Conneccs Search Associates

Connec cs Search Associates We reduce costs and improve results through: Providing Clients:  Position Specific Matching Technology–ApplicantAnaly cs™  Excep onal Results  Superior Service  In‐depth Interviewing  Thorough Reference Checking  Global Reach Working with companies to identify and retain the best talent
to support corporate growth and profitability...
Connectics Search Associates.LLC
114 North Cove Drive
Suite 150
Atlanta, Georgia 30269
Connectics Search Associates
Innovative Staffing Performance Consulting and Analysis
Leadership
Indra Turnbull
“Making wrong
hiring decisions are costly
and non-productive. Can
you afford to make a bad
hire or retain the wrong
employee?”
President &
Managing Partner
With
over
25
years
senior
corporate executive experience,
level
Indra
implicitly understands how imperative it
is for companies to resource and retain
the very best human capital.
Recognized as a highly intuitive and
professional businesswoman and for her
talent in improving business processes
The Differentiators:
through bringing together the very best
management talent and the adaptive
Key differentiators that produce significant results and satisfaction are:
use of technology. She has consulted
Proprietary
extensively on talent to world-class
Fortune 500 and start-up companies. Her
extensive experience in management
and technology has gained her the reputation as an innovative and highly successful staffing and talent acquisition
consultant
achieving
exceptional

The Value Proposition:
Through Connectics’ consulting expertise and process management, companies can:
Radically reduce hiring manager’s time
 81% reduction of time expended by hiring manager on recruitment

Innovative Icons
(technology company that
“revolutionized” the social printing
industry)
President
RBO Solutions
President and Managing Partner
 The Connectics Group
President and Managing Partner
Raise employee retention rates
 Average tenure of Connectics placed candidate - 5.5 years.
Executive Corporate Experience:
Vice President
Face-Face In-depth Interviewing

Each assignment led by a senior executive level corporate management consultant
results for her clients.
Fuqua Industries
ApplicantAnalytics™ technology

Increase employee productivity
 80% Connectics placed hires promoted within 2 years
Protect
against discriminatory litigation
 Unbiased and objective evaluation and assessment based on set of predetermined
and approved criteria.Heavily
engaged
with
COST OF MAKING A BAD HIRE
Employee Cost
Multiplier
Salary of $50K
Salary of $100K
1.0
$50,000
$100,000
Benefits
0.2— 0.4
$10,000—$20,000
$20,000—$40,000
Overhead, On-Boarding
.05—1.3
$25,000—$65,000
$50,000—$130,000
Total
1.7—2.7
$85,000—$135,000
$170,000—$270,000
Salary
Cost Effective & Impactful Recruitment Solutions
Experienced Consultants supported
by Proprietary Technology
But, how does this directly impact your bottom line?
Time is money!
In today’s world where managers are handling even more responsibilities than ever, they do
not have the time to spend reviewing hundreds of unqualified resumes or interviewing candidates who do not have exactly the right background and experience for their open positions. Through our methodology and process—bringing together high level analytics managed by people who have walked in our clients’ shoes—CONNECTICS allows hiring managers
to focus on their core responsibilities, while we handle the entire search and recruitment
process — beginning to end — and only present the most qualified and relevant candidates
Client Sectors:
Fortune 500 corporations
Middle-market companies
Start-ups
Not-for-profits
Technology
Manufacturing
Energy
Educational Institutions
Areas of Expertise:
Executive Management
Finance
Sales
Marketing
Human Resources
Professional Services
Information Technology
Engineering,
Procurement
Excellence in Service and Superior Candidate Selection
And, if you don’t believe us, this is what our clients think...
“Connectics’ service and process is exceptional. The results achieved through their thorough evaluation and analysis of candidates enabled us to identify the perfect candidates for our position openings. We relied upon Connectics to help us build our management team and
will continue to do so as we grow.”
Steve Jeffery, CEO, Brickstream Corporation
“The professionals hired through utilizing the services, processes and methodologies of Connectics in both our own firm and those of our
clients were superior. The quality of the candidates presented has been outstanding and continues to validate your model.”
Ridge White, Partner, Chairman, J Walter Thompson Technology
“Connectics is responsive and takes every assignment as "this is the most critical hire you have every made." As someone who has hired a
lot of people over the years, I have found Connectics’ proprietary process to be the best tool for identifying the best person for a specific
position! It is critical in the process of getting "the right people on the bus!"
Evelyn Ashley, Director, Alexander Babbage
“The quality of both the candidates and the service we receive from Connectics is exceptional. Connectics helped us to build our senior
management team in the areas of Corporation Communications, Compensation, Marketing, Procurement, Information Technology and
Finance when the company made the transition of relocating the corporate headquarters of our publicly traded parent, Primedia, to Atlanta.
Connectics continues to work with us to fill open positions across the board with the highest caliber of personnel and we could not be more
pleased with the service they provide. A relationship now of seven years standing.”
Kelly Bergeron, VP Human Resources, Primedia
Connectics helped us to build our national sales team The quality of individuals they identified was outstanding and we are
well on our way to having a first class and successful sales presence across the country thanks to the hard work and their
complete understanding of our business. They know what a successful sales person in our industry needs to look like and
they deliver.”
Jamie Clymer, VP & General Manager, HotPads.com
THE REPORT—CANDIDATE PROFILE
CONNECTIC SEARCH ASSOCIATES Candidate Profile
Date:
06/10/2013
Client:
Primedia
Hiring Manager:
Chief Technology Officer
Candidate Name:
David Gillis
Position:
Director of IT Operations
Loca on: Cumming, Georgia Educa on: MBA in International Commerce from the University of Phoenix in 2003.
BS in Chemistry from the University of Tennessee in 1998.
Award winner, National Science Foundation Future Leaders in 1988.
Candidate Professional Highlights Summary

