April 4, 2024 • 19 mins
Host Stephanie Maas is joined by ThinkingAhead Partner and Recruiter Cathy Moll, who shares tips for building relationships and being a better listener and hiring & training recruiters, explains why the search field both IS and IS NOT a sales role, and talks about walking uphill through the snow, discovering Google for the first time, and a few hilarious faxing mishaps.
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Episode Transcript
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Stephanie Maas (00:00):
Hi, welcome to The Talent Trade. This is
Stephanie Maas, Partner withThinkingAhead Executive Search.
Today I am super excited to haveone of our greatest with us
today. Cathy Moll leads our lifesciences practice and has for
(00:20):
many years. Cathy, we are superexcited to have you here. Before
we dive in, tell us a little bitmore about your practice your
background, etc.
Cathy Moll (00:31):
Hey, Stephanie. Hi, thanks. So glad to be talking
with you today. And let me justtake a minute introduce myself.
I am with the life sciencespractice, which I started with
thinking ahead 26 years ago,almost 27 years, and we cover
everything in the pharmaceuticalmedical device and biotech
(00:53):
industries in terms of researchand development and everything
on their commercial side.
Stephanie Maas (00:58):
Wow. Sounds like you work with a bunch of
underachievers. So one of thereasons why I am excited to have
Cathy is, again, when you'vebeen in this business, whether
it's you know, 15 minutes, 15years, or 25 plus years, the way
thinking ahead does our searchbusiness is it is just as
important to us to maintainrelationships, as it is to go
(01:22):
out and find and build newrelationships. And Cathy has
proven through the years thatshe is a master of all
relationships. So Cathy, I wouldlove for you just to share with
us just how you do some of whatyou do in terms of building,
maintaining, developing, etc,anything relationship oriented,
(01:46):
whether it's clients,candidates, everything in
between? How do you do what youdo?
Cathy Moll (01:51):
So we'll start with how I joined thinking ahead and
why I joined thinking ahead, Iwas actually a client for
thinking ahead. And I workedwith one or two people and
developed a very strongrelationship with them. Part of
the reason that I joined wasbecause I felt like they knew
(02:12):
who I was, they understood whatI was looking for. And actually
we became friends, I had been inthe search field previously
didn't love it, frankly, becauseI felt like the way that I was
treated was very transactional.And in dealing with the folks
from thinking ahead, I didn'tget that feeling at all. So what
(02:32):
ended up happening is my husbandwas offered a job, which was
going to require relocation andat that time, there was no such
thing as work from home, Iactually approached this
individual and asked him if hecould help me find something.
And he said, Have I got a dealfor you, what I would like for
you to do is think aboutstarting a practice with our
(02:52):
organization. And because of theway he treated me and the
relationship that we develop, Igot into conversations with him.
And so fast forward 26 years I'mhere. And here's what I think it
comes down to is a sincereinterest in the person that
you're talking to a clientcandidate, or just someone
(03:14):
you're helping because they'vecalled and said, Do you have a
few minutes to take a look at myresume. And rather than thinking
about everybody as an end to ameans I really am genuinely
interested in what they have tosay, I don't think there's a
magic to it. I think I just lookat a person as someone who is
(03:35):
interesting. I mean, I'velearned so much from people over
the years because of what theyhave shared with me about their
background and their lifeexperiences. And I'm truly
interested in all of thosethings. I was thinking about
this this morning, long beforewe had different tools to remind
us of when somebody's birthdaywas coming up or an anniversary,
(03:57):
I listened to what people said,I talked to them about their
kids, I talked about them abouttravels that they were going to
do. And when birthdays came upor anniversaries came up, I
always send a card because it'simportant to be remembered
that's a special anymore becauseeverybody has reminders that
come up. But I can probably tellyou some of my top five clients
(04:20):
and candidates who I've workedwith, I can tell you their
birthdays before you knowlooking it up. It's just really
about having a genuine interestand staying in touch with people
reaching out to them ifsomething has happened in their
lives and acknowledging that I'ma little bit nosy about people
as well. And so I think it'sjust managing those
relationships how I would liketo be dealt with treat others
(04:43):
like you want to be treated.
