Hirewell

For all intents and purposes, this has been my career. I started as a technical recruiter when we were a tiny shop and was afforded a wealth of opportunities: I launched our Digital Experience & Marketing practice, I launched our internal marketing and content function, and I currently lead our business development and strategy.

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Partner & Chief Growth Officer

Gregory Laka & Company

Every recruiter has their first gig somewhere.

Technology Recruiter

Strateg -- Aperios

Obligatory failed start up. Great experience. Gotta take a shot, right?

Business Development

Akamai Technologies

Account Executive

WorldCom

If you don’t remember these guys, it’s only because of Enron. Fantastic way to start a career and gain perspective…

Hosting Sales Executive

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I’m a Partner at 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 and I host Hirewell's 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 podcast. Those are the high points.

But what do we do specifically?

We recognize that hiring is hard. And hiring well is even harder.

But, that’s exactly what we help companies do: 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹.

Since 2001, we've been a staple in the Chicago business community, helping our clients grow by recruiting the top-tier talent they need.

𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱.
The recruiting industry is chock full of single skill set providers. What companies really want is a partner who can have a broad impact across all facets of their organization, solving whatever hiring challenges they have. We’ve done just that, building diverse teams of highly specialized recruiters in the highest demand fields:

𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆
𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀
𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴,
𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀
𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 & 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱...

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲.
Flexibility in creating our custom solutions has been a staple in our approach. During our own growth, we recognized that the traditional fulfillment models for recruiting service are deeply flawed. 

Contingent Search is expensive and the two-sided lack of commitment often yields poor results. Recruitment Process Outsourcing suffers from poor fulfillment; flat-rate service means providers have no skin in the game to maximize the end result. And traditional Executive Retained Search is exorbitantly overpriced, tone-deaf to the modern world of freely available data.

But Hirewell’s 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀 are a paradigm shift in volume hiring. They’re built for fast growth situations, and more importantly, structured in a way that streamlines efficiency for all. It’s a best-of-all-worlds situation: Hirewell can provide dedicated onsite support, high-value services far beyond simple candidate sourcing (ATS management, hiring plans, job description creation and postings, interview set up and debrief, offer presentation and onboarding, etc.), and still utilize the entirety of Hirewell’s vast recruiting team and diverse skill area focus to achieve an optimized outcome.

See what our clients say about us on G2: https://www.g2.com/products/hirewell/reviews 

Contact me at james@hirewell.com or 312-386-1658.

James Hornick

Fractional Talent Strategy Advisor/Engagement Lead/Lead Talent Acquisition Consultant/- National Association for Healthcare Quality - February 2023-Present

Other Engagements: AllCampus (CFO, Data Architect), Storck USA (VP Finance & Business Operations), MxD - CTO

Lead Recruiter - Managed Recruiting

Recruiting Lead - DoubleGood - December 2022 - April 2023 and August 2023-May 2024 -Head of Data, Director of Data Engineering, Director of Engineering (Mechanical/Controls), Sr. Director of Applications, Head of Safety & Trust, Manager of IT Infrastructure, marketing & HR roles

Recruiting Lead - CivicPlus - February 2022 - June 2022 - Software Engineering, Product, and Marketing roles - both leadership and individual contributors

Recruiting Lead - BenchPrep - September 2021-January 2022 - Engineering, Sales, and Operation roles

Other Engagements: DLP Capital - Head of Marketing, Copperpoint Insurance (Financial Systems Analyst), CNO (Privacy Analyst)

We recognize that hiring is hard. And hiring well is even harder. But, that’s exactly what we help companies do: 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹.

Senior Recruiting Consultant - On-Demand Recruiting

Power Solutions International

Power Solutions International designs and manufactures engines. It is a publicly traded company with ~850 employees in 4 states generating more than $500M in revenue annually. 

