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In a world where workplace gender gaps persist, it is heartening to see women not just joining in, but stepping up to lead in certain sectors. One of these sectors? Talent acquisition.
A 2023 LinkedIn study that analyzed about 600,000 profiles in talent acquisition fields highlighted the dominance women have in the recruitment and talent space. In healthcare, for example, women make up a significant 74% of TA leaders. Even more surprising is that in typically male-dominated sectors like oil, gas and mining, women occupy roughly 52% of TA leadership roles.
Still, we know that disparities exist. A recent survey by RecruitmentMarketing.com and The Muse found that while there are more women in the workforce than ever before, we still have a ways to go before achieving gender equity at work and in the hiring process. The survey showed that 42% of women have encountered gender-biased or inappropriate questions during a job interview, and 41% have felt discriminated against during a job interview due to gender. In addition, 38% even said they hesitated to apply for a job based on perceived gender bias.
The need for rising female leaders is clear. That’s why in celebration of Women’s History Month, RecruitmentMarketing.com took the time to analyze internal hiring data and seek recommendations across the industry to highlight a list of superstar women making their mark in the talent acquisition space.
2024 Women to Watch in Talent Acquisition
Michelle Rawlins
Vice President of Recruitment Marketing Sales and Client Success at Nexxt.com
Michelle Rawlins, currently serving as the Vice President of Recruitment Marketing Sales and Client Success at Nexxt.com, leads a dynamic team dedicated to fostering robust partnerships with clients centered on understanding, education and expansion of their recruitment marketing strategies.
With over 15 years of experience in corporate recruitment marketing, Michelle’s passion, dedication and commitment to understanding and advancing the recruitment marketing space are evident. Her expertise lies in building national and localized marketing strategies and understanding return on investments.
Michelle’s strength lies in her ability to generate innovative ideas that revolutionize and refine strategies and programs related to the attraction, acquisition and development of top-tier talent. Her track record includes roles at renowned organizations such as Charles Schwab and Amazon, showcasing her builder mentality and leadership in the field.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What was your proudest moment in the industry? What have you done that you felt made an impact on the world of hiring or recruitment?
Rawlins: Hiring a million plus at Amazon in a year, then being able to learn and do it again a second year. Having the opportunity to impact over one million lives and careers in a single year was truly rewarding. I’ve made connections to a lot of job seekers through direct sourcing, marketing of jobs, career advice giving, or as a recruiter, and have stayed in touch with many of those I met. The connection we can make with people and the impact on their lives to me is huge. Even when you have to decline them from a job they wanted, the way you treat people, communicate with them, the experience you create – that impact is lasting.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: How do you envision the future of talent acquisition evolving in the next 5-10 years?
Rawlins: Looking ahead, my vision is that we will leverage technological advancements while maintaining the human touch in the recruitment process, focusing on personalized candidate experiences and long-term candidate journeys. I envision a future where the talent acquisition landscape becomes increasingly data-driven, with a focus on gathering more comprehensive and insightful data to inform decision-making. In this evolving landscape, I see opportunities for companies to expand their talent strategies beyond traditional avenues such as job postings, social ads and other CPC/CPM strategies. Instead, creating partnerships and longer-term journeys for job seekers with educational institutions, whether that is colleges, trade schools, or even high schools, to develop programs aimed at addressing skill shortages. This shift towards longer-term planning will involve investing in training, upskilling and cultivating talent pipelines to meet future workforce needs.
Jessica Immel
Director of Talent Acquisition, Dominos
Jessica Immel (she/her) is the Director of Talent Acquisition for Ann Arbor, MI based Domino’s Pizza. Jessica has spent over 15 years focusing on recruitment and talent attraction strategies and building high performance teams responsible for recruiting at all levels globally. She holds her bachelors degree in Human Ecology from Michigan State University and additional HR certifications such as SPHR and CDR.
Jessica is a mother of 4 and her favorite pizza is thin crust pacific veggie.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What excites you most about working in the talent industry?
Immel: Being in talent acquisition, I’ve been able to connect with talented and passionate people from different backgrounds and industries, help them find their dream jobs, and watch them grow and succeed in their careers. I also love the impact my team and I have on an organization. I believe it’s the people and the culture that make a company successful, and it’s exciting to have a significant role in shaping that.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What was the best career advice you ever received?
Immel: Lean In. The more you understand a company’s or individual team’s culture, the better you can prepare someone looking at that opportunity for what life is like on the inside. The more you understand a business and it’s overarching business objectives, the better you are at helping leadership select the type of talent they need to meet those. Also, the more you lean in, the more connections you will make and the broader you will build your own network, which is so important in today’s hybrid world.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: How do you envision the future of talent acquisition evolving in the next 5-10 years?
Immel: I see AI playing a large role in enabling talent teams’ effectiveness in the next 5-10 years. I think the teams that can properly use it to maximize the human element of attracting the right talent to their business while also creating a sense of belonging within the selection process will come out on top.
