Meet 5 Recruiters Shaking Up the Advertising Industry

Recruiters spend their time hunched over resumes and pouring over portfolios to make sure they find the perfect candidate for the company or the client they're working with. While the five recruiters on this list all perform these tasks exceptionally well, they also add some of their own touches along the way. Here's a bit more about five rock stars in the field: Jessica Natches, vice president of recruiting at Huge Fresh out of college, art history major Jessica Natches didn’t mean to fall into the agency world, but she’s so glad she did. “It was a complete accident!” she recalls. “I interviewed for a receptionist role right out of college and I got the job, and then I grew from there.” Today, Natches serves as the vice president of recruiting at Huge, a full-service digital agency headquartered in Brooklyn, N.Y. She first joined the team in 2009 and says taking a position at the company was truly a leap of faith. “I got home and received a phone call that I had a job offer. My reaction was a mix of ‘Who are these crazy people?’ and excitement, so I decided to take a chance.” [kickout id="1"] Ten years later, Natches mostly works on recruiting C-Suite executives who have the same mission as Huge to “make things that people love.” Most recently, she had a hand in hiring Inessah Selditz, a group experiential director at the agency. “[Selditz] brings incredible architectural expertise and in general, is just really cool and smart,” Natches says. She also hired Jason Musante, global CCO at Huge in 2016 and considers Musante’s hiring a career highlight. Natches says recruiters often get pegged as not being strategic, but she argues otherwise. She and her team look at every potential hire strategically and with the mindset that each role impacts the company. “Our process is very collaborative and involves close partnership with the agency’s hiring managers,” she says. “It is also transparent in that we seek to give candidates real insight and exposure into working here. In terms of knowing if someone is a good fit, we encourage people to be inclusive. Our employees need to care about conversations in culture.” Dana Siomkos, founder of You & Them Dana Siomkos always knew she wanted to work in advertising. “When I was a kid instead of playing house with my sisters we’d play business and I owned an advertising agency,” she recalls. “It really was a childhood fantasy.” Although she knew this was the industry she wanted to be in, she used to shy away from recruiter jobs. At one point, a friend asked for her help sourcing digital talent. “I had no interest in helping him, but I was in between jobs and I knew I wanted to start a business, so I said yes,” she says. “After a month or two, it became my passion and my friend and I became business partners.” [kickout id="2"] In 2010, Siomkos opened up You & Them, a New York-based recruiting firm helping job seekers and businesses alike find their perfect match. While Siomkos understands the importance of a great resume, her company prefers to take a more personal approach. “There’s a ton of tremendous tech out there, but our feeling is human chemistry, intuition, those elements are so important and will always be important and that’s the lens from which we do our work,” she explains. “We go and spend time at [our client’s] office, we sit in on meetings, we meet the hiring manager and the other employees there as well. We don’t just want a view of the position, but a full 360 view of the company as well because it helps us to connect the dots.” Charlie Vopinek, talent acquisition specialist at Performics As the talent acquisition specialist at Performics, a Publicis Media agency headquartered in Chicago, Vopinek's job is all about creating real, sustainable relationships and communicating with candidates constantly. He started his career in sales working for a trucking logistics company, “I quickly realized that was not the right setting for me,” he says. He moved on to Aerotek Recruiting and Staffing where he began to recruit architects, interior designers and engineers. Vopinek found that he liked recruiting, but wanted to go in-house at an agency and landed at Performics. [kickout id="3"] When searching for a candidate that would be a fit for Performics, Vopinek says he looks beyond the job description. “I strongly believe that questions around the candidate’s goals and interests are the most important questions to ask,” he says. Recently, he recruited Kristen Randall, an associate media manager for paid search at Performics. Randall says she appreciated how communicative Vopinek was throughout the entire process. “Almost immediately after I got out of the interview, Charlie had already emailed me wanting to know how it went and what feedback I could give on the process,” she says. “I don't think that other recruiters go that extra mile to realize that candidates are real people and have lives that they are trying to plan for throughout these job searches.” Since Vopinek didn’t originally begin in the advertising industry, but made his way there, he has advice for job seekers looking to do the same. “Again, creating relationships within the industry is huge,” he says. “I was able to get my current role through a connection.” He also suggests being tapped into industry trends by making sure you’re well versed in them. “I would recommend taking courses or obtaining certifications in different tools, software and programs to help market yourself. It shows that you are staying on top of the industry tools and programs, and it could translate to what you would be doing in a future role.” Kristen Williams-Mueller, lead recruiter at Creative Circle When the marketing agency Kristen Williams-Mueller spent 11 years working for got bought, she wanted to be prepared for what could come next. So, she reached out to Creative Circle, a company that had previously helped her find design candidates for the creative team she oversaw. “I started talking to a recruiter at Creative Circle about what I wanted my next role to look like and she stops me and says ‘Have you ever considered being a recruiter?’” she recalls. “It never dawned on me, but I quickly saw how it could be a good fit.” Williams-Mueller started at Creative Circle’s Cincinnati office two years ago and is so glad she did. Unlike a typical recruiting agency, Creative Circle’s team of recruiters all previously worked in advertising. The team's understanding of how agencies work sets them apart, which Williams-Mueller says clients appreciate. [kickout id="5"] She likes to treat her job as a matchmaking service. “I want the candidate to be just as happy with their new job as I want the client to be happy with their new team member,” she says. To do this, she spends time asking about a candidate’s passions, how they see their career evolving and the reason they’re looking for work. Williams-Mueller encourages job seekers to be as true to themselves as possible to ensure she’s sending them opportunities that are good fits. This includes encouraging candidates to whittle down their resume and tailor it to the position they’d like to have. While she understands job seekers have a lot of experience, she says it’s important to make each application you send out speak to the specific role you’re applying for at the company. This includes the portfolio samples you send. Michelle Tomes, recruiting program specialist at New Engen When Michelle Tomes started her career as a photographer, she didn’t have much interaction with recruiters, the company she worked for barely had an HR department. It wasn’t until she took a job at Zulily in Seattle that she was able to study other functions within a business. “I had the opportunity to shadow coworkers in different departments,” she says, “As soon as I learned more about what went into recruiting and how people-focused it was, I was hooked!” [kickout id="4"] Now, Tomes is a recruiting program specialist at New Engen, a digital marketing company in Seattle. She approaches the work she does by first understanding what culture a potential hire is coming from. “You want new colleagues to feel part of something, having camaraderie with those they work with,” she explains. “Being a good listener is crucial. You need to hear what drives and motivates a person. That is what will, at the end of the day, keep them happy in their job.” New Engen doesn’t consider itself a typical agency, therefore their marketing roles focus more on analytical skills. Tomes says job seekers looking to work with the organization should have the ability to think outside the box, be naturally curious and quick on their feet. She always wants candidates who are genuinely interested in working with a company like New Engen, not someone who’s just interested in any marketing job.

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Meet 5 Recruiters Shaking Up the Advertising Industry

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Jessica Natches, vice president of recruiting at Huge

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Jessica Natches, vice president of recruiting at Huge

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