The Talent Bar

Yolanda Hawkes has spent more than 20 years building recruiting operations inside some of the most complex, high-volume environments in the country, from manufacturing and aviation to AWS, along with a side chapter advising professional athletes on career transitions. In this episode, she talks with Colleen about why curiosity and lifelong learning separate the best recruiters from the rest, how she approaches turnover as a root-cause problem rather than a "just hire better" problem, and why AI should give recruiters information, not make the decision for them. Yolanda also the advice she'd give her newly graduated self about networking long before you need anything from anyone.
 
Takeaways:
  • Curiosity is a hiring superpower. The recruiters Yolanda trusts most are genuinely curious about their candidates, their hiring leaders, and the business itself, and they treat staying current as part of the job, not an extra.
  • Fix turnover with root cause analysis, not finger-pointing. When turnover runs high, Yolanda pushes TA and HR to dig into whether the issue lives in the screening process or with a struggling supervisor instead of blaming each other.
  • Candidates are customers too. Yolanda's early years hiring taught her that even in high-volume, hard-to-fill roles, the people applying are customers of the business, and that shapes every interaction she has with them.
  • Let AI inform the decision, don't let it make the decision. Yolanda has used AI screening tools to bring efficiency to high-volume hiring, but she draws a hard line at letting a tool make the final call on a person.
  • Talent is a business lever, not an HR function. Whether it's staffing a plane crew or building a diversity pipeline from scratch, having the right people in place at the right time drives real business outcomes, and treating recruiting that way is how you earn a seat at the table. 


Quote of the Show:
  • "Talent is not an HR function, it's a business lever." - Yolanda Hawkes

Links:

Ways to Tune In:

Creators and Guests

Producer
Nicholas Korianski

What is The Talent Bar?

This is The Talent Bar. Join Colleen Gallagher for candid conversations with talent leaders as we explore the work that drives them, the lessons they've learned, and how they're helping people find careers they love. The show is sponsored by Lavalier, an interview intelligence platform built by Textio.

ROTR - Yolanda Hawkes
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[00:00:00] This is Recruiters on the Rise, and I'm Colleen Gallagher. Join me for candid conversations with talent leaders as we explore the work that drives them, the lessons they've learned, and how they're helping people find careers they love. This show is sponsored by Lavalier, an interview intelligence platform built by Textio.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of Recruiters on the Rise. I'm so excited to have our guest with us today. She has spent more than 20 years building recruiting operations inside of some of the biggest and most complex organizations in the country. She's hired thousands of people a year in manufacturing, built and led teams of 25 plus recruiters.

She also has, uh, a very interesting side chapter. Um, one of the more interesting ones we've had on the show in terms of advising professional athletes on career transitions out of sports. Most recently, she was leading talent acquisition in aviation, hiring frontline workers who keep planes moving, and she has a really strong [00:01:00] point of view on what it means to treat talent as a business lover and not an HR function.

She's the principal consultant at the Hawkeye Group. Yolanda Hawks, welcome to the show.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Hi, Colleen. Thank you

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Thank you.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Having me

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: So excited to, to chat with you today. So the thing I love to start off with is asking folks what is the one thing or one action that sets the best recruiters apart from the rest?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Hmm. asked myself that over the years. Um, and I think unfortunately I can't say one thing. I think it's two.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: we'll let you go with two. Yeah.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: I appreciate it. Um, the first being a natural level of curiosity. I just feel like you have to have that curiosity to want to know more about the candidates you work with, the leaders that you're supporting, and the business that you're a part of in order to be more successful than not. Um, the other I would say is also thinking about being a lifelong learner. Um, I think that partners with curiosity, but really you want to [00:02:00] learn as much as you can because most of us don't have a level of subject matter expertise in the work that we're recruiting. Um, so we have to learn in order to be able to support those leaders and those businesses that we are working for

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: And how do you think about that? You know, you've built teams, um, from scratch in terms of, you know, and scaling up to teams of more than 20 plus recruiters. Like, how do you look for that when you're hiring, um, for someone in that role?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Well, a lot of what I try and ask is understanding what they do to learn new things. What have they learned? Asking them questions about how they stay abreast of whatever it is that we're working on. So, um, trends in the work that we do as recruiters, um, but also if we're in a particular industry, um, what are they reading?

