Over the last 5 years, the recruiting industry has undergone change at an accelerated pace. Between covid, advancements in technology and AI, there’s a lot for recruiters to keep up with. In order to stay relevant, differentiation is non-negotiable.   We have to find a way to cut through the noise and move with the changes. One particular area where this is evident is in our contact strategy. There was a time where a phone call guaranteed a contact, now it’s much harder to reach people.   That means we have to shift our success metrics away from call volume to actual conversations - whether that’s over the phone or on LinkedIn. How can we still ensure we meet our goals in this changing landscape? Can we use AI to get better at our jobs?   In this episode, owner of Top-Tier Talent Advisors, Mike Santiago talks about his business, his differentiation strategy and advice for recruiting newcomers.     On the hunt for talent to drive your business to big goals and big growth?  Connect with an MRINetwork office today.  We have a network of 250 search firms globally, many of whom have years or decades of experience in the industries they serve before transitioning into talent advisory. They bring deep networks and industry connections.  For more details, visit MRINetwork.com and click “Employers.”   Guest Bio   Mike is the owner of Top-Tier Talent Advisors. He brings over 30 years of experience in Senior Management Roles in Operations, Engineering, Product Management, Marketing and Sales. Mike has built Engineering, Marketing and Operations teams for major companies. As a former Vice President and General Manager of a $200 million-dollar division of an international publicly held company, he managed the entire operation. Mike has successfully guided Top Tier Talent Advisors to 23 straight profitable years.   Since 2001, Top-Tier Talent Advisors has been one of the Top Manufacturing Recruiting and Executive Search firms in the Manufacturing Industry. Their clients represent manufacturers from the multiple industry segments of the Consumer Packaged Goods, Food and Industrial Manufacturing Industry. For more information, visit https://toptiertalent.us/ and connect with Mike on LinkedIn.    Meet the Host   Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.

In a market that’s constantly evolving, recruiting with a “set menu” approach doesn’t work. Instead of doing the same thing over and over, we have to constantly create new solutions for clients and candidates.   What if you could treat recruiting like an adventure? What if you went into the market every single year with a new recruiting product, tailored to the exact demands of your dig at that time?   That’s the approach Source Recruitment Group takes. They are constantly innovating and evolving how they staff, which keeps them ahead of the curve. The basics of good recruiting don’t have to change, but how we connect with candidates has to. It’s harder to reach people on the phone, so we have to take a marketing approach and be innovative about how we get in front of and in touch with them.   What are some of the innovative recruiting products they are developing? How did our guest rebuild after a rough time in business? In this episode, CEO and founding partner of SRG, Stephen Sweeney shares the story behind the success of his trans-Atlantic recruiting operation and his unique staffing mindset.   Guest Bio   Stephen is the CEO and Founding Partner of Source Recruitment Group, a company that specializes in staffing Technicians and Operational professionals for the automotive and RV dealership, car rental, driving, fleet, and marine and pharmaceutical sectors.   They are focused on a niche market, identifying candidates who don’t tend to respond to advertising, designed for decision-makers with urgent and critical needs. SRG is aimed at companies WHO CAN’T FIND TOP PERFORMING TALENT on their own. They started by sourcing, attracting, resourcing, and relocating top branded technicians in the South East and have now grown to have clients in over 35 states in the US. Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn.   Meet the Host   Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.