Stephanie Maas (04:45):
Super helpful and I appreciate that you say
that hey, there's no real magichere. But for a lot of us this
does not come natural. You knowhow do you handle it when you
get on the phone with somebody?I'm not gonna say this not
interesting because you knowbeauty is in the eye of the
beholder but How do you managewhen people are difficult? Or
you're having to pull teeth toget them to open up and share?
(05:06):
What could or possibly beinteresting?
Cathy Moll (05:09):
Another great question, I think there are
moments of silence in mycommunication with people, I
don't feel like I have to be theperson who is always talking.
It's more about listening. Notthat everybody is easy, for
sure. But it's really just kindof digging and finding out what
(05:31):
it is that motivates thatperson. And then asking them
questions about that mean, wedeal with a lot of people in our
industry who are very numbersoriented. And so they're not as
apt to share a lot personally,but they're super excited about
what they do. And for me, if Ilet someone know that one of the
(05:53):
reasons I'm calling them is tolearn to learn a little bit more
about what it is that they do,and how it can affect, I mean,
I'm dealing in thepharmaceutical industry. So how
it can affect people, peoplelove to talk about that they may
not love to talk aboutthemselves, but they do like to
talk about what it is that theydo, and how it can have an
(06:14):
impact on I guess, the greatergood, especially in
pharmaceutical, anybody who knewme in high school, if they knew
that I was doing anything at allthat had to do with science,
they would be shocked. I am nota science person and not a math
person. So truly, I learned fromevery single person that I
talked to, and I let them knowthat they are helping me to get
(06:35):
better at what I do, as well.
Stephanie Maas (06:38):
Very cool. I heard two things there, I just
want to make sure we reiteratethat I think are super valuable
is you commented several timeson being a high quality
listener, and then also to theopportunity to learn. And I do
think to your point in a verysincere and authentic way, when
we ask people to help us learnit that does generate an
(06:59):
openness in them. It's so funny,I think when people are in
sales, you know, I You oftenhear you used to hear like, Oh,
you've got the gift of the gab,you'd be great for sales. But
what we hear thinking aheadreally talk about is, you know,
that's actually not what makesus good, we really talk a lot
about is listening idea. So forsomebody that maybe isn't as
(07:20):
good of a listener or thinksthat they could improve their
listening skills, which let'sface it, that's probably most
people. What are some of yourtricks of the trade tips, if you
will, that help you be a betterlistener?
Cathy Moll (07:32):
Again, I don't know that it's a trick of the trade.
I think when I first gotstarted, I had a note in front
of myself that said, listen, andlet the person answer the
question. And so in buildinghabits over the years, he just
sort of do that. I tend to bethat person who talks over
people, because I'm excitedabout what they're saying. So I
(07:55):
will tell someone in thebeginning, if I'm talking over
you, you need to tell me. Andit's only because I'm super
excited about what it is thatyou have to say, or I'm curious,
I think when I ask someone aquestion, or I engage in a
conversation with them, the wayto demonstrate that I do really
care about what they're sayingis to just kind of dip it and
(08:16):
let them answer the question.And when they answer the
question, I can then build uponthat and ask more questions. So
it's a real curiosity about whatthis person has to say, and
whether I'm going to end upworking with them directly or
not, the more I know about them,the better, I am able to help
(08:38):
them out. And I just keep thatin mind.
Stephanie Maas (08:40):
Through your years, not only have you been
consistently one of our absolutebest recruiters, you've also
hired and trained some of ourtop producers as well. When
you're working with a newerperson, what challenges do you
see them face in building andmaintaining relationships that
(09:01):
you find that again, we're allhuman, we all have strengths or
weaknesses. But for the newerfolks, what do you find having
to train or teach them as itrelates to building and
maintaining relationships?
