Rachel Desai
Chicago,IL
Summary
Talent acquisition specialist with 3+ years of experience in full-cycle hiring across various professional functions and regulated industries. Expertise in developing organized pipelines that effectively engage candidates and streamline hiring processes. Proven ability to translate complex hiring needs into actionable strategies that enhance recruitment efficiency.
Overview
4
4
years of professional experience
Work History
Enrollment Operations Specialist
UniVisory
Chicago, IL
12.2025 - Current
- Manage end-to-end pipeline operations for 150+ early-career candidates per cycle in Lever and HubSpot, tracking candidate flow, HiredScoresupported screening, stage movement, and onboarding readiness from first contact through start.
- Map target segments and build prioritized prospect lists with recruiters and hiring managers, refining search inputs and recruitment content to improve candidate discovery and next-step decisions.
- Translate response rates, stage movement, and stalled follow-up into daily and weekly pipeline updates, giving teams earlier visibility into risks across active searches.
- Coordinate 12+ onboarding cohorts annually for 1,800+ candidates across global program tracks, keeping candidate handoffs, documentation, and readiness checks moving on schedule.
Engagement Specialist
Society of Actuaries Institute
Chicago, IL
05.2025 - 09.2025
- Segmented 500+ university, attendee, and partner contacts in Gem and Salesforce into priority tiers, informing school selection, event planning, and post-event handoffs across campus programs.
- Reactivated hundreds of dormant prospects through personalized email and Handshake campaigns, lifting cold-outreach conversion 30% and reengaging talent pools that had cooled.
- Lifted post-event follow-through 25% by assigning next steps, tracking engagement, and turning university and event leads into segmented outreach, CRM reminders, and follow-up.
- Partnered with marketing to create candidate-facing content, presentation materials, and event messaging that strengthened employer brand presence and improved candidate response across campus touchpoints.
Recruitment Specialist
Adler University
Chicago, IL
04.2024 - 10.2024
- Managed 30+ concurrent requisitions across 25+ academic programs in iCIMS and Workday, partnering with hiring managers to reprioritize urgent roles, adjust candidate follow-up, and keep searches moving as timelines shifted.
- Coordinated 70+ interview days annually across panels, speakers, and candidates, driving scheduling accuracy, timely feedback collection, and a smoother candidate experience across overlapping hiring cycles.
- Served as primary candidate contact throughout the interview process, handling confirmations, prep materials, scheduling changes, and post-interview communication with clear, on-brand follow-through.
- Standardized ATS auditing practices across requisition data, stage accuracy, and record hygiene, improving record accuracy by 20% and strengthening pipeline visibility for hiring manager review.
Associate Recruiter
Chamberlain University
Chicago, IL
09.2022 - 04.2024
- Drove full-cycle recruiting and onboarding for 250+ healthcare candidates per cycle in Greenhouse and Salesforce, sourcing through LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, job boards, and referrals while maintaining 100% record accuracy.
- Sustained a 90% offer-close rate by checking compensation alignment before finalists advanced, prompting hiring managers for timely decisions, and keeping candidates informed through approvals and next steps.
- Conducted 100+ structured screens, HireVue assessments, and information sessions per cycle across time zones, calibrating criteria with faculty, advisors, and hiring managers while communicating the employee value proposition.
- Reduced recruiting processing time by 30% by redesigning Greenhouse intake templates and SOPs, delivering cleaner records and repeatable workflows across hiring cycles.
Education
Bachelor's - Sociology
DePaul University
Chicago, ILSkills
- Full-Cycle Recruiting & Talent Acquisition
- Market Mapping & Pipeline Development
- Active & Passive Candidate Sourcing
- ATS Mining, Boolean, X-Ray & Social Search
- Candidate Screening & Interview Support
- Stakeholder Advisory & Alignment
- Requisition Intake & Job Posting Strategy
- Event Recruiting, Lead Capture & Follow-Up
- Candidate Experience & Feedback Tracking
- Offer Negotiation & Background Checks
- Compliance, ATS Documentation & Onboarding
- Recruiting Analytics, Dashboards & Reporting
- SOP Development & Workflow Optimization
- Microsoft 365 & Google Workspace
- Slack, Jira, Smartsheet, Wrike & Concur
Accomplishments
- Owned full-cycle recruitment for 250+ candidates per cycle, from intake and sourcing through offer coordination and onboarding, maintaining 100% data accuracy across ATS and CRM platforms.
- Reactivated hundreds of dormant and hard-to-reach prospects, increasing cold-outreach conversion 30% through segmented lists and personalized messaging tailored to candidate interests.
- Conducted 100+ candidate screens and interviews per cycle, managing structured hiring loops across departments and time zones in partnership with hiring managers.
- Closed 90% of offers on schedule by clarifying compensation early, aligning hiring managers on candidate priorities, and keeping finalists engaged through final decision points.
- Reduced recruitment processing time by 30% by standardizing intake, ATS templates, and outreach workflows into repeatable practices that scaled across hiring cycles.
Timeline
Enrollment Operations Specialist
UniVisory
12.2025 - Current
Engagement Specialist
Society of Actuaries Institute
05.2025 - 09.2025
Recruitment Specialist
Adler University
04.2024 - 10.2024
Associate Recruiter
Chamberlain University
09.2022 - 04.2024
Bachelor's - Sociology
DePaul University