Erica Larson

Experience

• 

  My Caffeine Consumption Knows No Bounds

  May 1900 - now

  Caffeine Aficionado

  a·fi·ci·o·na·doəˌfiSHəˈnädō,əˌfisyəˈnädō/nounnoun: aficionado; plural noun: aficionados a person who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about an activity, subject, or pastime.In other words, I am super excited about beverages containing copious amounts of caffeine, including but not limited to: TEA!, COFFEE!, the occasional soda, and pretty much anything containing chocolate which may or may not involve an actual beverage. Also, I am including this on my profile to make sure you're actually paying attention. If you caught this, you are awesome and therefore we should connect if we haven't already. Show less

• 

  Various Retailers

  Jan 1997 - Jan 2004

  Sales Associate, Lead, Assistant Manager, Et Cetera

  Worked in retail industry throughout college and beyond. Loved it, especially helping the customers and reinvesting my paycheck through the employee discounts. Places I worked during this time included:HallmarkA Store Like a Hallmark But It Wasn't a HallmarkEddie Bauer (twice and in 2 different states because I love Eddie)Claire's Accessories Barnes and Noble (my favorite out of all of them because I am an avid book reader)Best BuyBombay CompanyAnn Taylor LoftExperience gained:Inventory control and planningStocking, but not stalkingLoss PreventionCustomer ServicePitching credit cards and loyalty programsSelling, selling, and more sellingUPT and ADS tracking (which haunt me to this day when I shop)People ManagementCompassion for those forced to work during the holiday seasonVisual Merchandising (my all time favorite skill gained from my time in retail) Show less

• 

  Transportation Security Administration

  Jan 2002 - Jan 2004

  Lead Transportation Security Screener

  Took Stuff Away :-)

• 

  Wells Fargo Bank

  Aug 2004 - Sept 2007

  Service Manager 2

  • Served as a Personal Banker, Customer Sales and Service Representative, and a Service Manager throughout my tenure with Wells Fargo.• Functioned as the Store Manager when the existing manager was not in the bank. Prior to my promotion from CSSR to SM1, there was an incident in which our power went out when neither manager was there and I led the team through the process of what we needed to do during that duration as far as exiting customers, securing the location, notifying the proper contacts, etc.• Led a non-performing team in a very low volume in-store branch to achieve Bronze level sales performance.• Even prior to my being in a management role, fee reversal requests were directed to me prior to customers pleading case with Store Manager due to my reputation for saving the bank money and minimizing loss exposure.• Passed the Store Operations Control Review audit for 2006 and kept the store’s losses minimal. There were only 2 losses for the entire 2006 year, both under $1000. Also ensured that my last location passed audit for 2007 even though the audit took place a mere 2 weeks after my promotion into the role.• Conducted quarterly evaluations in addition to weekly coaching sessions and training.• Possessed a reputation for being the authority for bank policies and procedures as well as bank regulations and often provided assistance to other locations regarding monthly control tasks and the annual audit preparation.• Turned around a team of 8 tellers at my last location in a high-volume traditional branch typically receiving relatively low customer service scores to achieve high enough scores which qualified them to receive bonuses in this category of their quarterly performance. • Completed quarterly certifications for compliance and conducted mini audits in order to ensure store was operating within set standards. Show less

• 

  Funkbuddha Productions

  Apr 2007 - Apr 2007

  Accident Witness

  Acted as the Accident Witness in the Funkbuddha Productions short film entitled "Continuum". We shut down an entire street in Pioneer Square on a Friday night. Super glamorous!