Cathy Moll (09:13):
I think that a lot of people that we hire come from
a sales background. And I thinkthe hardest thing or one of the
biggest obstacles that they haveto overcome is that this is not
a transactional sale. And theycan get frustrated because what
they're accustomed to is theycall on somebody and they're
(09:34):
looking for a sale. And what wehave to help them to understand
is that the sale could be thatyou just want to set up a time
to talk with them, or that youwant to spend time learning a
little bit more about them. Andso I think the the biggest
obstacle has been just reallyunderstanding that this is a
(09:57):
long term sales cycle. A lack ofa better term, and that they're
planting the seeds to beginwith, and the tree will grow.
But it won't grow. If whatyou're looking for is what can
you do for me today, again, youjust have to have a sincere
interest in that person andunderstand that long term that's
(10:18):
going to pay off for you. And Ihave a story, you know,
everybody's gonna freak out whenthey hear this. But I had
someone that I had been callingon for seven years, several
times a year, I would reach outto her and talk to her and she
continued to move up, and shemoved into new roles. Seven
years later, she called me andsaid, We're having difficulty
with two senior level positions,I want you to talk to the folks
(10:40):
in HR, and we're gonna puttogether an agreement, and I
want you to work on them.Because you have been so
consistent. I don't want anybodyto think it takes seven years it
doesn't. But really, and truly,it's just, if you're willing to
just kind of take a step backand understand the process,
those relationships that you'vebuilt will come back to you. And
(11:01):
people will try to help peoplethat they've known and built
that relationship with over theyears.
Stephanie Maas (11:08):
It sounds like obviously, they like you. But
there was also such a respectfor how you did business. And
much like how you came tothinking ahead, hey, there was a
way that we just did business,authenticity, and even curiosity
about the person. Again, it's abusiness, we're all here to, you
know, do what we need to do. Butbringing that human element
(11:28):
sounds like really has anopportunity to pay off down the
road.
Cathy Moll (11:32):
I think that's true. And the thing I learned a long
time ago is that people can likeme, but if I don't produce for
them, that doesn't reallymatter. It is a business
relationship. But everybodylikes doing business or talking
to people that they like, butyou have to do the job.
Stephanie Maas (11:50):
Yep, you got to produce. That's the way it
works. So share with us ashopefully it will be kind of
fun. When you started in thebusiness. What was your you
know, "I went to school, walked10 feet of snow uphill both
ways". What were some of your"well back when I started in
search" shares, some things thatyou use that don't exist today
(12:11):
or anything funny from 26 years ago?
Cathy Moll (12:14):
So you know, I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, so I
really did walk three milesuphill, to get to the globe.
This really dates me in 1997.When I started, I actually had a
candidate who I was talking toon the phone who said the
following to me, have you everheard of Google? And I said, No.
He said to me, oh, my gosh, youhave got to gotta find it. I
(12:37):
mean, we barely use computers.At that time, I'm not gonna lie.
We faxed resumes to people, wefax resumes to clients
candidates and to sneak intotheir office and when nobody was
around and back their resume tous, which was better than prior
to that when you had to maileverything. So the internet was
(12:57):
really just getting started, youstill had to do research on
companies, people didn't havewebsite. I mean, right now, it
is so easy for a candidate tofind out who they're going to be
talking to, or find out moreabout the company, you know, and
we provide a lot of thatinformation. But we always
suggest that they do research aswell, well, 26 years ago, that
(13:21):
research meant that theyliterally had to go to the
library and then had to look upwhat they could about the
client, and you really couldn'tnecessarily find out information
about who was going to beinterviewing them. So honestly,
I'm just thinking about this.Now, the fact that I would spend
time with the hiring manager andtalking to them and getting to
(13:44):
know them, at that point wasincredibly useful to the
candidate, because I could sharethat information that they
weren't going to be able to findanywhere. And so funny stories,
I had to fax an interviewschedule to a candidate at the
fax number she gave me and sheimmediately called me like 10
minutes later and said, Oh myGod, you back this to our human
(14:08):
resources department. Oops. AndI said, Here's the phone number
that I backed it to. And itturns out that when a fax in a
department was busy, that itautomatically rerouted it to
human resources. She happened toyou know, somebody, I think
picked it up and gave it to herwithout looking at it. But those
(14:28):
are some of the challenges thatwe ran into.