Saved $35M in operating expense while improving SLA at Hilton.

Centralized and improved technology organization at Hilton; Created new federated technology
teams to provide support to property managers while also being responsive to corporate governance requirements.

Consolidated 28 data centers to 8, reducing cost while improving availability.

Expanded disaster recovery at Equifax to provide instant failover for critical situations in a DR
event.

Right-Sourced technology operations increasing flexibility while reducing cost.

Partnered with sales teams to win over $35M in new business.

Developed the first 'Hadoop' cluster and open sourced its framework.

Built Equifax's largest and primary datacenter in Alpharetta, GA.

Maintained SOX compliance for Hilton and Equifax.

Started Tennessee's first Internet Service Provider.
SectionI–InterviewNotes:
A considerable amount of time was spent discussing the reasons David was interested in the opportunity and
position with Primedia as it did initially appear on the surface that what he was doing in his present position
was challenging – and especially as he states in his reasons as to what he would be looking for in another opportunity was “a challenge”. He was extremely reluctant to be say anything negative about his current employer (which I respected) but I was very persistent about the reasons he would consider leaving with the apparent challenges he had there. It transpires that the company was becoming less and less committed to cutting
edge technology and were content “keep the status quo” and therefore a lot of the challenge, further development and interest for him was diminished. Bottom line being he was looking for an opportunity that presented:
“a company that stayed ahead of the curve in technology development, a large challenge with a great team and the
backing of leadership”.
He was brought on board at Hilton when the CIO to whom he reported to at Equifax joined Hilton and needed some
strong operations/infrastructure talent to help reorganize Hilton’s technical operations area which had been outsourced
but which now they wanted to bring many of the functions back in house as well as change vendors on some areas they
wished to continue to outsource (moving from IMP to Dell).
David is looking particularly for a mid-size company rather than a company of the size of Equifax/Hilton, etc., as he enjoys the challenge of working in a smaller environment –where he can make more of a difference and the challenges and
opportunity to take on additional responsibilities is greater. He is passionate about technology and what he does and
wants to continue to learn and grow.
He is extremely confident that the position and responsibilities/requirements as stated for the position of Director IT Operations are well within his level of experience and is excited about the opportunity to be able to demonstrate his ability
to do a first class job for Primedia in this area.
The opportunity at Primedia is extremely interesting to David as he does sincerely believe he has the experience, background and skills to manage the responsibilities of Director of IT Operations; he does not like to be
“idle”; is passionate about technology and what it can do; is impressed at what Ptimedia has achieved in moving from the book to being an online leader; and believes that he can not only have the challenge he seeks but
also can contribute to the further growth and development of the technology department within the organization.
He is someone who does not like politics – feels strongly about being a team player – can and will make the
“hard decisions” if and when necessary – but likes to lead by example. Roll the shirt sleeves up but knows and
how and when to delegate to get the job done.
He is engaged – does not have any children.
I found him to be very personable – and from what I could glean from his personality and character would be a good fit
with the temperament and culture of the IT team and Primedia in general.
SectionII–CandidateResume
DAVID GILLIS
1954 Snelling Drive, Cumming, GA 30041
♦ 770-472-8390 ♦
[email protected]
TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS AND ENGINEERING LEADER
IT & IS Infrastructure / High Availability / Virtualization / Cloud Computing / Multi-Site Operations / Cost Reduction &
Control / ITIL / Architecture / Change Leadership / Crisis Management / Disaster Recovery / Internet
Technology pioneer with significant achievements in managing systems and networks, ensuring the total scope of information
technology supports the business mission. Wide-ranging Internet/Intranet expertise with accomplishments in staff positions for
Hilton and Equifax, as well as in consulting roles for Olin, DuPont and Conoco. Led teams of four to 400 resources and
budgets from $4M to $100M.
Can make an immediate impact by:
Aligning resources and technology to achieve business goals
Implementing process improvement and quality assurance initiatives
Creating procedures to control costs, minimize risk and improve performance
Staying current on IT breakthroughs and measuring relevancy to business applications
CAREER HISTORY WITH SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2011 – Technology Leader, Hilton Worldwide. Led critical technology infrastructure initiatives as well as created the company’s global information security organization. Developed and executed the company’s 5-year technology revitalization strategy. Implemented Oracle and IBM systems management software that automated outage alerts and reporting. Improved service
availability from 98% to 99.9%.
Saved $35M in operating expense while improving SLAs. Hilton needed to be PCI compliant but was consistently failing VISAs audits, resulting in monthly fines. Developed strategy and executed a comprehensive program to automate
routine tasks, consolidate on property systems and move core services to cloud infrastructure. Changes improved
service availability and security posture, while also reducing audit expenses, fines from VISA and outsourced labor
expense.
Centralized and improved technology operations and security. Hilton had decentralized administration of over 95,000
devices, resulting inconsistent governance and poor service levels. Created new federated technology teams to provide support to property managers while also being responsive to corporate governance requirements.
