Craig Chrest

Craig Chrest is a seasoned Talent Acquisition Manager with an impressive track record of success spanning over 30 years in the industry. He has held various roles, including V.P. Regional Sales, Senior Recruiter at Cap-Global Inc and JAB Recruitment, Senior Executive Search Consultant and Sr. Corporate Talent Acquisition Manager. His roles have included building candidate pipelines, relationship & engagement management, direct hire permanent placement, contract staffing, and corporate talent acquisition management. Mr. Chrest is also the founder of CORP Talent Acquisition & Client Engagement, a company specializing in Contract Staffing and Direct Hire. He is well-educated and holds a degree in Journalism with a major in Mass Communication and a minor in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a mini – MBA from the University of Dallas. Throughout his career, Mr. Chrest has been driven by his desire to give his best, which has earned him the respect of his peers. He has consistently been a top performer in every position he has held, always striving to deliver exceptional results for his clients. Due to his years of experience, Mr. Chrest has become an expert in several professional areas, including Human Behavior Patterns Related to Closing MPC Candidates and Biz Dev Opportunities, Creating Content Messaging, Email and Texting Campaigns, Closing High-End Passive Candidates the Phone and being an expert In Navigating to The Correct Decision Makers and Creating Buy-In Credibility.

What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?

I am an early morning person, starting with a cup of coffee. Then I open my laptop, emails, ATS applicant tracking systems (currently using Big Biller by top echelon), review my already planned day according to my activity list scheduled for the day. At about 8 am CST, I will make biz dev calls set up and will make cold calls. – typical activities until 11:30 am. I will catch up on emails from 11:45 am – 12:30 pm. Starting at 12:45 pm – I am making candidate calls for current job orders. Typically, last 15 – 20 minutes. Between calls I am researching businesses (oil & Gas energy) and connecting with more prospective candidates – professional and executive. Typically, routine until 6 pm and often later depending on candidates’ availability. The tools I use daily are LinkedIn Recruiter, ZoomInfo – sales, talent and engage.

How do you bring ideas to life?

When I am faced with conflict because I need a solution and often it requires creative ideas.

What’s one trend that excites you?

New types of jobs – not typical. Nuclear energy because it is safe, clean, and cheaper to produce. Honesty and integrity in our politics. Because have been a victim of fake internet content – transparency with our tech companies particularly social media.

What is one habit that helps you be productive?

Do it now! I have been a strong advocate of ways to reduce procrastination since early in my career. Listen more than talk – often will get you all details without having to argue or debate.

What advice would you give your younger self?

It should never be about the money – but make it about the journey toward peer respect.

Tell us something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on?

Global warming and our environment.

What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?

True happiness is making other people happy. If it feels good is likely the right thing to do – if you feel anxiety with what is in question is NOT likely the right thing to do. I believe every person can do the right thing when a difficult situation is at hand using this measurement.

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?

Reflect – today is a good day and think only of good. Remove myself from a negative situation and surround myself with good positive people.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?

Work harder and longer than anyone else. I believe – at the end of the day, most people are similar – something must be there to make you feel more confident. For me, I will determine the activities everyone else is doing, do that but do more. Doing a measurable number of activities more than everyone else. This type of preparation is a performance win guaranteed. It has never failed me.

What is one failure in your career,  how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?

I tried to hide from an online attack rather than standing up and fighting for what was right. I learned you cannot run from false content online because most people like to see bad things happen to others. As a small business owner, you must be aware you could be sued in a civil court for no other reason than to exploit money from you and your business. I have sued in civil court, and I have been sued in a civil court. Even after responding to the civil complaint that eliminated most of the line items listed in the lawsuit against me and my business, offered a settlement because the case was not likely to stand up in a court of law, I still had to pay money and the negative content not removed. At each point in the civil process each department had different people and they had requirements they needed to complete so they would be viewed as competent at their jobs and able to complete the task requirements so they could move the process to the next group in the process. After my legal team had numerous discussions about dropping the lawsuit because we had eliminated the critical line items on the original complaint with one of the opposing legal groups with task requirements in the legal process. They responded, “it does not matter to us at this point if it was right or wrong – our job is to move the process to the next step, and this is what we are going to do”. This is SOP for the federal government because it does not matter if it is right or if you are wrong – even when they request and agree to settle the lawsuit– they will ask for what will be perceived as getting the best possible outcome for what that group of people in the process have been assigned to do.

What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I don’t have an idea that is new – but I can take someone else’s idea and make it better. Within this environment I can create a process that will produce a measurable and predictable outcome. Whatever you do – you must conceive of the possibility, believe it can happen and you will achieve a result.

What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?

Most CRM software. SalesForce.com, Bull Horn and MS Dynamics

Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – book was written about the most successful people in America at the time. What they did and how they approached difficult situations. Positive mental attitude which is now called the “The Law of Attraction, is still the main focus of self-help content in this area. How you Vibrate and what you attract because of your vibrations.
Andrew Huberman – podcast – mostly health related issues. He can give me a perspective I can understand and relate to. Understanding how we are built provided great insight into health problems I see in myself and in general today.

What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?

Yellowstone Dutton Ranch series and Peaky Blinders.

Key learnings

• Nothing worthy happens without effort.
• Silence is best in most all conflicts.
• Your health is what you eat.
• Be the best at what you do – the money will follow.