By Dave Mendoza, Affiliate Partner, JobMachine

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Being within the company of a solid team of mentors, one gets introduced to talented individuals. Occasionally, I am in a position to offer these introductions resources where merited that bring shine to those diamonds in the rough. I have seen quite a bit of shine within the team at Talentbridge, and one person in particular, Miss Ryan Phillips, makes me want to wear sunglasses whenever we speak. Why? For someone without formal training, and relatively few years experience compared to other colleagues who have made an impression within a recruiting team - Ms. Ryan is a walking, talking, sourcing example extraordinaire of what JobMachine webinars can do to advance their skill set. Often I stated that my best students have had no prior industry experience but perhaps, be it that they have no existing habits to restrain themselves from, they are keen to starting right and focused from the beginning. In this case, Ryan is a Shally and Glenn devotee I cannot claim credit for, but nonetheless I have taken a keen interest in her success.

Yes, JobMachine can take much of the credit for her advanced knowledge base, but the desire to learn and keep up to date cannot be understated. Ryan Phillips has that enthusiasm for sourcing I see in my daughter's eyes on Christmas morning. I would dare say, sincerely, that her capabilities equal a recruiter with five to ten years experience based upon the quality of resumes and spreadsheet sourcing I have witnessed first hand. I saw something sparkle in her and today I want you to put your shades on and shake virtual hands with my friend, Ryan Phillips.

Q&A with RYAN PHILLIPS
Six Degrees: Tell us of your home world.

RYAN: I am an engineering recruiter for Microsoft’s Core Operating System Division.

I have been in a relationship a great guy for just over 2 years and am very happy. We have a small toy poodle named Ozzy that was a Hurricane Katrina rescue animal and he has been interesting to say the least; however he’s cute and we love him.

Six Degrees: What brings pleasure to your life outside of your professional life as a sourcer

RYAN: I am an amateur sporting clay shooter, or at least starting to be. It is my most latest hobby and I just recently bought my first 28 gauge Beretta. My boyfriend has been shooting for most of his life and brought me into this very addicting hobby in the last year. We have been traveling to several events and also are members as the Coyote Ranch Sport Clay Shooting Club in Morgan Hill, CA.

I am also an AVID traveler. I love international traveling and was a Linguistics major in my undergrad. I speak Spanish fluently and quite a bit of conversational Japanese. I moved to Japan for a year right after graduating from college with my Bachelor’s degree. My favorite trip thus far though has been to Israel. I love foreign language and foreign culture.

I also love fishing and have being finishing since I was about 4 years old with my dad.

Six Degrees: Tell us about your work on behalf of TalentBridge servicing Microsoft?

RYAN: I work for TalentBridge, an engineering retained search division of TAC Worldwide and our team is devoted 100% to Microsoft. TalentBridge was retained to augment the recruiting staffs of three divisions, and tasked to fill positions with highly skilled software engineers not previously identified by Microsoft recruiters.

My main responsibilities are finding highly desired passive candidates for high level engineering position within the Core Operating System Division of Microsoft.

Six Degrees: What do you like best about your current position?

RYAN: For about the last 2 years I have been recruiting nearly 100% for engineering positions. Recruiting engineers is an exciting day everyday for me as I am constantly meeting people who are passionate about creating new and advanced technology. I have met engineers that have not only worked on technologies that exist within my own home but that have also changed the lives of others. I have met an engineer that worked on the PS3, and another that helped created the Tomb Raider game series as well as one that was the lead on Intel’s wireless trusted platform. I know another engineer that worked on the very first LIMO (Linux for Mobile) cell phone and another that worked on the very first TIVO DVR as well as the program that allows you to view Netflix film on-demand online. I placed an engineer that helped created the very first insulin inhaler and I know engineers that have been working on developing printer drivers since there were those small holes in the side of the paper. All of these things are important in the advancement of technology and it is a pleasure to meet and recruit these people to inevitably further their careers and the further advancement in technology as a whole.

Six Degrees: How many years have you been a recruiter?

RYAN: I have actually not been in Technical recruiting very long as prior to living in the Bay Area I worked for Blue Shield of California. I have just over 2 years here in the Bay Area.

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


RYAN: I was kind of thrown into having to recruit while working for Blue shield. That was not my original position. I realized it was something I really enjoyed and a co-worker urged me to seek out a technical recruiting position in the Bay Area to move forward in my career as at that time I was working on my Master’s Degree in a technology field.