Improved on-property and guest service technology availability. Installed full guest technology redundancy at Hilton’s top 40 properties, improving WiFi, installing Cisco VoIP telephones, IP based television entertainment, and Zwave environmental controls. Championed the development of software allowing guests to operate the room’s technology through their phone or iPad (BYOD).
1998 to 2011 - VP Technology, Equifax Inc. Led key technology engineering, operations, and security initiatives. Managed
technology budgets of up to $100MM and 400 global resources. Played key role in landing contracts from GE, Barclays and
RBC worth $33M. Architected and led implementations of Oracle Financials, Siebel CRM and Teradata systems. Managed
due diligence and integration of 15 acquisitions and two divestitures.
Consolidated datacenters, reducing cost while improving availability. Architected and executed the company’s datacenter consolidation and redesign program. Consolidated 28 country specific datacenters to 8 geo-regional facilities, providing for
a 19% reduction in operating cost. The program also improved individual datacenter availability from 99.5% to 99.99%.
Deployed open source, Linux, Windows and UNIX based technologies on virtualized and cloud based systems. Implemented
governance and tools for operational best practices, obtaining ITIL certification.
Expanded and improved disaster recovery. New governmental mandates and customer demand required the company
to rapidly improve its disaster readiness. Implemented virtualization and developed application standards to provide
geographic failover of customer facing systems. The changes allowed for over 900 applications to have geo-failover
recovery capability and 99.999% availability, while keeping their total technology costs flat. Reduced recovery time for
offline products from one week to six hours.
 Right-Sourced technology operations. Some areas within Equifax’s technology organization – such as helpdesk
and groupware technology – the company did not have sufficient size and scale to provide the best value to the business. In other areas, though, previous technology leaders had outsourced a large portion of the company’s business
knowledge workers, leaving product innovation at a standstill. Led program to right-source Equifax’s technology outsourcing with IBM, Dell, TCS and Infosys, which significantly reduced cost and improved internal customer satisfaction
scores by 40%.
 Partnered with sales teams to improve customer satisfaction and acquisition. Supported sales teams for
Equifax’s critical accounts by presenting technology’s strategy, roadmaps and programs to customers. Directly attributed
with closing $33M in new revenue, the presentations also improved existing customer satisfaction scores by 11%.
 Developed and ran one of the world’s largest supercomputers. With petabytes of data, Equifax’s customers
often had to wait over a month to obtain output for advanced marketing campaigns. Architected and oversaw the implementation of a 3,000 node parallel computing environment. Processing time shortened from an average of 35 days to
52 minutes. The migration to open systems also allowed for a $20M reduction on mainframe costs annually. Released
non-proprietary portions of the application code into the public domain via open source, and that code is now foundational to the “Big Data” Hadoop application cluster.
Built Equifax’s primary datacenter in Alpharetta, Georgia. The model for Equifax’s later consolidation efforts, the
data center design included complete redundancy for all technology components, physical and logical security, as well
as telecommunications infrastructure. Certified to provide encryption services for U.S. Department of Defense, the facility has multi-tiered firewalls, biometrics, intrusion prevention devices, and TEMPEST-certified rooms. Managed architecture, security, quality assurance, and operations of e-Commerce applications and infrastructure. Implemented processes and tools for change and problem management, backup and recovery, automated quality assurance testing and automated security testing.
1996 to 1998 - Principal, Gillis Associates. While in college, created first websites for Olin Corporation, Bowater,
McKee Foods, DuPont and Conoco. Developed first web-based learning program approved by Southern Association of
Colleges & Schools. Led development of training courses for BellSouth, Union Pacific and Olin.
1991 to 1996 - Co-Founder, DCC Internet Inc. Founded first public Internet Service Provider in Tennessee. Raised
capital and developed sales, marketing, customer support and technology teams. At age 18, built datacenter facility with
100+ Sun Solaris, Solaris x86 and Linux systems with 70 Cisco routers. Recognized by Ziff Davis Publishing as one of
the 25 Unsung Heroes of the Internet for work at DCC. Sold $4M company to MindSpring and entered college.
EDUCATION
MBA in International Commerce from the University of Phoenix in 2003.
BS in Chemistry from the University of Tennessee in 1998.
Award winner, National Science Foundation Future Leaders in 1988.
Sec on III – Candidate Profile Personal Informa on Name: David Gillis Address: 1535 Snelling Drive Cumming, GA, 30041 Phone: 770‐472‐8390 Email: [email protected] Visa Status: Ci zen General Informa on: Desired Salary: $155 + Reason for Change: My position at Hilton requires almost 100% travel and a requested relocation to the DC area for
the times I am not traveling. I am looking for a position that requires less travel although willing to do so as and when
required by the necessity of my responsibilities versus 100% of the time.
Ideal environment: My ideal position would be one that makes the most of my qualifications and abilities, and gives
me a chance to challenge myself. I look for a stable job with quality supervision, a positive work culture at a successful
company that will encourage me to work at my best.
What he enjoys in work: I enjoy the ability to learn something new each day.
What he is looking for: Travel in my new position should be less than 50%.
Ideal employer: I am looking for a mid-cap company that has a positive growth outlook.
