Throughout the past few years, I have had the pleasure of getting to know Marvin Booker, an esteemed member of our community. I have been thoroughly impressed by his presentations at SourceCon and HRTX, and he has been an invaluable source of knowledge for me. It was an honor to interview him, and I feel privileged to have learned from him. In conclusion, Marvin Booker is undeniably a top-tier talent sourcer in our industry.
Introduction
My inquisitive nature has always been a part of me since childhood. Whenever I had a question, my mother would encourage me to consult the nearest encyclopedia or dictionary and share my findings with her. This innate curiosity has led me to enjoy gathering information, discovering trivia, and exploring new topics. It has also motivated me to pursue a career in Sourcing and Recruiting and continues to drive me in creating a community around me.
Tell us about your work experience in recruiting – how did you get your start, how did you progress, where are you at this point in time?
My career began right out of college in the hospitality industry. I was working for a major hotel chain at the time as a Food & Beverage Manager when I was “recruited” to join an Executive Search firm in Atlanta by one of our residents. And as they say, the rest is history. Words cannot convey the debt of gratitude that I have for the people that gave me a start in the industry. I was super raw, and was still learning what an ATS was, how to use a CRM, the art of mastering a cold call, and how to get people engaged. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, but it was a great environment, pre-LinkedIn Recruiter days, to get my start and to get comfortable with talking to people and learning about their careers and aspirations. Eventually, I left that role to relocate closer to my wife’s family and began my current stint in Corporate Recruiting. I joined a Sourcing team in Detroit, as the 2nd hire, and had another amazing growth experience. The company really gave me so many tools by sending me to conferences like SourceCon, SRSC, and LinkedIn Talent connect, where I was not only able to learn a ton, but to also meet a lot of great people who have become my friends, some colleagues, and mentors over the years. The value is in networking and connecting with people; hands down. I have held roles in Executive Search, Sourcing for both Technical and Non-Technical roles, as a Full Desk Recruiter, and as a Sourcing Lead and can’t believe how fast the last 12+ years have gone.
What are the unique talents you bring to the field?
Initially in my career I would have said that it was my curiosity. Coming into this industry there is so much to learn, but at the end of the day it is all about how you connect with people and information. At this time, I feel like your ability to make a meaningful impression with both clients, candidates, and colleagues alike is key.
Share your biggest success story in recruiting so far?
Anytime you can get a great hire is a win! But the beauty about this industry is that it is not zero sum. I would say that something that I am proud of goes back to being a part of a fledgling sourcing team, and being able to convince our leaders to create a path for sourcing to be more of a collaborative partnership. In those days, Sourcers at my company didn’t speak with Hiring Managers, they weren’t a part of intake meetings, we had very little insight into the candidate pool, or access to generating referrals/leads outside of our ATS and LinkedIn, so to see us make those changes and to bring in insights from how other companies were doing things so that we could adapt, was awesome.
What is the best advice you’ve received during your career path, and from whom?
By far the one quote that you will hear me use to no end is that when on an airplane, they always advise that you put on your oxygen mask first before assisting others. This has been so instrumental in my personal life as well as my career. If you pass out and aren’t able to breathe, you are worthless to those that you care to assist.
What’s your favorite recruiting tech tool?
It is hard to name just one as there have been so many good ones over the years that I have used, forgotten about, and bring back into the fold now and then. I would say that the ones I most enjoyed using were Human Predictions and AmazingHiring. Now I enjoy using HireEZ and SeekOut.
What do you hope to achieve in 2023?
I want to get back my zeal for learning new things and implementing them. The former is easy, but the latter takes more discipline. It is easy to get stuck in a pattern doing the same things.
Any future predictions on talent sourcing?
As AI continues to develop, I feel like it will be adapt or die at this point. We aren’t there yet, but there are a lot of cool use cases for AI that enhance and aid our function, and hopefully not completely replace it.
What’s your favorite Boolean String?
site:github.io/resume “role” (technology OR language) location
Anything else you would like to add?
I really love how you have contributed to the industry and the passion that you have for the talent industry. It has been instrumental to developing so many people and is a great opportunity for you to share your passion with others.
It’s mutual! Marvin, it has been a delightful experience getting to know you over the years. Your contributions to our sourcing community are greatly appreciated. – Jonathan Kidder
You can connect with Marvin Booker on LinkedIn←
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