Meet Michele Silagy

So... You’re looking for someone that you can trust to lead your RPO or single-position recruiting project. What if I told you I had someone with 17 years of experience, including an early “learn the ropes” stint as a Regional HR Manager, followed by a star career as a Director of Staffing/Talent Acquisition at companies like ING and AutoTrader.com? Would that interest you? That’s Michele Silagy. The Talent Acquisition pro. She gets what you’re going through.

Michele’s the Chief Talent Advisor at Kinetix, which means she’s the leader of all recruiting operations, from full-scale RPO engagements/solutions/recruitment-process-outsourcing to single position recruiting. Day to day, hour to hour, Michele’s in charge of directing our pack of hungry recruiters toward closing your open positions in record time. When she’s not watching the activity level of our recruiting bullpen, Michele’s hobbies include tweaking our talent assessment programs and engaging in HR Consulting projects.

If that makes her seem one dimensional and passionate about her work at Kinetix, mission accomplished – that’s exactly what we’re trying to do with this profile. The reality is that Michele’s got lots of other interests and a family at home, but let’s face it – you declined her last Evite to come over for a cookout. You just want the best person on the market, delivered by Friday. Michele’s got the team to do it. Check out the profile below to find out what makes her tick.

Specialties: Understanding the talent needs of your business. X-ray vision into motivation of candidates. Making people believe it’s all going to be OK.

10 Questions with Michele Silagy

1. It’s hard on a recruiter/HR pro out there. Tell us why you’re in the RPO game...
Things that make you go hmmm... After years of leading corporate recruiting functions and talking to hundreds of companies about their recruiting challenges – I knew there had to be a better way. Then I met Shannon Russo...

2. Finish the following sentence: “People want to hang out with me because...”
People want to hang out with me because I’m relaxed, positive, fun, enjoy being around other people, have a quick wit (and a quick corkscrew), and chuckle at double entendres.

3. First thing that comes into your mind when I say this: “RPO works because ____...” First thing. Don’t plan it.
RPO works because it provides the right amount of focus and skill to a very complicated function. Recruiting should not be taken lightly – the pace of change and chances for error are too great.

4. What’s your favorite HR/recruiting buzzword to openly mock and why?
My favorite HR/recruiting buzzword to mock is “think outside the box”. Spare me. The very fact that you think there is a box indicates your limited scope of possibility...

5. Let’s face it – there’s a lot of humanity out there in the recruiting scene. What’s the sure sign in the first 3 minutes you interview a candidate that it’s not going to happen?
I can tell in the first three minutes of an interview that it is not going to work if the candidate gives ambiguous, vague answers. And if their answers are full of buzzwords – see question #4.

6. Who are your favorite two recruiters – RPO, sports, entertainment, whatever – and what makes them rock stars from a recruiting perspective?
My recruiting rock stars (this is too easy) – Coach John Wooden and Mother Teresa.

A. “Success travels in the company of very hard work. There is no trick, no easy way.” – John Wooden

B. “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa

7. We’re midstream in this interview, so let’s give a shout-out to the intellectuals. What are the last three books you’ve read? Why did you choose those books and what did you learn?
3 books, now you’ll really see a glimpse into my psychosis... currently reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, one person can make a big difference – AIM HIGH! I recently read Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes while training for my first half marathon; this guy is seriously crazy. I learned that there are all different kinds of people out there and I’ll never understand them all! The third book would be Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I chose it for the title and while reading it learned that there is a part of me that really longs for the type of journey the book describes. Not sure if it is the total self-indulgence, the deep soul searching or the food. I’ll get back to you on that one.

8. Enough with the book learning. A great tradition in Major League Baseball is that each batter for the home team gets to pick his own intro music as he’s walking up to the plate. If you could choose a song to play as you entered the Kinetix HQ, what would it be and why? Feel free to give us 2-3 choices, and you can’t say the uber-lame “I like all types of music”...
First song that comes to mind... Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins (cue the fighter jets and some hot Navy pilots... ) It’s all about tension, pushing the limits, living on the edge – gotta take chances to learn what you’re made of...

9. Describe your first car to us. God, please let it be a junker that embarrasses you...
Can you say “1974 Plymouth Scamp”? Yeah, baby... I started working when I was 14 so when I turned 16 my parents were more than happy to buy me a $500 set of wheels to become more self-sufficient. I loved that car. V8. 4-60 air (4 windows down at 60 miles per hour). AM/FM stereo with presets - remember those clunky buttons that made a “cha-chunk” sound when you pressed them? I was totally stylin’... pic below. (mind is wandering down memory lane... )

10. Give it up – 2 things that the last 10 people you’ve talked to outside of Kinetix don’t know about you...
I’m a pretty open book so there isn’t much people don’t know about me... how ‘bout these – I was voted “Most Likely to Adopt a Grandparent” by my senior class and Brad Pitt touched my tummy when I was 8 months pregnant.