Andre Boulais

I’ve interviewed and hired for every level of talent in my career; from individual contributor to C-level leaders for Fortune 500 companies. Quite simply, I’ve seen a lot of resumes and had a lifetime worth of phone screens and big hires. I’ve made a point to take the knowledge that led to those blue chip hires and pass it along to the next generation through talent acquisition team’s I’ve managed and in mentorship. There’s one essential piece of advice I’d like to share for your next big… Show more

I’ve interviewed and hired for every level of talent in my career; from individual contributor to C-level leaders for Fortune 500 companies. Quite simply, I’ve seen a lot of resumes and had a lifetime worth of phone screens and big hires. I’ve made a point to take the knowledge that led to those blue chip hires and pass it along to the next generation through talent acquisition team’s I’ve managed and in mentorship. There’s one essential piece of advice I’d like to share for your next big hire.

It’s true that all hires matter, but once in a while a truly special candidate is identified, recruited, and hired. Ask any current (or former) recruiter or talent manager and every single one of them can tell you (usually with a fun story or two) about their #1 game-changing hire. This is true of executives that haven’t recruited in years as well as senior recruiters which makes sense as this one hire becomes a career-changing hire often leading to a promotion or large bonus.

Why are these key hires so important? A variety of reasons. Many times you’re trying to evolve your company to that next level and tier of talent. For some it’s a game-changing sales hire from a company you previously wouldn’t even consider recruiting out of due to them being a Fortune 500, Tech 50, etc. For others, it could be that ground-breaking executive hire, say an on-the-rise charismatic/genius/can’t miss leader you get to leave their large corporate company to come steer the ship from lovable startup to IPO.

The one thing you must do is this: Keep recruiting them. Not forever, but especially during their first 90 days. Why?

The first 90 days of a key hire... Show less

In 10 year’s leading and working with over 100 global talent acquisition teams I’ve found there is only one thing more powerful than your resume: your professional network. I’ve playfully dubbed mine my, “council of elders” and naturally one of the first questions I get from professionals at all levels of HR when I speak at conferences is: How do I build my own. Here’s what I recommend.

1. Choose your venting partner wisely

One of my top pieces of advice came from my… Show more

In 10 year’s leading and working with over 100 global talent acquisition teams I’ve found there is only one thing more powerful than your resume: your professional network. I’ve playfully dubbed mine my, “council of elders” and naturally one of the first questions I get from professionals at all levels of HR when I speak at conferences is: How do I build my own. Here’s what I recommend.

1. Choose your venting partner wisely

One of my top pieces of advice came from my boss’s boss, an executive of a Tech 50 SaaS company. He shared the words above. Why? Too often we vent to our teammates. The problem with venting is that sometimes it can make a small problem gain even more steam (also things you share make their way to the rest of the group (remember the game, “Telephone”?). God forbid your peer uses that info to go for the promotion you were targeting. Find a venting partner at the peer or management level in another department that you trust. Not only will they often give you a unique perspective but in return by being there to listen and advise in their challenges you form a strong bond as you both climb the corporate ladder.

2. Encourage your team to go two levels above

I’ve always encouraged the teams I’ve managed to have the opportunity to go one or two levels above me for a conversation. I do this for a few reasons. One, it encourages them to explore a larger... Show less

August kicks off with many of us putting our kids on the bus to return to school before we head to work again, saying goodbye to a key part of the summer workforce: interns.

Chances are at this very moment, as summer internships wind down, your HR team is reviewing feedback and trying to evaluate a good or bad year’s crop of talent.

Here are three quick tips to help you reinvent the internship.

1. Start with onboarding them like a real employee

Set the bar early… Show more

August kicks off with many of us putting our kids on the bus to return to school before we head to work again, saying goodbye to a key part of the summer workforce: interns.

Chances are at this very moment, as summer internships wind down, your HR team is reviewing feedback and trying to evaluate a good or bad year’s crop of talent.

Here are three quick tips to help you reinvent the internship.

1. Start with onboarding them like a real employee

Set the bar early that their internship matters with onboarding. I’ve seen it range from fun (Ask about their favorite super hero and then decorate their desk) to serious (putting them into an onboarding class with other professional new hires). There’s a great SHRM article that talks about how one-third of new employees leave due to a poor onboarding experience, and while you usually don’t lose an intern from a poor onboarding experience, what you will find is that they will be very vocal on how they feel to their friends, colleagues, and peers on social media. Make it count from day one and enjoy the results.

2. Make their internship matter by showing them the power of it

Show from day one how their task will impact the company. My most recent intern just completed her internship and this was what stood out to her the most. During the interview, we shared what her duties would be in a vacuum but it was during her onboarding we revealed... Show less

Blog on how companies can maximize their internship experiences. Drawing on year's of experience as a global talent leader at at Tech 50 company as well as working with 100's of talent leaders globally on maximizing their best practices.

I’ve had a great response from HR leaders on my earlier blog showing why the Outbound Sourcer was the most important hire to make in 2017. As the landscape of talent acquisition shifts it’s great to see not only Tech companies but traditional industries also moving towards this model. Over coffees and calls across different continents the most common question to me is: How do I build an Outbound Sourcing team from scratch?

Based on years of experience leading a global Tech 50 Sourcing… Show more

I’ve had a great response from HR leaders on my earlier blog showing why the Outbound Sourcer was the most important hire to make in 2017. As the landscape of talent acquisition shifts it’s great to see not only Tech companies but traditional industries also moving towards this model. Over coffees and calls across different continents the most common question to me is: How do I build an Outbound Sourcing team from scratch?

