I Head Hunt - Seattle

More public school Math....

2008-03-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

Am I doing this right? As of today's game against Phoenix- 8 goals in 5 games for Joe Thornton? Evgeni Nabokov saves 19 of 20 shots and sits at 45 wins for the season? Astonishing. With 17 wins in the last 19 games and the playoffs looming, I never have been more excited for the Shark's postseason chances.

Let's check out the game highlights, be sure to check Thornton's goal on the first shift of the game.

I know. I'm amazed too.

-Jay

What recruiters want to see if you're a finance candidate...

2008-03-30T21:01:00.001-07:00

Hey Hey Blog.

Jay Here.

A lot's been on my mind lately after a truly great weekend. Between the NCAA tournament and a totally fantastic family birthday party, I couldn't have had a better 2 days off. Most importantly- my bracket's doing much better and if the chips fall correctly, I have a shot of winning my pool. That's right, I'm not mathematically eliminated yet which gives me four of the best letters in the English language- hope.

So while in such a good mood, I thought I'd do a little truth-telling and offer some transparency to any candidates who might be interested in getting into Fortune 500 corporate finance. These of course are merely my opinions as a recruiter and each idea is likely subject to objection or disagreement, but I'm going to note some trends of candidates I've observed being hired and give you something better to go off of- especially if you are considering finance as your career of choice.

The Strength of your Education - Great. I know. Already beginning with something subjective. But truly, this couldn't be more important to getting yourself introduced to a company either via a interview or internship opportunity, and ultimately- the very thing that will set you up to be successful in your role. Especially if you are wanting to advance in your organization, you definitely should have an MBA. Online programs don't really impress potential employers, and typically if you want to target Fortune 500 companies, you need to have an MBA from a Top 20 school. Daunting. I know. But those are the caliber of people these companies are looking for. Oftentimes, and trust me, I've seen this, you are much better off taking the financial hit by taking two years off from working and attending the MBA program of a highly reputed school and then resume working than if you elect to continue your job and taking an evening program from a nearby "regional" school.
The tenures of your employment periods - This is a universal truth for alllll candidates but of particular interest if you are in finance. It's important to know that you can not only whether the storms of difficult times in your employment history by showing you are in for the long haul, but it also can illuminate via your tenure that you are able to influence the stakeholders in your business (and this can also be assessed in the interview). Perhaps most noteworthy is your advancement track within the same company. If a candidate has been with the same company as an analyst for 6 years, and hasn't advanced there, then it raises a curious question of whether that candidate is able to advance at his or her new company (which is something most financial organizations want to do- develop their employees to become future leaders in the organization). A solid track record of advancement of promotions every 2-3 years makes you the ideal candidate.
The caliber of company you are currently employed with - This is because you will face completely issues day to day with a large organization with a national or international presence with intense business stakeholders than you might at smaller or different organizations. Candidates and banking and mortgage candidates come from a background that is just different that corporate finance and are not as well prepared as those in FP&A in corporate groups.

Scale is important! If you are a Finance Director at a smaller organization (even if it is a well known company with a high hiring bar) but manage a smaller (in relative terms) budget that a counterpart at the company you are applying to, you might not be a Finance Director there. For some, that sentence might be worth reading again. It happens quite frequently that Finance Directors really level out to Finance Managers at a larger company, but they are unwilling to interview because they don't want to step down in title (comp may even be in line!). I don't think companies want to limit their employees and candidates but assess them properly.

What impact did you make? - Ponder this for a moment, but companies don't want to see finance candidates than manager, they want to see candidates that lead. One of the differences is the ability to influence. This actually couldn't be more important. This should be listed in your resume and something you should be prepared to discuss in the interview.

Alright Alright. some good info here, and let's wrap this up with a Top 10 5 (yeah- I got lazy) list of common resume blunders:

Using "we" not "I" - As a recruiter, I want to know what YOU did, not your team's accomplishments.
Using funky acronyms - if you have an MBA don't list is "M.B.A.". If you know SQL, don't spell it "sequel" or "S.Q.L.". C'mon, it's a fact recruiters live and die by keywords, make it a little easier on us, k?
Functional vs Chronological Resumes - I'm not sure who started giving this out as advice, but this trend's gotta stop. It's a common common pet peeve amongst recruiters to look at functional resumes since it never gives a transparent look at when (and at which company/position) you did all the "functions" you've listed
Not properly listing your contact information - Remember, chances are your resume is getting into a recruiter's applicant tracking system and often times, we have to do the copy and pasting. Please make it easier on us by just putting everything at the top of the resume (even if there is a section in the application process to enter your contact info)
Formatting - like I said- your info goes into an applicant tracking system and probably will be viewed in plain text by most of the decision makers. I've heard that at one point in time people used this thing called paper for resume. It must have been wild. But no longer. Your fancy fonts and graphics won't make it.