Just like many industries, recruiting isn’t immune to market highs and lows. Every dig is going to have its dips, and that can affect both demand and supply.   When there’s uncertainty in the economy, no one wants to rock the boat. Candidates want to stay where they are, and companies decide to cut back on hiring.   Over the last year, tech has found itself in this position. Between layoffs and concerns around AI, there has been a dip in demand, and it can leave a recruiter in a tough spot. How do recruiters deal with these pull backs and survive to see the inevitable market upswing?   This is where tenacity and persistence really come into play. A post-and-pray approach won’t take you far in this market, a shaking-the-trees mentality will.   How do you make your business market-proof? What’s the secret to finding those hidden gem candidates? In this episode, president and managing director of The Trevi Group, Karel Lukas talks about what attracted him to recruiting, what makes his team stand out and his mindset on demand dips.     Guest Bio Karel Lukas is the president and managing director at The Trevi Group. The Trevi Group guides their clients to hire top performing technology professionals, IT Leaders, Engineers, Architects, and Sales leaders with expertise in Networking, Security, Cloud, Data Center Infrastructure, Collaboration, and Artificial Intelligence. They are strengthening their clients by assisting them to locate and hire outstanding individuals to make an immediate impact on their business. The Trevi Group focuses on the top 10 percent of the workforce that makes 80 percent of the economic impact. As part of MRINetworkTM, The Trevi Group is recognized by http://Forbes.com as one of “America’s Best Executive Search Firms.” For more information, go to https://www.thetrevigroup.com/ and connect with Karel on LinkedIn. Meet the Host Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.  

In a world of polished job listings and carefully curated references, it’s hard to distinguish lip service from the true DNA of a client or candidate. Add an increasingly transactional approach, and it becomes a dangerous time to be in this business.   Trust - the lifeblood of this industry has been broken, so it’s never been more important to dig deep, and do your homework to make sure you’re getting the reality on both sides of the placement.   There’s so much emphasis on how much we can take out of the process through technology, but some things can’t change. Listening to people, doing our research and putting trust at the center of everything we do - that can never be removed from how we serve clients and candidates.   How do we cut out the tire-kicker candidates and make sure they have skin in the game? How do we dig deeper into polished listings and references and get the full story?   In this episode, we’re joined by owner and director of The Woolf Partnership, Amy Woolf. She talks about the power of authenticity, curiosity and trust in the search business, especially today.   Guest Bio Amy Woolf is owner and director of The Woolf Partnership, an Executive Search firm focused on Technology, Transformation and Change. Working with both scale-ups and large corporations, they partner with clients to find forward thinking, talented and passionate individuals to transform their leadership teams. Based in the heart of London, The Woolf Partnership combines a deep background in recruitment with a wealth of in-house experience, harnessed from numerous years working in the consulting industry. We have an extensive understanding of the rapidly growing market we operate in and a genuine love for the work they do. For more information, go to https://www.thewoolfpartnership.com/.    Meet the Host Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.

The rise in demand for contract candidates is one of the biggest workforce shifts to emerge out of the last 5 years. More companies are opting for fractional employees over the permanent placements. It gives them access to an exceptional talent pool they otherwise couldn’t afford. It allows companies in the start-up phase to advance while staying lean. It gives them short-term expertise to solve a specific problem.   On the candidate side, many people are looking for these exact opportunities. Maybe it’s a Boomer who isn’t quite ready to walk away from the workforce altogether. Or it’s an entrepreneurial individual who wants freedom and autonomy. As more people reimagine work, they might consider taking the non-permanent placement route.   This has created a whole new value proposition for well-positioned recruiters, like the team at ace Talent Curators. How do you build relationships in the world of short-term and fractional work? What does it take to succeed on that side of the recruiting business?   In this episode, president of ace Talent Curators, Andres Rodriguez shares the factors driving contract placements and what makes his team different.    Guest Bio Andres Rodriguez is the Managing Director and President of ace Talent Curators. ace Talent Curators is building the leading marketplace for Interim Executive and Contract Staffing Talent in the Consumer Goods, Hospitality, and Banking industries. Our leadership team has been helping consumer-facing companies win top talent in the retained search space for over 25 years. ace TC brings those deep industry insights to the contract space, offering fast-moving companies flexible talent solutions that can make an immediate impact. Connect with Andres on LinkedIn.    Meet the Host Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.

