The Value of Education as a Recruiter with Adrian Russo

Talk Talent To Me

The Value of Education as a Recruiter with Adrian Russo

Episode 180: Show Notes.

Adrian Russo is the Director of Talent Acquisition at MotoRefi. Adrian also has a Master’s degree in Information Systems, and this in-depth understanding has helped him stand out as a tech recruiter. In today’s episode, we hear about Adrian’s journey and how joining the army ignited a passion for talent acquisition in him. While it may not be apparent at first glance, there are many parallels between military and private sector recruitment. We hear about the platform, RecruitLocator, which Adrian founded, and some of the valuable recruitment-related lessons he learned from a foray into entrepreneurship. Our conversation also touches on the importance of following your intuition, even in the face of naysayers, how to ensure there is true diversity and inclusion at your company, and advice for those looking to take the next step in their careers.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Get to know today’s guest, Adrian Russo.
• Adrian’s decision to enlist in the military and how this exposed him to recruitment.
• The parallels between recruiting in the military and recruiting in the private sector.
• Why Adrian decided to pursue tech recruiting when he left the military.
• The benefits of having a tech-related academic qualification for Adrian.
• Some online resources that you can use to upskill.
• How having advanced degrees helps Adrian and his team connect with executives.
• When you go against the grain, you will always get pushback, but if it benefits you, keep going.
• Why Adrian founded RecruitLocater and the services the platform provides.
• The importance of having a variety of recruitment tools, not just job boards.
• Some of the challenges that come with creating a tool that sits on top of search engines.
• Adrian’s love for MotoRefi and his appreciation of his team.
• Valuable lessons Adrian learned from his time as an entrepreneur that he applies to recruiting.
• Entrepreneurship is not the pinnacle of business success.
• How technology and automation can help with, but not replace, recruitment.
• Learn more about MotoRefi and what Adrian’s role is.
• How MotoRefi has built DE&I into the culture to ensure there is diverse talent at the company.
• What it takes to establish a partnership with organizations that serve under-represented groups.
• The value of tracking stats over a 90-day period and ascertaining results over a longer timeframe.
• Adrian's approach for those who are looking to make their next move.

Tweetables:

“A lot of people, for whatever reason, think that there's not a lot of parallels between recruiting in the military and recruiting in the private sector. And in some cases, there really is.” — Adrian Russo

“Every recruiting tool has a use. Every recruiting tool has a purpose. I just thought if you want to use a job board, there's a lot of great tools for that. I wanted to have something that was different.” — Adrian Russo

“Talent acquisition, for me, is where my heart will always be at. That's what I love doing. I’ll always be a talent acquisition professional.” — Adrian Russo

“I would encourage people to just look at what's being done, and dare to be different. Think differently. Think outside the box.” — Adrian Russo

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Adrian Russo

MotoRefi

A Cloud Guru