America Back to Work: Hilani Ellis, Exceptional Admins

Why Finding the Right Candidate Is Worth the Investment

In this week’s America Back to Work, host Arnette Heintze talks with Hilani Ellis, the founder of Exceptional Admins, a specialty placement and consulting firm that recruits and matches top administrative professionals with like-minded executives.

Key Takeaways

  • The administrative profession has evolved, with admins now serving as strategic business partners, but comprehension of their role is often delayed.
  • Remote work options for administrative professionals have increased since the pandemic, with about 60% of job listings offering remote opportunities.
  • When recruiting exceptional administrative team members, it’s crucial to understand the role’s unique dynamics, the executive’s pain points, and the personality fit within the company.
  • Industry-specific experience is beneficial but not always a hard requirement. Being open to candidates with fresh perspectives from other industries can bring new ideas and value.
  • Companies can attract candidates with specific skill sets by creating detailed and engaging job descriptions highlighting the role’s scope and key pain points.
  • HR teams can stay aligned with their talent brand by monitoring LinkedIn trends and hashtags, focusing on hot topics like career pathing, learning, and development.
  • Simple learning and development initiatives, such as lunch and learn sessions featuring TED Talks, can boost employee engagement and team building.
  • Email composure during the hiring process can be a telltale sign of a candidate’s attentiveness, preparedness, and executive composure, helping to identify potential risk hires.

America Back to Work: Watch the Video Now

America Back to Work: Listen to the Podcast Now

About America Back to Work

Subscribe to America Back to Work in your favorite podcast player so you don’t miss an episode. You can do that by clicking here.

S2Verify is one of the leading, privately held, pre-employment background screening companies in the United States. 

Arnette Heintze is co-founder and chief strategy officer at S2Verify. Before establishing S2Verify, Arnette spent more than three decades working at the highest levels of federal, state, and local law enforcement. 

He served more than 20 years in the United States Secret Service as a special agent and senior executive,—oØ where he planned, designed, and implemented security strategies to protect U.S. Presidents, world leaders, events of national significance, and our nation’s most sensitive assets, including financial infrastructure.  

After retiring from the Secret Service, Arnette focused on building the growth and performance of innovative start-ups and SMBs. In 2004, he established Hillard Heintze, a globally recognized strategic security risk management and investigations firm.

In 2009, along with Bill Whitford and Jim Zimbardi, Arnette established S2 Verify with an approach and methodology that delivers fast, accurate, compliant, and affordable background screening insights crucial to better managing insider risks, threats, and vulnerabilities.  

Subscribe to America Back to Work

Join America Back to Work, a weekly podcast, video, and blog series that covers timely and relevant topics affecting the labor market and workforce with industry experts. The series includes recruiting, hiring, retention, employee satisfaction, customer service, background screenings, and more.