• 

  US Bank

  Sept 2007 - Feb 2008

  Co-Manager

  • Knew how to profile both consumer and business customers in order to look for sales opportunities and coached staff on how to look for opportunities as well.• Task of handling overdraft customers turned over to me after only 2 weeks with the company due to my sound judgment and budget awareness.• Reputation for loss prevention, preciseness of documentation, organization, and compliance with regulations. Team lacked guidance in these areas when I was hired on and was able to help train team in this area to ensure improved job performance. Show less

• 

  ITT Technical Institute

  Feb 2008 - Apr 2010

  Marketing Representative

  • Primary duties revolved around student recruitment process and included high volume of telephone calls (over 100/day typically), interviewing students and including support system in the interview process, campus tours, enrollment paperwork, transcript ordering, extensive follow up, ensuring students were ready to start classes for the period which they enrolled for through participation in weekly New Student Reviews, and aiding the students through the transition of deciding to go to school followed by actually starting school.• Participated in campus Open Houses and New Student Orientations.• High matriculation percentage of students enrolling with me actually starting school and subsequently staying in.• Assisted students in knowing resources for their needs while preparing for school and while in school.• Selected by Director of Recruitment and Campus President to conduct market research for the company regarding our Health Information Technology program to assess viability of program in market, compare inquiries for HIT program to inquiries for the rollout of a local nursing program, and kept multiple spreadsheets for tracking the data. Provided findings, insights as to why this was not our location’s strongest program (only 12 campuses out of 100+ offered the program), and recommendations for marketing program moving forward. Established as SME for HIT program among peers. Show less

• 

  Funkbuddha Productions

  Mar 2009 - Mar 2009

  Voice of Anne

  Voiceover role of Anne, the friend of one of the main characters in the feature length film "Dichotomy"​, which was shot on location in Seattle. Was able to literally "phone it in" for this role thanks to ADR technology.

• 

  Le Cordon Bleu

  Apr 2010 - Jan 2011

  Admissions Representative

  • Primary duties revolved around student recruitment process and included high volume of telephone calls (over 100/day typically), interviewing students and including support system in the interview process, campus tours, enrollment paperwork, transcript ordering, extensive follow up, ensuring students were ready to start classes for the period which they enrolled for through participation in weekly New Student Reviews, and aiding the students through the transition of deciding to go to school followed by actually starting school.• Participated in campus events such as Open Houses, Jumpstarts, New Student Orientations, scholarship contests, etc.• High matriculation percentage of students enrolling with me actually starting school and subsequently staying in.• Assisted students in knowing resources for their needs while preparing for school and while in school.• Chosen by Vice-President of Admissions with one other colleague to assist with organization of Open House and Jumpstart as well as the New Student Orientation because of skills outside of what the other representatives in admissions had to offer. Show less

• 

  The Art Institute of Phoenix

  Jan 2011 - Oct 2011

  Assistant Director of Admissions

  • Primary duties revolved around student recruitment process and included high volume of telephone calls (over 100/day typically), interviewing students and including support system in the interview process, campus tours, enrollment paperwork, transcript ordering, extensive follow up, ensuring students were ready to start classes for the period which they enrolled for through participation in weekly New Student Reviews, and aiding the students through the transition of deciding to go to school followed by actually starting school.• Chosen presenter at our Open House events for our International Culinary School throughout my tenure due to my extensive public speaking experience coupled with my adoration for the culinary arts from prior role. • SME for our department regarding our International Culinary School programs and how ours stacked up compared to local competitors thus leading to opportunities to train coworkers on what they needed to know in order to best position this program.• Participated in other special events at our location such as Up All Night, Jumpstart, and New Student Orientation.• High matriculation percentage of students enrolling with me actually starting school and subsequently staying in.• Assisted students in knowing resources for their needs while preparing for school and while in school.• Followed stringent compliance guidelines for recruitment (calls recorded for training purposes, knowing the catalog and policies extensively, ethical interviewing, requesting referrals within guidelines, and ensuring accuracy in documentation both on paper and in database). Show less