In most industries, you either occupy the supply side or the demand side of the equation. Recruiters don’t.   We’re the tip of the spear on two sides and equally responsible to the hiring authorities and the talent. Fail to keep both sides sharp and focus too heavily on one side? We won’t be able to efficiently and predictably connect talented individuals to great organizations.   Doing this job well is about balancing this bilateral responsibility, seeing beyond one placement, and investing in bringing value to both the clients and the candidates.   How do we give both sides equal attention, consistency and investment? Why is the phone still so important in this business? How do you make a plan for success?   In this episode, we’re joined by high performance leadership coach, professional speaker, high school football coach and CEO of Q Works Group, Michael Clegg. He shares what recruiters have to do to have lasting success in this business.    Guest Bio Michael Clegg is a high performance leadership coach, professional speaker, high school football coach and CEO of Q Works Group. Known for his "Leaders Go First" philosophy, he leverages 20+ years of guiding diverse organizations through keynotes, workshops, and coaching, from coaching C-suite executives to mentoring high school football teams as a wide receiver coach. Clegg transforms leaders and teams into champions by building culture, connection, and trust. Clegg innovated a unique framework called Leadership , unlocking and multiplying potential, leading to psychological safety, engagement, and retention. He knows that you must transform yourself first to become a talented leader. Clegg’s claim to fame was that he was a break dancer in the early 80s. For more information go to  https://www.leadership-squared.com/ and connect with him on LinkedIn.    Meet the Host Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.

In a world of AI-generated resumes, the chasm between the candidate resume and final client interview has never been wider.   Technology can minimize and even obscure the reality of a candidate. It can make it hard for them to shine through or it can overlook the need for that face-to-face interview prep.   Sometimes how a candidate presents themselves needs perfecting, but if you’re just focused on the resume, you miss out on a huge opportunity. The last thing a recruiter wants is for the candidate to go straight into an interview without ironing out those kinks.   The solution to this problem is….technology surprisingly. It can close gaps and improve the process significantly.   What are some of the places in the recruiting process we can install Zoom calls? How do you build a high tenure team? How do you push past the pain of this business?   In this episode, Managing Partner at Magee Resource Group, Christian Burney talks about his business, and all the things they’re doing to solve the challenges of recruiting in a tech-driven world.   Guest Bio Christian is currently one of the Managing Partners at Magee Resource Group. He joined Magee in 2005 as an account manager in Executive Healthcare Leadership. He quickly became a relied upon recruiter in the Cardiovascular Services arena and placed many executives at some of the top programs in the country. Christian was a multiple-year Pacesetter and was promoted internally and became the Manager for Training and Professional Development in 2007. Christian and his business partner, Stan Wallace, took over Magee in 2013 and have been recognized as one of the highest performing firms in the MRI network over the last 11 years. Christian came to Magee Resource Group with a Bachelors in Sports Medicine from Troy University and a master’s in education from Centenary College. For more information, go to http://www.mageeresource.com and connect with Christian on LinkedIn.   Meet the Host Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.

On the other end of every job listing is a busy hiring manager wading through all the candidates clamoring to get into the role. The process of paring down an inbox full of candidates to a meaningful list of potential hires can be both time consuming and taxing.   That’s where a great recruiter comes in...   When you can go beyond technical requirements, cut through all the other recruiters, and refine the process, you become the only recruiter a client wants to work with. In an industry full of “I’ve got a guy/gal” calls and emails, listening is what will make you stand out.   How can hiring managers and recruiters set their relationships up for success? In this special episode, I’m joined by recruiter, Nick Fassino and hiring manager, Laurie Haley. They talk about working together successfully, how they’ve collaborated on both sides of the recruiting desk, and what hiring managers are really looking for.    Guest Bio Nick Fassino  Before founding Fassino Group, Nick achieved nearly twenty years of experience in operational leadership and sales management at Enterprise Holdings, one of the largest private companies in the world. During that time, Nick had responsibility for the hiring, training, and daily management of top performing teams and was recognized regularly for outstanding leadership. Under Nick’s guidance, Fassino Group has assembled the best cybersecurity recruiting talent in the industry specializing in both permanent placement and contract staffing. Utilizing a consultative approach, engaging relationships with the top executives in the industry, and repeating processes that produce results, Fassino Group has built top performing teams for their clients. Nick is a passionate coach of his children’s sports teams, an avid supporter of his Texas Tech Red Raiders, and a dedicated long-distance runner who has completed four marathons and countless other races.   Laurie Haley With over 25 years in technology and cybersecurity sales, Laurie is a seasoned Senior SaaS Cyber Sales Leader, specializing in information security and application security. Her career is marked by driving innovation in cybersecurity, building high-performing sales teams, and developing strategic go-to-market plans. Laurie’s professional achievements include having led the Technology Alliance Program for Veracode, being a leader in the Worldwide Sales Team for Qualys for almost a decade, and managing a world-class Vulnerability Program for CVS Caremark. She has also participated in strategic initiatives at various security companies, including SecureWorks and VeriSign. For more information, go to www.fassinogroup.com. You can connect with Nick and Laurie on LinkedIn. Meet the Host Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.

