By Dave Mendoza, Master Cybersleuth, Affiliate Partner, JobMachine Inc.

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CLICK HERE to send Dan an invite on Linkedin. Insert his email: dandharris@yahoo.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 is a Sourcer/Talent Researcher at VeriSign’s Mountain View headquarters since February 2007. He Reports directly to Director of Global Staffing, building a pipeline of talent lead generation supporting over six recruiters on a daily basis. Dan actively sources both active and passive passive leads on behalf of Verisign’s engineering, finance/accounting, sales, consulting and marketing departments.

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. His focus is likewise closer to home as of late, with an eye on the times shared with his girlfriend Margaret, a 4th grade Teacher. 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.

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 it’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: Detail your position, responsibilities, size of your staffing organization:



Daniel: I’m currently a Contract Sourcer/Talent Researcher at VeriSign working onsite in Mountain View California. My responsibilities are delivering a pipeline of talent of names/profiles/resumes to senior recruiters covering the top 20 priority position opportunities we have.



Six Degrees: Are there occasions in which you share best practices with your colleagues?



Daniel: In-house at Verisign I give a presentation every quarter on some of the newest techniques, websites, and sourcing strategies I share with the recruiting teams I work with.



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 socurcing 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



Stay Tuned for Part 2