• 

  DeVry University

  Nov 2011 - Oct 2012

  Advisor

  • Primary duties revolved around student recruitment process and included high volume of telephone calls (over 100/day typically), interviewing students and including support system in the interview process, campus tours, enrollment paperwork, transcript ordering, extensive follow up, ensuring students were ready to start classes for the period which they enrolled for through participation in weekly New Student Reviews, and aiding the students through the transition of deciding to go to school followed by actually starting school.• Served as the office liaison between fellow admissions personnel and our Online Services division, which included ensuring financial aid process was completed, transcripts were evaluated, and students were registered in appropriate classes. Considered the SME of online registration process and procedures for my location.• High matriculation percentage of students enrolling with me actually starting school and subsequently staying in.• Assisted students in knowing resources for their needs while preparing for school and while in school.• Assisted with Open Houses and other special events at our location.• Followed stringent compliance guidelines for recruitment (calls recorded for training purposes, knowing the catalog and policies extensively, ethical interviewing, requesting referrals within guidelines, and ensuring accuracy in documentation both on paper and in database). Show less

• 

  Robert Half Technology

  Oct 2012 - Mar 2014

  Senior Recruiter

  • Sourced viable candidates for open job orders utilizing proprietary database, job boards, Boolean searches, LinkedIn, networking events, career fairs, and through referrals.• Conducted initial interviews followed by reference checks for candidates seeking contract and contract-to-hire roles within Information Technology industry. Skillset focus was primarily centered on infrastructure roles such as helpdesk, desktop support, network/systems administrators, network/systems engineers, pc technicians, and technical writers.• Cross-leveraged connections from other divisions and/or locations to aid in increasing placements when applicable and appropriate.• Resume and interview coaching of candidates.• Extensive follow up on process, feedback, results, and next steps as well as follow up with existing contractors.• Assisted in training of new hires, writing job descriptions, and participated in promoting business via social media.• Made strategic connections in order to further build up our division’s book of business. Show less

• 

  Simplicity Consulting

  Apr 2014 - Sept 2014

  Talent Acquisition Manager

  • First Talent Acquisition Manager at Simplicity Consulting, a sales and marketing talent agency that initially grew its business solely on referrals. Position created for me because of my passion for finding the “ideal candidate” for clients. • Brought on to assess gaps in the existing talent pool, build benches of talent in key areas of expertise, and to attract candidates with harder to find skill sets for our clients.• Recruited for both internal positions within Simplicity and external positions with our clients. Roles were both consultancy based and full-time, direct placements in both the Seattle and San Francisco Bay Area markets. Worked on roles and successfully placed candidates with clients outside of those markets as well. • With the Vice-President of Marketing and Talent, defined the Talent Acquisition Manager role and engagement process as well as implemented the talent acquisition strategy for our company.• Composed job descriptions and posted open positions to Indeed.com and LinkedIn. • Assessed and followed up with applicants, conducted interviews via phone, Skype, and in person, submitted qualified candidates for roles to Account Managers, created marketing summaries to help the Account Managers pitch candidates to their clients, and assisted potential consultants and direct hire candidates through the client interview process to the hiring stage.• Proactively sourced talent through the LinkedIn Recruiter tool using a variety of Boolean search strings and crafted compelling InMail messages to attract responses for our open roles. Most of my outreach in this role would be considered “cold calling” and was to generally passive candidates. • Served as a company Brand Ambassador on social media platforms and in the public to further attract talent and referrals. Attended events to further create awareness of who we are and what we do at Simplicity. Show less

