Our Blog

BY Joel Junker

2011 August Career Conference Results

We just completed the August 2011 Career Conference this week.  35 candidates and 15 spouses and support team members attended the conference, and all candidates have multiple companies pursuing them into the follow up process.  The candidates interviewed with an average of 12.9 companies and averaged 8.3 companies pursuing them for a 64% pursuit rate, resulting in a slightly higher pursuit rate than recent conferences.  The entire Cameron-Brooks team congratulates the August conference candidates on their first step in their transition to Corporate America.

Upon completion of their last interviews, I spoke with several of the August candidates about what about skills and competencies companies were looking for.  The common themes in nearly all the interviews revolved around leadership, problem solving, process improvement, and project management.  The companies wanted to hear specific examples of a time they led a team to achieve a significant result, a time they managed a project, a time they improved a process, or when they led change in an organization.

The candidate feedback validated what I recently read in the 2010 IBM Human Capital Study publication.  According to the study, HR executives stated that the ability to develop future leaders has the greatest impact on their organizations’ future success.  In fact, creative leadership was identified from this study as the top organizational need over the next five years.  When you hear the term creative leadership, do not confuse this as “leaders with good artistic ability”.  Rather, the term “creative” refers to those leaders who are able to challenge all elements of a business, who look for innovative ways to improve processes, drive efficiency, motivate teams, and cultivate or even reinvent relationships both internally and externally.  Despite the current turmoil in the stock market and the S&P downgrade of theUnited States’ credit rating, our client companies recognize the urgent need for this type of dynamic leadership, and they continue to attend Cameron-Brooks Career Conferences in search of top leadership talent.

The size of the companies attending our August Career Conference varied from a company with 200+ employees to one with over 185,000 employees.  Several privately held and foreign-headquartered companies attended the Conference, as well as some of the largest companies on the Fortune 500 list.  We also had a number of new companies attend as we continue to diversify and expand our client company portfolio.  Industries included biopharmaceutical manufacturing, building materials, procurement, logistics, consumer products, telecommunications manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing, consulting/risk assurance, mining and construction, oil and gas exploration and production, engineered industrial products, industrial gas and delivery systems, and medical device.

Our client companies brought a wide variety of position titles to the Conference, including District Manager, Program Manager, Field Clinical Representative, Manufacturing Management, Manufacturing Engineer, Project Manager, Project Engineer, Commodity Buyer, Plant Manager, Product Marketing Engineer, Pricing Marketing Engineer, Area Manager, Commercial Procurement Manager, Clinical Sales Representative, Business Analyst, Operations Team Leader, Reliability Engineer, Management Associate, Mechanical Engineer, Program Quality Engineer, Field Consultant, Procurement Manager, and Six Sigma Black Belt.

The list of client companies at the August Conference included:

• The largestU.S.private-sector coal company with a business platform that serves energy needs on six continents.  Founded over 100 years ago and with an industry-leading reserve of coal, they produce, transport, and market a vast supply of coal to fuel the fastest growing markets in the world. These markets range from manufacturing plants inChina, to new electric generating stations inIndia, to power plants that provide electricity to fuel theU.S.economy.  They are a relatively new client to Cameron-Brooks and, due to their rapid growth, have attended our Conferences in search of top leadership talent to fill a wide variety of positions, such as Engineering Project Management, Business Analysis, and Management Associate roles.
• A Global Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s leading building products and materials companies based inDublin,Ireland. The company manufactures products that range from aggregates, to masonry products found in residential patios and landscaping, to the entire suite of products found in the exterior structure of commercial buildings. This was the company’s third consecutive Conference in an effort to find quality leadership for supervisory manager positions with the intent to develop them into General Managers responsible for running an entire operation (financial profit and loss, manufacturing, sales, safety, etc).
• One of the largest privately held companies in the world and an international brand leader in grocery retailing with more than 5,000 stores in Europe, theUnited States, andAustralia.  The company opened its first store over 60 years ago and pioneered the limited assortment grocery industry. Their business model centers around providing customers high quality, cost-effective consumables that are purchased on a regular basis.  The company runs very efficient operations focused on cutting unnecessary expenses in an effort to provide the absolute best prices to its customers.  While they are headquartered in Europe, theUnited Statesmarket is the growth engine for this company; the significant growth plans in theU.S.provide great opportunities for JMOs.
• An innovator and leader in the semiconductor business with over 20 years of experience providing customers with specialized chip design and manufacturing expertise, continuous innovation, and superior product performance.  From the Adidas Intelligent shoe to the Apple iPod, this company’s semiconductor solutions are at the heart of the largest growth and most innovative products, and are an integral part of any system designed for performance. End products include consumer electronics, cell phones, PDAs, telecommunications, automotive, industrial, instrumentation, and solar power.  This company has attended Cameron-Brooks Career Conferences in the past and uses Cameron-Brooks to find talented JMOs to grow into leadership roles as the company executes its business growth plans.
• The world’s largest family-owned winery with market share of approximately 30% of the domestic table-wine market in theUnited States.  Founded over 80 years ago, they operate five wineries and 15,000 acres of vineyards throughout northernCaliforniaand account for over 50% of every bottle of wine exported from theU.S.  This company has been a long standing client of Cameron-Brooks and attended the August Conference to find dynamic leadership they can invest in for the long term.
• A Global Fortune 10 company and leader in the exploration and production of natural oil and gas for over 100 years.  This company is best known for its supply of fuel and lubrication products at their 40,000+ local filling stations but they also explore and produce crude oil and natural gas, make chemicals, run refineries, transport natural and trade gas, and develop renewable energy sources such as wind power and biofuels.  They have been a long time client of Cameron-Brooks and attended the June conference in search of creative leadership & engineering talent.
• A world leader in the design and development of cardiovascular medical products.  This company’s devices help patients with heart disease return to active and productive lives and provide physicians with leading-edge technologies for improved patient management and clinical outcomes.  This company views Cameron-Brooks as a proven and trusted resource of talent; the many JMOs we have placed with them over the years are accomplishing great things in the industry..
• One of the world’s leading innovative technology companies that has a proud history of enriching people’s lives through research and technological innovation.  For over 150 years, this company has developed life-changing innovations including the glass for Edison’s light bulb, ultra-thin glass for active matrix liquid crystal displays (LCDs), ceramic substrates for diesel and automotive emissions control, and the first commercially viable, low-loss fiber for use in telecommunications.  This company is a long-time client of Cameron-Brooks and its various divisions regularly attend Conferences to find top leadership talent.

To learn more about the Cameron-Brooks Career Conference experience, I’ve posted several videos from candidates who attended the August conference on our Facebook.

Rob