Skills: IT Opera ons Management Rank Vendor selec on and management Experience Extensive/Guru 15‐20 years Extensive/Guru 15‐20 years Extensive/Guru 20 years Expert/Highly Proficient 15‐20 years Expert/Highly Proficient 15‐20 years Extensive/Guru 20 years Staging produc on releases Desktop support opera ons skills/experience Field office support experience Nego a on of contracts and support level agreements Efficiency evalua on and recommenda on skills/experience Expert/Highly Proficient 20 years Extensive/Guru 15‐20 years Expert/Highly Proficient 10‐15 years Extensive/Guru 20 years Expert/Highly Proficient 15‐20 years Extensive/Guru 20 years 20 years Installa on, configura on and administra on of produc on systems Performance tuning of OS and applica ons Technical lead experience for corporate security (IPS/IDS) Hardware capacity reviews 24/7 incident response and resolu on experience Recovery disaster experience Extensive/Guru Expert/Highly Proficient 20 years Extensive/Guru 15‐20 years Extensive/Guru 15‐20 years 20 years Training Opera onal produc on support Isola ng and troubleshoo ng failed or failing systems Priori zing needs Extensive/Guru Delega ng responsibili es Expert/Highly Proficient 15‐20 years SOX compliance Extensive/Guru 10‐15 years Budget management Extensive/Guru 20 years Moderate/Average Web programming 15‐20 years Screening Interview: Briefly describe your IT Operations Management experience and how it relates to the position specification for
the role you are applying for., specifically in a high traffic, multi-site web environment. Select your proficiency
level and hands on experience as a IT Operations Manager in this area.
Technology operations management makes up over 15 years of my 22 year technology career. In 1991, while in secondary school, I started Tennessee’s first Internet Service Provider (ISP). As a startup company, funds were tight and I
had to perform many functions - one of which was system and network administrator. Although self- taught, I picked up
the skill quickly and continued to do this work (along with several other positions) until the company was sold in 1996 to
Mindspring. At close, we had 425 POTS lines, 60 UNIX, Windows and Linux servers and 4 T-1 customers. At Equifax, I
was the leader of global technology operations and engineering for nearly 10 years. While there, I built their Windward
Parkway datacenter, consolidated global datacenters from 28 to 8, virtualized over 1000 applications, improved availability to 99.999%, scaled applications to support over 35,000 transactions per second as well as implemented a comprehensive disaster recovery and security program. With hands-on technical skills and experience managing resources in a
period of rapid growth, I uniquely can support Primedia and ensure that technology remains a business enabler.
Rank: Extensive/Guru
Experience: 15-20 years
Describe your experience working in an Open Source environment. Cite an example of a project you have
worked on or managed working with the Open Source community. Select your proficiency level of working in
Open Source and how long you have done so.
As part of a modernization program that I championed, Equifax has almost completely migrated to open source. As part
of this program, we ported over 3,500 systems from UNIX to Linux, and over 2,000 applications from WebSphere to
JBoss. The program took over three years to complete, but the value seen has surpassed expectations. Not only has
the company’s system availability improved and MTTR reduced, but also over $10M in annual technology operating expense has been saved.
Rank: Extensive/Guru
Experience: 20 years
How would you approach a project that is in danger of falling off track? Select your proficiency level and hands
on experience in having to deal with such occasions and bringing them back.
There are few simple steps that can help to recover a project that has gotten off track.
First, I would investigate the current situation. Specifically, I would review project documentation such as a project plan
and open issues list. I would conduct interviews with sponsors, team, stakeholders, and vendors. I would also review
the project requirements and interview notes, ensuring that all viewpoints are aligned. I would also take note of any
show-stopping problems that may be self-evident.
Secondly, I would assess and re-plan the project if it has indeed gotten off track. As part of this process, I would confirm
stakeholders, team members and ensure that everyone has a clear role and responsibility. I would also validate the objectives of the project, and identify new milestones.
Next, I would reset everyone’s expectations. I would present the facts candidly to the sponsor, stakeholder and team
members. I would obtain buy-in from everyone on how to move forward, and align my team to these expectations.
Lastly, after resetting the project goals, I would focus on delivery. I would ensure that project schedules and issue logs
are current, escalating major issues to stakeholders when needed. I would also provide regular communication updates
on the status of the project to all team members.
Rank: Expert/Highly Proficient
Experience: 20 years
What is your opinion on production control (dev/qa/staging/prod environments, automated build & CI) and what
have you found to be the most successful for you and why? Select your proficiency level and hands on experience.
It is vital for high-availability operations and quality control that there be distinct environments for development, quality
assurance, staging and production. While these environments need to be distinct, it is also important that they be of the
same base configuration (allowing for scaling of processors, memory). I have found that automated application and
patch deployment processes - either done via a commercial tool or one that is developed in-house - significantly reduces
operator error, enforces environmental symmetry, and improves availability. It also allows for less skilled resources to
do production operation deployments, allowing higher skilled resources to be working on other efforts. At Equifax, we
wrote an automated production deployment program initially to manage our JBoss web application servers. After seeing
its benefits, within less than six months the application was expanded to support all internet and midrange platforms.
Rank: Extensive/Guru
Experience: 20 years
What release criteria have you set on projects? Select your proficiency level in signing off on successful
releases and how long have you been doing so.
The change management process would be allowed to go through when the following items have been completed:



