In addition, the University performs
high-level searches by committee, and that would add to the complexity of the task.
To have everyone agree on just one candidate would be difficult. BEST Group made the
search fast, easy and fun.
Joe Nolan, CSU Vice President of
Human Resources Development and Labor Relations selected BEST Group to perform the CIO
search. Having heard of BEST through a business colleague, Mr. Nolan was the
executive officer for the search and ultimately responsible that the CSU contract with
BEST was completely fulfilled. Mr. Nolan said, “BEST not only did the search,
but they had to work within the confines of a search committee as governed by the
University’s Affirmative Action Plan. All the candidates had to go to the
committee as well as BEST Group. And BEST was very familiar with the Affirmative
Action process.”
Regarding the quality of candidates
presented for the CIO role, Mr. Nolan said, “BEST definitely found excellent
candidates for us to meet and did excellent background and reference checks. Their
analyses on candidates’ strengths and weaknesses was excellent. And they
didn’t waste our time by presenting unqualified candidates just to present
candidates. On a personal level, our contact, Dave Schenk was a warm and
approachable person who clearly cares about his clients. He was terrific about being
available and following up on all the details of the search.”
As part of BEST Group’s
service, BEST wrote the job description; wrote and placed the position newspaper
advertisements; and located candidates through newspaper ads, networking, Internet
services and alternate resources. BEST then telephone interviewed over 200
candidates, interviewed over 50% of them in person and narrowed the candidate pool down to
45. Each of those 45 candidates was presented on paper to the search committee.
Of the 45 initial candidates, BEST
Group provided a resume for each candidate all in the same format and a spread sheet
listing each candidate’s name along with if a letter of interest for the position had
been submitted, if they possessed the minimum qualifications, if BEST Group recommended
them, and a comments field so they could be tracked. Candidates were tracked because
through time, some had withdrawn from consideration during the process and some were
eliminated from consideration. The candidate selection was narrowed down to about 10
candidates for the search committee to interview.
BEST arranged three-hour meetings
with those 10 candidates and the search committee interviewed them as a group. BEST
Group then created a day-long interview agenda for the four finalists. Each of the
finalists spent a day on campus with a variety of University personnel including the
Search Committee, the University’s President, the University’s Senior Staff,
IS&T Management, HR and Finance Staff, Student System Support Staff, the Academic
Council and the Computational Services Committee. In the mean time, BEST performed
detailed reference and background checks on each of the four finalists.
After the day-long meetings, BEST
and the search committee met to evaluate the four finalists and rank the candidates.
David L. Schenk, BEST Group President said, “The comparison and evaluation of each
candidate was done on an apples-to-apples basis. BEST provided each search committee
member with an interview notes form, suggested-interview questions and additional
information and ideas. This provided for a uniform interview and evaluation process
that was done in a similar manner by all eight members of the search committee. Each
of the eight committee members had the same information about each candidate, so they had
the same criteria by which to evaluate and consider each person’s talents and
personality. It would have been futile to have the committee members get together
after the interviews and have had completely different experiences even though they were
all at the same meeting.” In closing, Mr. Schenk said, “BEST Group did all
the work for Cleveland State, all the committee had to do was show up for the interviews
and meetings.” The search committee included people from all aspects of the
university including a search committee chairperson, professors, an assistant provost,
directors and an IT department professional.
Mike Droney, Cleveland State
University’s new CIO started four months after the initial search began. He
said, “My experience with BEST Group was professional, efficient and they worked hard
to accommodate my individual schedule and needs. The CIO evaluation process involved
over 35 different University staff members of different backgrounds and
responsibilities. BEST spent the time and had the research compiled about the
University, the CIO position and the interviewing committee members that made the
preparation and decision process easier. Everyone’s time is valuable these
days, I respect a firm that recognizes and performs quality work.”
In the end, BEST Group can make most
any organization’s search for an IT professional swift, easy and enjoyable.
Cleveland State got a top-notch, IT executive, and all they had to do was show up for the
meetings.
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