Minnesota Headhunter FAQ’S For Candidates
August 21, 2018
The past weeks I have been speaking with a lot of Minnesota tech, data, digital and product pros and as part of our conversation I ask, “What do you want to know about me?” or “What would you have liked to known about me before this chat?”
I have been keeping track of the most asked questions and decided to create a FAQ’s about me:
Why “Minnesota Headhunter”?
When I started the blog in 2005 I was thinking of what to call it. This is what I am so I went with that as a name. That and DeBettignies is not easily said nor typed in a Google search.
How long have you been a tech recruiter, how did you get started?
How long… 20+ years. When the anniversary hit last year my non recruiter friends were all. “That’s awesome” and “keep going” while my recruiter friends were like, “WTH is wrong with you still doing this after all these years”.
How I got started… Fall of ’97 I answered a newspaper ad for a search firm. Since this was around the time Al Gore invented the Internet, I was not aware that the group had a really bad reputation. I worked there for 5 months before leaving. Essentially, I learned how to do the business the wrong way and figured it couldn’t be that hard to do it the right way.
Why are you still doing it after all this time?
I genuinely like people. I think we are amazing, fun, frustrating and complicated creatures. I like both “sides” of the recruiting process… I like helping people with their career path, find their passion and space. And I love helping clients build their teams. Filling one Dev role is OK but building a team of Dev’s, Designers and Data pros is the best kind of work for me.
Why should I talk with you, what makes you different than all the recruiters reaching out to me?
I’m very transparent. Sure, a client is paying me and I am looking out for their best interest. I also think it is my job to look out for yours. The last thing I want to do is to recruit someone out of one role and into another that is not in their best interest.
Who are you working with?
Today I am working with the Daugherty Business Solutions Minneapolis group recruiting roles that are open now, building candidate pools for future hiring and being an advocate for them in the tech community.
I also spend some time advising a few startups and small tech groups on recruiting process and strategy and long term sourcing of candidates for roles that will not be open for months.
Click Minneapolis and St Paul tech jobs for the roles I am recruiting for and some friends in town who are hiring.
What events do you attend?
It depends on who I am recruiting with… there are the “always attend events” like Minnebar (I speak every year), Minnedemo, Midwest JS, Twin Cities Startup Week (a big basket of events), DevOps Days. Then frequently attend the JavaScript, Ruby, DevOps, React, Hadoop meetups. Outside of tech I am at MIMA, SMBMSP and other events.
Can you code?
No. I know enough to do some things on the blog.
I’m not looking for a new role/company but I have a career question (salary, promotion, what should I be thinking about with my path)… might you have time to give me an opinion, some advice?
YES!!! I love those conversations.
When you’re not recruiting what do you do?
In the summer I love to spend time fishing… catching fish is a bonus. Being on a boat or dock for hours quiets my brain. I am a much better human during the summer. I love to ride a bike (trails in the city) and am a huge college football junkie.
You said at Minnebar you are an Introvert, is that true?
Oh my, yes. Sure, I am very active in the business and tech community, attend a lot of events and spend an obscene amount of minutes on my phone every day. I need… I have to have down time, quiet time. My friends know that after 10+ hours at Minnebar on a Saturday they will not hear from me until late Monday or mid Tuesday. I need to recharge.
Gopher football, how good are we going to be and do you really hate the Wisconsin Badgers?
I used to write, from a fans perspective, about Gopher football years ago and my do some again this year. Click Gopher Football for my recent post. I am going with 7-5 and win a bowl game. I’m cautiously optimistic that we take a step or two forward this year. As for the Badgers and the rivalry… it runs deep The University of Wisconsin is a great university. Madison is a great college town. But the Badgers, no way. I’ll leave it there.
A few photos:
Click Minnesota Headhunter for current blog posts and Minneapolis Tech Jobs for Minnesota IT jobs I am working on.
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