Notes from 3/19/2010 OCA Meeting, Job News

With another record crowd (21 people at last week's meeting), we welcomed two new OCA members:
- Jen Pearce is currently a design intern at Wexley School for Girls.
- Bronwyn Webster was most recently a graphics designer with Highline Community College.

Two agents from creative staffing agency, Aquent, were our guest speakers. Kelsey Foster, who specializes in Online Marketing, places candidates throughout Washington and Oregon. Joining her, and visting from Minnesota, was Gretchen Stanford, who handles staffing needs more on the traditional side of marketing.

Last year, Eric Smith visited from Aquent and provided resume tips. Since then, Aquent has changed its staffing model, where its agents focus on particular practice areas. In addition to online and traditional marketing, Aquent also places staff in client engagements needing resources in UX (user experience), interactive design, and graphic design.

Kelsey and Gretchen talked about recent trends. Both see that things are picking up in the market. Companies, which have made it through lean times, are realizing they need additional help and are handling staffing needs through contract opportunities. Some companies are also hesitant to staff full-time positions with full-time hires, and are rather using "contract to perm" work to feel each other out.

Aquent works quite a bit with Microsoft and has a team dedicated to meeting the software giant's needs. The agency places primarily a-dash contracts (where you're on-site dedicated to a particular project team), but can also handle some v-dash work, where you're a 1099 employee. In addition to Microsoft, Aquent also works with several other well-established Seattle-based companies, such as Expedia, Amazon, REI, Nordstrom, and Getty,

What's the best way to work with Kelsey and Gretchen and their fellow agents? Continue to check their job board. (They're working on an outbound communication that will alert candidates of open jobs.) Also, touch base with your respective agent. They're looking for opportunities for us, but remember to stay top of mind.

Contact info:
Kelsey Foster - kfoster@aquent.com (Kelsey's LinkedIn link)
Kelsey is posting jobs on Twitter @OnlineMktgNW
Gretchen Stanford - mailto:Stanfordgstanford@aquent.com (Gretchen's LinkedIn link)

Job News!
Congrats to Deepak George, who will start next Monday with Zimmerman Advertising out of Florida. Deepak, who also recently won a student ADDY, is a recent copywriting graduate of the SVC.