If I can think of other things worth mentioning, I'll update them here... and if you are a recruiter and have any insights/comments- be sure to leave a comment!

I'm sure there's plenty of material to make a blog for HR and other candidates as well. Stay tuned sports fans. :)

-Jay

Thornton's Turning it on at the Right Time...

2008-03-27T22:45:00.001-07:00

He couldn't have picked a better part of the season to start completely owning every contest they step on the ice for, and the San Jose Sharks' own Joe Thornton is simply dominating. He had 2 goals tonight (3/27) against Dallas and 3 against Phoenix on Tuesday (3/25 - an unfortunate OT Loss they had no business going into the extra period for).

By my math that puts him with 5 goals in his last 2 games, but let's remember that I went to public school.

I could not be more excited for the post season this year. San Jose is as hot of a team as they've ever been and looking like a solid favorite for the cup. Sadly, last year Anaheim became the first California team to hoist the Stanley Cup, but SJ's looking like the team that could bring it back to the Golden State. Let's check out some highlights from tonight's Dallas game and Thornton's amazing game winner in OT (and goalie Evgeni Nabokov's 2 stunning stops against Dallas' Mike Modano. Trust me, you will love this....)

AT&T's Having Staffing Probs....

2008-03-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

AT&T CEO Says Hard to Find Skilled U.S. Workers

Man... would hate to have the wrath of supporting what I'm sure are unhappy hiring managers in AT&T's San Antonio's Office. It seems this is a common trend as more and more US Companies are looking towards off-shoring, not as a cost saving measure, but to find available talent.

The 49er's offseason

2008-03-27T20:30:00.001-07:00

Two of the greatest words in the English language: "What if...."

Sigh. This is a post very near and dear to my heart. The state of affairs surrounding the SF 49ers. Since coach Steve Mariucci was let go in 2002, the niners haven't even been close enough to sniff the post season. Then there was the Dennis Erickson signing, which, in coaching terms, was a little like trading in your late model Toyota Camry, for the 1984 Buick Skylark with cracked leather interior (it still cannot be confirmed or denied that Dennis actually owns one of these, making the analogy even more perfect). The "Ek" (the first and last time he will ever be reference by that name) lasted all of one season, but the exit wound he left on the franchise would be the 5 seasons of futility that have left Bay Area fans reeling.

Niners fans, if you're still reading, stay with me. Take a deep breath. Relax. I have a plan. I can fix this. Or at least I could have 2 months ago. The niners had a shot at turning a 2007-08 Bostonian Celtic-like turn around, with a few key personnel changes. So bear with me as we journey in the way-back machine to the beginning of the year. Eli Manning was still a poor performance away from being labeled a bust, the Patriots still had a chance, Brett Favre could still have gone out on top, and Isiah Thomas was ruining one of basketballs' most prestigious franchises (some things never change).
Let's start with the current problems with the roster that gave us a gaudy 5-11 record. God, those were painful numbers to type.

Alex Smith- Smith's started out his career with awful stats and even worse success. I really should confirm this, but I believe in his rookie campaign, he threw more TDs to the other team than to his own. *shaking head*. Then something happened when he was coupled with a man known for tutelage of young QBs and turning around their fate- Norv Turner. He showed signs of improvement running Norv's offense until Turner bolted to coach the, well, the 'Bolts in San Diego. Smith never looked in rhythm the next year and had injury problems that forced him to take a giant step back in his development. This relationship between Turner and Smith where Smith seems to have relied on the ability of another so totally reminds me of another NFL relationship. The 2004 Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss duo. The 2004 incarnation of Culpepper had 41 TDs on that squad. Fans of the 2006 Dolphins, you read that right, 41 TDs! All those endzone grabs went well with his 110.9 passer rating. Recent history has not been kind to Daunte. Losing Moss as his "just throw it up and he'll catch anything on the field" receiver, he's bounced around to 2 of the leagues worst teams by record. This relationship where one player relies too heavy on the talents and abilities of another needs a name. We'll call it "MossPepper"

That's what Smith got, was MossPeppered by Norv Turner. And Martz' system is going to put up great numbers but his QBs always get hurt since they spend too much time in the pocket. I don't see this helping the development of a yet to be established franchise QB.