Security has been reviewed, risk assessment completed, and all identified issues and vulnerabilities have been
addressed.
Permanent location is assigned and recorded.

Installation is complete.

Backup and restore have been tested and verified.

Start-up and shutdown procedures are documented for Operations.

Business continuity and disaster recovery procedures are documented for Operations.

Architecture diagram has been updated.

Inventory database has been updated.

Communication plan has been implemented.

Production date is processed.

Service level agreement is complete.

Identity management and access controls are complete.
Rank: Extensive/Guru
Experience: 15-20 years
What do you believe are the differences between management and leadership skills? How would you describe
yourself as (a) a leader and (b) a manager and explain why. Select your proficiency level as both a manager and
a leader and how long you have held roles requiring these skills and levels of responsibility.
The difference between leaders and managers is similar to the difference between strategy and tactics.
Leaders will establish a strategy at a high level, and through their vision, lead their followers (managers and staff) toward
some clearly articulated end point. Leadership sets the direction, and managers make it happen. I have been a leader
as well as a manager for almost my whole technology career. As a leader, I have established myself as a dependable
resource who has unique problem-solving capabilities. I am resourceful, and know how to find answers to problems if I
do not have them already. Lastly, I am approachable and am seen as a team player, motivating resources through consistent communications and good listening skills. From a management perspective, I get people to do more than they
might think otherwise. This is accomplished by giving resources enough work to challenge them but not so much that
they feel the task is impossible. I also support them through regular communication and by removing obstacles that impede their progress.
Rank: Expert/Highly Proficient
Experience: 20 years
Describe an incident/time when you have gone to bat for the team as a whole or for a direct report. Select your
proficiency level in handling such a situation and how long in your career have you had the kinds of responsibilities that could require such action if necessary.
At Equifax, the annual review process for each employee is done via a committee composed of leaders within the organization. Human resources provides the committee with a quota of rankings, and then each leader must debate the quality of their resources against others in order to gain them salary and level increases. This often causes moments of intense fellowship, but I have found several techniques that have allowed me to persuade effectively.
Primarily, I looked for ways to actively give, or provide reciprocity, to other members of the committee. These efforts ahead of time without any expectation of return - provided me with influence to promote my team members more effectively.
Secondly, I collected testimonials about the work of my resources from key members of other teams. The tendency for a
leader to be aggressive against a resource is lessened significantly when members of their own team provided positive
feedback.
Lastly, I make sure that I am well briefed on the facts regarding the resources I am fighting for. The ability to provide
facts and figures nearly immediately makes it more difficult for less knowledgeable individuals to speculate and promote
doubt.
Rank: Expert/Highly Proficient
Experience: 20 years
Have you had a situation where you have taken over a team that may not have been performing optimally and
you have had to make some hard choices regarding letting people go or reassigning them? If your response is
yes to this question, please describe the circumstances. If you have not experienced such a situation, do you
believe you could make the tough choices if necessary and describe how you would handle the situation.
Select your proficiency level in having to make tough choices/decisions and how long you have been in a
position which you may have had to exercise this.
Unfortunately in many new leadership roles, realignment of resources is often required, and I have done this at least six
times during my career. Many times when management has been stable for a long period of time, myopia develops
and it becomes difficult to see the difference between resources that are pulling their weight and others that are not. In
each instance of having to go through this effort, I am extremely conscious of the impact that these decisions will have
on the resource and those that count on them. To that end, before reassignment or discharge, I ensure that every resource has a clearly defined set of roles and responsibilities that they need to execute against, often in the form of a
performance improvement plan. This plan gives achievable goals with a timeline for those objectives are to be complete. We then have weekly 1:1 sessions to measure progress and discuss the plan. It will shortly become evident that
the resource is making progress or not. If progress is being seen, then everyone wins - the company gets its objectives
done, as a manager you have a resource you can rely on, and the employee keeps a stable position. If progress is not
being seen, it is clearly evident to the employee about why they are being let go.
Rank: Expert/Highly Proficient
Experience: 20 years
Everyone has their own particular strengths and weaknesses. What do you believe are your particular
