like I said, it’s going to take a ton of work on my end to stay relevant and come up with great content and opinions that others will not only trust, but pass along and maybe implement in their lives or at their organizations.…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 4:38pm on October 11, 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

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Topic: Recruiter's Delight: Meet Sheila Greco, Traditional Search Expertise with CEO of SGA: com Amsterdam, NY Featured Blog Posts by Sheila: * The Best Advice I Ever Got * Research & Recruiting - Lingo Simply Defined Today is a sourcer's delight. Sheila Greco has always practiced the "pass it forward" doctrine valued at "SixDegreesfromDave". From traditional search, competitive intelligence to research/name generation this petite, soft spoken personality is a well known brand in research product delivery and services to her clients. Sheila has established herself as an industry Thought Leader within the conference circuit as a presenter. Most recently, Sheila spoke at ONREC this past September in Chicago, “Best Practices Combining New Technology with Traditional Sourcing.” Today, Sheila walks us through the process of traditional search as a practitioner, and from the vantage point of her clients - with her recipe for successful value-ads in pursuing and utilizing research in the long term with all the ferver of an evangelist. About Sheila Greco With Sheila’s leadership responsibilities as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sheila Greco Associates, LLC and her active role in the overall growth and success of the company, she places her broad-based skills and experience at the disposal of clients, candidates, and colleagues alike. As an entrepreneur, she has gained extensive experience in human resources to include, research, recruiting, and competitive intelligence. As a strategic results oriented leader, Sheila has a proven track record of building long-term and solid relationships with clients and candidates. Prior to launching Sheila Greco Associates in 1989, Sheila spent several years with Goodrich & Sherwood, an executive search company in New York City and Greenwich, Connecticut. She began her career as a research associate and quickly climbed through the ranks and ultimately became a Director of Executive Search specializing in consumer packaged goods marketing and sales. An alumna of Hartwick College, Sheila received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Marketing. She is a member of the National Association of Executive Females, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), SCIP (Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals), Women in Technology International, and participated in many events sponsored by the New York State Olympics. Sheila is also currently Chairperson for the Amsterdam YMCA. Q & A with Sheila Greco, CEO at SGA Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world, Sheila Sheila: Family has always been #1 on my list. I have a son who I adore, a great husband and dog. Just like you Dave, I do a lot of traveling but I will share a secret with you, it is always scheduled in between my son’s games and school activities. He is 15 and I am proud to say I have only missed one baseball game. This is quite an accomplishment since he plays golf, baseball, and basketball. As I travel around the country each meeting that is set is scheduled around my son’s activities and games. Part of my mission in life is to NEVER miss my son's games and school activities. He too travels as he is part of a NIKE Basketball National AAU Team. This continues to be part of my life too. My philosophy is to work hard and play hard, something I live everyday! I am a very competitive person, I guess I passed this along to my son. I tell him and I tell all I come in contact with; when you step on the court, baseball field, spelling bee stage, lacrosse field (I played in College), tennis court (played in college) whatever, you need to have a winning attitude and give 110% or don't play at all. I also say you win some and lose some... and you tend to learn more from the losses that you experience. But I love to win!! Six Degrees: How did you get your start into the Recruiting World? Sheila: Networking, and being in the right place at the right time! Some would say I was lucky in how the opportunity came to me Dave. I started as a research associate with the Tidewater Group in Stamford, CT and my job was to identify names for recruiters to recruit. On my first day I was handed the Standard Directory of Advertisers, “The Red Book” and told to identify 500 marketing names from consumer packaged good companies and to do it quickly! Baptism by fire….I must say! I remember my boss telling me “here’s the telephone”, and the rest is history! When I started the Internet wasn’t even thought about. As the year went on, I became a sponge for knowledge, learned all about companies and how they are structured and loved it…obviously! Six Degrees: Baptism by fire? I recall you once told me, your Initial Thought – “Is this really a job?” You peaked my interest Sheila, tell us more about your initial perceptions as a researcher and overall practitioner. Sheila: “After the handshaking and signing of papers. I was told my role as a research associate in a nutshell was to obtain names. I was handed the standard directory of advertisers and told to identify 500 brand managers in one week from P&G, General Foods, Kraft, Colgate Palmolive, General Mills, Coke, Unilever, just to name a few. Why? Because Pepsi needs 10 brand managers yesterday. Catholic Guilt began to set in….so I went to my boss and said “Why are we doing this? Why are some people hesitant to give names? This is not rocket science! I am having some difficulties here.” She said, “I used to feel the same way, not anymore… Our job is simple, our clients ask us to offer an opportunity and these folks can either take advantage of it, refer someone or not!” Next without skipping a beat she said, “How many names did you get so far?” Six Degrees: What was your progression track as a practitioner to establishing your own research firm? I began my career as a financial analyst. I joined the wonderful world of executive recruiting where my real training began. I was recruited to a prominent executive search firm in New York City as a research associate. I joined Goodrich & Sherwood working in Greenwich, CT and New York City where I worked as a research associate for approximately 14 months. Soon thereafter I was tapped on the shoulder and told that I was ready for the next step and was promoted to a principal. This was my true entrée’ into recruiting. As a side bar, my first candidate ever was George Brandt, most of you know him. His company, PrimeGenesis is a company that specializes in Executive On-Boarding! Anyway, he was always one of my biggest advocates and I do thank him for that. Actually he is