Where do they spend their time? Are they listening to podcasts or, um, do they subscribe to certain types of subject matter experts or [00:03:00] even, um, other industry organizations that can help them learn things that we need to know in order to help us source better? Maybe there's something that someone else has figured out as a best practice, and maybe we try and experiment with that

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Well, I want to lean in a little on your experience. A lot of what you've worked with is, um, you know, companies that have high volume hiring.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Yes

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: you've done that for manufacturing, aviation, and just opera- operationally intensive environments. Like what, what does that actually look like on a day-to-day basis?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Very intense. To say the least, it's very intense. Um, I think for me, what I realized is that you have to start with the end in mind. Um, understanding what it is that we need to get as far as how many head count we have to have in order to operate, and then working our way backwards to figure out what that funnel needs to look like. Um, looking at [00:04:00] data trends to say what's happening in the funnel. Because a lot of times in that type of work, you're talking about lower skilled individuals, so you may not be able to say, "We're going to go to a particular school or training program to find those individuals." You really just put an all call out and say, "We have an opportunity." But there are other things that you have to assess, such as, um, their work ethic and their commitment to, um, the role and being on time and, and being... and showing up because a lot of it is simply that we're training them on whatever it is we need them to do. But you really need to understand that those soft skills that you can't teach someone, that really is important, and a, a level of safety consciousness and awareness.

Those are things that, especially in these I've been a part of, that is really a big, um, driver as far as how we assess talent and make sure that we bring in those right individuals [00:05:00] because that can really cause a totally different, um, level of chaos

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: you know, I like the framing of think about it with the end in mind. And I think one big component to that is when you have this high volume hiring, you also often have, you know, high turnover. So when you think about that, there's different levers that you can pull to ensure you get to the, the, you know, outcomes you want.

One of which is if I can get my turnover down, I kept my hiring volume down slightly. So like, uh, is it-- how do you think about that more specifically when you're thinking about the hiring process and if there's a way to, you know, hire higher quality that will result in less turnover?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Well, that's where some root cau- cause analysis has to happen in partnership with the business, but also partnership with my HR business partners. Because what is really going on in the organization, I think we have, um, and some people may listen to this and agree or disagree, but [00:06:00] that's where we have this opportunity. usually some tension. Um, someone will say, "And TA, if you all hire better quality, then we won't have as much turnover." TA will say to HR, "Well, what's happening when we get them? We get you the people that you need, but for some reason they're leaving. So what's going on?" And so that can sometimes cause some tension.

But I think when we partner to really do some root cause analysis to understand if maybe there's a concern with what we're doing on our screening process, so that could be something on our end, but it also could be something of, uh, a supervisor. We may have a poor, um, supervisor, and that is causing turnover.

So we want to really uncover that because then that changes how we go forward, as opposed to saying and pointing fingers at one another, how do we partner to really come up with what it is we need to do and test it out? It may be that there needs to be some supervisor coaching [00:07:00] or, like I said, some recruiter coaching, and we need to understand what that screening process looks like for those that are screening the talent.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: W- one of the things, um, I know you, you were able to improve when you were at Georgia Pacific and you were filling 4,000, 6,000 roles a year is you cut time to fill pretty significantly by 20%. What helped drive a change like that? Um, is it some of the things you're talking about here or what's, you know, what, what really helped there move the needle?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Yeah, I would say it was a combination. It was a, a mix of experimentation. Um, I had a really great leader who had an engineering background. So already when I talk about root cause analysis,

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: How he wanted us to think about things. What problem are we trying to solve? And so, um, shout out to Terrence Reed.

Um, was really great at helping frame that, um, for those of us that weren't engineers. Um, but it was really good because what we could then do is [00:08:00] experiment and really say, "Okay, if we take on maybe some technology enablers that could help us with assessing talent, what would that do to change the outcome? Um, in addition to that, how are we communicating with talent more effectively?" So using additional tools to help us with that. And some people were, I'll say, doing it old school, where they just had some good templates, and they were engaging, and they had a real structure and rigor around how they operate at their desk. Um, they had days where they were following up and sourcing candidates, and they had days where, um, they were making sure they touch base with their hiring manager. So it really is a mix, but I would say having that mixture of, of resources, technology, and then just, um, regimen, I think is where we saw the change.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: I was talking with somebody recently, uh, another, um, talent acquisition leader and who's worked in high-volume hiring [00:09:00] environments, and she said something to me, and I'm curious if it resonates with you. She said one of the biggest challenges is, um, avoiding being like a, a customer service agent versus a true talent advisor.

