The Recruiter

Job openings that linger because the CIO, HR and outside recruiters can't communicate frustrate everyone in the technology group.

Classic tales of internal HR staff not understanding what's needed in IT persist. But so does the penchant for CIOs to keep outside recruiters at arm's length. The thinking goes that recruiters who get too close will either leak your company's plans to competitors or lure your best employees away.

Not true, according to Loomis's Sadin. He says the closer you get to a trusted recruiter, the faster you can work. With an IT talent shortage, good recruiters are now essential to CIO success, Sadin says.

When Sadin joined Bank United in 1998 as a turnaround CIO, he needed to fill a critical director-level position. The national firm he had been working with wasn't cutting it so he gave a local recruiter, Tony Pannagl, a shot. Within weeks, Pannagl brought two qualified candidates, one of whom Sadin hired.

Later, when Sadin joined Aegis Mortgage, he had Pannagl set up an office inside the firm to help internal HR fill 70 open positions, doubling the IT staff. He's had Pannagl's cell number in his cell phone ever since.

"A CIO needs to have recruiting firms that understand how he or she thinks," he says. His shared history with Pannagl means positions are filled quickly, making Sadin more efficient. Pannagl's success rates are better than those of internal human resources groups he has worked with in the past, Sadin says.

To fill jobs, says Pannagl, the two talk about the business goals of Sadin's company. Then they compare people they both know in terms of personality, technology backgrounds and competencies. They've come up with about a dozen IT staff prototypes they refer to in these conversations, Pannagl says. Shorthand like that is "very important," adds Sadin, "especially in a high-change or high-pressure environment."

If a recruiter knows a CIO's plans three or six or more months out, he can earmark candidates for those future projects. "This intimate relationship with Wayne and his staff lets us understand the goals of the company, which allows us to screen candidates better," Pannagl says. "Wayne knows I'm not going to bite the hand that feeds me."