● Manage the recruiting function and team for exempt and non-exempt roles. Developed a SOX compliant requestion process which managed the budgetary approvals while proactively supporting the hiring managers promoting effective hiring and positive candidate experiences.
● Directly managed full life cycle recruiting for key roles including Engine Design Engineer, Industrial Engineers, IT Analysts, Sr. Accountants, VP of Sales, and Director of FP&A. 
● Developed Employer Brand strategy and materials, redesigned Careers page of website, created a standard job description and job posting template and language and worked to create a repository of job descriptions.
● As Project Manager and Sox control owner, built PSI's succession planning plan from scratch. This includes developing the process, creating the templates and reports, collecting performance and potential data including conducting talent reviews, interviewing executive leadership, and leading the efforts to create development plans.
● Managed compensation adjustment to convert annual reviews from COLA to performance-based increases. Built budget tracking processes and worked closely with c-suite to ensure they understood the changes and their line managers used the new process correctly. Ensured reviews were consistent with increased and reconciled spend against budgets. Sought final approvals and submitted changes to payroll. 
● Toolkit: Paylocity ATS & Onboarding, MS Office, CompAnalyst, LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed, Sharepoint & Intranet

Talent Acquisition & Onboarding Manager

NorthShore University HealthSystem

•	Partnered with front-line management and leaders to fill high visibility roles (VP Digital Health) and hard-to-fill role (Salesforce Developer) by utilizing strong business and technical knowledge to engage candidates and hiring managers. Assessed and closed deals in ambiguous situations, in particular, a hiring team with conflicting priorities.
•	Managed full life cycle recruiting using LinkedIn Recruiter, Taleo (Applicant Tracking Software), and PeopleSoft to identify and interest passive candidates and create exceptional candidate journeys for all candidates.

I have had the opportunity to work with many IT recruiters throughout my career and few can come even close to Michelle. Unlike many who bill themselves as technical recruiters, Michelle converse[d] with highly technical candidates to appropriately judge their “fit” for the job. She was remarkably adept at mining her own networks as well as creative searches to find truly qualified candidates. Unlike so many recruiters who simply turn over a candidate’s resume, Michelle provided insight and was a constant collaborative partner throughout the process. With Michelle, we felt we truly had a partner on this journey who was as invested in finding the right people as we were able to make a number of successful hires. Moreover, Michelle is truly the first recruiter I have worked with who garnered repeated mentions by candidates of the positive experience that she created for them and how much they enjoyed working with her. – Kathylynn Brunner, Assistant VP, Technical Services

Corporate Recruiter  

Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep

Led a talent development and staffing operation that generated $3.2 million in revenue and funded 60+% of the school's operating cost. 
* Managed and expanded relationships with executives, directors, and individual contributors at 80+ business partners, including AbbVie, Discover, Abbott, Discover, WW Grainger, Barilla, Cole Parmer, Hollister, Rust-oleum, ITW, Northshore University Health, Stericycle, Lake County, & Takeda.
* Successfully renewed over 92% of contracts for FY19, the third-best rate in the network of 35 schools.
* Managed 4 relationship managers, 15 operations employees, interns, & volunteers. 
* Led effort to create and implement Purposeful Professional training framework for supervisors & student workers. Shifted focus from reactive customer service to proactive training and support. 
* Reduced student worker terminations 50% over three years to under 2% of placements. In summer 2018, 120 student workers got paid jobs at clients, the highest percentage in the 35-school network.

Michelle identifies talented folks & works hard to develop her people. Michelle gets results, under her leadership, performance evaluations improved dramatically. She improved the quality of our training & on-boarding, expanded professional development opportunities, & put structures to support alumni.  – M. Odiotti, Principal

As we were establishing our partnership, Michelle was approachable, open to feedback, flexible, and helpful in meeting the needs of our business. –Laura Birk, VP of HR

Michelle developed a vision for change & improvement and then effectively carried it out. Her team developed the training framework and created experience-based workshops. Most important, Michelle embedded our program into our business partners' activities [to] improve our client retention. – C. Pullin, CFO

Program Director, Corporate Work Study (Paid Internships)

Chrysalis Investments LLC

Chrysalis Investments LLC rehabs distressed residential properties restoring their beauty and functionality while avoiding gentrification.  Manage budgets, cash flow, and PNL. Utilize Quickbooks to handle accounting and tax preparation.

Co-Founder | Accountant | Social Entreprenuer

Evanston/Skokie School District 65

Everybody Reads tripled in scope to serve 600+ students in 125 classrooms at 13 schools utilizing 160+ trained tutors making an 8-month commitment annually.  Marketed to, recruited, trained, matched, and managed the volunteer tutors.  Developed and managed a network of school-based program advocates to increase communication with tutors and teachers.  Increased year-to-year retention rate for tutors while reducing mid-year fall offs.