And I'm, I'm curious if that resonates with you and, like, how you've mitigated that, um, conflict or challenge, um, in these environments where, you know, volume is so high.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: It has been an evolution. Um, I will not say that I came to this with that knowledge or understanding. I've been in recruiting, as you mentioned, a little while, and, um, at first it was feeling like order taking. What do you need? When do you need them? Okay, I'll go and then recruit. But after you start to talk to your leaders more and understanding the impact of having the right talent at the right time, that makes a big difference.

As that, for me, it made a big difference as to how I moved and how I operated and how I led. [00:10:00] Because what I wanted to make sure of is that were able to deliver, because not having talent could cost the business money. understanding that alone, um, yeah, that changes everything. When you know that you're impacting the bottom line in the way that it could possibly happen, not being able to completely fill a shift, staff a, staff a shift, or, um, for example, in, um, the aviation services industry, planes have to go, and so you need to have enough people because, again, that becomes a safety concern. So it, it definitely is something that I believe when you convey that and then you show that to your recruiters, it helps them understand what they have to do in order to deliver and why it matters.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: And it ties back to what you said earlier is like having that curiosity and that's sort of how you naturally, um, will get, you know, the ability to understand more about the business and, and the cost [00:11:00] and... You know, we all love a hiring manager. I'm, I'm a hiring manager myself, right? Like we're not always the clearest or we don't always have the best understanding of what we need and that's where I think the best recruiters bring sort of that like subject matter expertise of hiring into the s- the hiring manager who has the subject matter expertise of like their function and how do you, how do you bridge that?

I think the, you know, the best recruiters do that and a big way to do it is to understand like what's really driving the, uh, the hiring manager and the team they're hiring for

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Yeah. And going out there, because I've dealt with so many multi-site situations, going out there visiting, understanding the community that is, um, around the location where you're recruiting, understanding the teams that are there, getting to know them. What I used to like to do is go and sit down with them and say, "Okay, why did you come?"

Those are people that may be newer in the organization. Um, [00:12:00] someone that's more long tenured, I would ask them why they stayed, and then I would talk to the leaders and share some of that feedback with them as well. So this is what's working. Let's lean into that. And then for things that may not be working so well, because when you come in, sometimes, um, those individuals may share information that they wouldn't share with the local team. But keeping everything anonymous and, and really protecting that individual because it's on Glassdoor a lot of times anyway. So, um, it's just bringing that forward to that individual and really getting to know what you're recruiting, but also where and what that, um, community, um, just reputation looks like and is, and that helps a lot as well.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: I guess, um, I'm curious to get your perspective 'cause I think, you know, in talking with a lot of, um, talent acquisition leaders and just people leaders in general, I think the thing that I hear a lot of folks articulate is challen- [00:13:00] in terms of challenges is around how you make a clear case for the impact, um, and value of talent acquisition sometimes within organizations.

And I think in some of the examples you talked about with high volume, it's like, okay, well, we can't fly a plane or we don't have enough people to, to staff, um, an organization or, or, or a, a, a shift in a manufacturing operation, for example. But you've also worked, uh, did recruiting for AWS, which I would expect might feel a little different because in a cloud computing type of situation, not having headcount filled can...

It's just more steps. There's more stepping stones to get to sort of the clear business impact. So I'm curious how you've thought about it in that environment you know, how you help communicate the value of, you know, filling the right roles quickly, um, in, in an environment like that.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Well, partly with AWS, they [00:14:00] still... I would say we borrowed a lot of the principles and approach that Amazon as a whole would take. So you wouldn't wait to fill a slate of candidates in order to start interviews. If I meet Colleen today, I think she's really strong, I'm gonna share her, and we're gonna move and take some level of assessing her for a role, because more than likely there was a role somewhere.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: So, um, because even at that level, there was turnover.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: because of having that mindset where you didn't wait to put together that slate, I felt like you could move faster. Um, Koch Industries and Georgia Pacific also operated somewhat like that. If we found good talent, put them in front of some decision-makers before you just wait, um, for an opportunity, because if they're good, they're gonna want to find a position for them. Um, but the other piece for me of building that, um, business case, I think is really saying having a, a person that knows your culture and your values. The one thing I will say for the last [00:15:00] few organizations I've been a part of, having someone internal, they're able to articulate the why better. They understand the values and the culture of the organization, and are therefore able to find individuals, I believe, better, um, than maybe someone that is outside of the organization.