• 

  Amazon

  Sept 2014 - Aug 2015

  Recruiter for Retail Systems Tech and Product Imaging

  • Provided front-end recruiting support within Retail Systems and sourced for a variety of positions, both technical and non-technical as well as creative: product managers, photographers, photo stylists, digital technicians, managers over the product imaging process, imaging operations roles, UX designers, technical program managers, content managers, technical writers, web developers, software development managers, and software development engineers of varying levels for both the Seattle and New York City markets as well as for the Product Imaging Studios throughout the US. • I worked on SDE roles more than anything else, but my most rewarding moment at Amazon was filling a Software Development Manager role that was open for over 18 months with a referral who came to me by way of a developer friend who despises recruiters. • Initially not assigned to work on tech roles, but wanted to learn so I stepped in on sourcing software development engineers for our local and New York City hiring blitzes. Also wanted to learn sourcing in volume, which this also helps with since that skill set requires casting a wider net in recruiting. When there was a need for a recruiter to assist with the creative roles, I voluntarily stepped in as a means to further broaden my skillset beyond tech recruiting and learned what to look for in creative portfolios as it pertained to the open requisitions for my client group. • Continued to be a resource to candidates throughout the process through follow up, introducing them to who else will be involved in process, ensured they receive information to help prepare them for their phone screenings and onsite interviews, and set expectations for process and timelines. Because of this, I was enabled to gain some exposure to full lifecycle recruiting through supporting our Product Imaging group within Retail Systems. It was a fantastic opportunity to Work Hard, Have Fun, and Make History! Show less

• 

  Booking.com

  Aug 2015 - Jul 2016

  Full Lifecycle Recruiter via Search Wizards

  Look, Mom! I finally (kind of) got to use my Bachelor's degree in Travel and Tourism! • I recruited on a variety of roles both internally and externally throughout the United States and Canada, including account managers, senior account managers, area managers, coordinators, business development, sales, marketing, financial analysts, accountants, designers, strategic partnerships, HR business partners, and tech support.• Truly served as a the consultant I am to both key members of the People Team and the hiring teams within Booking by sharing data, spotting trends, coaching hiring managers through the interview process, made recommendations based on market intelligence, partnered with external agencies as needed, advised based on observations, and consistently followed up to make sure we stayed on track for getting open requisitions filled in a timely manner. • I was a trusted advisor to my hiring groups and candidates by maintaining transparency throughout the hiring process. Very comfortable discussing total compensation!• Heavily promoted Booking as an employer of choice via social media channels to drive applications and create awareness around who we are and what we are about since the brand is not as well known in NORAM as its competitors.So much fun! But alas, opportunities arise and contracts end. Show less

