Amy Arenz's guest appearances

Amy Arenz

WisBusiness: The Podcast

Hire Power Radio Show

Gino Wickman

Chris Russell

Robert Davis

Jay Connor

Bryan Adams

Lou Adler

Scott Hamilton

Marcus Sheridan

Ryan Malone

Alicia Dunams

Lee Caraher

Michael Houlihan

Bonnie Harvey

Jordan Ritter

Dalip Jaggi

OwlTail

This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: The Podcast” is with Amy Arenz, CEO of Concero, a recruitment consulting firm that works in the software and technology space.  The Madison company doesn’t recruit software programmers and others for the technical side of these businesses, although Arenz said that’s a potential area of growth. For now, Concero focuses on recruiting for senior executive positions in sales and marketing.  “That’s why being here in Madison works, because it’s not necessarily recruiting for companies at their corporate sites, which would be San Francisco or the Bay Area for us,” she said. “It’s challenging; the market is tight and there’s a high demand for this talent.”  She says Concero differentiates itself from competitors both by the “years of experience we have, and the tools we use.”  “We work with some of the top 100 software companies globally; we also work with early stage Series A and Series B startups, so there’s a broad range,” she said. “We are partnered very close with the venture capital firms in the Bay Area, so we help a lot of those companies that don’t have that recruiter in house.”  Concero, which started in 2010, is continuing to grow in Madison. The company opened its Chicago office about a year and a half ago, and more recently opened an office in Oakland, Calif., last month.  “We’re going to continue to grow in this niche space, as well as we have plans to grow and also support technical recruiting,” she said. “Some of the programmers, developers — we don’t service our clients’ needs there now, but I do see that as an area for growth.”

WisBusiness: The Podcast with Amy Arenz, CEO of Concero

Startups suck at choosing recruiting partners!  There is no magic button to push to have candidates pop out for your roles. Before you hire, put the same thought and care into your recruiting strategy as you would into every other aspect of your business. Just having a strategy will dramatically increase your chances of landing great talent as opposed to just hiring those who are ok.  Today’s Quote:  "It is rare to find a business partner who is selfless. If you are lucky it happens once in a lifetime." -  Michael Eisner Our guest today: Amy Arenz, Founder &amp; CEO of Concero Search Partners, LLC Amy has been in the search and placement industry for more than 25 years.  Due to the high demand for her services, Amy founded Concero in 2010 to increase resources and improve the capacity to better accommodate her many clients. Concero specializes in recruiting sales, technical and go to market talent for high-growth, private and publicly listed technology companies. Show highlights: Why picking the right partner is so crucial to your business’s success Different types of recruiting options &amp; What to look for your particular situation How to uncover if the recruiting partner is right for you  Why is it important to choose a recruiting partner? Time Savings:  Too much on your plate Recruiting is kinda done Not really knowing what is needed  Grouping too much profile into one person… people that don’t actually exist.  Create more work when you use multiple firms.  Confusing and burning the market Internal recruiters become process babysitters  What are the options? Hire multiple firms, Hire an FTE, Hire a contractor, Hire a single partner How to determine your needs  Challenges in  Single Partner vs Multiple Partners Single Partner Advantages:Learns Company Brand Works with the leadership team that they probably hired Develop processes that can then be utilized   Broad # of roles  - can you fill lots of different positions or just one specialty Leveraging historical experience  Rick’s Input:  More is better is wrong Retained vs ContingentDependent on the level of engagement required Higher touch and value in a retained partner      What to ask to determine the right fit for your company Reporting &amp; Data Question: How will we know what effort has been put into our search(s)? Transparency of Process 3-4X pipeline Weekly reporting What’s in it for me?   Experience and expertise in the space Question: What experience do you have in our space? What recruiting tools do you use? Not educating the firm on the basics of what you do Have a network Come in and ramp quickly because of industry niche  It’s not just hiring Question: Do you have experience in helping a company set up a recruitment process? Job description Interview process / candidate experience branding/messaging   Rick’s Nuggets Additional questions to ask What problems do you best solve? What does your ideal client look like? (independent of our company) What are the metrics to best define our expectations What is your Interview to placement ratio- Every good recruiter knows this!    Key Takeaways: Find a recruiting partner that provides transparency and gains your trust! Don’t fall into the trap of the more recruiters the better Dig into a recruiting partner’s expertise functioning in non-hiring support roles such as recruiting process design and setting up post-offer onboarding