In the recruiting business, many things may change, from the tech we use to the industries that dominate at any given time. There are high points, hiccups and moments that force us to step back and reposition ourselves. What will never change is the lifeblood of this business, the engine that drives everything - motivation.   If a motivated client doesn’t meet motivated talent, a hire will never take place, no matter how good at sales we are. Companies will always need people, CEOs will always want to make their business earn more and great candidates will always want great opportunities. When we can tap into that motivation, we succeed.   How do you develop a white glove service in recruiting? What did our guest learn from one of the greatest college football coaches? How do you use tech but not get consumed by it? In this episode, founder of SCN, Jim Guerrera joins us to talk about his career, his success and the beating heart of recruiting.    Guest Bio Jim is primarily responsible for the development of the leaders at SCN, strategic planning, the hiring and development of company associates, culture leadership, core value leadership, sales leadership, marketing, operations, and business progress analysis.   Prior to founding SCN, Jim worked in a variety of Business Management and Sales Management positions in the Industrial and Civil Construction Sectors. He worked as a Market and Business Manager for MSC and as a Regional Sales Manager, District Sales Manager, and Outside Sales Representative for Advanced Drainage Systems.   Jim earned an MBA from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, DePaul University. He also earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame.   While at the University of Notre Dame, Jim earned a Varsity Letter as a Walk-on member of the varsity Football Team, and he is a college football enthusiast to this day. When not working, he’s always up for travel, time spent in nature, time spent with family and friends, golfing, boating, and snow skiing. For more information, head to https://scnteam.com/ and connect with Jim on LinkedIn.    Meet the Host Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.  

In the world of search, there are 2 paths to delivering top talent to clients - decision or choice. We can put a candidate in front of them and convince them to make a decision. Or we can put multiple A-players in front of them and empower them to make a choice.   The latter approach makes a huge impact, especially when it’s done with speed and efficiency. It’s on us to bring a selection of talent, not just to shove a person in their face and force them to hire.   How do we escape the trap of success? How did our guest go from a great rookie run to tearing everything down and then rebuilding the right way? In this episode, President of Westport One, Chris Heinz shares his story, how he views technology and what’s given him staying power since 1997.    Guest Bio Chris Heinz is the President of Westport One, a recruitment firm that specializes in Senior Living, Information Technology, and Financial Services/Banking, with his direct focus being Senior Living. Chris began his career with Westport One in 1997. He made his first placement within 9 days of starting and he hasn’t stopped! In August 2000, Chris achieved the status of a CSAM, or Certified Senior Account Manager. This is a distinction held by less than 10% of the recruiters in the system. In 2015, Chris became the Managing Partner of his firm. He takes pride in the tremendous growth that Westport One has achieved. Westport One has ranked in the top 10 for many years. This is attributed to the incredible team of specialists that have dedicated themselves to being the best in the business. Connect with Chris on LinkedIn and go to https://www.westportone.com/.     Meet the Host Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.