These days, it’s easy to round up a list of potential candidates. Simply post your job ad to hundreds of the world’s leading job boards with one click (sound familiar?), or use social media to float an enticing position summary to a few hundred of your connections. But what happens when you’re not just looking for candidates, but the candidate; someone with a skill set so niche, you know you’re searching for a needle in a haystack.
In the business, we refer to them as passive candidates. Their resume reads like the puzzle piece that fits your job description. They’re difficult to source, and almost always currently employed. Moreover, they’re unlikely to respond to your posted job ad. To us, headhunting has always been the business of keeping in touch with people, and that aspect is what we love most. We possess a proprietary database of over 25 years’ worth of contacts, and we check in with folks all the time. Our business is to source the right candidate for your role – even when that candidate isn’t currently applying to jobs.
Alyssa Glass is a highly qualified individual with the aforementioned niche skill set employers dream of adding to their team. A former employee of Imperial Design for over 15 years, Alyssa moved on to a Project Management and subsequent Business Development Manager role at another West Michigan based organization. Making sure candidates find a perfect fit in their current role is a top priority for us, so when we checked in with Alyssa, we were happy to help her find something that better aligned with her current needs. Furthermore, we were thrilled to provide our client with the exact candidate they were looking for; it was a success for all involved. Read on for a brief interview with Alyssa on her hiring journey and how things are going for her now.
Passive Candidate: Alyssa Glass
Can you describe your experience with Imperial Design up until now?
I started with Imperial Design in 1992 (in-house), in their Tech Pubs department. I was fresh out of college with a degree in Computer Graphics (arts and marketing side of the field, not engineering) and excited to put it to use! This was well before Desktop Publishing is what it is now… there was coding required to bold, italicize and format documents. Not point and click as we know it today! After a few years, there was a need in the Engineering department for an Engineering Coordinator. I “temporarily” moved into that department until the position could be filled. I ended up here for the next 12 years! I setup and processed jobs, archived data, closed out jobs, etc. Rex and Tom gave me the freedom to grow and to move around within the company. Before you know it, I’m taking AutoCad classes, doing wiring diagrams, detailing and checking prints. I also discovered a part of my talents included streamlining processes. I was also heavily involved with the documentation needs at Delphi in Coopersville.
When the Coopersville facility closed, I helped transition their documents to the Burlingame facility. The Engineering Manager and I got along well and I was asked to be contracted in to run with their Process Documents. It provided me experience in a large manufacturing company, something I knew wasn’t for me for the long haul. I missed the smaller “family” environment I had at Imperial Design. I asked Mike and Lonny to keep their eyes open for me. It didn’t take long! JR Automation needed someone with my odd set of skills.
I was contract-to-hire into the Engineering department at JR where I was detailing, checking prints, data archiving and became the ISO Management rep for the company. I streamlined processes as I went, able to do my full-time job in part time hours. They kept me busy by adding on work from the Robotics Service group. I LOVED IT! I ended up moving into the Service department where I spent the next 8 years in a job that allowed me to grow my odd set of talents even further. Marketing, Sales, Office Management, Project Management, Dispatching, Streamlining and Improving processes.
As time has a way of changing everything, I found myself needing a change and ventured to Business Development for the Service group of a Robotics Integrator firm out of New York. I really loved my new job and had no intentions of leaving. It consisted of monthly trips to New York, a home office where I’d spend a week or so a month and the rest of the time was jet-setting around the country (foreign travel on the horizon – exciting places…NOT Mexico!). My travel time was around 75-80% of the time. I honestly hadn’t been looking for a new position at the time, however life threw our family a curve ball and I had to take FMLA.
What made you decide to pursue a new position?
In the midst of wondering how I was going return work, knowing the amount of travel my current job required wasn’t in the cards, Lonny called. It was just to check in and see how the new job was going. He did have a possible opportunity with a local automation company and he knew I was the only one that had a background crazy enough to fit all of their needs. Well, they say timing is everything! I interviewed with the company and had the promise of a job offer in less than 24 hours and a presented offer within 48 hours! I am now a proud member of the Service team at Fogg Filler where I’ve been for the last 2 months.
How did your recruiter assist you in finding something that was a better fit for your current needs?
Was really just a timing thing – Lonny got lucky LOL!! 🙂
How are things going for you now?
I believe I have found my home for the next 10 years! I am fortunate to have once again become a part of a visionary company with good leadership, great team mates and the room to grow without being held back. Aside from my daily duties including many of the skills I’ve obtained over the years, they are firm believers in training. I spend my mornings on the shop floor. They are teaching me how to work on the equipment that we build. Not because it’s a requirement for the job, but because I want the hands on. It makes me a more informed, valuable employee and also adds to my crazy skill set! All this from a girl with a degree in computer graphics that was given the room to grow and prove herself. For this, I have the great team at IDS to thank! They helped make me who I am today with the opportunities that were provided throughout the years!
