(0:17) Rob introduces Ken Hicks, Founder of Broadwing. (1:17) Ken shares a bit about his journey from the Marine Corps to Broadwing, which was inspired by a desire to interact with others while having freedom from rigid regulations. (5:24) Rob comments on how the freedom from rigid regulations must have been an influence in choosing to recruit in the tech space in comparison to another industry like healthcare. (5:50) Ken jokes about how tech recruiters have become unobtanium over the last few years, but it wasn’t always like that. (6:38) Pat asks Ken for specific examples of how tech recruiting has changed in 2022. (7:06) Ken discusses that culture is changing for everyone in the tech space, companies are having to adapt to attract talent. Those companies still have projects that they need to get done and right now they are having to positively improve to find great tech talent because talented people have plenty of options in the current market. (9:00) Pat asks Ken what advice he would give to those in the CMU community who are just getting into their career. (9:11) Ken comments that talent is winning right now, and if you have that you’ll be able to find a job. But those who can differentiate themselves by presenting their skillset in an unscripted conversation are excelling. The market has changed and you’re doing good if you can keep a person in the same position for 2-3 years. After 18 months in a role, most of your employees start getting bombarded by recruiting companies looking to pull them into another position. (11:30) Pat asks what Ken is listening to and reading. (11:39) Ken shares that he has been trying to listen to more pods in his space, but has been a long-time listener of Gary V. From a reading perspective he focuses on LinkedIn’s trending topics as they tend to be focused on what’s going on in the professional world. (15:37) The power of the CMU and Pittsburgh community is that we’re all about helping each other grow. Tell our listeners what they can do to help you. Ken shares that they really enjoy helping those in the local community and beyond grow their careers so they offer free help in shaping resumes and preparing you for your interviews.

Pat O’Donnell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-o-donnell-78993267

Rob Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-miller-b4177b82/

Ken Hicks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenyan-hicks-48263774/