now on our company’s Advisory Board! In 1989, I followed my dream and started "Sheila Greco Associates" Today, I am still passionate about what I do. I continue to work hard and play hard. May I also add, that this wonderful Recruitingblogs.com community plays nicely into my personality…I like to listen, learn, respond, help and build relationships. Six Degrees: Tell us about your company, Sheila Greco Associates: Sheila: Since I founded Sheila Greco Associates LLC in 1989, SGA’s primary mission is to dramatically shorten the amount of time it takes clients to find the RIGHT executives. Since 1989, SGA has been a True Recruiting Solutions Company, specializing as a single source provider of online data, Custom Research, Recruiting Support, and candidate name generation to executive search and HR professionals. We offer Customized Research & Competitive Intelligence, (CCI), in which we partner closely with clients, helping them identify professionals to recruit, target their best sales prospects, understand industry trends, and find valuable intelligence on their competitors. We provide research and customized competitive intelligence to corporations and search firms alike. Our clients include professionals in recruiting, business development, sales, analysts, competitive intelligence, and corporate librarians. SGA is known for its signature delivery product, ExecutiveTracker, which houses the most comprehensive list of executives currently employed at major companies – both private and public – across all industries. SGA carefully researches and sources each passive candidate – from the C-level executives to the hard-to-find, mid-level decision makers. Users can view company name, location, job title and function and other information of passive candidates based on search criteria. Once they determine contacts that best fit the current open position, the recruiter can purchase the complete contact record, which includes name, phone number, email, reporting structure and a biography, if available. Six Degrees: I think it’s fair to say you have been an evangelist on behalf of the “Traditional Search” niche within the sourcing sphere of our staffing industry. You have been especially vocal about using ‘today’s research results’ for future search assignments. Can you elaborate? Sheila: As I became more experienced, I began to understand organization chart structures, titles, roles, responsibilities and how companies differ across industry segments. Too many recruiters solely use the Internet. I am not saying replace what may work for you, but consider adding traditional research to your recruiting strategy. By fully leveraging traditional research, the standard recruiting process evolves into a strategic resource to be used not only for the current search assignment, but for future assignments, benchmarking and competitive intelligence. Six Degrees: Walk us step by step through an effective “Traditional Search” process. Sheila: Say for example, you need to find out who the brand managers are. Here’s the telephone and the book which lists the names of the brands for each company. Think of it as a game. Set a target of 10 names per call and just keep asking till they won’t give you any more. If you can, find out who they report to and who reports to them. Six Degrees: In having reviewed your presentations in the past, I think you underscore an important criteria, “Titles can be deceiving, know the role – research it just as you would the pipeline throughout the process.” Can you elaborate for our readers? Sheila: Definitely, Titles can be deceiving, know the role. We recommend researching from the top level down. In general, Never stop asking questions and guiding the interviewee so the information needed is obtained. Don’t be afraid to ask questions regarding structure and team members. More specifically, however, consider that once traditional research and charts are completed, we recommend showing them to the client. Allow the client to provide feedback and offer comments which may include: “proceed, I know this person, don’t proceed, already interviewed, perfect.” As the candidates are presented, I’d recommend developing a summary of how they compare to one another - it assists the client with deciding when to interview and for which business group. Along with resumes, it’s ideal when you provide the client organization charts to show how each candidate compares to their own internal staff structure. By presenting the organization charts it enables you to intelligently discuss why these individuals were chosen. Again, always share your findings from start to finish! Six Degrees: Can you walk us through a case study where you employed traditional search strategies? Sheila: Our client asked us to recruit a Vice President of Merchandising. Following the steps using the tried and true traditional research methodology, a list of approximately 100 potential candidates to call was developed and five candidates were presented. The cost of research was 20 hours and recruiting approximately 35 hours. The result: we presented the client with an ultimate hire while saving the client money. We also had built a pipeline of candidates that were used for future searches. In addition we provided the client with an in-depth knowledge of the competitive landscape which could be used for future searches. Six Degrees: As a Pioneer in our industry, what advice would you like to share with those just joining or new to research and recruiting? Sheila: 1. You need to know that time is of the essence EVERY DAY. This is crucial. Every one wants everything yesterday. 2. Do not be afraid to ask questions. It is okay to say “help me”. Become aware of the tools the team uses and learn how to use them to their fullest. It is also a great idea to learn how and where to go get things yourself because you do learn more by “being in the trenches”. 3. Never stop learning! Be knowledgeable, as time goes on, be the expert and go-to person. Earn respect, do not expect it. Be thorough! Do not take shorts cuts because in the long run it will come back to haunt you! Take the time to do the upfront work. 4. Build relationships internally and externally! Two of my favorite sayings are “what you do today, will help you tomorrow” and “maybe not a candidate or client today, but maybe a candidate or client tomorrow.” I tell everyone on my team, engage, listen, and respond. Six Degrees: How do you see the staffing industry adjusting to keep costs down and broaden its value? Sheila: (1) We are seeing companies that are being strategic, proactive and methodical as it relates to hiring. The days of handing over 3-5 candidates for a specific rec and saying “here you go” are over. Many hiring managers want to be part of the process and want to be shown the research, the pipeline from the targeted companies, how the potential qualified candidates compare and contrast with to each other, their respective teams, and the available talent universe. Methodical, yes... but very smart. Companies are looking for ways to keep costs down while still recruiting top talent. By using this methodical approach the research can be used again and again thus creating value long term. 2. Building and keeping relationships: Company executives really want those long term partners who can help them. Hiring managers and recruiting professionals alike want a team approach and value the results that it produces. 