strengths and why and how do you believe they benefit your ability to be a successful manager. Select your
proficiency level in exercising these strengths during the course of your professional career how long you
have been doing so.
My greatest strengths are my dependability, attention to detail, and ability lead a team. I’ve used these skills throughout
my 22 year technology career. Dependability is a key trait for any resource, be it in management or an individual
contributor. When resources know that they can count on you, your influence increases and more people will put their
trust in you. For operations management, dependability is important so that the business can focus on growth rather
than worrying if their systems are not available. Attention to detail is also a critical factor of a technology operations
leader. Applications and systems are of ever increasing complexity and if one does not pay attention to the details,
changes will often fail and applications will not be available for customers. The ability to lead a team, though, is of most
importance. Teams working together achieve more and are more efficient. In addition, a strong team helps to build
future company leaders.
Rank: Expert/Highly Proficient
Experience: 20 years
Describe your experience in performing hardware capacity reviews, noting current load trends. Select your
proficiency level and hands on experience.
Hardware capacity reviews should be at least a quarterly effort by any operations team, and should occur daily during
times of intense growth. The information collected for the reviews is basic and can be obtained either through operating
system (free) programs or through commercial software. During capacity reviews, which I performed myself for 5 years
and reviewed over the remainder of my operations experience, should include (but not be limited to) such metrics as
processor utilization, disk I/O, network utilization, and a juxtaposition of those numbers against transaction counts.
Rank: Extensive/Guru
Experience: 20 years
Describe a situation/time you have to challenge senior leadership and have them rethink a decision, specifically
as it may relate to taking a different approach to a project which you believe could achieve a better outcome by
so doing. Select your proficiency level and how long you have taken on such challenges.
There are three techniques that I have used to persuade senior management to my position. While there have been
many instances of use, an example is when Equifax needed to refresh its server hardware for our parallel systems computing environment. The purchase was big - over 3,000 servers - but was needed due to increasing failure rates of the 6
year old hardware.
My first technique is to not offer too many choices. Management will often get confused and frustrated if there is a
“Chinese menu” of options and selections. When attempting to persuade, it is always better to have a few distinct choices and that’s after a great deal of research and evaluation to establish what is right and cost effective for the organization.
Secondly, trust is very important to help persuade. In the server debate, I freely admitted to any small weakness in my
argument, one of which was that server hardware models would be coming out in just a few months, which may be better
than the models I had proposed.
Lastly, I have used the threat of a loss to be more persuasive than a gain. Benefits are important, but it is more important
to list all of the negative possibilities that could/would happen if the action was not taken. For the servers, I mentioned
that it was likely that we would have a complete systems failure for a few hours should we not act soon.
Rank: Expert/Highly Proficient
Experience: 15-20 years
Summarize your experience in providing tier 2 support for all systems and applications. Select your proficiency
level and hands on experience.
I have provided Tier-2 and Tier-3 technical support for systems for the past 20 years. Generally, I have attempted to focus on automated problem resolution or simplification of the applications so that Tier-1 support can handle most issues.
Rank: Extensive/Guru
Experience: 15-20 years
Describe your experience as it relates to systems and applications for disaster recovery and business continuity
plans. Select your proficiency level and hands on experience.
I have built disaster recovery programs for both Equifax and Hilton. These programs covered over 24,000 systems in
multiple levels of recovery, from ”instant availability” to a 48 hour recovery time objectives.
In addition to the basics of contacts and succession planning, these plans also included, per application:
-
A risk matrix to help management understand the threats and consequences of those threats.
-
Preventative measures in place to mitigate or prevent a disaster from occurring
Defective measures that may detect or uncover an event from occurring (e.g. fire alarm) - Corrective measures
needed to restore the application.
Data loss tolerance. Each plan was tested at least once annually with optional customer involvement. All tests
were successful.
Rank: Extensive/Guru
Experience: 20 years
Describe your experience in hiring, training, managing the performance and daily supervision of reports under
your direction. Select your proficiency level and hands on experience.
Describe your experience in hiring, training, managing the performance and daily supervision of reports under your direction. Select your proficiency level and hands on experience. I am an experienced manager and team leader. I have
