Puja Venkataraman
San Jose,CA
Summary
Organized and dependable candidate successful at managing multiple priorities with a positive attitude. Willingness to take on added responsibilities to meet team goals.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
Talent Partner/Senior Recruiter
California People Search
06.2019 - Current
- Top biller (2022) till date attained billings of $380,000 year to date (exceeded 90% over target)
- Establish and partner with clients Hiring Managers to understand their business and recruitment needs and execute on sourcing, screening, and presenting of candidates to closing offer
- Operate as full cycle recruiter with business development, sourcing, account management responsibilities
- Worked on several requisitions ranging from executive hires to non-executive hires primarily within Start-up, financial services, banking, venture capital space with emphasis in Administrative, Operations, Finance, Accounting and Sales and Marketing, Human Resources
- Hired as advisor to CEO to work on special projects that includes revamping brand on social media and marketing presence and assist in tightening data integrity.
- Enhanced candidate pipeline by utilizing various sourcing strategies, including social media, networking events, and job postings
- Negotiated favorable compensation packages for new hires, ensuring company remained attractive employer of choice
- Conducted thorough candidate screenings, resulting in higher quality interviews and placements
- Provided exceptional support to candidates throughout interview process, leading to positive feedback and increased offer acceptance rates
- Increased diversity hiring initiatives through targeted outreach efforts and partnerships with professional organizations catering to underrepresented groups
Executive Recruiter
Riviera Partners
01.2019 - 07.2019
- Partnered and worked closely with the CEO in driving critical confidential executive searches internally for Riviera Partners as we are preparing for the next stage of growth and scale
- Managed and drove the sourcing and interviewing for the respective role's (C-level, VP and Director roles) process from start to close
- Talent Partner involved in change management, succession planning and staffing budgets in Riviera's current growth plans.
Executive Assistant to Co-founder/Managing Partner
Riviera Partners
11.2010 - 01.2019
- Managed day-to-day functions for the Managing Partner, Co-founder including scheduling, travel planning, expense report, project preparation, international and domestic travel, communications, reviews, budget planning, etc
- Assisted up to 4 executives at any given time for special projects as needed that consist of additional Partners, including our CEO
- Worked on scheduling and extensive coordination of a total of 13 searches at a time with multiple scheduling between clients and candidates
- Improved existing administrative operations and help define new administrative operational strategies to streamline, improve efficiency and workflow
- Coordinated and managed offsite events including Retained Partner Meetings, Board Meetings, Operations Committee meeting and numerous team activities
- Assisted in contract administration using Salesforce extensively.
Senior Recruiter
California People Search
02.2007 - 10.2010
- Collaborated with hiring managers and cofounders to forge best practices around: role definition, pipeline calibration, hiring prioritization, business strategy and candidate assessment
- Promoted from Recruiter to Senior Recruiter within 3 months of service
- Performed reference checks, negotiate job offers, and close hires for permanent, direct-hire and temp-to-hire positions
- Positions ranged from Marketing, Sales, Finance, HR, Technology, Legal, and Administration from industries such as Retail, Financial Services, Startups, Venture Capital to name a few
- Worked on both executive searches and mid-level to senior level hires
- Elected preferred search partner for Sequoia Capital's Administrative Practice working closely with the CFO and Human Capital Partner
- Served as the lead trainer and mentor for the group for a small team of recruiters
- Ranked Top biller for 3 years consecutively.
Human Resources Manager
Sheraton Hotel
01.2006 - 09.2006
- Oversaw and managed a hotel property with 200 employees that included employee relations, employment, staffing, performance management, training, and benefits
- Heavy involvement in career planning, performance management, employee relations coaching, rewards, and recognition programs
- Conducted new employee orientations introducing benefit plans and enrollment provision
- Led safety meetings and served as project leader for Post Injury Management project
- Managed and attended to daily department operations and participate in total management as a critical member of the hotel's management team.
Director of Front Office Operations
Sofitel Luxury Hotel
10.2004 - 11.2005
Human Resources Manager/Benefits & Training
Hyatt Rickey's
10.2003 - 10.2004
Director of Front Office Operations
Grand Hyatt
12.2002 - 10.2003
Front Office Manager
Hyatt Sainte Claire Hotel
05.2001 - 12.2002
Head of Internal Recruiting
Riviera Partners
11.2010 - 07.2019
- Led and developed project initiatives surrounding the candidate experience from pre-employment to post-employment with a focus to streamline processes
- Excellent PM skills to track and provide analysis on metric data
- Managed the full life cycle for a range of 10 - 30 full time roles at a given year managing entire recruiting process from initial outreach to close with an 85% offer acceptance rate
- Solely managed the entire recruiting process (full lifecycle) from sourcing to offer acceptance for all Engineering Teams, Product, Data Science, Recruiting and G&A roles in the US office
- Executed proven techniques in sourcing using LinkedIn, Boolean searches, social media, internet job boards and using other creative techniques to expand candidate pool
- Attended weekly meetings with our COO, VP Data Science, Managing Partner and VP of Engineering to discuss recruiting activity, metrics, and progress
- Designated advocate for the employee across these teams to make every new hire's experience seamless and welcoming and to ensure a positive employee cycle experience
- Managed and created a scalable enhancement of on-boarding, training, and development to offboarding of employees including exit interviews and provide recommendations based on the findings
- Processed new hires, adjustment change of status, pay changes, to terminations, and offboarding.
Education
Bachelor of Science - International Hospitality Management
Les Roches, Hotel Management School
SwitzerlandSkills
- DocuSign
- G Suite
- Microsoft Office Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel)
- Salesforce
- Skype
- Slack
- Zoom
Timeline
Talent Partner/Senior Recruiter
California People Search
06.2019 - Current
Executive Recruiter
Riviera Partners
01.2019 - 07.2019
Head of Internal Recruiting
Riviera Partners
11.2010 - 07.2019
Executive Assistant to Co-founder/Managing Partner
Riviera Partners
11.2010 - 01.2019
Senior Recruiter
California People Search
02.2007 - 10.2010
Human Resources Manager
Sheraton Hotel
01.2006 - 09.2006
Director of Front Office Operations
Sofitel Luxury Hotel
10.2004 - 11.2005
Human Resources Manager/Benefits & Training
Hyatt Rickey's
10.2003 - 10.2004
Director of Front Office Operations
Grand Hyatt
12.2002 - 10.2003
Front Office Manager
Hyatt Sainte Claire Hotel
05.2001 - 12.2002
Bachelor of Science - International Hospitality Management
Les Roches, Hotel Management School
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