Stephanie Maas (14:31):
That is crazy. Fast forward to today. Now we
have all this information at ourfingertips. How do you still
provide value when there is somuch information so readily available?
Cathy Moll (14:44):
I still think that what we can provide to
candidates and to client is whatwe've learned about the company
or the people they're going tobe talking to or the candidate
by spending time with either thecandidate or the hiring manager,
sort of like looking at aresume, you get an idea of what
somebody has done, but youreally don't know what makes
(15:07):
that person who they are. And Ithink that the amount of time
that we spend with everybody ispriceless. You know, a candidate
can say to me, Kathy, I need tomake sure that I have a good
work life balance, because Ihave kids, and they play soccer.
And I say, and you know, one ofthe things that they're not
going to find, by looking up thehiring managers that the hiring
(15:30):
manager has kids who play socceras well, so that she or he will
understand that you need to takesome time, and you have to spend
time with family. And here'swhy. So you can look up a
company, and you can look up aperson, but what you can't look
up is their personality, orwhat's important to them. And I
think those are the things thatwe can share on both sides of
(15:51):
the equation.
Stephanie Maas (15:52):
Absolutely. How long is the longest relationship
candidate or client that you've had?
Cathy Moll (15:58):
So I won't name a name, but there are probably
three people that I can think ofthat I started working with, I
think I placed one person inmaybe 2000 2000 is somewhere
around 2000. And she and I talkregularly, and I placed her
again about four or five yearsago. But we stay in touch with
(16:20):
each other about everything, andto other people who actually
placed in one organization whohave since moved on to different
places, but both have becomeclients along the way, helped me
to get into new companies thatthey had joined. So probably the
longest is I started in 97. Soprobably 9099. And the funny
(16:44):
thing is, when you talk to them,you of course know if they have
children, you know, theirchildren were either not around
at that time and are nowgraduating from college, or they
have since gotten married. Yeah,it's pretty interesting. And
it's a lot of fun.
Stephanie Maas (16:58):
I love that. And I think too, when you can really
learn to enjoy people and meetthem where they're at. It's a
weird kind of byproduct of howfun this job can be. Without a doubt.
Cathy Moll (17:11):
Yes, you have to have fun with this, I have
always said that our product ispeople. And so often we can see
how capable they are or what agreat opportunity they're going
to have if if we introduce themto something but what we don't
know is necessarily what's goingon for them 100% of the time
(17:32):
personally, and they may make adifferent decision, they may
come to a whole different set ofreasons why they are or are not
going to move ahead. And so youneed to have fun with this.
Because there's you can getreally disappointed really fast.
And you just need to understandthat people are going to make
(17:53):
decisions or what is importantto them. So I try to have fun
every day.
Stephanie Maas (17:59):
Awesome. Well, we hear it thinking ahead are
super thankful for your 26th andcounting years, they know our
listeners are super thankful foryour time as well. Anything else
that you want to share for thegood of our search community?
Before I let you go?
Cathy Moll (18:16):
No, I guess the only thing I would say is this. It is
an incredibly fulfilling job.When I take a look back at the
numbers of people that I'veworked with and talk to and see
some of the opportunities thatwe've helped introduce them to
that they may not have taken alook at before and all of the
things that that has opened upfor them and for their families.