hired over 125 resources in total. I believe in continuous education and challenge my team to work on projects that will
stretch themselves. With that said, there is value in certain types of positions going to conferences and gaining an
“external perspective” on how different companies are conquering the same problems. I do not micromanage my team
but rather I manage by objective. I try to keep the quantity of my direct reports to 6, and at most, 8. I then have a weekly review session with them to get status on their efforts and provide assistance to help remove any impedance to their
progress.
Rank: Expert/Highly Proficient
Experience: 20 years
Personal Characteris cs: Professional Strengths: Selected
Selected
Integrity
functional skills
Leadership
organizational skills
self starter
priority setting
analytical
negotiating
results oriented
planning
focused
relationship building
loyal
team player
decisive
strategic agility
organized
decision making
resilient
process management
Explanation of Professional Strengths: 1 . Functional Skills : Experience to handle the position as described with the skills and knowledge to do so at a high level of accomplishment. 2 . Organizational Skills : The ability to organize people and resources (including funding) to support goals. Being able to work within multiple activities
simultaneously. Using resources effectively and efficiently within a given environment and be able to manage time effectively and efficiently. 3 . Organizational Agility : Ability to understand how an organization works - both formal and informal channels - and be able to understand and work well
within an organization's unique culture and adjust accordingly. 4 . Team Player : The ability to understand others and group dynamics. Do well with peer relationships. Able to communicate and provide information without putting self first. 5 . Verbal/Communication Skills : The ability to communicate verbally and in the written form in a manner and style that is clear, concise and communicates the message. 6 . Customer Focus : Dedication to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers. Obtain customer information first-hand
and use it to forge improvements in products and services. 7 . Listening : Good listener. Ability to draw people out, understand their ideas, and communicate that understanding? The ability to restate the opinions of
others even when in disagreement. 8 . Relationship Building : Enjoys people, makes friends quickly and easily. Good at building rapport with customers and colleagues to gain trust and respect? 9 . Priority Setting : Ability to identify and undertake that which is important, quickly zero in on the critical areas and put the trivial or less urgent aside. The
ability to eliminate roadblocks and remain focused. 10 . Business Acumen : Understanding how business works, knowledgeable in current and future practices, trends, and information affecting business? 11 . Competitive Awareness and Strategic Agility : Knowledge regarding the competition and awareness of how strategies and tactics work in the marketplace. Once knowledge gained, the ability to bounce ideas and plans for the greater good. Able to identify trends and Comprehend the broad perspective. Able to look to the future while dealing with the "day-to-day". Envision possibilities and create competitive breakthroughs. 12 . Presentation Skills : Effectiveness and experience in a variety of formal presentation settings: (i.e. 1-1, small groups, large groups, peers, direct reports, bosses, internal and external gatherings, etc. The ability to command attention and manage group process and change tactics midstream if necessary 13 . Negotiating : The ability to settle differences with a minimum of fuss. Able to win concessions without damaging relationships. Being both direct and
forceful yet diplomatic (as appropriate). 14 . Decision-Making : The ability to make quick and thoughtful decisions even with incomplete or conflicting information. 15 . Process Management Skills : The ability to figure out the necessary steps to get the job done and be able to organize the resources to achieve this. 16 . Action Oriented : Enjoy and thrive in fast paced environment, challenges, highly-charged atmosphere. The ability to act with a minimum of planning
and able to seize opportunities 17 . Learning Agility : Holds a passion for "the love of learning". Can absorb knowledge and new ideas "on the fly". Does not get bogged down with conventional wisdom but is open to new ideas and approaches. Likes to experiment and enjoys taking on new and unfamiliar tasks. The ability to quickly understand the underlying structure. Pick up new skill-sets quickly. 18 . Political Savvy : Able to maneuver successfully through complex situations. Is sensitive to how people function. Ability to anticipate where land mines
are and plan initiative. 19 . Perseverance : Has drive, energy and can continue on with a positive attitude in spite of setbacks. 20 . Planning : The ability to accurately scope out length and difficulty of tasks and projects. Able to set goals and objectives. Able to break down work into
process steps. Able to develop schedule and anticipate/adjust for roadblocks or the unexpected. Professional Perspec ve What motivates you the most?
Being part of a successful team
Select which environment you are most comfortable in.
Mid-size, well organized office
Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
Same company, more senior position
