Eric Putkonen

Current

Owner & Producer at Peek Productions (Sole Proprietorship)

Past

Temporary Recruiting and Outplacement Specialist at Administaff
Talent Acquisition Coordinator (Recruiter) at Christopher & Banks
Technology Recruiter at Simacor

IT Recruiter at Blue Cross Blue Shield
Assistant Recruiter at Bartz & Partners
IT Recruiter at ESP Systems Professionals
Account Manager at Masterson Personnel (Abby Blu)
Internet Recruiting Coordinator at Hayden Search Group
Auditor at TCF

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6 more...

Education

St. Cloud State University
Mesabi Community College
Eveleth-Gilbert High School

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Recommended

10 people have recommended Eric

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Human Resources

Websites

Eric Putkonen’s Summary

I began my career in the recruiting field in 1999 as an Internet Recruiting Coordinator, primarily sourcing accounting and finance professionals for an agency. I've been a recruiter since 2003, starting out at an IT recruiting agency, eventually going to the corporate side, and currently looking for a new corporate recruiting opportunites.

As the industry has been so slow, I have spun out my other skills into a new business venture - Peek Productions. I've been into photography since I was a kid, and some of my work has been in the Primavera Art Show. I got into videography later. I've been reviewing and studying marketing and recruiting videos for years...most are not that complicated and I could recreate them. So I thought this would be a good business venture, as I know online video will steadily become more common and it is a growing business segment.

Certifications:
Certified Performance-based Hiring Recruiter, The Adler Group
CIR (Certified Internet Recruiter), AIRS
Certified TV Producer, Lake Minnetonka Communications Commission

To invite me to connect, send the invite to eric underscore ( _ ) putkonen at yahoo dot com.

Eric Putkonen’s Specialties:

Technical/IT recruiting is my specialty, as well as using tools like social media, blogging, other Web 2.0 tools, and video.

Eric Putkonen’s Experience

Owner & Producer
Peek Productions (Sole Proprietorship)

(Sole Proprietorship; Online Media industry)

April 2009 — Present (4 months)

Over the years I have been looking at and studying recruiting and marketing videos for businesses. I see that it is the direction things are moving and one day will be mainstream for recruiting & marketing.

As the recruiting industry has been so slow, I am now using my recruiting & marketing skills, as well as my photography and video production skills, to spin out a new business.

I am offering professional, affordable video production services for online recruiting and marketing videos...satisfaction guaranteed. See my website for more information -

http://www.PeekProductionsVideo.com

Current projects:

Twin Cities Daily Planet
Emergency Foodshelf Network
Praxis Project
Cirkla

Examples: http://www.peekproductionsvideo.com/examples-of-work-from-recent-projects.html
Temporary Recruiting and Outplacement Specialist

Administaff

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; ASF; Human Resources industry)

July 2008 — October 2008 (4 months)

Short-term IT recruiting contract (60 days that went to 90 days).

Administaff is an HR outsourcing company. Basically, I was an offsite (virtual) corporate recruiter. Their client in Herndon, VA was hiring many IT professionals and I was contracted to help recruit during this wave of hiring. Later, I also recruited for other clients and other IT positions in New York, New Jersey, California, and Utah.
Talent Acquisition Coordinator (Recruiter)

Christopher & Banks

(Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; CBK; Retail industry)

March 2007 — May 2008 (1 year 3 months)

Responsible for all recruiting and staffing initiatives at Corporate headquarters. Key areas include Sourcing, Selection Tools and Assessments, Internal Application, Internship and Associate Referral Programs.

I have recruited primarily for Merchandising (Buyers), Technical Design, CAD, Planning & Allocations, Marketing, IT, E-Commerce, HR, Finance, Warehouse/Distribution Center, and Administrative.

• Filled 60+ positions in the corporate office (which had 235 employees when I left).
• Nearly 20% of those hired were directly recruited by me (I emailed or called them about the opportunity).
Technology Recruiter

Simacor

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

January 2007 — March 2007 (3 months)

IT Consulting firm with JDE and Oracle partnerships. I recruited for several IT contractors for our client's projects.
IT Recruiter

Blue Cross Blue Shield

(Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Insurance industry)

May 2006 — January 2007 (9 months)

Long-term contract through Kelly IT.

• Recruited in a high volume, full-lifecycle corporate technical recruiting environment.
• Responsible for up to 50 IT positions at one time – filled 90+ positions.
• Worked with hiring managers to clarify or write requirements and core competencies.
• Administrated/facilitated the hiring process – kept in contact with hiring managers to keep the process moving.
• Maximized use of current resources and introduced new free job sites to post IT jobs and source candidates.
Assistant Recruiter

Bartz & Partners

(Staffing and Recruiting industry)

January 2005 — April 2006 (1 year 4 months)

• Used my internet researching talents to find untapped resources for passive and active candidates
• Cold called candidates for open positions, updates, and networking for referrals
• Mass emailing program to update records and recruiting candidates for positions
• Posted ads on the internet and monitored Monster Board, Career Builder, and others
• Data-mined company websites and other online resources
• Data cleaning and standardization of our candidate database
• Worked independently every day from home
IT Recruiter

