Sitting down for an interview with Rich Stoppler, it doesn’t take long to understand why his company has evolved into an industry leader on Edmonton’s corporate recruitment scene.

Passion, integrity and pride ooze from Stoppler as he discusses his “dream job” as president of Executrade, the Recruitment Specialists.

“I literally whistle to work every day, and it’s been that way ever since we started nearly 30 years ago,” he explains. “When you work with an incredible team of professionals and you can see that your work is making a real difference on our clients’ bottom lines, it’s not hard to get up in the morning.”

In three decades of providing a wide range of recruiting services to Alberta businesses, Executrade has set itself above the crowd through relentless dedication to customer service and superior performance.

President Rich Stoppler, shown at Executrade’s homey Edmonton offices, and his team go to extraordinary lengths to help firms recruit exceptional people.

“It’s not good enough to just look at a stack of resumés and make decisions from there,” Stoppler says. “When someone responds to an employment opportunity presented by a client of ours, we contact every single respondent.

“Even if that person is not a good fit for the position, we know our client’s reputation is affected by the way we treat these people. So the least we can do is call to thank a person for replying and let them know someone else has been selected so he or she can move on to other opportunities.”

It takes a LOT of time to phone 138 people – as Executrade did in going from start to shortlist in 2 1/2 days for one client recently – but, says Stoppler, “we only work with ethically sound companies so it follows that we would hold ourselves to similar lofty standards.”

You could call it common courtesy – although such practice is quite uncommon in the industry.

Equally rare is the scope of services provided by Executrade.

Whether you’re looking for permanent, contract or temporary employees, the Executrade team’s comprehensive, long-term approach enables them to find exceptional people in any discipline.

Many companies juggle two or three specialized boutique recruitment firms, but Executrade’s full-service concept and diverse expertise enable its clients to have all their recruiting needs met in one place.

“Dealing with one company for all your recruiting is a great advantage in that you develop strategies and processes that ensure consistent hiring practices and a more cohesive work culture,” Stoppler explains.

“And with a huge database of candidates and all kinds of resources to constantly locate new, high-calibre prospects, we can help you find the right person, the first time.

“For example, we have accomplished oil and gas professionals around 55 years old who could add tremendously to various oilpatch firms – and you don’t necessarily have to hire full time. And a significant percentage of our prospects are those hidden gems who are already working but would like a new challenge.”

Executrade has established a comprehensive 12-step process for recruiting and placing individuals into its clients’ organizations.

“The process is customized to meet the needs of candidates looking for career (permanent) employees or contract workers,” Stoppler says. “Our clients have found this process very timely, thorough and cost effective.”

Chuck Lammers, controller for Eveready Industrial, cited a healthy work culture as an obvious advantage of working with Executrade.

“The key to hiring today, of course, is to hire smart,” says Lammers, who has been working exclusively with Executrade for his recruiting requirements over the last 15 years at two companies. “You want people who are going to not only be effective professionals but be around for the long term.

“Executrade accomplishes this by really understanding the client and its culture.”

Lammers points out that it just doesn’t make sense for a company that isn’t experienced in recruiting to do its own hiring.

“The cost of hiring and re-hiring is so great and in so many ways, you’re far better off working with Executrade,” he says.

“If you get 150 resumés for a job posting, you’re probably only going to have three good people for the job. So rather than spending hours and hours sifting through them, we get Executrade to weed out the resumés and present only the best candidates – and time after time, they produce ideal people for the job.

“Meanwhile, we just continue to focus on doing what we do best.”

Executrade helps its clients in everything from advertising opportunities and writing effective job descriptions to going through what can otherwise be a tedious, unproductive interview process.

And as an ISO 9002 Certified business, Executrade has the systems and processes required to guarantee results. In fact, the Performax Guarantee ensures Executrade clients receive a candidate that meets their expectations – or the client receives a replacement credit.

For more information about how Executrade can help your company master the art of recruiting, call Rich Stoppler at 780.944.1126 or visit www.executrade.com