3. Today, more so then in than in the past, successful recruiters are looked at as experts and partners. The respect has been earned and we are now invited to have a seat at the conference table! Hiring managers have learned to respect what it takes to find the candidates and we have conditioned them to listen to what we have to say. A great example is the fact that we have them understanding the value of tools that are now available, ATS, research and recruiting tools, and online communities. The executives are more on board with us! Great job guys and gals. 4. Lastly we are seeing many top companies across several industries going through the exercise of making sure their internal teams are staffed with the best in the industry. It is not surprising to have leaders take a peek at their competitors, their staff and compare it to their own. If necessary we are seeing them pluck the good ones from others. Six Degrees: What are the value-ads in pursuing and utilizing research in the long term? Sheila: Dave, time and again, it’s whether the client has the vision and tenaciousness to view the information as a resource that can also be shared with other business groups in the organization. Once they review how best to leverage the yield of valuable information they see how it applies not simply to just talent management, but also issues of diversity, future restructuring efforts, long term strategic hiring as well as other human resources strategies. I’m in the business of being a long-term partner, not a transactional partner – and I’ll do my best to work with my clients in finding multiple venues to pursue their objectives with all the value-adds that are implicit in the research process. Six Degrees: We always see you smiling, cheerful and happy. When you are not working, what are you doing? Sheila: I am always on the go ... I don't really know another way of life. I guess I am just like my mom and dad! They always told me if I am passionate about what I do for a living, then it won't be a job! So I guess that is true....after all these years, I remain passionate about what I do. I am a workaholic and a proud mother too. Six Degrees: Tell us something about you few know outside of the industry: Sheila: In the summer I spend my off time on the Lake (Lake George in upstate NY) with lots of family and friends. The more the merrier! I enjoy fast cars and boats, as well as fishing when I need some quiet time. I also love to volunteer and some day when I strike it rich, I want to be a philanthropist. Nothing makes me happier than to put a smile on someone’s face. RECOMMENDATIONS “Sheila is highly professional and persistent is obtaining the information she needs. At FIND/SVP, we hired Sheila to unearth information that we could not find through traditional channels, and she never disappointed us.” August 6, 2007 Ann Middleman, Director of Research Services, FIND/SVP “Sheila is whip-smart, focused on the needs of her clients, and a natural relationship builder who always delivers on her commitments.” July 23, 2007 Glenda Brown, Consultant/Director, Partnerships and Alliances, Association of Executive Seach Consultants “Sheila is extremely responsive, diligent and a great listener. Her focus is sharp and she's able to direct her team/resources at the right point. Her team will be an asset to any HR building effort, be it recruiting for a new operation or augmenting an existing staff.” June 26, 2006 Anindya Dixit, Exec. Vice President, MMatrix, Client” “I have known Sheila Greco for close to 10 years and have worked directly with her and her associates on several projects to include; traditional search, competitive intelligence and research/name generation. Her firm sets the standards for excellence in all of these catagories.I am delighted to be able to endorse her work.” May 27, 2005 J. James O'Malley, Sheila's client “I have engaged Sheila on a number of occasions, going all the way back to 1990. The work she has done across a broad array of subjects has always been of very high quality, on time and beyond expectations. She is a pleasure to work with.” February 19, 2007 Top qualities: Great Results, High Integrity, Creative Don Rosenkoetter, client “I've worked closely with Sheila for several years. She’s a successful entrepreneur who has built an outstanding organization and assembled a great team that provides the highest quality work to clients. The significant value she provides to clients is to quickly and accurately evaluate their needs, then very effectively partner with them to provide solutions that make their businesses better. Sheila's energy level is inspirational, and she’s one of the funniest people I've had the pleasure to meet. I highly endorse working with Sheila.” January 11, 2008 Peter Malamas, Sr. VP (Current), SGA ExecutiveTracker Researcher's Delight …; Added by Dave Mendoza at 2:03am on December 15, 2008

Topic: Meet Dan Harris, My Personal Apprentice and Sourcing Guru at NetApp: com Daniel Harris is one the bright stars within the constellation of strategic sourcing talent developing within Silicon Valley. He has been developing his name generation and overall research capabilities over the last seven years, and in that time, has been a passionate evangelist for his vocation as a distinctive fine art within the staffing realm. Daniel Harris recently was a Sourcer/Talent Researcher at NetApp Sunnyvale headquarters since February 2007. He Reported directly to Sr Staffing Managers, building a pipeline of talent lead generation supporting different recruiters on a daily basis. Dan actively sources both active and passive passive leads on behalf of NetApp, finance/accounting, sales, consulting and marketing departments. Prior to NetApp he worked at VeriSign for a year supporting multiple recruiters from engineering to sales/marketing. It is suffice to say that Dan cares deeply for people, his work, and about living life to the fullest. He takes time to smell the roses so to speak. He is an international traveler, always looking over the horizon for his next experience overseas year after year. Dan prides himself in being part of the American dream, and likewise in being traditional; maintaining tight familial bonds. He visits his family often in Vacaville, about 1.5 hours away from his home in San Jose. His parents have since retired; his mother was a florist and father was in the Air Force and a part-time car mechanic, and he is mindful of his younger brother, and their family dog, "Momo" He is just as animated about speaking