Not saying that's always going to be the case, but I do feel like that helps to build that business case for one, an internal, um, team, but also for why TA matters. We can spend our time continuously sourcing, looking for good talent, building relationships, um, ensuring that we're presenting the best business case to candidates as to why they should come on board, um, but also why the organization is a good fit for the community.

All of those things matter in order to bring forward the right group or individuals for, um, consideration, and sometimes that may not happen when you don't have those individuals that are connected.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: [00:16:00] And a- at your time at, um, in AWS, one of the things you focused on there was building out a diversity recruiting team

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Mm-hmm.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: With that. You built that from scratch within nine months, and you improved diversity hiring by more than 50%. So like, h- how did you approach that? How did you think about that? How were you able to do that so quickly?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Wow. A lot of prayers. Um, but but honestly, um, I'd been involved in diversity recruiting and outreach at Jo- GP and Koch Industries. So I'd started my building relationships with diversity organizations, professional associations, universities, um, and such. And so that helped a lot. Um, a

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: of the organizations that we were already partnering with, um, were also partners with Amazon and AWS. So that made it easy to take those relationships and bring those forward. A lot of those were engineering-focused, and so that was, um, pretty simple. [00:17:00] But the other piece was really saying, "Okay, let me talk to my business partners, understanding what they are hearing and seeing, and what the business is saying to them," whether it's the HR side or the business leaders. Um, really ensuring that, um, we thought about it not just from one approach, "Oh, let's go to events," or, "Oh, let's source directly, um, or build out a sourcing team." So we had a sourcing team, um, that I put together. We had, um, program managers, so we still could engage with events as another lever. Um, really partnering, as I said, with my peers because there were TA managers and leaders on the, uh, more general side, and really asking them, "Okay, here are the numbers.

This is how your, your business looks as far as diversity." And saying, having diverse perspectives, being on the client-facing side of the business, you have to have it in order to really bring forward the right solutions for our customers. So [00:18:00] the business case was very evident. You had to have those diverse perspectives in a global organization in order to bring forward the right solution.

So it was an easier sell. Um, but when it came to finding talent, we had to really dig and say, "Okay, here's what we can do in order to help you find the diverse talent to consider in addition to general talent." Um, the other thing I would say is asking for support in ways like sourcing. Um, um, we put together a diverse, um, diversity sourcing, dedicated sourcing days,

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Mm-hmm.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Um, something called Sourcing Around the Sun. Um, because we were global, um, and we followed the sun basically and had each team around the different regions, um, dedicate two hours per team. That's all the ask was. Um, it was good for team building. We were coming out of COVID. some teams were on site in other parts of the globe, but some were r- um, virtual.

So it was really a good, um, effort, and it netted about 51 [00:19:00] hires, so I won't complain.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: I love that.

I guess, you know, one of the things I alluded to in your intro is that you have, um ... You spent some time advising professional athletes on their transition out of sports, like brand management, career planning, et cetera. Like, h- how did that happen and, and what did it teach you about talent?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: So some friends and I, we were doing different branding work. Um, I've always had interest, I'll say, um, this is taking me way back, um, in sports and entertainment. Um, at that time, I was a member and, um, on the board for the WISE, Women in Sports and Entertainment, um, in Atlanta, the chapter. We were building that out here. Um, at that time also working on, um, promotions, event planning, things like that. So those are things I've done throughout my, um, earlier years more so, but it's all transitioned into different ways in recruiting. Um, and being in corporate recruiting, I had a [00:20:00] perspective that some others may not have as to what corporate is looking for.