The O-line- Actually this wasn't as big of a personnel problem as people think. They just couldn't stay healthy. Another Joe Staley or two in the draft and we might be ok in a year or two. Losing the corpse of Larry Allen and his bad back is not so bad.

The receivers- D-Jack was a bust and Arnaz Battle is a no. 3 possession receiver at best. Major help needed here

The pass rush- Bryant Young, the last Niner from the 1994 Super Bowl squad has retired and we have lost one of the classiest and loyal players to lace up in a 49er uniform. We the fans thank you for outstanding contributions. But this area couldn't be a bigger need.

What they should have done?

#1 priority is to give Smith some competition for the QB spot and sadly, I'm not talking about Shaun Hill. They had a decent off season in picking up a franchise tagged DE from Cinci (who is marginally a pass rusher and more of a clog the line type) a first rounder receiver cast off from the Cardinal's two 1,000 yard receivers offense and a backup RB to iron man Frank Gore.

I would have loved for them to have made a run at Derek Anderson of Cleveland. A sign and trade could totally have been possible. All reports were that Cleveland was shopping him as Brady Quinn was waiting in the wings.

If you're Cleveland's GM, tell me you wouldn't turn down Manny Lawson, and SF's 1st and 3rd rounders to let your #1 pick play anyway (this was the plan right all along). Meanwhile SF picks up a Probowl caliber QB (they need this right? even if 2007 was an aberration it at least gives Smith a reason to pull things together and not worry about his coach yapping about a shoulder injury)? Are we really all that sure that Alex Smith isn't going the way of becoming the next David Carr? Former #1 pick? Check. Mediocre first 3 years? Check. Attended Mid Major School with gaudy stats that perhaps over inflated his draft value? Check. Smith might be careful- he's becoming dangerously close to growing his hair own, chatting up the media about his "year over year" improvement and becoming surprised when his agent informs him the Jets want to pursue him for their back-up QB role. Man. I totally digress.

Had the Niners pursued D-rock more agressively, hell maybe they had, they might have given themselves a better contingency plan if Alex Smith does his eventual bow out. I hope I am wrong here, really, I totally want this. But a late round draft pick is not going to save this organization like a Derek Anderson might. Plus the Cleveland QB and Pac-10 alum would get to return to the coast that he came from.

Alright enough for now. I'm spending too many of my thoughts on SF's off season and I'm not sure I can continue to think about the upcoming 2008 season. It's going to be brutal.

What Makes a Recruiter Successful?

2008-03-27T20:04:00.001-07:00

Man, this is such a great question. I feel like this is a difficult thing to define because there are so many ways to make someone great at recruiting. I bet you a $5 bill I'll be updating this post now and then.

Let's let this be interactive for all 4 people that read this blog by bucking the trend and listing some qualities here (and offering your suggestions):

Internet Research (essential for sourcing)
Account Management
Process Management
Ability to influence business stakeholders
Excellent and quick communication skill
Ability to assess talent
Ability to provide value to your peer community
Passion behind the business you support
Knowledge base of the category you recruit in

NCAA Tourney Update

2008-03-27T19:40:00.001-07:00

Oh wow.... my bracket could not be uglier. We're at the start of the sweet sixteen and I'm sitting at 19th of 20 places in my office pool. Of all the "expert" columns I reviewed to enhance my knowledge and help give me that edge to make me all the more clairvoyant... why did I listen to the one that picked Gonzaga in the Sweet 16. I know. Easy Jay. They're not psychic and neither are you.

Between this and the Sonics jetting town, I am so disappointed with the fate of the basketball world (Except Monta Ellis's amazing development into the West Coast D-Wade... wow!).