ESP Systems Professionals

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Computer Software industry)

October 2003 — January 2005 (1 year 4 months)

• Worked individually and as part of a team at this full-service IT recruiting firm
• Proficiency in marketing/sourcing techniques include: cold calling, networking & referrals, research, database searches, web mining, posting ads, etc.
• Interviewed candidates - in person or by phone. Exposed to Behavioral-based & Traditional interviewing, and uncovering motivations/drives.
• Demonstrated ability to present opportunities, and to profile the skill sets and motivations of prospective candidates.
• Worked with managers to define the positions' requirements and candidates sought in greater detail, in addition to using the job description.
• Established pipelines of candidates for recurring positions.
• Trained staff on advanced Boolean searches
Account Manager

Masterson Personnel (Abby Blu)

(Staffing and Recruiting industry)

November 2002 — August 2003 (10 months)

• Built relationships with companies in the Twin Cities area by servicing their office support employment needs
• Helped train new staff members that were hired after me
• Networked with professional associations and organizations
• Negotiated fees with clients and wrote proposals for companies issuing RFPs
• Sourced and interviewed candidates as needed – matching the candidate with our clients' needs
• Evaluated skills-testing software and administered existing skills tests and surveys as needed.
• Introduced new resources on the internet to co-workers for finding candidates and client information
Internet Recruiting Coordinator

Hayden Search Group

(Staffing and Recruiting industry)

June 1999 — November 2002 (3 years 6 months)

• Hired for my research/computer skills and to develop an internet recruiting function
• Sourced primarily candidates and secondarily job vacancies for accounting and finance
• Wrote all online advertisements and headed e-marketing, producing a 45 percent increase a year in hits on our website each year
• Acquired diversified experience fulfilling needs that arose and creating innovative solutions
• Cold called off of CPA lists & performed basic phone screening before passing candidates onto recruiters.
• Focused on customer service and built relationships, resulting in referrals through goodwill
• Trained coordinator hired after me and staff when I left
Auditor

TCF

(Public Company; 5001-10,000 employees; TCB; Banking industry)

June 1997 — February 1999 (1 year 9 months)

• Operational Auditing – included reviewing various departments’ policies and procedures, process analysis, testing for compliance, and suggesting improvements for efficiency and security
• Gained strong ability to interact with all levels of management within a company
• Conducted a training workshop on Excel and Word for department staff

Eric Putkonen’s Education

St. Cloud State University

B.S. , Business, major Accounting , 1994 — 1997

I often was confused for a Computer Science major as I spent so much time in the computer labs.

Activities and Societies:

Accounting Club, Tai Chi Boxing Club, Guk Sun Do Club, co-founder of the Web Design Club
Mesabi Community College

AA , pre-business , 1992 — 1994
Eveleth-Gilbert High School

Additional Information

Eric Putkonen’s Websites:

Eric Putkonen’s Interests:

Professional: producing corporate recruiting videos, corporate blogs, RSS feeds, Web 2.0, Marketing, and SEO/SEM. Personal: meditation, photography, writing, philosophy/spirituality - eastern and western, skype video calling, local community cable (took the video production classes at my local CC).

Eric Putkonen’s Groups:

Minnesota Technical Recruiters Network (MNTRN),
Twin Cities Human Resource Association (TCHRA),
AIRS Alumni - CIR

Networked Recruiter (34,197+ total network) 3rd Largest Recruiting and HR & 2nd Largest Agency Group
Linked:HR (#1 Human Resources Group)
LION™ Worn with Pride! [Choose wisely ... ] < BEWARE OF COUNTERFEITS >
Inbound Marketers - For Marketing Professionals
Technical Recruitment
ERE.net
Plaxo.com
OpenNetworker.com
AIRS Certified Internet Recruiters
Web 2.0
Employer branding
NetworkingPros
SHRM Networking Group
Recruiting Professionals Network
TopLinked.com (Open Networkers)
IT Recruiters
TalentBar: HR and Recruiter Network
Online Advertising Professionals
Minnesota Networking Group
Open Networkers
Tech Recruiters - 4000+ Members
Honest Recruiters
GroupLinked.com
LinkedMinnesota
H.R. Professionals
St Cloud State University Alumni
Twitter
Recruiter-Talk
Minnesota Recruiters
Online Lead Generation
BNI of Minnesota
Twin Cities Networking Group
MNTRN - Minnesota Technical Recruiters Network
Digital Marketing
USA Recruitment Professionals
InvitesWelcome.com (Open Networkers)
Openreq.com (Recruiters & Staffing Professionals)
Tweeple
Corporate Recruiters. #1 Group for Corporate Recruiters.
LION500.com (Open Networkers)
Web 2.0 - Web 3.0 for HRM
RecruitingBlogs.com Group
OPEN NETWORKERS!
Linkin Corporate Recruiters
Linkin IT Recruiters
Minnesota Small Business
MN Job Hunters
Thought Leadership Marketing Mastermind Group
Minnesota Small Business Network