So individuals that were friends of friends, um, they may ask, um, "What about this? What about that?" Um, I'd been at the Coca-Cola Company and been at some other, um, brands. And so they were asking just how do I make that transition and sharing, um, more informally, and then additionally moving into more formal, um, coaching. Um, but really giving them just some pointers as to, okay, take your, um, teamwork, um, and bring that forward because that is something that most companies look for. They want individuals that are good team players. They like leaders. A lot of times athletes have been leaders. They've been captains of their teams and, or just maybe, um, not even formally, but informally, um, leaders.

So taking those different aspects of things that they've done and the level of accomplishment that they've been able to achieve, a lot of [00:21:00] people like that. So certain things, they were personable, engaging. Um, sales really loved that. Um, in, in addition to, um, some other areas, but really being able to lean into some of that. Um, and then those that I might know, those individuals that were athletes in college, they may not have gone pro, but just seeing what they were able to do to transition and take being the number one guy on campus or girl on campus to now being a leader in their fields

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah. Yeah. There's so many transferable skills, skills. It feels like, right now the thing that I'm seeing and hearing a lot is in, in this age of AI, um, having those types of transferable skills is even more important because people can, you know, learn a little bit more quickly in terms of, of, you know, using AI to help, um, certain things.

And, and that's not to minimize like having experience and building relationships over the course of a career certainly. Um, [00:22:00] but just in terms of, you know, what I hear a lot of folks talking about is hiring for curiosity, hiring for, um, you know, someone who deals well with ambiguity. And when you think about, you know, an athlete or somebody who's, you know, number one, the intense training and things like

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Yes

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: you have to do and the commitment you have to have and the dedication, it's never easy.

People aren't good at sports because they, you know, for the most part are naturally good at them, right? Um, and so I'm, I'm curious, like, particularly with your background and, and recent roles in high volume hiring, like how have you seen AI change, like how hiring was happening, if at all? Or do you think it's still have a ways to go in terms of like identifying for...

I, I guess I have two questions there, which is like, how is AI helping with like high volume screening and how are you seeing, you know, what people are hiring for [00:23:00] changing in the a- age of AI?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Well, the first question, as far as AI screening, um, w- I implemented a project at Georgia-Pacific and Coke, um, where we were using an AI screener, but we didn't use it to make the decision. It

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Right

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: to give information and data as opposed to making decisions. And I think that's where companies have to answer that question for themselves, because we've seen there have been a lot of lawsuits out there where companies are using AI or some type of tool to make the judgment call, and I think that is still a bit premature, um, depending on the roles, but I really think it's premature.

I think you need to have it help you as far as efficiency, and it can give you information, but not necessarily make those decisions for you. Um, I was looking at a, a tool most recently because I still believe in that high volume. There was only so much that my recruiters could do to touch every [00:24:00] candidate that might apply. So we might not have always gotten the best person, because by the time you go through 300 applications, it, it, it just would not be efficient. Um, so looking at a tool that would provide that level of efficiency was something that I was looking at. But the other piece for me is really looking at AI. I think you have to have a level of comfort and knowledge there because it's in so many things that you might not even know.

Um, in your phone you have predictive text, in your, um, micro... Well, your, um, data tools, I'll use that word instead of promoting any one particular, um, tool, but there's predictive text. So comfortable with what those tools and resources can do just for your day-to-day work, I think is going to be important. Um, and so companies will look for that, um, that someone's not going to sit there and say, "I have to figure this out on my own." They want you to be efficient,

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: but not necessarily to say, "Oh, this [00:25:00] wrote this for me. I did not check it. I just sent it over," and that's going to be sufficient. Um, no. I think that'll be a challenge, um, at least for now.

It may change as baby boomers and Gen X start to, uh, move out of the way of the workforce. And so next generations may find that they want certain things that maybe we aren't necessarily as open to.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Oh, never. Um, yeah. Um, one of the, the things you, um, have on your LinkedIn profile that stood out to me is that you say, like, "Talent is not an HR function, it's a business lever." And I know we talked a little bit about how do you make talent acquisition more visible to your leaders, but it-- that line in particular really stood out, and I'm curious, like, what...

You know, we have only a limited amount of space on LinkedIn, so like, why is that something that's so important to you?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: I just, I go back to the fact having the right people in [00:26:00] place at the right time, it matters, um, no matter what role you have, what work you're doing, um, because there are decisions that have to be made, um, not just work that has to get done from a physical labor perspective. When we talk about high volume, a lot of that is what, um, individuals will see.