(18:39):
It's just an incrediblyrewarding thing that we do. So
have fun with it and just acceptall the good that comes along
with it.
Stephanie Maas (18:48):
Absolutely. All right, Cathy Moll.
Cathy Moll (18:50):
Thanks Stephanie.
Hi, welcome to The Talent Trade. This is
Stephanie Maas, Partner withThinkingAhead Executive Search.
Today I am super excited to haveone of our greatest with us
today. Cathy Moll leads our lifesciences practice and has for
(00:20):
many years. Cathy, we are superexcited to have you here. Before
we dive in, tell us a little bitmore about your practice your
background, etc.
Cathy Moll (00:31):
Hey, Stephanie. Hi, thanks. So glad to be talking
with you today. And let me justtake a minute introduce myself.
I am with the life sciencespractice, which I started with
thinking ahead 26 years ago,almost 27 years, and we cover
everything in the pharmaceuticalmedical device and biotech
(00:53):
industries in terms of researchand development and everything
on their commercial side.
Stephanie Maas (00:58):
Wow. Sounds like you work with a bunch of
underachievers. So one of thereasons why I am excited to have
Cathy is, again, when you'vebeen in this business, whether
it's you know, 15 minutes, 15years, or 25 plus years, the way
thinking ahead does our searchbusiness is it is just as
important to us to maintainrelationships, as it is to go
(01:22):
out and find and build newrelationships. And Cathy has
proven through the years thatshe is a master of all
relationships. So Cathy, I wouldlove for you just to share with
us just how you do some of whatyou do in terms of building,
maintaining, developing, etc,anything relationship oriented,
(01:46):
whether it's clients,candidates, everything in
between? How do you do what youdo?
Cathy Moll (01:51):
So we'll start with how I joined thinking ahead and
why I joined thinking ahead, Iwas actually a client for
thinking ahead. And I workedwith one or two people and
developed a very strongrelationship with them. Part of
the reason that I joined wasbecause I felt like they knew
(02:12):
who I was, they understood whatI was looking for. And actually
we became friends, I had been inthe search field previously
didn't love it, frankly, becauseI felt like the way that I was
treated was very transactional.And in dealing with the folks
from thinking ahead, I didn'tget that feeling at all. So what
(02:32):
ended up happening is my husbandwas offered a job, which was
going to require relocation andat that time, there was no such
thing as work from home, Iactually approached this
individual and asked him if hecould help me find something.
And he said, Have I got a dealfor you, what I would like for
you to do is think aboutstarting a practice with our
(02:52):
organization. And because of theway he treated me and the
relationship that we develop, Igot into conversations with him.
And so fast forward 26 years I'mhere. And here's what I think it
comes down to is a sincereinterest in the person that
you're talking to a clientcandidate, or just someone
(03:14):
you're helping because they'vecalled and said, Do you have a
few minutes to take a look at myresume. And rather than thinking
about everybody as an end to ameans I really am genuinely
interested in what they have tosay, I don't think there's a
magic to it. I think I just lookat a person as someone who is
(03:35):
interesting. I mean, I'velearned so much from people over
the years because of what theyhave shared with me about their
background and their lifeexperiences. And I'm truly
interested in all of thosethings. I was thinking about
this this morning, long beforewe had different tools to remind
us of when somebody's birthdaywas coming up or an anniversary,
(03:57):
I listened to what people said,I talked to them about their
kids, I talked about them abouttravels that they were going to
do. And when birthdays came upor anniversaries came up, I
always send a card because it'simportant to be remembered
that's a special anymore becauseeverybody has reminders that
come up. But I can probably tellyou some of my top five clients
(04:20):
and candidates who I've workedwith, I can tell you their
birthdays before you knowlooking it up. It's just really
about having a genuine interestand staying in touch with people
reaching out to them ifsomething has happened in their
lives and acknowledging that I'ma little bit nosy about people
as well. And so I think it'sjust managing those
relationships how I would liketo be dealt with treat others
(04:43):
like you want to be treated.
