GAPS Member Spotlight – Brian Swaney, CPC, CERS – Feb 2012

Brian Swaney, CPC, CERS

Fidelis Search

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/300202enuj

1. What is your role and how did you come to work in this field? I started out as a licensed Financial Advisor in a management training program for a national firm’s Atlanta office and I was recruited by Robert Half when they opened the Atlanta office in 1998.
2. Please tell us about your firm. Fidelis Search www.FidelisSearchllc.com   is a highly specialized financial recruiting firm that identifies and secures finance and accounting talent for clients on a permanent basis. Our organizational goal is to be the most highly respected firm in our field.
3. What do you like about Recruiting, Staffing, or Executive Search? I love the fact that as an industry we have the ability to assist people with one of the most important aspects of their life their career.  I also love the strategy side of our business.
4. What’s the best part of your work and why? I enjoy working with people and assisting them with a strategy for their search. Breaking it down into a process that we can implement and identifying the right opportunities for clients and candidates.
5. What is your strongest characteristic and how has it assisted you in your career? I think its faith and commitment. “Fidelis” means faithful in Latin.    In our field you must be able to add value and provide Expertise for your client. In order to faithfully deliver the best service Fidelis Search is committed to learning and adopting best practices and training on a daily basis. That is where GAPS come in to the picture.  GAPS is the best local resource available for gaining the knowledge that is required to become an expert.
6. What are you working on now? Fidelis Search’s Strategic planning for 2012. Also refining processes that can be replicated, as well as growing Fidelis Search.
7. Describe three lessons you have learned during your career? “Thoughts are things” from Think and Grow Rich. “To win friends take an honest and sincere interest in other people” How to Win Friends and Influence People, and “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today” Thomas Jefferson.
8. What is the biggest challenge in your work?   Time constraints.
9. What is your achievement that you are most proud of?   Catching a trophy Redfish in Charleston Carolina with my dad.
10. What leaders, thinkers or doers do you admire most? Danny Cahill
11. What major changes do you expect in our industry in the next 3 years?  I expect high growth.
12. Where did you receive your education? Rutgers University BA Economics
13. Where do you see yourself in five years? I hope to have made a strong enough contribution to the industry that Fidelis is ranked a top 20 Atlanta based firm.
14. What would be your advice to young people who want their careers and lives to have an impact?  Find a mentor who is passionate about your industry. Think first and ask lots of good questions.
15. Can you share a unique or fun fact about yourself? Dolphins love me.
16. What’s your favorite guilty pleasure? Dreamland’s ribs.
17. Can you tell us about your family? I believe that that my family gives me strength and my wife is a real life Angel as do my children. I am the third of 6 children of an Irish Catholic family.
18. What do you like to do in your free time? P90X, run, fresh & salt water fishing, little league baseball.
19. Why did you decide to join GAPS?  I decided to join for the Education and networking. I was looking for the best training and a very good friend of mine introduced me to Danny Cahill who was affiliated with GAPS.  I started attending because of the high quality of education and training. I enjoy affiliating with GAPS because the members are the finest that I have met in the industry.  The board exudes professionalism, and impacts the future of the industry.  I am a huge believer in education and credentialing.  The recruiting industry is very fragmented and unregulated in comparison to other fields.  GAPS facilitates state-of-the-art training, credentialing, and a legislative voice for our industry.  I am very appreciative of the leadership that has facilitated the continuity of the GAPS organization.
20. What is your best GAPS memory? It has to be boat ride on Lake Lanier during conventions. I absolutely love being on the water on a boat having a good time with friends.
21. Please describe your involvement with GAPS since you joined. I have been a member for 7+ years and attended the GAPS Annual Conference every year. Affiliation has facilitated some outstanding learning opportunities as well as friendships and client acquisitions.
22. How has GAPS helped you in your career pursuits? It has facilitated my earning both my CPC and CERS credentials. Affiliation has facilitated some outstanding learning opportunities as well as friendships and new client acquisitions.