• 

  Amazon

  Aug 2016 - Feb 2021

  The Global Specialty Fulfillment (GSF) Supply Chain team is responsible for building the next generation supply chain for Amazon’s world-class ultra-fast customer experiences, including Prime Now, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go, Whole Foods, Treasure Truck, Amazon Business, and other soon-to-launch exciting new businesses. Come be a part of a 100+ Fulfillment Center and Distribution Center network across North America, Europe and APAC – serving customers in as fast as 60 minutes! Both Program and Product Management roles require a robust understanding of under-the-roof fulfillment operations including inventory flows, constrained fulfillment center assets (capacity and labor), and fulfillment technologies. You will play a critical role in scoping large projects, communicating to senior leadership on status, risks, and process/product changes. Cross-functional team coordination, project management, and executive presentation skills are essential. Show less Ever wonder how the packages you order from Amazon arrive to your doorstep so darn fast? Well, wonder no more! Fulfillment center operations are made up of inbound and outbound departments. Inbound receives products from our many vendors. Once received, these products become available on our website to order. Outbound, on the other hand, fulfills customer orders. That means picking, packing and shipping customer orders within specific and tight deadlines. Depending on customer demand and the time of the year, these teams range in size and can grow significantly during the holiday season peak.The managers are on the floor leading teams as large as 150+ associates. They must exude positive energy and motivate others. Managers have complete responsibility for inbound operations, outbound operations and/or a functional process responsibility within the fulfillment centers. Our leaders must be able to effectively delegate, gather data and offer ideas for continuous improvement. They are responsible for making safety not only a priority, but a culture. Show less Selected by the Program/Recruiting Manager of Worldwide Consumer Talent Acquisition’s Recruiter Academy Program (RAP) to be the Sourcing Lead for that as well as another newly launched program, the Flexible Accelerated Sourcing Team (FAST). Trained seven career changers and ten new college graduates on the art of being a technical sourcing recruiter. Focus was on sourcing strategy, talent assessment (candidate quality), calendaring, load balancing as an event pod within a team, building partnerships, conducting phone interviews, preparing candidates, composing effective candidate messaging, and how to have a voice as a recruiter during interview debriefs. Had a super fun time while it lasted. However, when opportunity comes knocking on my door, I feel compelled to answer, so it was off to a new organization to make an impact in a different way in an effort to keep learning and honing my craft. Show less Amazon Fashion is so awesome that I recruited for this department twice. Whether you have a passion for fashion or not, this is one of THE groups to keep a career eye on within the company in my opinion. This group is innovating in ways I would have never imagined as a consumer. While my recruiting focus has shifted away from this group for now, they are still in need of a variety of skill sets that involve designing, producing, buying, and marketing the products that fall into this category. Show less North America Retail is currently seeking technology leaders who will help us further innovate the future of online shopping. This group is comprised of a variety of departments and each one plays an important part within Amazon. We have some truly exciting initiatives going on in the tech space for this organization and I am excited both for our customers and as a customer as a result. If you have experience in developing software solutions that can scale, love solving problems in a fast-paced and collaborative environment, appreciate having a sense of ownership when it comes to the work you do, and delight in further developing developers when it comes to their careers, we should talk! Especially if using data to drive key business decisions brings you joy. Our Software Development Managers help us shape the future of our company. It's an exciting time to be part of this ever evolving and continuously growing group at Amazon! Show less Looked for amazing people to come have fun, work hard, and make history within the Amazon Fashion group as "We Pioneer" in this industry beyond the imagination. My recruiting focus varied between sourcing candidates for both technical and non technical roles, specifically in the realm of software development engineers, vendor managers, product developers, visual designers, marketers, program managers, buyers, and content creation. This was an awesome group to support within the company since they get to work on some super fun initiatives and yes, they are still hiring. Show less

  • Sourcer-ess (Recruiter) for Global Specialty Fulfillment within Worldwide Operations

    Aug 2020 - Feb 2021

  • Sourcer-ess (Recruiter) for Worldwide Operations

    Jan 2020 - Jul 2020

  • Lead Sourcer-ess (Recruiter) for WW Consumer Talent Acquisition's FAST Program

    Aug 2019 - Dec 2019

  • Sourcer-ess (Recruiter) for Amazon Fashion

    Sept 2018 - Aug 2019

  • Sourcer-ess (Recruiter) for North America Retail Leadership

    Sept 2017 - Aug 2018

  • Sourcer-ess (Recruiter) for Amazon Fashion

    Aug 2016 - Aug 2017
• 

  WarnerMedia

  Mar 2021 - Jul 2021

  Consulting Sourcer-ess (contracted through Yoh)

  How excited was I to be seeking a variety of talent to join me at a company that produces such a diverse array of award-winning content? From Game of Thrones to Van Jones, WarnerMedia has an extensive portfolio to choose from. Much like the shows featured, the careers site has something for almost everyone. I supported Growth Marketing roles for HBO Max and CNN, editorial roles for CNN Digital (including Politics) as well as Audio (hello, podcast producers!), and because I love data and being creative, some analytics along with the occasional visual designer and Associate Creative Director for HBO Max thrown in to keep me versatile. Show less

• 

  Nordstrom

  Aug 2021 - Jan 2022

  Senior Talent Sourcer-ess

  During my time here, I focused on sourcing talent in the realms of UX, corporate strategy, and supply chain. Excited I had an opportunity to combine my retail roots with my love of fashion at an ever-evolving brand while leveraging my ability to connect people and yes, there was a generous employee discount to encourage “reinvesting my paycheck in the company”. 😊 If you see a role that is of interest to you on the careers site, please let Nordstrom know you are interested by submitting an application. I am living proof applying directly works. Check out https://careers.nordstrom.com/ for current opportunities. Show less