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Interview with a Recruiter, Ben Madden, Ambit Group

Ben tell us about yourself and Ambit Group

I am the Director of HR with Ambit. I have been a full-time employee with them since September, 2011. Prior to that I was an HR consultant and provided support off and on for close to three years. As we are a small company, I have the responsibilities for recruiting along with various other aspects of HR.

Ambit is a Woman-owned, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business. We are a leading provider of management and IT consulting services, primarily serving the federal government. We specialize in IT Program and Project Management, Organizational and Capability Assessments, IT strategy and solutions, Change Management Methodology, IT governance, and communication management and execution. Ambit’s approach is unique; we marry strategic planning into daily operation and execution, and developing results that are measureable. We work within our client’s ambit – their sphere of influence – to produce cost savings, accelerated projects, and enable clients to improve how they manage their resources.

Why do I want to work for Ambit Group

We are a fast-growing company dedicated to our people and service to our clients and the community. We truly believe that commitment, passion and an eagerness to learn and try new things is as important as what you might have done in the past. We are a collaborative team that ignites creativity and rewards innovative thinking. Since we are a growing company, our staff has exposure and interaction with our executive team and have input in ensuring that Ambit is the best place to work for our team!

At what point in their transition should a service member start looking for a job with your company

We have had members of the military come to us in all “walks” of transition. Typically, we start to talk with service members who are in their terminal leave portion of their transition. Since our work is consulting based, service members cannot provide these types of services to the government until their leave is up.

What’s the best way for someone transitioning from the military to get a job with your company

As I said before, the commitment, passion and eagerness to learn is important to us. Our service members have innate skills that are able to transition from the military world to the civilian world easily, but it is a matter of needing to boast and brag about what they have done which is often something that isn’t stressed in the military.

Additionally, using their terminal leave to start gathering some of the critical skills and certifications – Project Management, ITIL, etc. – that we look for with many of our open positions.

What’s it like for transitioning military to work for your company

As a SDVOSB company, we strive to work with our service members as they transition to learn the major differences between the military world and the private sector. The majority of our leadership team are former service members who understand and love to mentor and explain the civilian work world to new service members.

We have started an orientation program for our transitioning service members to help acclimate and ease the switch to the civilian world.

Do you use search engines or social media to screen job seekers at any point in the hiring process

We use some Google and social media searches in the process. We mostly use it for due diligence to ensure that there is nothing that would cause any issues with regards to compliance.

Tell us about the hiring process with your company

Typically we go through 2-3 interviews. A cultural fit screen with me or another member of our executive team, an interview with the hiring manager, and often an interview with another member of the team for that project.

Depending on the type of requisition – funded, for a bid etc. – it can lengthen or shorten the process.

With our offer letters, we do a criminal background check, and all of our offers are conditional on passing these.

What types of cleared positions do you fill

We have a few cleared contracts but are pursuing more in 2014. Our roles are typical to most of our projects: Project Managers, Analysts, IT professionals.

View all Ambit Group open positions on ClearedJobs.Net.

What type of certifications or training can you recommend for someone looking to get a job with your company

PMP, ITILv3, CISSP, Federal Acquisition Certification, Portfolio Management, EVM, CPIC are the certs we see more and more.

What are the toughest security cleared positions for you to fill and why

For us it certainly depends on the type of clearance. Agencies can have their own requirements that can slow down the process. DHS for example has specific clearance processes for FEMA, Customs and Border Patrol, etc.

What’s the craziest thing a job seeker has ever said to you

I have gotten life stories and more information than I have ever needed to know about them. I certainly understand that candidates are nervous and often will talk to fill the silence. Nothing really shocks me a whole lot after 10+ years in HR.

What’s the most inappropriate thing you’ve seen on a resume

I still see e-mail addresses that aren’t appropriate despite the fact that this has been mentioned in almost EVERY blog post or story about how to find a job.