Conceived, designed, and developed a game-based math academic intervention program.  Pilot implemented during the same school year to serve 17 classrooms at 6 schools deploying trained volunteers.  Built partnerships with school administration, community partners, and subject-matter institutes and individuals.  Co-created curriculum, training material, and presentations.  Recruited, trained, matched, and managed classroom teachers into the pilot and volunteers for the project.  Pilot review committee recommended the program’s continuation and expansion.

Improved program performance and perception by addressing conflicting stakeholders’ interests,  streamlining communication, collecting and analyzing data and feedback, systemizing breadth and depth of training, and introducing technologies to support decentralized operations (Google Suite).

Michelle is a self-starter w/ high expectations for herself & the responsibilities she is charged. Michelle developed & presented numerous training sessions. Her behind-the-scenes-work demonstrates her attention to detail & exceptional follow through by creating online and print marketing materials to support the growth of the program (she tripled participation). Each time she shares an idea about the fluency program, it is obviously rooted in well-researched, needs-based data collection and reflection. It is hard to say "no" to Michelle, because she has thoroughly thought things through. Michelle is definitely an asset to any team. –Demetra Disotaur, Literacy Director

L&D Program Designer & Manager (Part Time)

My passion is Talent. I love improving business results through the intersection of Talent Acquisition and Talent Management. I excel at defining strategies and directly implementing solutions that add value, drive revenue, impact and change, create efficiencies, and improve user experiences (client, employee, candidate, customer). 

You'll find me working in situations and on projects that don’t have an easy solution or a list of instructions (changing environments & ambiguous situations). I ask penetrating questions focused on why and how, seek to add value in immediate and powerful ways, and embrace new ideas. You’ll find me analyzing the opportunity, developing & deepening relationships, evaluating best practices, building processes, managing moving parts, and building stakeholder “buy in.”  

𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: Deciding To Buy (Recruit) or Build (Develop) Talent; Executive, F&A, & Technical, Full Life Cycle Recruiting; Client Management; Experiential Learning; Human Capital Consulting; Talent Strategy Consulting; Onboarding; Candidate Journey; Employee Journey; The Future of Work; Customer Journey; Diversity & Inclusion; and the intersection of People, Process, & Data

𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝: CFO, Chief Operating Officer, VP of Finance & Business Operations, Head of Marketing, Head of Data, Data Architect, Controller, Sr. Manager of Applications, Sr. Director of IT, Director of Data Engineering, Plant Controller, Financial Systems Analyst, Associate Product Manager, Program Manager - Fraud Ops, Security Analyst, Director of PR & Communications, Privacy Analyst, Sr. Software Engineer, Data Analyst, Sr. Customer Success Manager, Marketing Analyst, Electrical Controls Engineer

𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫: LinkedIn Recruiter, Greenhouse, Paylocity, CompAnalyst, Skillsoft (LMS), Indeed

𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐫: MS Office, G-Suite, Bullhorn, ChatGPT, Salesforce, Taleo, UKG Ultipro, Jazz HR, Zoom, SurveyMonkey, Peoplesoft, Quickbooks, Cobblestone, Rippling, BambooHR 

𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Full-Life Cycle Recruiting (Executive, Technical & Corporate), Talent Advisory Consulting, Program Design & Management, Relationship Management (client and internal stakeholder), Process Improvement, Workshop Facilitation, Experiential Education, Workforce Planning, Employer Branding, Team Manager, Onboarding, Training, Talent Acquisition & Talent Development Leadership, Internships, Event Planning, Employee Engagement, Mentoring Programs, Budget Management, Vendor Management, Data Analytics & Reporting, Accounting, Succession Planning, Comp Analysis

Michelle Mehlis

📢 Hirewell 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 📢

Congratulations to Jacqueline Casto on joining the leadership team Archer Lewis as a Principal. Much appreciation to Bill Gates on the Hirewell side, and thank you to Jake Nice and Jenny Sasena for the opportunity to deliver on such a critical hire!

Archer Lewis is the fastest-growing public accounting firm in the United States, providing trusted advice across accounting and tax. 

If your organization is planning a key hire or navigating a leadership transition, I’d be happy to discuss how Hirewell can help. https://hubs.ly/Q03jCb0K0

#PlacementSpotlight #ExecutiveSearch #PublicAccounting #LeadershipHiring

Lead Recruiting Consultant at Hirewell - Connecting organizations and talented professionals

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