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

RYAN: Learning how to REALLY use the internet to work for you! There are so many great tools on the internet and it is so easy to connect with great engineers without having to actually see their resumes or find an actually resume. Blogs are great place to talk to people who are experts in specific technologies.

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

RYAN: I would have to say my best friend. She has been very encouraging and always telling me about new things she find as well. She doesn’t give up on even the most un-fillable purple squirrels and she has in fact filled quite a few of those in her recruiting times.

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

RYAN: The most important thing to me is sharing what I know with others to help make them successful as well. It makes me feel good when I can teach others what I have learned. With that, I hope to one day be a sourcing trainer as I feel that even over the last few years I have learned more about the sourcing aspect of recruiting than anything else. Even when I get the most difficult requirement in front of me, I am able to research and find a path to the perfect candidate to fill that role. I love sourcing and as I love to learn new things and I also enjoy being able to give those things back to others in return to ultimately help make them successful as sharing your success is what really shows your have accomplished something.


In order to achieve my future career goal, I need to continue to gain more knowledge of sourcing and research; however also I need someone to grant me this opportunity. I really feel that when the time is right that this perfect opportunity will be put in my path for me to stumble upon as I have found in each past opportunity that there was a reason I was put there and I have gained something from each past opportunity that has further made me successful. I am happy with both my past achievements and failures as they have both given me knowledge to become more successful and creative as a recruiting professional.

Recommendations For Ryan

“Ryan is a fantastic recruiter that actually understands the art of engineering and what differences exist in the world of engineering. After dealing with many recruiters that were simply trying to match one or two keywords, it's refreshing to see that someone like Ryan exists who can see the entirety of what professionals candidates bring to the table. Even if you are not looking, I would highly recommend a conversation with Ryan as it would be inviting and refreshing to speak with someone on the same level.” July 9, 2008
Arun Gupta, Technical Marketing Engineer, Panasonic

“Ryan was great to work with and very good at what she does. I highly recommend her and would be happy to work with her again.” May 12, 2008
Adam Carrillo, QA Engineer, Panasonic

“Ryan is an outstanding recruiter with exceptional knoweldge, eXtreme Contacts, ability to make sure both client and applicant are in a win-win situation, and, she has unlimited energy. She stays with the recruiting and the hiring process until and unless it is 100% complete.” October 29, 2007
Bruce Razban, President/Founder, Razban Internet International (RII)

“Ryan is a fantastic recruiter and, moreover, representative for Artizen. She went above and beyond the call of duty to help me matriculate into my new workplace.” October 5, 2007
Saundi Wilson, Research and Development, Panasonic

“Ryan is a rarity in the recruiting world. She is willing to go above and beyond to assist clients and recruits; to the extent of working after normal business hours and weekends and is always available and a quick phone call away. Thanks Ryan!” October 2, 2007
Terry Bowdell, Controller, Urigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc

“Ryan has been identfying contract work for me since the beginning of 2007. Her ability to find the opportunities whether presented straightforward as a contract opportunity or through creative discussions with her clients has been very impressive; show casing her ability to be not only a good Account Executive but a great Business Development person as well. I've found her to be a consummate professional at all times and a conscientious client service manager making sure the client's needs are always met.” September 11, 2007
Michael Bubenyak, Compensation Consultant, Independent Contractor

“Ryan is a great recruiter. She is very hands on and takes the time to always be available. I love working with her and wish all my dealings with recruiters could be as nice as my experience working with her.” September 10, 2007. Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, High Integrity
Nancy Chestnut

“Ryan is energetic, dedicated and fun to work with.” August 31, 2007
Khaled Amro, PMP, CEO & President, AmroSoft, LLC

“Ryan is an excellent driven and innovative recruiter; she is excellent team player with a quick mind and she was highly successfull when we worked together. Ryan was always quick to give praise, help others with any technoclogies or process they did not understand; she will be an excellent value to any organization she joins and I hope we can work together in the future!
Mikaela Smith, Senior Recruiter, Netpolarity

“Ryan develops tactical sourcing strategies, solutions and campaigns aimed at generating candidate flow that meet overall recruiting goals. She is pleasant to work with, professional, ethical and loyal. Ryan is a great asset to any organization.” April 17, 2008
Souny Sinwongsa, Sr. Recruiter, Talent Bridge