Holly Binda-Breton, Vice President, HR Search Services, Willmott & Assoc.
What is your role at Willmott?
I am the Vice President, HR Search Services. In this role, my focus has always been to establish and cultivate long-term professional relationships, understand clients’ talent requirements, determine candidates’ career aspirations and provide the guidance necessary to make mutually beneficial placements.
How long have you been in staffing?
I have spent the better part of the last 20 years building a career in staffing, with most of my focus in the HR space. Prior to joining Willmott, I served in an executive role in a worldwide staffing organization. More recently, I started and developed a well-known and highly regarded HR practice for a boutique firm in the Boston area.
What do you find to be the most challenging factors operating in today’s marketplace?
With a record low unemployment rate, it’s difficult to find the right Candidate for the right position. Candidates today are less likely to make a move quickly or take the first job offer. On the other hand, a strong job market has companies focused on keeping their top talent. The combination of these two factors has made competitive counter offers the norm in today’s job market. Our Consultative approach and relationships built on trust allow us to effectively assist both Candidate and Client in navigating the waters of an increasingly more complex hiring process.
What do you find most rewarding about what you do?
Building a solid relationship that is valued by both candidates and clients. There is nothing more rewarding than helping people find their right career home or helping a client to find their next top talent. Bringing those matches together can only happen by going back to basics. It’s the reason I do what I do – by building trust, respect, and a long-term relationship.
How would you define the ideal candidate in today’s market?
The ideal candidate in today’s market place should be willing to build a strong partnership and “value the process”. In today’s hi-tech, low touch world, most people find emails or texts sufficient. I find that there are too many variables that can get lost in translation with this approach. True, it is a faster way to communicate; however, this doesn’t give us the full picture. The candidates that stand out in my mind are the ones who set aside time for concise phone conversations or even meeting face to face. This is what I mean about “valuing the process”. So many people are not willing to do that in today’s market.
What would be your best advice for candidates seeking a job opportunity as well as companies looking for their ideal employee?
My best advice for candidates is to take the interview! Not all opportunities check every box; however, having conversations with as many people as possible can be a game changer. It builds your interviewing skills, creates relationships and gets you one step closer to your dream job. As for clients, create a total candidate experience. What is your process? How do you handle candidate interviews? What is your follow up procedure? Are you putting in your best effort to attract top talent? Going above and beyond for both candidates and companies can make the difference.
With all of the changes taking place in the last several years in the industry, how do you see the future in dealing with the changes?
By combining high touch with technology. This can make a difference in meeting the future needs of our industry. I still believe we need to maintain the “high touch” basics of creating long term relationships with candidates and clients; however, technology can be a big part of making this happen. We need to be more forward thinking with the way we currently market our business. As the baby boomers move closer to retirement, we see the new generations taking their place. This is a great opportunity to embrace a more cutting edge way to communicate with our candidate and client base. For example, podcasts, using technology for face-to-face, real time conversations, training/informational videos with a click of a button, more customized information incorporated all in one place. Technology is not a bad thing, but it’s the way we embrace it and incorporate it into what we already do well that can make the huge difference.
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