Erin Mathew Interview Spotlight

Posted by Jonathan Kidder on March 13, 2020January 29, 2023

I had the opportunity to interview Erin Mathew. She is currently a Talent Sourcer for Maxar Technologies in Illinois. She’s been actively involved with content creation for SourceCon, RecruitingDaily, The Sourcing 7, Recruiting Brainfood and CareerArc. She’s definitely a wizard at sourcing and I was excited to interview her for the blog.

1. Tell us about your work experience in sourcing – how did you get your start, how did you progress, where are you at this point in time?

My very first job in recruiting was for an experiential marketing agency and I would recruit brand ambassadors and promotional models. Basically they were 1 days gigs to hand out beverage samples or other promotional products at music festivals and other events. Eventually, I moved into Healthcare and it was then that I realized that I’m a sourcer by nature. I love the thrill of the search and not so much the full cycle process. I’ve been working in a pure sourcing capacity for the past 2 years and I’m now working for an aerospace and defense company sourcing cleared developers.

2. What are the unique talents you bring to the field?

I like to infuse comedy and entertainment into my outreach wherever possible. Sometimes that’s with subject lines, video, memes etc. The labor market is only getting tighter and you have to stand out among a sea of recruiters to get the attention of qualified passive talent. I try to approach interaction with the intention to make it worth their while to open my message even if they’re not interested.

3. Share your biggest success story in sourcing so far.

I once convinced my recruiting team to act in a parody of an infomercial featuring our company, so we could send it to candidates in our outreach. Passive candidates had an overwhelmingly positive response to the outreach and as a result, we were able to engage and hire 2 of the year’s most difficult roles to fill.

4. What is the best advice you’ve received during your career path, and from whom?

It was from Brian Fink when I attended my first SourceCon. He told me that you should look at every website and look for every bit of information that is being indexed and think critically as to how you can use it to your advantage. I watched him find qualified candidates on websites that aren’t meant for recruiting like Amazon, Instagram, Slack, and Air B&B and yet it made so much sense. It was then that I really had a life-changing shift in my mindset that has allowed me to think like a sourcer.

5. What’s your favorite recruiting tech tool?

TalentNeuron- It provides so much fantastic insight and data into the talent pool for any role you’re recruiting for. It also provides many great talking points for intakes with hiring managers which can lead to a much more fruitful meeting.

6. As a recruiting professional, how do you handle recruiting to achieve the best results?

I always ask myself what I can be doing differently to stand out to passive candidates. So much recruiter outreach is painfully impersonal, and I never stop looking for new ways to show candidates that I care and they’re not just a name on a contact list.

7. What do you hope to achieve in 2020?

Cleared sourcing is by far the most challenging space I have ever worked in and I hope to grow my search skills significantly in this field of expertise in 2020.

8. What’s your favorite Boolean String?

site:*github.io (resume OR CV)

How to Keep Hiring Managers Involved in Recruiting

How to Prep a Candidate for the Onsite Interview

20 Advanced Google Site Search Operators for Recruiters

Author
Recent Posts

Follow me

Jonathan Kidder

With more than 12 years of recruitment experience, Jonathan has helped startups and small businesses find the talent they need. He runs the blog WizardSourcer, which explores the latest trends in talent sourcing, provides reviews of recruitment tools, and features interviews with prominent figures in the industry.