Melinda M. Nielson

**** **** ****** ***** • Minneapolis, MN 55417 • 612-***-****• acpbrp@r.postjobfree.com

Summary

Passionate Recruiting and Sales Professional with over 15 years of proven success in IT, sales, recruitment,

and relationship/client management. Recognized for utilizing technical acumen to bridge the gap in talent

acquisition. Background includes full desk recruiting, candidate sourcing and qualifying, direct sales and

development, management, training, and achievements in growing and expanding market footprint.

Proven leadership success building teams, managing daily activities and mentoring team members.

Professional Experience

Wipfli LLP – Edina, Minnesota August 2012 – Present

A regional accounting and consulting firm with 33 office locations and 1500 associates, ranking among the

top 25 nationally.

Manager of Recruitment

• Oversee all recruiting activities which includes strategy, sourcing, selection, and onboarding

for all positions, both campus and experienced level, within Wipfli. (Approximately 200 new

associates hired each year.)

• Manage and provide development opportunities for a 4 member recruiting team. (Campus

Recruitment Manager, two Senior Recruitment Specialists, and an entry level Recruitment

Specialist.)

• Work collaboratively with business leaders to concretely link human resource goals to business

strategy, and as a business partner and adviser to senior /executive management.

• Source and identify talent via the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), associate referrals,

professional networking, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, CareerBuilder, Indeed, Glassdoor, and

other online career sites.

• Conduct interviews with prospective candidates and provide interview training and

guidance for firm associates and leaders with hiring responsibilities.

• Function in dual capacity as manager and recruiter, working 12-15 positions continually,

primarily in the areas of IT Consulting (Microsoft Dynamics), Application Development, Project

Management, as well as some Finance and Accounting positions.

• Manage recruiting team budget of $500K and establish business relationships with related

vendors, such as third party agencies and online recruiting sources, to stay abreast of current

trends and best practices in the marketplace.

• Serve as a liaison between field offices and the human capital team with regard to general

HR issues.

• Develop relevant metrics and provide open position/hiring reports to business leaders to

better evaluate the talent acquisition process.

• Automate processes, such as electronic signatures on pre-employment/onboarding

paperwork and online background screening process in order to increase recruiter

productivity and candidate experience.

vtrIT / VOLT – Mendota Heights, Minnesota February 2011 – August 2012

A subsidiary of Volt Workforce Solutions, which specializes in the placement of highly qualified IT professionals

across a wide range of industries.

Recruiting Manager / Business Development Manager

• Selected as one of the initial employees nationwide and first in the state to build vtrIT, a new

division of VOLT designed to service the retail IT market, focused primarily on highly skilled IT

resources in application development (.NET/Java, Business Analyst, Quality Assurance, Project

Management) and infrastructure management.

• Facilitated sales, recruiting and hiring efforts for IT customers’ contingent, contingent to hire,

project and direct placement positions.

• Managed and oversaw the current recruiting team and orchestrated a successful and

profitable operation.

• Sourced candidates, evaluated skill-sets, negotiated rates and placement fees, as well as

counseled candidates on salary negotiations/offer acceptance process.

Oracle - Minneapolis, Minnesota May 2010 – February 2011

Fortune 500 corporation specializing in developing computer hardware systems and enterprise software

solutions.

Application Sales Representative

• Assisted customers and prospects in identifying and leveraging CRM (Siebel, Oracle,

PeopleSoft) software solutions to achieve strategic objectives in their sales, marketing and

customer service areas.

• Led prospecting and sales into a defined set of accounts across a national territory.

• Developed and ran focused marketing campaigns to drive pipeline and revenue growth.

XO Communications - Minneapolis, Minnesota July 2009 – May 2010

Leading nationwide provider of advanced IP communications, managed network and IT infrastructure

services for business, large enterprise, and wholesale customers.

Major Account Executive

• Worked with regional and national customers to design voice and data networks including

MPLS networks, collocation facilities, and high bandwidth solutions.

• Generated and closed qualified sales opportunities by contacting prospective customers via

telephone, cold call on-premise visits, networking, lead generation, proposal submission, and

customer appointments.

• Prepared and presented proposals to respond to customer RFPs.

Robert Half Technology - Bloomington, Minnesota June 2004 – June 2009

A leading provider of technology resources for staffing engagements, both a project and full-time basis.

Recruiting Manager (2007-2009) - Division Director (2005-20007) - Account Executive (2004-2005)

• Managed consulting services and permanent placement needs throughout the local

marketplace.

• Led team of 5 (Recruiters & Account Executives) in daily RHT divisional activities, mentoring,

and training, while also performing individual Account Executive duties.

• Recruited for the full lifecycle of software development and all levels of infrastructure

management.

• Developed strategies to source, attract, recruit, and select high quality candidates against

defined criteria using computer databases, networking, internet resources, cold calls, career

fairs, and candidates' referrals.

• Established and maintained relationships proactively with local business clients to stay abreast

of current and future hiring and business needs.

• Utilized technical background to evaluate client needs and made recommendations

regarding the top consultants available to meet client requirements.

• Managed divisional production of 85 active billing consultants.

• Received “Reach for the Stars - President’s Club” award for leadership and achieving over

100% divisional growth achievement.

Accenture - Minneapolis, Minnesota July 1998 – June 2004

A global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company with more than 305,000

people serving clients in more than 120 countries.

Analyst (1998-1999) - Experienced Analyst (1999-2000) - Consultant (2000-2002) - Sr. Consultant

(2002-2004)

• Promoted 4 times in a span of 6 years.

• Managed 20 technologists and 3 team leads by overseeing day-to-day operations of

Technology Services department which consisted of Asset Management, Account

Management and Technology Support teams.

• Developed processes for change control and incident management using the ITIL

methodology to outsource a 10,000+ server data center environment.

Education

THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, Iowa City, Iowa

Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies; minor in Business

Technical Recruiting Tools

SilkRoad/Open Hire, Taleo, Bullhorn, Client VMS Tools, SharePoint, LinkedIn, Twitter, CareerBuilder, Sologig,

Monster, Dice

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