So as I said, you have to have people in place to execute for a lot of those types of roles. But even at higher levels, uh, making decisions, very rarely are AI tools and resources at this point making decisions. So they're providing you with a lot of the things that you need to make those decisions. But if you said, "Oh, I want to go and acquire a new, um, technology," or, "I want to go and acquire a new business even," you're going to need a person to walk through that and make those decisions.

And it's something that I think you have to say people and talent are the business levers there that have to be utilized. It's just not about tools and [00:27:00] technology.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah, agree. Um, okay, wanna learn a little bit more about you and how, how did you get into recruiting?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: it started in college, honestly. Um, most people didn't go to school to become a recruiter, and I

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: That's

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: either.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Right. Yeah

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: I was, um, attending, um, James Madison University, go Dukes, and, um, we had an organization called Students for Minority Outreach. So I guess I've always kind of been in this diversity space, uh, for a while. And, um, that organization supported admissions and would help to, um, share information, just like the athletic, um, office had individuals that would help with individuals that were being recruited for, um, sports. We were helping to share the, um, why James Madison was an option for a candidate, I mean, for, um, students. And so then I realized, "Oh, you can get paid for this. Who knew?" And so when I graduated, that was where I thought I would want to, um, plant my flag as far as, um, [00:28:00] a role. And I initially started out at a credit card company, a big one, we don't have to talk about that right now, um, in Virginia, where I'm from. Um, but I didn't get an opportunity there, but moved to Atlanta and picked up an opportunity, um, with a staffing firm. Um, I went in and I said, "I, I'm, I'm interested in HR and recruiting." And they said, "Okay." And a couple of weeks later, I got a call and said, "We have an assignment for you as a recruiting assistant at the Coca-Cola Company." And I was like, "Ah, this all made sense now why I'm in Atlanta." Um, I had an opportunity to work with one of the greatest brands in the world

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Oh.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Really cut my teeth in an organization that wasn't ever an issue to find candidates. Really, it was about assessing candidates, giving them a great experience because they're ultimately customers.

And so ensuring that was something that I was a part of to really help, um, the [00:29:00] company find the right people. And so I was a part of the non-exempt hiring at that time, and so that was really focused on those salaried non-exempt individuals, so a lot of the customer, uh, consumer affairs, um, pilots, um, but also admin. So a lot of the people that, um, you got to meet earlier in their career, and I've been able to keep in touch with a lot of those individuals over the years.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: How do you think that's helped you or, or shaped how you think about a candidate experience? Because when you say something like very early on you learned that the candidates are also customers of the business, I have to imagine that has, has carried through for you

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Yes, definitely. And even when you talk about a B2B company, because a lot of the manufacturing companies I worked for were B2B, but even with that, there's somebody that's ultimately the customer. So how does the work that we do or the individuals that we recruit impact that? Um, even though throughout this journey I've [00:30:00] had some of those, um, customer-focused, um, or customer-centric and, um, companies such as at GP, we made paper towels and paper plates and things like that. And then Amazon also was a big consumer brand, even though AWS was powering the behind the scenes activity and tech- technology.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah. Yeah

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: has re- it really has been a part of what I think about at all times, and just remembering that the candidate experience is one that we have to take into consideration, um, because those individuals are...

You want them to leave with a good, good perception and experience, and that's something that we control. We're front facing. Um, and a lot of times that's where we get a lot of information and inputs that other people in the business don't have. So I also try and relay that back to my communications partners and really making sure that they know what the word on the street is. Um, but then also with the business leaders, as I said, when I go into those [00:31:00] communities, I want to know what, what do people think about this employer, and why is it something that is of interest or not of Yeah. You, you've had the... You know, you've worked inside some of these very large organizations like you were just mentioning, and you've also run your own consulting firm. And so how, how has that changed how you think about, um, you know, working on the, on, on the outside versus advi- as an advisor versus on the inside building?