The good news: My Final Four picks are still alive (as follows):

Tennessee - the first that will be sure to fall, UNC is looming like a a pre 1990 Mike Tyson circling the ring and Roy Williams has enough Zen Magic working now to be mistaken for Phil Jackon
UCLA - sigh of relief. They had the close one with Texas A&M (there has to be a better way to acronomyze that school but TAM just doesn't seem quite right) but they still looked like they could keep pace with their opponent's speed whether it's running the floor or playing half court ball.
Memphis - scared as hell of this pick. They are an injury or poor shooting game away from bowing out. Do they have an answer against a team that can play them inside? Still, this has major potential to ruin my bracket
Kansas - the team that I really want to like, they have the athleticism of Memphis and the talent and pedigree of UCLA, they just haven't had that definition win yet... I just don't feel like we know how good of a tournament team these guys are (that's why they play the games). There you go Jayhawks, use my lack of confidence in you to run the table. This has major "no one believed in us" potential and you could even site my blog in your post game celebration interviews. I wouldn't mind, in fact it would bring the total count of ecstatic basketball fans in Seattle to a whopping baker's dozen (if we're counting the entirety of Renton-Bellevue-Everett- I never forget my homies).

Ok, let's bring this home with a YouTube. The miracle shot for Western Kentucky (WES-KEN? no that doesn't work) that put them over 5th seeded Drake in OT. Gorgeous.

The First Question in the Interview….

2008-03-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

Why do you want to work for us?

Seriously. I have interviewed a ton of talented people. But what separates the good and the REEEAALLY good is passion and drive for what they do. When interviewing, I am looking for someone with obsession for the customer.

You need to demonstrate why you want to work for the company you interview with, and you better have done your homework on the business. If you are in finance/accounting/tax, you better be able to comment on the company’s annual report and stock price (if public). If you are in tech you had better have read the blogs of the developer’s team and know something about their development process. If you are in recruiting you had better know something about the company’s culture and what the challenges you’d think they’d face.

Most importantly, you should come prepared to talk about why you should be involved in the business. Dude, this is going to leave far more of an impression if you think.

Job Seeking for Insiders

2008-03-17T20:17:00.000-07:00

Four blog posts and not a single one about recruiting?? Ahh I have totally lost sight of the goal of being a recruiter with a blog.

As a recruiter at a Fortune 500 company, I often get this question. from friends and former classmates (and additionally their acquaintances):

“I’ve found the job I want online, now how do I get the interview??”

The employment section of companies’ websites are often clunky, vague, anonymous and perhaps far too often inaccurate of the positions that are available. They have, I believe earned the unfortunate reputation of being a black hole…. A resume is sent in but no often response can be heard back. I’m sure other recruiters that might read this would agree; that recruiters DO in fact look at resumes submitted through their company’s career site and job board postings. We put them there for reason and spend a lot of time everyday reviewing the applicants. I spend hours on a daily basis “sourcing” through these. But it is a total slog. And worse, it’s impersonal. The communication in submitting your resume is completely one sided. The main problem I think that is getting in the way of many job hunters is maybe not to find the right job. Candidates I speak to can regularly and immediately list the litany of jobs they might want to do, and why they might want to do them. The problem is finding the right time. Too often, a candidate may have already been identified for the position you are applying to. If you are a candidate looking for a job, you need to think more like a recruiter and network with the stakeholders before a position ever becomes available.

The internet has completely changed the way many industries behave and operate. I happen to work for a Fortune 300 company that wouldn’t exist without it. Recruiting has been given a tummy tuck, face lift and complete makeover as it begins to understand how to best leverage the online community to be more transparent to its job seeking audience. Sites like LinkedIn, Jobster, Xing, Doostang, and ZoomInfo are clear examples (but we’ll get to that in a moment!).

The point is that you no longer need to be a social extrovert and the life of the party to network anymore. Job Fairs no longer see the success of volume of hires as do internet recruiting techniques.

Ok. Stop. If you don’t learn anything from this entire post, learn this: Find the recruiter before the job opens and before they find you.

Additionally- as a candidate- don’t stalk the recruiter if you do not hear back. Dude, you are networking. Get yourself in front of as many people in the industry you can. It’s a ratio game. The more you do it, the more leads you will get.

I really liked the top 10 list I did for my “Save Our Sonics” post.

In the same spirit, here’s a brief list of where to go and how to network to find the people who will hire you before they make their hiring decision.

1.) LinkedIn. Ahhhhhhhhh. Every recruiter’s dream. I get happy just thinking about it. An entire internet directory of professionals in every field with self-updated profiles. What could be better you ask? How can I best use this? Because you can totally find hiring managers and peer professionals. Better yet recruiters can be openly found…. And they often list their contact information. Dude, we want to be found! Get that resume over already!