Stephanie Maas (04:45):
Super helpful and I appreciate that you say
that hey, there's no real magichere. But for a lot of us this
does not come natural. You knowhow do you handle it when you
get on the phone with somebody?I'm not gonna say this not
interesting because you knowbeauty is in the eye of the
beholder but How do you managewhen people are difficult? Or
you're having to pull teeth toget them to open up and share?
(05:06):
What could or possibly beinteresting?
Cathy Moll (05:09):
Another great question, I think there are
moments of silence in mycommunication with people, I
don't feel like I have to be theperson who is always talking.
It's more about listening. Notthat everybody is easy, for
sure. But it's really just kindof digging and finding out what
(05:31):
it is that motivates thatperson. And then asking them
questions about that mean, wedeal with a lot of people in our
industry who are very numbersoriented. And so they're not as
apt to share a lot personally,but they're super excited about
what they do. And for me, if Ilet someone know that one of the
(05:53):
reasons I'm calling them is tolearn to learn a little bit more
about what it is that they do,and how it can affect, I mean,
I'm dealing in thepharmaceutical industry. So how
it can affect people, peoplelove to talk about that they may
not love to talk aboutthemselves, but they do like to
talk about what it is that theydo, and how it can have an
(06:14):
impact on I guess, the greatergood, especially in
pharmaceutical, anybody who knewme in high school, if they knew
that I was doing anything at allthat had to do with science,
they would be shocked. I am nota science person and not a math
person. So truly, I learned fromevery single person that I
talked to, and I let them knowthat they are helping me to get
(06:35):
better at what I do, as well.
Stephanie Maas (06:38):
Very cool. I heard two things there, I just
want to make sure we reiteratethat I think are super valuable
is you commented several timeson being a high quality
listener, and then also to theopportunity to learn. And I do
think to your point in a verysincere and authentic way, when
we ask people to help us learnit that does generate an
(06:59):
openness in them. It's so funny,I think when people are in
sales, you know, I You oftenhear you used to hear like, Oh,
you've got the gift of the gab,you'd be great for sales. But
what we hear thinking aheadreally talk about is, you know,
that's actually not what makesus good, we really talk a lot
about is listening idea. So forsomebody that maybe isn't as
(07:20):
good of a listener or thinksthat they could improve their
listening skills, which let'sface it, that's probably most
people. What are some of yourtricks of the trade tips, if you
will, that help you be a betterlistener?
Cathy Moll (07:32):
Again, I don't know that it's a trick of the trade.
I think when I first gotstarted, I had a note in front
of myself that said, listen, andlet the person answer the
question. And so in buildinghabits over the years, he just
sort of do that. I tend to bethat person who talks over
people, because I'm excitedabout what they're saying. So I
(07:55):
will tell someone in thebeginning, if I'm talking over
you, you need to tell me. Andit's only because I'm super
excited about what it is thatyou have to say, or I'm curious,
I think when I ask someone aquestion, or I engage in a
conversation with them, the wayto demonstrate that I do really
care about what they're sayingis to just kind of dip it and
(08:16):
let them answer the question.And when they answer the
question, I can then build uponthat and ask more questions. So
it's a real curiosity about whatthis person has to say, and
whether I'm going to end upworking with them directly or
not, the more I know about them,the better, I am able to help
(08:38):
them out. And I just keep thatin mind.
Stephanie Maas (08:40):
Through your years, not only have you been
consistently one of our absolutebest recruiters, you've also
hired and trained some of ourtop producers as well. When
you're working with a newerperson, what challenges do you
see them face in building andmaintaining relationships that
(09:01):
you find that again, we're allhuman, we all have strengths or
weaknesses. But for the newerfolks, what do you find having
to train or teach them as itrelates to building and
maintaining relationships?