Nicole Bartman
Global Recruitment Marketing & Sourcing Manager, Avis Budget Group
Nicole is a resourceful and driven professional; blending her talents in talent acquisition, recruitment marketing and team leadership with a mission-driven approach. With a proven track record, she crafts holistic talent acquisition strategies that build high-performing candidate pipelines and attract values-aligned talent at all levels, all while positioning organizations for success. Leading with drive and vision, Nicole aligns teams toward common goals using a top-down servant leadership approach.
Since 2022, she’s been the Global Recruitment Marketing & Sourcing Manager at Avis Budget Group, where she oversees a talented team, steering all aspects of talent acquisition marketing and sourcing operations. Under her leadership, the talent acquisition pipeline has flourished, with significant improvements in engagement rates for job candidates.
Before her Avis adventure, Nicole made waves at the American Red Cross, wearing many hats from Recruitment Marketing Project Manager to Executive Director. Her strategic direction and leadership ability led to impressive fill rates, streamlined recruitment processes and impactful programmatic activities across 61 counties.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What excites you most about working in the talent industry?
Bartman: The talent industry is like a lively dance floor, always moving and changing. What gets me pumped about working in this field is the chance to make a tangible impact on people’s lives by connecting them with meaningful career opportunities. Additionally, I thrive on the challenge of staying ahead of industry trends, adapting strategies to meet changing demands and ultimately driving organizational success through the acquisition of top talent.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What was the best career advice you ever received?
Bartman: The most valuable career advice I’ve received is to embrace challenges head-on and seize opportunities that others may shy away from. Whether it’s tackling the toughest roles or diving into operations that are in disarray, these experiences push us to grow and reveal our true capabilities. Additionally, by taking on these challenges, you also get to showcase your skills and abilities in a way that positions you for future success. Following my husband’s wisdom, I’ve learned to approach daunting tasks with determination, understanding that confronting them directly is the best path to personal and professional development. After all, as he often reminds me, “you can’t fall out of a basement window.”
Brianna Rooney
Founder & CEO TalentPerch and Thriversity
Brianna Rooney is a serial entrepreneur and an influential figure in the world of recruiting with a successful exit under her belt. She is the founder and CEO of TalentPerch, Thriversity, The Millionaire Recruiter & YouTube channel, and Techees. Her exhilarating passion, strategic vision and commitment to excellence have propelled her businesses to unparalleled heights, which resulted in the Techees team being acquired by Affirm in 2021.
As a respected industry leader, Brianna continues to inspire and empower others through the podcast she co-hosts, Talent Takeover Unfiltered. Her mission has always been to change the way the world views recruiting and make sustainable hiring a standard.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What excites you most about working in the talent industry?
Rooney: I love how quickly the talent industry changes. Once you think you have a handle, a trend will change and the market will shift. I think this industry is so broken, that there are endless opportunities to showcase your creative problem-solving skills. Even more exciting is that every problem you solve is focused on doing right by people.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What does your talent technology stack look like? What is the tech solution that makes your job more impactful?
Rooney: I use technology as much as it makes sense without getting lost in it all. I constantly try new things to make sure I’m always pushing the limits. I use GetCovey, ChatGPT, Grammarly, Calendly, Loom, Canva, Read.ai, Vizard, Veed.io, Paletter, LinkedIn Recruiter, Slack and Crunchbase.
Jenn Tardy
CEO, Jenn Tardy Consulting
Jenn Tardy, founder and CEO of Jennifer Tardy Consulting, specializes in diversity recruiting, employee retention and career coaching. With 14+ years of experience, she has collaborated with top organizations like SHRM and Harvard University. A 2020 LinkedIn Top Voice, Jenn is now on a mission to universalize Lived Experience Intelligence™ and normalize diversity recruiting.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What was the best career advice you ever received?
Tardy: In order to be successful in your role, you must also be positioned for success. Being positioned for success means ensuring that you have the right level of access, insight and authority that you need to carry out that which is being asked of you. If you do not, no matter how hard you work, your job will likely be an uphill struggle for success.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What was the proudest moment in your professional journey? What have you done that you felt made an impact on the world of hiring or recruitment?
Tardy: So far, being recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice for Career Professionals. The many years of work that we’ve done at Jennifer Tardy Consulting to coach and support job seekers to gain access to great careers, get promotions, pay increases, etc. The work we do has a direct impact on the lives of so many people and I love hearing their success stories.
Mona Tawakali
Chief Strategy Officer, Recruitics
With over 15 years of experience in Fortune 1000 recruitment marketing, Mona is an esteemed industry leader in data-driven solutions. Passionate about leveraging data to tackle intricate talent attraction challenges, Mona founded the award-winning programmatic media solution, PPC Portfolio Manager™, at KRT Marketing (now part of Recruitics).