Based on years of experience leading a global Tech 50 Sourcing team and conversations with over 100 current talent leaders, here are three tips to get started:

1. Hire the right People

It seems like a no brainer but the DNA of an Outbound Sourcer is drastically different from most HR personalities. Keep in mind these professionals will be constantly hunting and trying to convince passive (those not looking for jobs) prospects to interview and potentially join your company. Someone coming from a third party recruiting agency tends to be the perfect blend of traits but companies I’ve worked with have also converted their Lead Gen team folks and even a few Skip Tracers.

2. Establish ROI

What I mean here is you must shape what success looks like. For example, a C Suite Talent Acquisition leader recently confided that even though they were a mid-sized company (2,000 employees) they’d spent $250k on 3rd party recruiting agency fees the year before to hire 13 Sales Professionals. That’s roughly $20k they were paying per hire. With that mentality, hiring an Outbound Sourcer to solely focus on filling hard to fill sales roles is a great place to start. For example, Sarah the Sourcer has a base salary of $50k and by her six month she’s... Show less

Why the most important HR hire of 2017 may be one you haven’t heard of.

If you can only make one HR in hire in 2017, hire a…”

“Attention Talent Leaders: Define 2017 with one game-changing HR Hire”

There’s been a tectonic shift in talent acquisition over the past five years. Have you felt it? The old days of your best hires coming from applicants ended somewhere around 2012. Can you still make hires via your ATS, certainly. Are they the best at their position? Not… Show more

Why the most important HR hire of 2017 may be one you haven’t heard of.

If you can only make one HR in hire in 2017, hire a…”

“Attention Talent Leaders: Define 2017 with one game-changing HR Hire”

There’s been a tectonic shift in talent acquisition over the past five years. Have you felt it? The old days of your best hires coming from applicants ended somewhere around 2012. Can you still make hires via your ATS, certainly. Are they the best at their position? Not really.

Ask any talent leader at a high-growth company how much of their budget is allocated towards agency spend and you’ll more than likely get a huge groan and then an astounding number. So how do you put those dollars to better use? Simple: hire an Outbound Talent Sourcer.

Your typical day to day recruiters juggle posting roles to their ATS, screening applicants, working with hiring managers and so on and so on. What they don’t really do is actually recruit.

Outbound Sourcers sole job is to identify, attract and engage the best passive talent for the company’s hard to fill roles. Show less

It finally happened Wednesday night. The lovable losers, The Chicago Cubs, raised the World Series trophy as champions. In doing so, they erased 108 years of frustration. As the world watched (and celebrated) with them, I couldn’t stop thinking how much of their story mirrors situations often faced by today’s talent leaders.

A new leader rarely walks into a good situation.

We all hope to land our dream job, but the reality is there’s usually a caveat. Finally landed a role… Show more

It finally happened Wednesday night. The lovable losers, The Chicago Cubs, raised the World Series trophy as champions. In doing so, they erased 108 years of frustration. As the world watched (and celebrated) with them, I couldn’t stop thinking how much of their story mirrors situations often faced by today’s talent leaders.

A new leader rarely walks into a good situation.

We all hope to land our dream job, but the reality is there’s usually a caveat. Finally landed a role with your dream company, but had to take a step down in title? You finally made that coveted Manager/Director/VP of Talent Acquisition role, but did so joining a company in distress? These are common scenarios recruiting leaders face.

When the Cubs hired President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein, he was tasked with not only winning with one of the most recognized and storied sports franchises in the world, but to deliver a championship. The latter request had not happened in over 100 years, and was the longest such drought in Major League Baseball.

Have a plan and don’t be afraid to run towards the fire.

A mentor and friend of mine walked into a global leadership role with a large publicly traded tech company earlier this year. Though this was an amazing opportunity, during the interview process the executives stressed their frustrations and issue. My friend calmly problem-solved what her 30-60-90 would be during her interview, and was hired. She had a huge task ahead of her and embraced it. Show less

Full disclosure: I've never served in any branch of the military, but I have spent the past decade in talent acquisition. This has given me the great opportunity to interview and hire veterans. It started when I began early in my recruiting career in staffing. A friend returned from two tours in Afghanistan and was looking for work. Although college educated, he didn't have experience outside of the military. This motivated him to take on any opportunity temporary for the chance to… Show more

Full disclosure: I've never served in any branch of the military, but I have spent the past decade in talent acquisition. This has given me the great opportunity to interview and hire veterans. It started when I began early in my recruiting career in staffing. A friend returned from two tours in Afghanistan and was looking for work. Although college educated, he didn't have experience outside of the military. This motivated him to take on any opportunity temporary for the chance to quantify how his experience would transfer into the corporate world. He also was willing to take any temp role to start building his professional resume. For each assignment we threw at him (and there were some doozy's), he showed up early and stayed late. He did more than was expected and always said thank you. Slowly but surely he started to have his various assignments extended and began to acquire letters of recommendation.

When I speak to colleagues in the world of recruiting, there's a growing discussion on the advantage of hiring veterans. Here are three quick reasons you should look into hiring someone who's served in the military.

1. Team Player

No matter the size, structure or morale on your team; know by hiring a veteran they are going to join your team ready to jump in Show less

Quick blog about ExactTarget being a power-user of Instajob!

A quick peek into what makes a career at ET unique!

Blog posting on the people that make ExactTarget consistently a Top 5 Best Place to Work!!

Quick summary of my first Super Bowl experience.