Cathy Moll (09:13):
I think that a lot of people that we hire come from
a sales background. And I thinkthe hardest thing or one of the
biggest obstacles that they haveto overcome is that this is not
a transactional sale. And theycan get frustrated because what
they're accustomed to is theycall on somebody and they're
(09:34):
looking for a sale. And what wehave to help them to understand
is that the sale could be thatyou just want to set up a time
to talk with them, or that youwant to spend time learning a
little bit more about them. Andso I think the the biggest
obstacle has been just reallyunderstanding that this is a
(09:57):
long term sales cycle. A lack ofa better term, and that they're
planting the seeds to beginwith, and the tree will grow.
But it won't grow. If whatyou're looking for is what can
you do for me today, again, youjust have to have a sincere
interest in that person andunderstand that long term that's
(10:18):
going to pay off for you. And Ihave a story, you know,
everybody's gonna freak out whenthey hear this. But I had
someone that I had been callingon for seven years, several
times a year, I would reach outto her and talk to her and she
continued to move up, and shemoved into new roles. Seven
years later, she called me andsaid, We're having difficulty
with two senior level positions,I want you to talk to the folks
(10:40):
in HR, and we're gonna puttogether an agreement, and I
want you to work on them.Because you have been so
consistent. I don't want anybodyto think it takes seven years it
doesn't. But really, and truly,it's just, if you're willing to
just kind of take a step backand understand the process,
those relationships that you'vebuilt will come back to you. And
(11:01):
people will try to help peoplethat they've known and built
that relationship with over theyears.
Stephanie Maas (11:08):
It sounds like obviously, they like you. But
there was also such a respectfor how you did business. And
much like how you came tothinking ahead, hey, there was a
way that we just did business,authenticity, and even curiosity
about the person. Again, it's abusiness, we're all here to, you
know, do what we need to do. Butbringing that human element
(11:28):
sounds like really has anopportunity to pay off down the
road.
Cathy Moll (11:32):
I think that's true. And the thing I learned a long
time ago is that people can likeme, but if I don't produce for
them, that doesn't reallymatter. It is a business
relationship. But everybodylikes doing business or talking
to people that they like, butyou have to do the job.
Stephanie Maas (11:50):
Yep, you got to produce. That's the way it
works. So share with us ashopefully it will be kind of
fun. When you started in thebusiness. What was your you
know, "I went to school, walked10 feet of snow uphill both
ways". What were some of your"well back when I started in
search" shares, some things thatyou use that don't exist today
(12:11):
or anything funny from 26 years ago?
Cathy Moll (12:14):
So you know, I grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, so I
really did walk three milesuphill, to get to the globe.
This really dates me in 1997.When I started, I actually had a
candidate who I was talking toon the phone who said the
following to me, have you everheard of Google? And I said, No.
He said to me, oh, my gosh, youhave got to gotta find it. I
(12:37):
mean, we barely use computers.At that time, I'm not gonna lie.
We faxed resumes to people, wefax resumes to clients
candidates and to sneak intotheir office and when nobody was
around and back their resume tous, which was better than prior
to that when you had to maileverything. So the internet was
(12:57):
really just getting started, youstill had to do research on
companies, people didn't havewebsite. I mean, right now, it
is so easy for a candidate tofind out who they're going to be
talking to, or find out moreabout the company, you know, and
we provide a lot of thatinformation. But we always
suggest that they do research aswell, well, 26 years ago, that
(13:21):
research meant that theyliterally had to go to the
library and then had to look upwhat they could about the
client, and you really couldn'tnecessarily find out information
about who was going to beinterviewing them. So honestly,
I'm just thinking about this.Now, the fact that I would spend
time with the hiring manager andtalking to them and getting to
(13:44):
know them, at that point wasincredibly useful to the
candidate, because I could sharethat information that they
weren't going to be able to findanywhere. And so funny stories,
I had to fax an interviewschedule to a candidate at the
fax number she gave me and sheimmediately called me like 10
minutes later and said, Oh myGod, you back this to our human
(14:08):
resources department. Oops. AndI said, Here's the phone number
that I backed it to. And itturns out that when a fax in a
department was busy, that itautomatically rerouted it to
human resources. She happened toyou know, somebody, I think
picked it up and gave it to herwithout looking at it. But those
(14:28):
are some of the challenges thatwe ran into.