Recognized as a finalist for DMN’s “Woman to Watch” and Innovator of the Year, Mona’s expertise extends to strategic contributions to LinkedIn’s Innovation Council. She’s a dedicated advocate for women in talent acquisition technology, serving as an early member of Women in TAtech and a board member for TATech. As Chief Strategy Officer at Recruitics, Mona continues to drive innovation and excellence in recruitment marketing.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What was the best career advice you ever received?
Tawakali: I keep a card from my mother on my desk that I glance at daily. It reads, ‘The lucky ones don’t always have the best of everything, but they make the best of everything they have.’
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What was your proudest moment in the industry? What have you done that you felt made an impact on the world of hiring or recruitment?
Tawakali: One of the proudest moments in my career was spearheading an initiative during COVID, mobilizing 1,000,000 individuals to deliver groceries with Instacart as an essential service and additionally, partnering with Nike to craft an Impact Sourcing Strategy to create career pathways for underrepresented groups disproportionately affected by COVID-related layoffs.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What is a tech solution that makes your job more impactful?
Tawakali: In 2023, we witnessed significant market shifts that have profoundly impacted our work with the availability of Generative AI. Generative AI unlocks so much productivity. One of the most significant impacts of modern AI is data accessibility for us, our clients, all of TA and the world.
Summer Delaney
CEO & Founder at CollabWORK
Summer Delaney is the founder and CEO of CollabWORK, the first community-powered hiring platform connecting companies to referral-based and underrepresented talent pools at scale. Integrated with 40+ Applicant Tracking Systems, CollabWORK effortlessly distribute roles across 50+ professional communities on platforms like Slack, Discord, email listservs and others to decrease sourcing time by 66%.
Summer is also an award-winning journalist, content strategist and member of the creator community. Over the past decade, Summer has grown digital communities and produced award-winning content at CNN, Yahoo News with Katie Couric, CBS Interactive and Tribune Media where her videos have received over 500 million views. She has also worked as a consultant and a program manager at Amazon Studios, News Corp, Protégé and Wilde.
Outside of work, Summer sits on the executive board of Dancing Dreams. She received her BS from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and her MBA from Columbia Business School. A proud native of Washington, D.C. and Maryland, she now lives in New York City.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What does your talent technology stack look like? What is the tech solution that makes your job more impactful?
Delaney: CollabWORK’s technology stack encompasses a range of tools and platforms tailored to optimize to reach the “Hidden Job Market” – niche newsletters, Slack communities, Discord servers and other platform. At its core, CollabWORK leverages AI and machine learning algorithms to automate sourcing processes, identify top talent communities based on relevant job descriptions, and match and distribute those job opportunities to hyper relevant networks. This AI-driven approach enables CollabWORK to efficiently sift through vast candidate pools, uncovering hidden gems that traditional methods might overlook. We use AI to automate mundane tasks while still allowing TA teams and sources the ability to review top candidates.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: Looking ahead, what do you envision as the most significant challenges and opportunities in talent acquisition, and how do you plan to address them in your role?
Delaney: I am excited about new technology that will allow TA teams to automate manual and mundane tasks so they can focus on bring the “human” back in “Human Resources.” I am encouraged about local and national AI bias laws to ensure that recruiting remains equitable, and am excited about the education and resources that will come to the space to further empower practitioners to hire great candidates.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: How do you envision the future of talent acquisition evolving in the next 5-10 years?
Delaney: I am excited about the explosion of niche talent communities that are going to continue to grow. I believe that companies will continue to invest in partnerships with these groups to find passive, qualified and more diverse talent from the networks the trust while also empowering individuals to have direct access to hiring managers and teams.
Haley ONeill
Talent Acquisition Partner at Aescape
Haley is a seasoned talent acquisition professional with a decade of experience, resides just outside of Philadelphia. Graduating from the College of Charleston with a degree in Organizational Leadership and Management, she laid the foundation for her career in shaping talent strategies. Throughout her journey, Haley has honed her skills as a trusted talent advisor, adept at navigating the dynamic landscape of recruitment. Driven by her passion for connecting people with opportunities, Haley hopes to continue to make impactful contributions to the field of Talent Acquisition.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What was the best career advice you ever received?
ONeill: Build relationships. This simple advice has given me the opportunity to forge strong relationships with hiring managers and peers that are wrapped in trust and respect. It has given me the gift of connecting with industry peers and growing my network, personally and professionally. It has also opened the door to new experiences and learnings throughout my career. I truly believe I got to where I am today thanks to these wise words.
RecruitmentMarketing.com: What was the proudest moment in your professional journey?
ONeill: While working for a wellness company a few years back, I was tasked with building out a global recruitment strategy for a brand new department with roles that we had not had at this company before. Seeing my hard work and my vision come to life and watching the positive impact it had on the business was a pivotal moment in my career.
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