about those he loves as he is about the passion he has for his profession, sourcing. And for all these stated reasons and more, I am proud to have Dan as my first personal apprentice in the JobMachine Advanced Cybersleuth's program. It has been my personal observation that Dan Harris has a particular passion for life, one which resonates in each of the opportunities I have had the pleasure of meeting him. He has often been seen passing out sheets of the latest niche sites he has discovered to colleagues with a large grin and a sincere enthusiasm, and never seeks reciprocity for his generosity. He is often one of the first to register for a webinar or workshop, with a tenacious desire to maintain his cutting edge. When Research Goddess in Training, AmyBeth Hale visited the Bay Area, Dan provided legendary tour guide assistance. Of special note, Dan is one of the most modest people I have met in this industry. He is if anything, bashful when it comes to recognition, always thankful for the smallest of favors, and never a braggart. It is a significant quality for someone whose career is noteworthy for accomplishments and destined with the high expectations of his peers. Dan is respected for many reasons, but because he is a genuinely kind and thoughtful person he is a person who develops bonds in his friendships that go beyond the professional meet and greets. Dan is one of the small circle of colleagues I contact within the Bay Area to assess hiring trends for recruiters in the technology economy. Someone of Dan Harris' talent and work ethic is in demand and the availability of sharp sourcers is in limited supply. I can honestly say, Dan is one of my personal bell weathers “ if Dan isn't on a contract, I promptly surmise the bay area economy is slowing down. Q&A with Daniel Harris, Sourcing Expert Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world Daniel. Daniel: I bought a Nintendo Wii and I like to play video games but haven't lately at all. I've been spending my time reading more books to sourcing/research on the internet. I am picking up Golf and enjoying that greatly. Mainly my time is spent at work/home in research and sourcing (passion for it). Currently reading books on Competitive Intelligence as I am finding the subject and topics it covers extremely interesting. I love listening to self improvement audio books at my desk everyday (for about 1 hr while I'm working). I listen to webinars to CDs from others such as Bill Vicks Big Biller audio dvd to Lou Adler zoominfo webinars to Shally Steckerl recorded webinars I have. I also enjoy volunteering at my local church serving as an usher to help setup and takedown on Sundays. Six Degrees: How did you get started as a recruiter? Daniel: I got pulled into recruiting from retail. I was working for Best Buy as a Merchandising/Media Supervisor and one of the General Managers left to join a small boutique Name Generation/Profiling company (HTC Research). He recommended me and I was hired on the day I interviewed. Six Degrees: What single event had the most impact on your sourcing/recruiting career? Daniel: Well, I would say itâ€™s multiple events, but if I had to nail one it would be Jack Young, a coworker I had at HTC Research who stated to me, "Dan, BE YOUR BEST" just before I left there. Its has been a lasting effect over me and the changes I've made within my career in my learning development, growth, thoughts, work ethic, understanding and how I go about in research and sourcing for the best passive talent. Six Degrees: Tell us about your job Daniel: I'm most currently a Contract Sourcer/Talent Researcher at NetApp working onsite in Sunnyvale, California. My responsibilities are delivering a pipeline of talent of names/profiles/resumes to senior recruiters covering marketing, sales, to finance position opportunities we have. Six Degrees: Are there occasions in which you share best practices with your colleagues? Daniel: In-house at NetApp I gave presentations & my cheat sheets on some of the newest techniques, websites, and sourcing strategies I share with the recruiting teams I worked with every quarter. In November and December this last quarter I Led and contributed to sourcing training via phone/web conferencing to the NetApp India recruiting team along with the help of two additional sourcers within NetApp. I love to teach and also learn from others! HOW DOES DAN DO IT? Our continuing series on the rank and file and thought leaders who make us proud of our vocation. Dan Harris is a worthy role model to spotlight. He is modest, - truly uneffected by each of his successes, suffice to say it is because his inner core is driven by a certain, most unique love for his profession in life. It is comparable to a professional football player remembering the first time he held a pigskin in his grip or a baseball player recalling that warm summer afternoon as a youth playing catch with his dad. It is a sincere passion, a bliss few of us can maintain given our daily chores, and it is for that reason, that Dan Harris is respected and admired by his peers - his focus and drive being all the more infectious to us all. Today we continue our discussion from the trenches in this War for Talent. Q&A with Daniel Harris, Sourcing Expert Six Degrees: How many applicants at your present employer do you estimate are hired from your corporate website as compared to how many are hired through referrals? Daniel: While I won't give an exact number, I will state we have a higher percent of employee referrals that are hired and come onboard vs through our corporate website but its almost equal I would say. Six Degrees: What is the source of the "Most Hires" collected from at your present employer? (In terms of Quantity #) Daniel: Employee Referrals and directly through our Company Website are representative of our highest quantity hires. Both are about equal. Six Degrees: What is the source of your "LOWEST COST OF HIRES" - (least amount of invested resources for the easiest hires, regardless of quality) at your present employer? Daniel: Employee Referrals and Internal mobility. Six Degrees: What talent niche groups do you target and are these particular talent areas specialized under your review? Daniel: One of my focuses is building out a talent pipeline at NetApp. I am the orginal creator of our NetApp Facebook page which now boasts over 700+ fans. I'm proud I was able to create something that will now contribute to more overall branding and social networking relationships for NetApp. I also targeted specific competitor companies and built out handmade directories/contact title lists for multiple recruiters with a majority of names that won't be found using any resume board, Linkedin, or via the internet. Six Degrees: What types of training in sourcing/recruitment are available to you and have you taken advantage of? Daniel: Well, I am currently Secretary of HRCA and actively assist putting together great speakers here locally in the bay area every quarter. I usually try and attend great webinars given by Humancapitalinstitute.org. I also look at ERE.net to taking Shally Steckerl's Jobmachine, Inc. webinars. 