Startups suck at choosing recruiting partners!  There is no magic button to push to have candidates pop out for your roles. Before you hire, put the same thought and care into your recruiting strategy as you would into every other aspect of your business. Just having a strategy will dramatically increase your chances of landing great talent as opposed to just hiring those who are ok.  Today’s Quote:  "It is rare to find a business partner who is selfless. If you are lucky it happens once in a lifetime." -  Michael Eisner Our guest today: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-arenz-42b348/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amy Arenz</a>, Founder &amp; CEO of <a href="https://concerosearch.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Concero Search Partners, LLC</a> Amy has been in the search and placement industry for more than 25 years.  Due to the high demand for her services, Amy founded Concero in 2010 to increase resources and improve the capacity to better accommodate her many clients. Concero specializes in recruiting sales, technical and go to market talent for high-growth, private and publicly listed technology companies. Show highlights: <ul><li>Why picking the right partner is so crucial to your business’s success</li> <li>Different types of recruiting options &amp; What to look for your particular situation</li> <li>How to uncover if the recruiting partner is right for you</li> </ul> Why is it important to choose a recruiting partner? Time Savings:  <ul><li>Too much on your plate</li> <li>Recruiting is kinda done</li> <li>Not really knowing what is needed </li> <li>Grouping too much profile into one person… people that don’t actually exist. </li> <li>Create more work when you use multiple firms. </li> <li>Confusing and burning the market</li> <li>Internal recruiters become process babysitters</li> </ul> What are the options? <ul><li>Hire multiple firms, Hire an FTE, Hire a contractor, Hire a single partner</li> <li>How to determine your needs</li> </ul> Challenges in  <ul><li>Single Partner vs Multiple Partners</li> <li>Single Partner Advantages: <ul><li>Learns Company Brand</li> <li>Works with the leadership team that they probably hired</li> <li>Develop processes that can then be utilized</li> </ul> </li> <li>Broad # of roles  - can you fill lots of different positions or just one specialty</li> <li>Leveraging historical experience</li> </ul> Rick’s Input: <ul><li> <ul><li>More is better is wrong</li> <li>Retained vs Contingent <ul><li>Dependent on the level of engagement required</li> <li>Higher touch and value in a retained partner</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> What to ask to determine the right fit for your company Reporting &amp; Data <ul><li>Question: How will we know what effort has been put into our search(s)?</li> <li>Transparency of Process</li> <li>3-4X pipeline</li> <li>Weekly reporting</li> <li>What’s in it for me? </li> </ul> Experience and expertise in the space <ul><li>Question: What experience do you have in our space? What recruiting tools do you use?</li> <li>Not educating the firm on the basics of what you do</li> <li>Have a network</li> <li>Come in and ramp quickly because of industry niche</li> </ul> It’s not just hiring <ul><li>Question: Do you have experience in helping a company set up a recruitment process?</li> <li>Job description</li> <li>Interview process / candidate experience</li> <li>branding/messaging </li> </ul> Rick’s Nuggets Additional questions to ask <ul><li>What problems do you best solve?</li> <li>What does your ideal client look like? (independent of our company)</li> <li>What are the metrics to best define our expectations  <ul><li>What is your Interview to placement ratio- Every good recruiter knows this!</li> </ul> </li> </ul> Key Takeaways: <ul><li>Find a recruiting partner that provides transparency and gains your trust!</li> <li>Don’t fall into the trap of the more recruiters the better</li> <li>Dig into a recruiting partner’s expertise functioning in non-hiring support roles such as recruiting process design and setting up post-offer onboarding</li></ul>

The Questions to Ask When Selecting a Recruiting Partner with Amy Arenz of Concero Search Partners LLC