Leading Bay Area Executive Gives Advice To New Jobs Seekers
Although some economists say overall job growth has slowed in California, certain industries such as technology and health care will continue to lead the economic recovery in the San Francisco Bay Area.
One of the leading recruiting firms in the Bay Area for contract, administrative, sales and tech jobs is Premier Staffing. Based in San Francisco and led by founder-CEO Sara Menke, the company has received a number of peer review distinctions, including Inc. 5000 Best Companies, Bay Area's Top 100 Women-Owned Companies and Bay Area's Top 100 Fastest-Growing Companies.
Since founding Premier Staffing in 1998, Menke has become one of the most successful businesswomen in the Bay Area, and was a recent finalist for Women Entrepreneur of the Year. With her expert leadership and business acumen, she foresees continued strength in the local job market for tech jobs, primarily in sales and development.
What is your background and what types of services do you provide?
"I am the CEO of Premier and founded the company in 1998. We provide two types of staffing services: contract/temporary and direct-hire. And we have three areas of emphasis: administrative, which encompasses admin, HR, operations, finance and marketing; sales, which encompasses technology and traditional sales positions, entry to the exec level; and technology, which also encompasses project and product management and sales engineers."
What types of jobs do you see with the strongest growth next year in the Bay Area?
"Technology sales and development."
What advice can you offer to new job seekers?
"Highlight your greatest strengths, those innate qualities that really set you apart from the rest. Companies want to hire people who are hardworking, intuitive, who possess forethought and have the ability to make decisions. They want people who understand how their role contributes to revenue generation, people who are respectful and can communicate. They want to hire those who are solutions-oriented and idea generators. They do care about skills but often are willing to train skills if the candidate has the innate qualities that guarantee success."
Randy Yagi is a freelance writer covering all things San Francisco. In 2012, he was awarded a Media Fellowship from Stanford University. His work can be found on Examiner.com Examiner.com.