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? Daniel: I would say my biggest three tools I used everyday at NetApp are jigsaw, spoke, linkedin, and talenthook. There are some other tools I am itching to get but for now I must use these. Six Degrees: What tools (technology or old school file folder, for example) did you first encounter early in your recruitment career? Daniel: I was originally trained via telephone methods while at HTC Research. I then started using the internet more and found search engines like Yahoo, Dogpile, or Google helpful. Six Degrees: How did your expectations of being a recruiter compare to the actual, first time you got on the phone or in the cubicle? To this day would you say people's assumptions about our vocation differ from reality? Daniel: Found it pretty exciting and challenging at the same time. The expectations and what I thought I would be doing was extremely hard but I was able to reinvent myself by a combination of using both the phone and the internet. While I had a lot of personal interaction while working retail before I found a lot of my skill sets I learned did carry over but still had to work and learn at recruiting, specifically the biggest being just really understanding the job and what the hiring manager was looking for. Six Degrees: Worst mistake, biggest goof, lousiest practice you thought would fly but didn't and how that was a learning experience? Daniel: Ha ha! I've made so many and learned a lot. I can't say I could single out any single practice in my mind this moment. However, One point I would say the you can't really start a job without first really understanding it and knowing what your looking for and requirements. Six Degrees: How do you personally expect to facilitate change within our industry, and/or at your place of work? If you started that process, outline the problem, your solutions, and the vision. Daniel: Its starts with me! I openly share my research/sourcing knowledge with my coworkers and friends I have in recruiting. I believe in sharing knowledge and skills as it comes 100x back. I think the biggest differentiator is that I do feel confident in the work quality/quantity I can produce, how I think and can best bring value and talent into a top organization. I believe the YOU can be the biggest component in your success along with meeting and surrounding yourself with the right people/talent and knowledge along the way. Continually Learning and I never give up plus I love the thrill of hunting talent and winning. Six Degrees: Best practice you are most proud of developing (now or in the past) in your recruiting career? Daniel: Striving to Be My Best everyday. Continually learning and improving. Understanding the position, having focus and then taking the right actions to get the results I need. Six Degrees: What are some of the frustrating aspects/obstacles to your day to day as a staffing professional and in general? Daniel: The biggest obstacle I still face internally sometimes is when hiring manager(s) or certain upper management within companies doesn't understand the challenges that sourcer/researchers go through in the recruiting process. Sometimes the hiring manager needs coaching and understanding on what is realistic (both in timetable to the multi-faceted skill level candidates the hiring manager is wanting). Six Degrees: What are the most common themes of strategic and/or tactical mishaps involving past or present HR/Staffing org? Daniel: Maybe an HR Business Partner or Upper Management at many companies that don't have a fully understanding grasp of what research/sourcing can do within their staffing organization (not to mention help possibly impact marketing, sales, and Competitive Intelligence). Six Degrees: Considering all of the frustrations you have experienced in your career as a recruiter, -- what inspires you as you continue in your career? Daniel: People Do! What motivates me everyday is People. I truly want to help impact and make a difference in their lives. Yes, while I do acknowledge I reach out and connect to passive talent mostly, I really do want to make a positive impact and create that great win/win in their career and financially for their families. Six Degrees: What one thing do you ideally hope to implement that hasn't been done before? Daniel: I would like to lead and take part in implementing some very low-cost training & networking luncheons starting here in the silicon valley/bay area that would provide more opportunities for face-to-face networking of industry leaders, HR staffing mgmt, and recruiting peers as we truly are only a couple degrees of knowing each other. We can help each other and others through this as People and the connections we know is one of our most powerful assets throughout our career and through our lives. If we can build lives, help build each other, we all get better and get through challenges and challenging times together! Six Degrees: Anything you want to plug? Daniel: Well, I love to make great connections on linkedin so I can be found there Six Degrees: How Are You Going To Change The Recruitment Industry? Daniel: This feels like a Pinky and the Brain question! I will endeavor to get research and sourcing more well known, valued, and an understood function within industry organizations. Also see above on networking luncheons. Recommendations For Daniel Harris "Dan's generous spirit and ebullient enthusiasm are absolutely contagious. Few people in our industry have such a hunger for learning even after they have developed a deep wealth of knowledge, yet remain so openly willing to share. Dan is sharp and engaging, making him not only a pleasure to work with but someone with whom to enjoy exploring new ideas. I strongly recommend Dan among the elite CyberSleuths" September 21, 2007 Shally Steckerl, Chief CyberSleuth & Founder, JobMachine, Inc, "I hired Dan based on a recommendation from one of my Name Generation Managers and I'm glad I did. Dan is probably one of the best Internet Name Generators I've every trained. We trained him to take a project and "make it his". When he first started he had never even heard of Name Generation and within a year he was taking ownership of projects and runing the research from start to finish. He made tons and tons of mistakes but never allowed his ego to get in the way of what was best for the research and the client and was easily corrected and put back on the right track. He was always eager to learn new tricks and invested a few new ones himself. He has the highest integrity and truely appreciates the skills he has acquired. He is an absolute pleasure to work with and I highly recommend him as I know he will go very far in this career." February 21, 2007 Jeff Weidner, COO, HTC Research Corp "Dan worked for me at HTC for 4+years. Was