In this edition of our “In the Limelight” series, meet Brian Fesmire—a Senior Talent Acquisition Advisor at Broadleaf. Brian leads a team of eight recruiters who are focused on a large recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) account focused on IT positions. His customer-first mentality and ability to adapt to changing conditions have allowed him to thrive in his role.

Small town roots

I grew up in Sanborn, NY, and now live a whole 15 minutes away in Lewiston—which is located along the Niagara River on the Canadian border. I graduated from the State University of New York College at Buffalo—Buffalo State—with a degree in computer information systems.

Help from a competitor

After graduating, I found a job through an employment agency in Buffalo—one of Acara’s (at the time Superior Group’s) competitors—doing IT-related work. The experience I gained in that position helped me land my second IT role at a company I was with for eight years. I left the IT industry briefly and tried my hand at kitchen contracting and being a musician. Working in the IT industry provided me with a comfort level interacting with technical-minded people and introduced me to the various positions within the industry— which has benefited me throughout my career.

Starting in staffing

When I was ready to rejoin the corporate world, I reached out to the same employment agency I had worked with previously and was placed in an IT recruiting position at an organization that went out of business six years later. I was responsible for full lifecycle recruiting and account management for direct-hire, contract-to-perm, and contract IT positions. I then briefly worked as a talent acquisition partner for a company headquartered in India. When I was ready for a new challenge, I contacted a colleague that I knew from a past position—who was working as a Broadleaf recruiter at the time—to inquire about the organization and open positions. In November of 2018, I joined Broadleaf as a Senior Talent Acquisition Advisor.

The Broadleaf experience

In my current role— as Senior Talent Acquisition Advisor—I oversee up to eight recruiters. I love my team and truly enjoy working with them. A big part of what I do each day requires that I get into the weeds by helping them with sourcing strategies, outreach templates, and identifying different approaches for better candidate engagement. I also serve as the primary point of contact for my clients—using insights from our team to identify market trends and opportunities for improvements in their hiring process.  No day is ever the same so thankfully I don’t get flustered easily. I relish problem-solving and there’s always a challenge and something new to learn and work through. I’m very detailed oriented which comes in handy when analyzing recruiting metrics and managing performance. During my over three years at Broadleaf, I have supported six large client accounts.

Broadleaf’s leadership team takes an interest in their employee’s career development and works to promote from within. As the workforce solutions industry witnesses constant change, Broadleaf is always leading the way by shifting strategies to adapt to the needs of employers and job candidates. The organization invests in the tools and technology needed to ensure its employees are successful in their roles.

A look to the future

The talent acquisition and workforce solutions industries are witnessing a labor market never seen before. The way the world has viewed and approached work is transforming and the staffing industry is working to keep pace. Candidates are now in the driver’s seat—engineers are contacted daily by recruiters working for competitors. This has required us to examine and modify the way we approach recruiting and hiring. I believe we are going to start seeing pay transparency in job postings, more customized employee benefits, and a continued push for flexibility in remote work and a four-day workweek.

A true outdoorsman and family man

When I’m not working in our Williamsville corporate office or my at-home office, you will most likely find me outside. I like to hunt and fish—a lot! When it’s warm enough, my family loves spending the day out on the lake in our boat. My wife, daughter, and I all run and enjoy spending time training and racing together. My 15-year-old daughter has been on the varsity cross country team since 7^th grade—so we do a lot of training!  Someday I would like to take the time to drive across the United States to visit and explore all of the little towns.

To learn more about Brian Fesmire, connect with him on LinkedIn.

Interested in reading more about our Broadleaf team? Check out our blog for more of our “In the Limelight” series features!