Spotlight on HR: Ally Barton

Spotlight on HR series:
A Conversation With Ally Barton, Hospitality Recruiter @ Patina

We’re putting together a series of articles with innovative and interesting human resource professionals. This is an opportunity to learn from other HR managers and exchange best practices, advice, and general experience. If you’d like to participate in this series and gain exposure to relevant networks, we’d love to hear from you! Send an email to tal@recruiterslineup.com.

Tell us about your work experience in HR.

Nine years ago, I was over the late nights and erratic hours of managing restaurants. However, I still had a passion for the industry and loved interviewing people. Through patience and persistence, I managed to get an Associate Recruiter role at the top hospitality recruiting agency in LA. After 4 years, I leveraged that into an in-house role with an established restaurant group for a year, before being approached by Hilton Hotels as a corporate recruiter. Working for Hilton was a fantastic experience that stretched my capabilities by covering multiple states and across various disciplines. 2 years ago, my former restaurant group employer invited me to return to spearhead the recruiting department for the West Coast. Simultaneously, I began a passion project Instagram account @allyhires dedicated to helping recruiters and HR with hiring principles and techniques.

What are the unique talents you bring to the field?

Nine years ago, I was over the late nights and erratic hours of managing restaurants. However, I still had a passion for the industry and loved interviewing people. Through patience and persistence, I managed to get an Associate Recruiter role at the top hospitality recruiting agency in LA. After four years, I leveraged that into an in-house role with an established restaurant group for a year, before being approached by Hilton Hotels as a corporate recruiter. Working for Hilton was a fantastic experience that stretched my capabilities by covering multiple states and across various disciplines. Two years ago, my former restaurant group employer invited me to return to spearhead the recruiting department for the West Coast. Simultaneously, I began a passion project Instagram account @allyhires dedicated to helping recruiters and HR with hiring principles and techniques.

Share your biggest success story in HR so far.

While at Hilton, I was tasked with overhauling Housekeeping hiring. Empowered by an excellent leader, I was able to introduce new methods such as utilizing SEO in job descriptions, working with refugee groups & nonprofits, and testing texting technology with candidates. It resulted in a record 420+ hires in one year (up 28%) while bringing down time-to-fill. More importantly, it was incredibly rewarding to help new arrivals to the country to find their first jobs.

What is the best advice you’ve received during your career path, and from whom?

“There are always going to be more people and more things you could have gotten to. You have to be able to leave at the end of the day”. An early mentor shared this advice with me. The toughest part of talent acquisition is knowing that there are always people waiting to hear from you – applicants, candidates, and hiring managers.

What’s your favorite HR tech tool?

Calendly. Hands down, the best tool I have found. It syncs to your calendar and allows candidates to schedule a time directly for an interview. It cuts down on the back and forth of emails or phone tags when it comes to scheduling. It also facilitates rescheduling much easier.

As an HR professional, how do you handle recruiting to achieve the best results?

Having a sense of urgency and treating every candidate as a human being. It’s so easy to forget that an application or resume translates to a real human being with a family and bills. Keeping the candidate experience top of mind leads to better success as you are ultimately attracting and retaining top talent. I get so many referrals from people I have placed over the years!

What do you hope to achieve in 2020?

Looking forward to launching online courses for HR professionals to help them up their hiring game.

To get in touch with Ally visit her Linkedin page or Instagram.

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