sorry to lose him. Great work ethic and super employee. Knows his way around the internet too! Solid researcher. Would love to have him back!" June 9, 2005 Jeff Shiverdaker, President, HTC Research "Dan is an excellent sourcer and team player. He is up to the second on what's new in sourcing techniques and tools and so willing to share what he knows with others. He is always positive and always willing to go the extra mile to help the team be successful." September 20, 2007 Andrea Schmidt, Recruiter, VeriSign, Inc. "Dan is passionate about his role and committed to providing value to the team. He is a fearless researcher and has freely shared his insights and techniques with me. I feel I've learned a lot from his cutting edge techniques and his take on the future of recruiting plays out for me in my bid to secure top technical talent daily." September 19, 2007 Kate Gordon, Senior Recruiter, VeriSign "Dan is great guy, very professional, focused and interested on getting to know the actual person to find the best fit." March 27, 2007 Federico Bockel, Sr Network Engineer, DTCC "Dan is one of the best sourcers of the industry and is always well equipped with new sourcing techniques and ways to find qualified talent for "hard to fill " jobs .He is very talented in sourcing and always ready to share information.I would highly recommend him." September 25, 2007 Nikhila Bhingarkar, Human Resources-Staffing, Oracle ( formerly Hyperion Solutions Corporation) "Dan has an incredible sense of how to best utilize information technology to attain and maintain a true competitive advantage. Use his resources and watch his amazing network bring you the results you need almost magically." October 18, 2006 Kevin Nations (kevinnations@gmail.com), Owner, SilverBack Marketing Corp View my profile on RecruitingBlogs.com…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 11:20am on January 8, 2009

Topic: Meet Claudia Faust, "Pearls of Wisdom Delivered Not Only on Wednesdays": book Profile Email: claudia@improvedexperience.com Phone: 954-692-3553 OR 877-344-4300 Meet my friend Claudia Faust, Independent provider of recruiting services including executive search, professional staffing and passive candidate sourcing. As a recruiter and leader of corporate recruiting organizations for 14 years, Claudia Faust brings her passion for people and analytics to hiring and retention. Over the years she has recruited and managed staffing organizations for globally recognized brands such as T-Mobile USA, Amazon.com, Microsoft, Sprint PCS, and Burger King Corporation; her expertise includes executive search, staffing, recruiter development and training, metrics development and implementation, workforce planning, recruiting technology and vendor selection. Claudia took this opportunity as a featured member in our interview series to do something those who know her are quite accustomed to: she shared of herself for others, and in the most personal, poignant way. When you venture forward, her responses regarding home and history, - be it children, marriage, and career, - she shares the type of deeply personal and introspective flashbacks that good friends do on a warm summer night sharing a few spirits under a full moon. When all is said and done, you leave refreshed and empowered someone cared enough about you to entrust a part of themselves. For anyone who knows Claudia, it is a familiar take away in what it is to befriend her. She is entirely authentic and even more formidable if you recognize her wisdom is not solely pertaining to a certain day in a week. Truth be told, I look forward to conference season each Fall and Spring, it gives me an opportunity to see friends new and old, and in each venture I get a hug from my friend Claudia and that endearing smile that is so sincerely welcoming. Claudia is many things, not least among them a class act and someone who so consistently provides value to her industry. More importantly, Claudia is a friend to something far bigger than you or I - she is a confidante and mentor to the daily visitors of RecruitingBlogs.com, not to mention the spotlight featured guest sharing "Wednesday Wisdom" Improved Experience builds feedback portals to help companies measure and improve the engagement and retention of their best talent. From earliest contact and throughout the employment life cycle, the Better HiresTM suite of products measures and benchmarks critical indicators of workforce engagement, employer brand, and recruiting effectiveness. Improved Experience products are real-time and subscription-based, utilizing patent-pending survey technology. Sales, operations and customer support are provided from Dallas, Miami and Copenhagen Q&A with Claudia Faust Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world, Claudia. CLAUDIA: I currently live in Plantation, Florida, about 10 miles inland from Fort Lauderdale. I say “currently” because my husband and I speak often about other places we’d like to live, and who knows where we’ll be five years from now. My husband is a brilliant, kind, wonderful engineer, and we’ve been married for three years; it took me forever to find my match (you’d think that as a matchmaker I would have been better at choosing a life partner for myself, but that wasn’t the case for me), so he sits firmly at the top of the list of blessings I count every day. I also happen to think he’s the cutest boy in the world, but that’s another story. I didn’t know my husband when I moved to Florida six years ago, and the story of how we met is too good not to tell you. At the time I was actually dating someone else: an Italian Count I had met while on a cruise from Venice to Istanbul; I dated the Count for over a year while thinking long and hard about what I wanted next from my life. In the summer of 2003 I decided to leave T-Mobile and step headlong into his world; we traveled frequently between his homes and businesses in Italy and south Florida for many months before I concluded that this nomadic life was not for me; I missed my kids and my friends, and even my work -- alas, I was living someone else’s fairy tale; it seemed only fair to acknowledge it and move on. It was the middle of January by then, and I had a choice: I could return to Seattle, or stay in Florida for a while. I chose the second option (no brainer), and took a condo on the beach for a much-needed sabbatical. It was a life-changing four months: I ate when I was hungry, slept when I was tired, and even recruited a bit here and there to replenish my savings account. But mostly, I walked the beach for hours every day. Family and friends came to visit, and I began to feel like an improved version of my old self once again. It was at sunset on one of those beach walks that I had a chance meeting with the cousin of one of my neighbors, a dark-eyed Turk with a quiet smile and a European accent wasn’t easy to place (turned out to be Denmark, where he had spent many years on his own journey). We chatted