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Interview with a Recruiter, Corey Eveler, Sequoia Holdings

Corey Eveler, Technical Recruiter with Sequoia Holdings has a very different approach to recruiting in the cleared community. That’s because he’s recruiting individuals with polygraphs in a very low unemployment rate environment.

His strategy is to build a bench of qualified candidates with contingent offers and then be first to the ball when a client has an open position. It’s a twist on a traditional recruiting strategy, but one that works very well for a small and nimble company. While many contractors provide contingent offers waiting on contracts to be awarded, Sequoia provides contingent offers awaiting open positions for contracts they already hold. At the beginning of the year Sequoia had 50 employees, and in less than 2 months they have over 60 on staff.

Corey has been recruiting for nearly nine years after serving in the Army and falling into recruiting with a small IT firm. That was a happy occurrence for his father, who is also a recruiter and always wanted his son to follow in his footsteps.

Why Do I Want to Work for Sequoia

The folks we recruit don’t lack for work or opportunities. They’re sought after and what often influences their decision is company culture and benefits. Our benefits are very robust because we’re an employee-owned company. Some of our benefits that are outside the norm include:

• 10% 401k contribution
• $10k employee referral bonus, plus an extra $10k for your third referral
• Government shutdown protection
• Fully paid health, dental and vision coverage
• Robust wellness and training support

We take care of our employees, nurture them, and assist them in their growth. If we do that, the company grows. If an employee obtains a cert or additional knowledge on new technology, that makes them more marketable on other contracts.

Our senior management cares about what their employees are doing and feeling and how they view the organization.

Explain Just What Employee-Owned Means for an Employee

When someone joins the Sequoia team, they receive stock/shares of the company. Additionally, when it comes time for annual raises, our employees are given options to either receive a monetary increase, or a combination of a raise and stock, or just stock.

How Are Your Contingent Offers Different

Our offers are contingent on the customer accepting the individual vs being contingent on a contract award. That’s an important distinction, and they are non-binding. It’s a combination of recruiting and headhunting at the same time.

While it’s a contingent offer, it’s signed for x salary amount. If we subsequently present someone with a role that has more robust responsibilities or shift work, we’re open to a renegotiation of that number before submitting them to the customer for a role. They’re not locked in.

What Do You See Cleared Professionals Doing Well that You Applaud

One thing I appreciate is when people are open to having conversations about possibilities. The folks with polygraphs that we recruit often receive hundreds of emails a day from recruiters who are trying to talk to them. It can be overwhelming.

What I applaud are those who are open to a discussion. I’ve had many people review our benefits and want to talk. I recommend you take the time to research the companies reaching out to you, so you don’t miss an opportunity with a great organization. You may randomly respond to one email or inquiry from a company that doesn’t have a great culture or benefits. Then you miss out.

Invest the time to research people and companies that are reaching out to you, so you can be sure you’re not missing out on opportunities for career advancement.

What’s a Job Search Tip for the Cleared Community

Please pay attention to clearance requirements. Spend more time on the front end reading position requirements. You’re wasting your time if you don’t, because our contracts (and most contracts in the cleared community), don’t allow for upping someone’s clearance or getting them a polygraph.

I’ve been a job seeker and I understand wanting to apply to as many postings as you can. It’s very time consuming to look at positions and read requirements, but then you’re not applying for positions you have no chance of obtaining. You’ll have more time to devote to applying for positions that match your skills and clearance level. In the end that’s a better strategy, and a better use of your time.