Stephanie Maas (14:31):
That is crazy. Fast forward to today. Now we
have all this information at ourfingertips. How do you still
provide value when there is somuch information so readily available?
Cathy Moll (14:44):
I still think that what we can provide to
candidates and to client is whatwe've learned about the company
or the people they're going tobe talking to or the candidate
by spending time with either thecandidate or the hiring manager,
sort of like looking at aresume, you get an idea of what
somebody has done, but youreally don't know what makes
(15:07):
that person who they are. And Ithink that the amount of time
that we spend with everybody ispriceless. You know, a candidate
can say to me, Kathy, I need tomake sure that I have a good
work life balance, because Ihave kids, and they play soccer.
And I say, and you know, one ofthe things that they're not
going to find, by looking up thehiring managers that the hiring
(15:30):
manager has kids who play socceras well, so that she or he will
understand that you need to takesome time, and you have to spend
time with family. And here'swhy. So you can look up a
company, and you can look up aperson, but what you can't look
up is their personality, orwhat's important to them. And I
think those are the things thatwe can share on both sides of
(15:51):
the equation.
Stephanie Maas (15:52):
Absolutely. How long is the longest relationship
candidate or client that you've had?
Cathy Moll (15:58):
So I won't name a name, but there are probably
three people that I can think ofthat I started working with, I
think I placed one person inmaybe 2000 2000 is somewhere
around 2000. And she and I talkregularly, and I placed her
again about four or five yearsago. But we stay in touch with
(16:20):
each other about everything, andto other people who actually
placed in one organization whohave since moved on to different
places, but both have becomeclients along the way, helped me
to get into new companies thatthey had joined. So probably the
longest is I started in 97. Soprobably 9099. And the funny
(16:44):
thing is, when you talk to them,you of course know if they have
children, you know, theirchildren were either not around
at that time and are nowgraduating from college, or they
have since gotten married. Yeah,it's pretty interesting. And
it's a lot of fun.
Stephanie Maas (16:58):
I love that. And I think too, when you can really
learn to enjoy people and meetthem where they're at. It's a
weird kind of byproduct of howfun this job can be. Without a doubt.
Cathy Moll (17:11):
Yes, you have to have fun with this, I have
always said that our product ispeople. And so often we can see
how capable they are or what agreat opportunity they're going
to have if if we introduce themto something but what we don't
know is necessarily what's goingon for them 100% of the time
(17:32):
personally, and they may make adifferent decision, they may
come to a whole different set ofreasons why they are or are not
going to move ahead. And so youneed to have fun with this.
Because there's you can getreally disappointed really fast.
And you just need to understandthat people are going to make
(17:53):
decisions or what is importantto them. So I try to have fun
every day.
Stephanie Maas (17:59):
Awesome. Well, we hear it thinking ahead are
super thankful for your 26th andcounting years, they know our
listeners are super thankful foryour time as well. Anything else
that you want to share for thegood of our search community?
Before I let you go?
Cathy Moll (18:16):
No, I guess the only thing I would say is this. It is
an incredibly fulfilling job.When I take a look back at the
numbers of people that I'veworked with and talk to and see
some of the opportunities thatwe've helped introduce them to
that they may not have taken alook at before and all of the
things that that has opened upfor them and for their families.
(18:39):
It's just an incrediblyrewarding thing that we do. So
have fun with it and just acceptall the good that comes along
with it.
Stephanie Maas (18:48):
Absolutely. All right, Cathy Moll.
Cathy Moll (18:50):
Thanks Stephanie.
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