for a moment and then I went for my walk, returning an hour later to discover that he was gone, but a note in a bottle was carefully tucked into my sandals. The rest, as they say, is history; we were married two years later at sunset on that same beach, and my life feels like it has come full circle. Our blended family is split between two continents: in Denmark it includes a son, two daughters, and four amazing grandchildren, and here in the US, two sons and two more amazing grandchildren. Note the underscore on amazing , and yes I do love being a Grammie. Last summer our family expanded again with the adoption of three feral kittens that have since domesticated well and taken over both the house and our hearts. Life suits me just fine these days. SIX DEGREES: Tell us about a day in the life, what is that eclectic past time that makes you tick? Make us believe, Teresa “We Hardly Knew Ye!” CLAUDIA: Travel is perhaps the most visible pleasure for me – it doesn’t matter where I go or how I get there: I can be packed in a heartbeat, and if I forget something they probably sell it there too. There are so many beautiful places to see in the world, and fascinating people from every culture to meet. How can my feet not itch to start the next great adventure? I’m not athletic by any stretch of the imagination, but my interests are eclectic; I like to bike, ski (the jet-, water-, and downhill variety), snorkel, sail, and go for road trips in my Z3 (straight six, open road, let the big dog eat…you know what mean). I’ve also started working on a dive certification this year because the Bimini Road is both in my back yard and on my Bucket List. I love baseball (to watch, not to play); hate pub crawls (although hanging out for a while is lots of fun); love dancing (took belly dancing lessons my first year in Florida); and learned to hate golf the minute someone insisted I had to keep score. Pretty much a classic Gemini. SIX DEGREES: How many years have you been in the staffing industry? CLAUDIA: It feels like a lifetime, but it’s only been 14 years. Even though I’ve run a software company for several years now I still tend to think of myself as a recruiter first. SIX DEGREES: How did you get started in recruiting? CLAUDIA: I took a job at an executive search firm in Seattle back in 1995. The owner wanted to train someone to do candidate development for his clients in the wireless telecom industry; I spent the next two and a half years working beside him on what I like to call my hands-on MBA. I didn’t know much of anything about how big business worked before I met Marc, and I soaked up everything he was willing to teach me. It was an excellent education, and I’m thankful for it to this day. In 1997 my curiosity about the software industry drew me to a consulting firm that placed contractors at Microsoft; it was my introduction to technical product development and the “back office” side of the Internet, and I grilled the developers and architects I placed there to understand how all the parts fit together. This is where I also accepted what a geek I am at heart: my recruiting library contains books like “C for Dummies,” and “From Cloud to Code” that opened for me the world of a well run software organization. There was no shortage of recruiting opportunities in the late 90s in Seattle; I was recruited to Amazon.com next (where at one point my work load exceeded 400 requisitions); rather than obsess over the obvious, I mostly focused on sourcing and headhunting executive talent for new lines of business. This part of my job was pretty funny, by the way. Recruiting as a function was new to Amazon at the time and there wasn’t a lot of respect for the role there yet. So I was instructed to “go find candidates for the executive team to talk to” – but new business lines were so top secret before launch that I wasn’t even allowed to know what they were. So calls to prospects were interesting to say the least (“Hello Fortune 500 Executive, we’re looking for exceptional leaders with full P&L experience to lead business lines that I can’t tell you about or I’ll have to kill you. Interested?”). Lucky for me the Amazon.com brand was powerful even then, and the doors that it opened with candidates were truly amazing. In 1999 I joined yet another great Seattle company, T-Mobile USA, where I had the good fortune of leading Corporate Talent Acquisition for several years. If my time at the executive search firm was an experiential MBA, T-Mobile was my final exam. TMO was in a massive growth mode that year that came to a screeching halt when the Internet bubble burst in the economic recession of early 2000, and then rebuilt with locomotive speed in the years that followed. TMO gave me hands-on experience as a recruiting leader; I worked with an amazing team of recruiters, and had a front row seat to the effects of both good and bad HR and recruiting practices on every functional area of the business. It was, as Charles Dickens penned, “the best of times and the worst of times” as the company grew from fewer than 10 thousand employees to more than 22 thousand in four short years, and simultaneously grappled with stunning turnover rates in many departments. There’s a silver lining to every cloud though, as what I learned there became the catalyst for product development that would follow at Improved Experience. SIX DEGREES: Tell us about your company, “Improved Experience” CLAUDIA: Improved Experience is the company I founded with Alise Cortez in 2006, to provide enterprise feedback solutions for HR and recruiting. Some of my biggest frustrations as a recruiting leader came from the incredible lack of data (and data collection systems, for that matter) that were available to feed the decision making process when allocating recruiting resources, or planning outreach initiatives. It occurred to me that if I could somehow capture feedback from all of the stakeholders in the hiring process – candidates, new hires, hiring managers, recruiters, even my boss sometimes – and present it in a simple and compelling way, I could put critical business intelligence into the hands of recruiting and HR leaders to measure and improve business performance. So we built an online “feedback portal” technology – a diagnostic platform that measures and manages perception in the hiring process, after onboarding, and throughout the first year of employment. It took two years to finish the engine and the interactive survey technology that feeds it. Since then, we’ve released two products: Get Better Hires, a tool that explores candidate and new hire feedback and engagement; and Make Better Hires, a tool that explores feedback from the internal business customer about Quality of Hire, recruiting services and support, and talent market conditions. SIX DEGREES: What single event had the most impact on your career? CLAUDIA: I don’t think that for me it was a single event; rather, it was the opportunity to see recruiting from so many different