2.) Yahoo! Groups This is how I found my gig at Amazon. Yahoo! Groups rock. I use these to source all the time. Recruiters and Alumni post jobs on there often. But maybe more important, are the discussion groups. I read the WA Recruiters online forum all the time. I subscribe to email updates. I read others’ blogs (Kristin Fife’s, John Vlastelica’s and Heather Hamilton’s are great to have bookmarked if you want insight into the mind of a recruiter). If I ever were to want leave my job this would be the first place I’d turn to learn about going elsewhere.

Some links to Professional Yahoo! Groups:

There are soooooo many more…….

3.) The blog-o-sphere. It’s all the rage baby. Dude, if you are in tech and you blog, you will be found. But this is more about you finding the right people to talk to before your dream job ever opens. So try searching blogs for recruiters and see what they have to say. I swear it’s the new thing. Every recruiter is starting a blog. I have, and yeah- you can totally contact me. Good blog search engines are Google Blog Search and Technorati

4.) Your college’s alumni job board. Scary how many people forget about this. But if I need to hire a Stanford MBA for a job, I’m posting to Stanford’s career page. But it’s also a good resource to find what kind of candidate your employer of choice is looking to hire. It’s a GOOD GOOD source of find a job, since the positions that are posted are already prequalified to match your education, and employers typically post here when they have difficult jobs to fill. They are your most accurate list of postings.

5.) The best thing you could do is be active in your professional community. The more people that know you internal and external to your company, and have a good impression of your work performance, the more likely you are to land your next gig. You may find yourself in a niche area of business in a geographic area (say…. Recruiting in Seattle….), and the last thing you want to do is have the community have a negative impression of you.

Awesome. Ok. Recruiting post #1 down. I couldn’t be happier. I would totally love to hear from some of you, especially if you came across this blog randomly and are not one of my awesome friends who found it from my link on myspace/facebook. But you guys rock too!

Back from the dead....

2008-03-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

Alright, I wish I had taken a before picture, but there's this orchid at the office that is in my care since a co-worker is out. It was dead on Friday, I mean D-E-D dead. I did everything in my power to bring it back to life before I left for the weekend, Watered it, submerged it in the sink, everything. Lo and behold, this Monday it's sprung back to life. I couldn't be prouder at how green my thumb is. On St Paddy's day no less.

You get to drink from the Firehose!!!

2008-03-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

My coworker and I often have a competition when we are sourcing at home at night as to who can find the best and funniest YouTube. This is one I pulled from a awesome movie made by Weird Al in the 80's - UHF. I thought I would share it with you. Yes, that is Michael Richards AKA Kramer.

Save Our Sonics!

2008-03-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sonics, Oklahoma City reach deal on arena

Let me preface this post by saying, I'm not a Sonic's fan. My heart still lies with the GS Warriors. But I feel compelled to say something as a fan of the NBA.

Now that it's becoming more and more present, the situation surrounding the Seattle Supersonics is totally awful and disgusting. For those unaware, the former billionaire owner of the Emerald City's NBA franchise who has close Seattle roots, and heads one of Seattle's most well known and recognized companies, sold the team to a conglomerate of businessmen from OK City lead by a man named Clay Bennett. Clay, who I've come to find out has been a longtime friend of NBA commissioner David Stern, is, with the support of the League Office, putting all the pieces in to place to relocate the Supes from the nation's 24th most populated city to the 30th one on the list (hardly an upgrade in fan base). Worse is the lack of effort to keep the team in town and consideration of a fan base of over 41 years of basketball in this beautiful town.

Seattle has the unfortunate geographic position of being located on the corner of the map and is in relative obscurity to the pro sports world. But the Sonics have a rich rich history, with the likes of Lenny Wilkans, the X-man (one of the coolest sports nicknames ever), Nate McMillan, G Payton, Shawn Kemp, Jack Sikma, Downtown Freddie Brown, Spence Haywood, newcomer Kevin Durants, and perhaps most importantly, the 1979 NBA Championship. I don't know what the rest of the nation feels about the situation but Sonic fans are deeply affected by the growing probability of the team's relocation.

I'm a frequent reader of Bill Simmons' column on ESPN.com and I applaud the interest he's shown in the situation. In particular this email bag he's thrown together (in two parts) of distraught Sonics fans and their commiserating brethren.

Here are the links:
Part 1
Part 2

What a great read and the parallels between the Sonics fate and the Hartford Whalers and the older incarnation of the Cleveland Browns are gut wrenching. Those fan bases of those teams that heartlessly relocated by whim terrible terrible owners are still feeling the pain of the loss of their respective franchise. I hope the City of Seattle doesn't reflect them in that way.