If you discovered discrepancies or questionable information in performing your responsibilities, what course of
action would you take?
Investigate further to confirm problem and identify how, why and what.
What percentage of your friends/social life is related to your professional associations?
10% or less
Select the answer to the following question: "I really look forward to going to work every day."
Strongly agree
You are trying to come up with new ideas for a project you are working on with your team. Which action are
you most likely to take?
Only speak up when you believe you really have a good idea that will work
Select which answer best describes achieving your future career or personal goals.
Keep options open and take it as it comes
How would you describe your workspace?
Fairly neat and organized - able to find everything quickly
When dealing with a conflict at work, what would you do?
Speak up immediately
When reading or having to become involved in something new, which course do you take?
Learn a little about everything related to it
How do you make your decisions?
Analyze the facts presented and then listen to your instincts
When solving a problem, what do you focus on?
The long-term results
If criticized by a colleague, how would you react?
Be surprised but understand it may be justified and relates only to business and not to you personally.
If you have to make a tough decision regarding your co-workers, what course are you most comfortable taking?
Make the best decision for the long-term good of the company and try to explain to those who may be negatively impacted by it.
CONNECTICS
SEARCH ASSOCIATES
ConnecticsSearchAssociates
770‐631‐6761
[email protected]
Candidate Reference Request Client Company: Primedia Posi on: Candidate: David Gillis Director of Technical Opera ons Reference Name Sco Glass Company: Hilton Hotels Title: CTO Rela onship to Applicant: Supervisor Phone 404‐986‐1115
Email sg4362@a .com
Please respond to the following ques ons: 1.How long have you known the subject candidate? 13months 2.What is/was your working rela onship (i.e. manager, co‐worker, customer etc.) and describe the inter‐
ac on you have through your working rela onship? I am David’s manager at Hilton. We work hand in hand on a daily basis. 3.Briefly describe the subject candidate’s professional abili es/knowledge in his/her current capacity and their ability to perform with respect to: (i) professional requirements/knowledge and abili es: Sco is very professional and organized in his approach to his job. He brings a vast knowledge of experience and is an expert in all that he does in the technology opera ons areas he is involed with. (ii) management style and effec veness: David brings a very calm but direct approach when working with others and managing his projects. I really like his ability to discuss openly different approaches in an open/debate type forum. He takes feedback well, very welcoming to ques ons and providing assistance and explana ons to others. (iii) demonstra on of ini a ve: I have been most impressed with David’s ability to take the ini a ve and abili es. He is a self‐starter and needs no supervision when tasked with his responsibili es and stated objec ves. 4.How does the subject candidate interact with: (i) supervisors Very professional, courteous, inquisi ve and confident. (ii) co‐workers His co‐workers like his calm approachable manner and o en look to him for help with task or just a casual conversa on. (iii) work colleagues in general David gets along great with everyone, his personality for work and personal is a pleasure to be around. (iv) clients Professional, inquisi ve and confident. 5. Overall what is your opinion of the subject candidate as a team player? Are they someone who is com‐
fortable and fits into a team environment or do they tend to be an individualist? Very much a team player that likes to take all things into account when making a decision. 6. .In your opinion, what sets the candidate apart in their par cular area of exper se ? Expert in technology opera ons – knows what is needed and how to accomplish it. 7. .What did you like most about working with the subject candidate? He is able to work independently, responsibly and gets the job done. 8. .Was there any specific “posi ve” characteris c possessed by the subject candidate that stood out? Nice calm, direct approach when working – never to high or low with emo ons, which is a good thing when working with developers and other informa on technology professionals who tend to have large egos. 9.. Conversely, what factor(s) or characteris c, if any, was (were) there about the subject candidate that could be viewed in a nega ve light and poten ally impact their ability to perform, or that you least liked in your working rela onship with them? None come to mind. 10. Did the subject candidate’s personality (e.g. over‐confidence, exuberance, shyness, ) ever have a nega‐
ve impact on his job performance? If the answer is “yes”, please elaborate. Not at all… 10.If you were in a posi on to either work with or employ the subject candidate again, would you? Please give the reasons for your answer? Yes – he has made a significant contribu on to the company and to the team 11.Please detail any other relevant informa on you think per nent with respect to the subject candidate (either personal or business related). Nothing to add other than to say whichever company gets David is going to get a first class professional technology guru who will make an incredible contribu on to the company’s technology department.