perspectives: executive search, contract agency, corporate recruiting and corporate leadership. Each has its own unique drivers for success, and that understanding has powerfully impacted my view of recruiting as well as the business solutions my company offers today. SIX DEGREES: Do you have a mentor? CLAUDIA: I’ve been fortunate to work for some great companies along the way, and some very smart people. Janice Dilworth hired me at T-Mobile, and I still consider her a mentor; I wasn’t sure if it would work so well at the beginning, because she was a veteran HR administrator and I had a lot of assumptions about HR that came from years of working in a third-party environment (the old “us versus them” mindset). Janice trusted my expertise when it came to setting a bar of excellence for the team, and I came to deeply to trust her abilities to set broader strategy and protect us from the politics inherent in really big, rapidly growing companies. I learned not only from her knowledge, but by her example. SIX DEGREES: How do you personally expect to facilitate change within our industry? CLAUDIA: I truly believe that if something can be measured, it can be improved. My work at Improved Experience is about leveraging perception to improve business performance. By creating a mechanism that collects and reports this data in a transparent and compelling way, we can deepen communication between all of the stakeholders: the internal business customers who drive the hire, the recruiters who make it happen, and the talented candidates and employees they want so dearly want to attract and retain. And if that helps to solve the problem of the dreaded black hole in recruiting, while building stronger businesses, I think we’ll have accomplished something amazing. SIX DEGREES: What inspires you as you continue in your career? CLAUDIA: I’m inspired by people who don’t give up, ever. Churchill once said, quite simply, “Never, never, never quit,” and I think that that is perfectly said. I’m inspired by the part of the human spirit that rises in adversity, that stands its ground, that finds courage, that clings to hope. My youngest son spent ten years in the hell of drug addiction; watching in horror, I was there with him. My first year as a recruiter was his first failed attempt at recovery; he was 14 years old at the time. He tried again to get clean when he was 18, and failed again. At 22 he tried a third time; 60 pounds under weight for his six foot frame by then, we all knew that he didn’t have many chances left. He finally did it, and remains clean and sober 4 years later. People who don’t give up are rock stars to me. SIX DEGREES: What is your next career goal? How do you expect to get there? CLAUDIA: You know, I still can’t believe I’m doing what’s on my plate today. In the past three years I’ve taken all I know of recruiting and built a couple of software products, filed a patent, and worked with developers all over the world to get it done. I still have two more products that need to be built to complete this suite of enterprise feedback tools. Who knows what will happen after that? All I can say is that I’m pretty darned sure I won’t be bored. Recommendations For Claudia “You have an amazing concept that will revolutionize the industry. Treating applicants with respect will allow a company to attract the best candidates, and maintain a large labor pool!” February 27, 2006 Kathy Gillen “Claudia is a very talented professional with the ability to make candidates feel relaxed during all phases. She follows up with candidates and lets him know the status in an inspiring manner whether the results are positive or not. Claudia is difinitely a champion among executive search professionals.” July 19, 2005 Jonathan Jordan, client “As an executive recruiter, Claudia shines! She possesses all of the technical skills and knowledge of a superb recruiter, as well as the innate ability to align with clients and candidates. Her even cadence and unfaltering delivery have earned the trust of top executives world-wide. Claudia reels-in candidates that had no intention of "leaving home". With Claudia you truly get what you pay for.” June 23, 2005 Christy Miller, Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition, T-Mobile USA “Claudia is the very definition of what recruiters can and should be. In a world where so much focus is placed on process, Claudia is always looking for the desired outcome and managing to it with her stakeholders. A true a thought leader in her field, and among the most genuine people I know. I would highly recommend as a trusted advisor.” May 21, 2008 Michael Gaul, Director of Compliance & Fulfillment, American Background “Claudia was a great leader for myself and the entire recruiting team at T-Mobile. Her leadership and support never faulted and her consultative skills are beyond reproach.” August 6, 2007 Nathalie Becker, Manager, Talent Acquisition, T-Mobile USA “Claudia Faust was more than my manager, she is my mentor. She is a strong leader and extremely relationship oriented. She truly understands the recruiting industry and how talent is a competitive difference for companies. She is strategic in her approach to bring people and opportunites together. I recommend her highly to do retained search work or consult on best practices. Judy Wright” June 21, 2005 Judy Wright, Employment Brand Manager, T-Mobile “Claudia implicitly understands both the art and science of ALL aspects of recruitment. She is an incredible coach and mentor and very generous with her time and knowledge. I can’t recommend enough to partner with Claudia for any recruitment related needs. You are guaranteed a positive experience and solid results!” June 21, 2005 Annie Rihn, Sr. Recruiter, Zillow “Claudia has shown time and again her ability to find not only the right skillset but also the necessary personal qualities for senior level positions. Her attentiveness to the process makes candidates feel honored to have been considered no matter what the outcome.” June 14, 2005 Sharon Fitzpatrick, SPHR (LION), Senior HR Manager, T-Mobile “I worked with Claudia at T-Mobile. She is an exceptional recruiter and evaluator of executive talent. In addition to her great senior recruiting work she put together very good processes to improve the evaluation process and make the interview experience better for candidates. Claudia is very knowledgeable, and just as importantly, is a great person to work with. I recommend her highly.” June 10, 2005 Randall Birkwood, Director of Talent Acquistion, T-Mobile “I am pleased to endorse Claudia on two counts. First, as my manager, she was easily the most professional, supportive, instructive, competent manager I have had in my 20+ years in the workforce. As a recruiting professional, she has the best command of executive recruiting I have ever encountered and is a true class act.” June 8, 2005 Alise Cortez, Technical Recruiter, T-Mobile…; Added by Dave Mendoza at 4:40am on March 9, 2009