Anyway, here's my top ten list why the Sonics should stay in Seattle:

1.) The Key has character and is a lovely place to catch a game, and the surrounding area of Queen Anne couldn't be better for going out after the game. We don't need to spend $300 million as a tax payer base so we have the opportunity to pay $20 a game to watch basketball.
2.) Kevin Durant. This city needs a star. He's going to be good. Real good. We had Shaun Alexander in 2005 win the MVP and then take a sharp sharp decline. We need someone to polarize this fan base!
3.) The 1979 NBA Championship. This should probably move to the #1 spot on my list. It's the Emerald City's only championship from the big 4 professional sports. Any team that wins one should never move. Ever. That's why MLB targeted you, the Montreal Expo's, and not the Twin's or the Brewers for contraction.
4.) The sonics were named for the surrounding area's aerospace industry for a supersonic aircraft that was being developed. If the team kept the name when relocating to OK City it would be as bizarre and disgusting as a team from Utah being called the Jazz. Oh wait....
5.) Supporting a lousy team, the Sonics fans still arrive at around 12k per game. I'd like to see OK City fans doing that after 5 years of terrible basketball and realizing this isn't a hurricane transplanted team they're supporting with good karma, but a big responsibility. Should we give them a D-League team first to see if they could support them before a full blown NBA franchise, like when mom makes you take care of goldfish first to prove you're responsible enough to have a puppy?
6.) 41 years of history! That cannot be replaced.
7.) The city of Seattle and the WA state government did something few other municipalities were willing to do, they stood up against the NBA toe-to-toe when the ownership group asked for the tax payers to front the bill for an extremely expensive new arena. Thanks NBA, you take our ticket revenue, receipts from your merchandise sales and TV contract revenue, then we should pay the bill for your facilities? No other big business would do this. The blogger service I'm using to write this doesn't make the city it resides in buy it's building. So for standing their ground, the city should be commended.
8.) Squatch. The big foot mascot with PNW roots would feel rather out of place in barren OK.
9.) The Bad jojo from Howard Schultz. I almost made it the entire blog without bringing him up. He gave us some really bad karma by selling the team for a hefty profit to out of town investors intending to relocate the team. Shouldn't we be able to withdraw something from the karma bank on this one?
10.) The Unis are gorgeous. They finally got them right with the new designs. The green and yellow are fantastic and the "S" logo couldn't be sleeker. I love them and they totally represent the color scheme of the PNW. no way they'd look nearly as good in Sooner country. Isn't there enough bad blood from OU's last visit to Eugene when the onside kick went 9 3/4 yards? I'm sure the OK City fan base already cringes at the similarity between the supes' unis and the Ducks color scheme (though awful designs.... a topic for another blog).

Ok, so maybe I am a little bit of a Sonics fan...........

The First One Ever.....

2008-03-15T13:54:00.001-07:00

Ok. I am growing up. This is tough to admit. But here it is. This is my first blog post ever! . Ok, so maybe I have fully gotten the hang of HTML tags. But I am quite excited about having a blog beyond the casual mutterings on Facebook/Myspace.

Anyway, as this is my first blog and post, I'd like to officially welcome myself to the year 2004. I know, I'm a few years behind most people, but I'm sure I will be catching up fast. I'd like to explain a little about myself in my inaugural entry and why I'm even blogging in the first place.

I'm a corporate recruiter for Amazon.com in beautiful downtown Seattle, WA. I've been living here for about for 4 years and have, in fact grow to love it in the PNW (though I had a lengthly battle with my CA roots in order to do so). I've been a recruiter since graduating college in 2003. For those of you counting, that's very nearly 5 years. What do I love about recruiting? The exposure to so many parts of the business while being an essential partner and an integral piece of the success of it. Being in an external facing role has it's challenges though, and recruiters- even myself have been known to be difficult to deal with as we try to manage our busy daily schedules and represent our company well. Trust me, we have a lot of passion behind what we do.

This blog is intended to be a personal blog, though I may end up talking about recruiting as it is a part of who I am and the activity I spend most of my time doing. Perhaps even more than sleeping! I have a lot of interest in the blogging community, having been a frequent reader since their conception. I'm sure I will list the blogs I subscribe to and visit rather soon. I'd love to be interactive and transparent with anyone who might be reading this.

Alright, that's all for now, there is a beautiful Seattle day outside and I'm going to go enjoy it.

Woohoo, one blog down!

Jay