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: And you alluded to this a little bit more, but, um, do you think having both of those experiences is, is helpful for, um, somebody in talent acquisition?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: I think it is, but I also think it goes back to that curiosity and lifelong learning. You can be an internal consultant. Um, you can think about yourself as not necessarily, um, separate, but like I said, you're bringing information to the conversations with those business leaders and HR partners that they may not know, [00:32:00] um, best practices, staying on top of that and bringing that forward to your leaders. I think it's important because you don't have to wait to be outside to, to learn that. And I know some people may say, "Well, how do I have time?" You know, I'm listening to different podcasts I would share with my team when I come across even free webinars,

things like that, just so that they could keep abreast of things, and that way they could share that with their leaders and we can talk about, okay, how could we leverage this in our organization?

So I think it's helpful, um, to have that experience, but it's not necessarily, I'll say either/or. Um, I've had an opportunity to really, um, just have really good conversations, um, with different industries because of being able to, um, be on- out on my own. But, um, I feel like it's still... I, I still feel like I'm a part of the organization no matter what.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: okay. One of my, one of my last questions, um, if you could meet yourself a few days after [00:33:00] graduation, uh, before, you know, before you got into the, the working world, what advice would you give yourself?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: I would say, um, keep the customer first, and that's your leaders, no matter whether, whether you're in recruiting or whatever. Um, keep thinking about customers because no matter where you are, you're gonna have customers, and so they have to be willing to buy your business, um, whatever, buy your services, um, from your business.

So that's something that I think it's important. Um, network, network, network. Keep those, um, networks warm, whether it's alumni, um, from school, stay engaged. Um, if you like to do certain things, um, get active in your community. So volunteering is something where you can build your networks out, um, because you never know who you may come across and what you might need and what you can offer. Um, because I think sometimes we talk about networking in the sense of, oh, I might need [00:34:00] something or someone, but there's also an opportunity for you to give back as well. And so I think those are things that are just general. Um, I would say if you want to get more education, find a company that offers tuition reimbursement.

That would be good too.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Practical

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: So

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: are a couple of those things I would say, um, keep in mind.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: I love the point about networking, not just when you need something, but just to build relationships because I do think that, we forget that often. Like I, I've been guilty of that. You know, I started my career in consulting where a lot of it was, you know, where can you find, you know, how can you sell the next project?

And, you know, it takes time and you just have to work hard at it and, you know, it can feel one-sided at times, but, you know, it's... You're building these, um, lifelong, lifelong relationships and you never know when things are gonna pop back up

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Exactly. And I do career coaching as well, and so that's something I share with individuals as they're in [00:35:00] transition. A lot of times they're saying, "I've just had my head down and I've not been thinking about networking, you know, formally." Um, and so I say a lot of us, and I say us because I think people want to help. And so when you reach out to your network, sometimes you're hesitant, but they may say, "Why didn't you call me sooner? Um, I could have helped." And so I think we just have to be okay that how it comes back to us may not come from that one person. It may come somewhere else, but we're planting seeds, um, that we may be able to help one person here and that another person can help m- us in another way or another time.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Well, um, Yolanda, thank you so much for, for joining me and doing this. I... You know, you shared a lot of really great insights around, you know, not only high-volume hiring and just the practicalities of it, but just even what we were just talking about around advice for folks and, and certainly your experience with career coaching ha- um, has, has been, uh, really valuable insights [00:36:00] that you've shared on this, on this podcast.

So I'm really glad to have, have you join.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: No, thank you so much. This was great. And, um, again, I look forward to staying connected with you too.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Yeah, exactly. And for anyone who wants to get, um, connected to you, what's the best way to find you?

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: LinkedIn, um, that's my, um, bread and butter there.

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: Which is, which is pretty common for anyone with a talent acquisition, um, background, so.

yolanda-hawkes--she-her-_1_07-22-2026_141625: Exactly

colleen-gallagher_8_07-22-2026_111625: well, thank you again for, for joining, and thank you to everyone listening. Um, if you learned something today or laughed, please tell someone else about this podcast, and we will see you all next time.

Thanks for joining

And that wraps up another episode. Thank you for joining. For show notes and other episodes, visit us at recruitersontherise.com. Recruiters on The Rise is sponsored by Lavaliere, an interview intelligence platform. Lavaliere goes beyond basic note-takers to improve your ability to assess candidates with AI-powered interview questions, summaries, and transcription.

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