A Perfect Partnership: The Story Behind HireQuest’s Command Center Acquisition w/ Kevin Semerad & David Hartley
Release Date: 01/09/2025
Career Break? How to Confidently Craft Your Return to the Workforce w/ Erika Price
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The resume gap…it used to feel like it spelled the end of a career, but that’s not true, especially now. We’re living in a time when career gaps (once seen as red flags) are becoming part of the new professional norm. Whether it's stepping away to raise a family, navigating layoffs, or hitting pause for personal growth. The question isn’t whether you’ve had a break, it’s how you tell the story of that break. Returning to the workforce after time away can feel like starting from scratch, but what if your so-called "gap" is your greatest strength? What if the skills you gained...
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What Technology Can (and Can’t Do) For Recruiters w/ Julie Thomas
Talent Hunters
If technology’s impact on the sales profession was up for debate before, 2020 turned the dial all the way up. The digital transformation that was already in motion accelerated at lightning speed during the pandemic. Now, salespeople face a new challenge: making sure screen time doesn’t become a barrier to the face time that drives success. Technology can make us more efficient, but it will never make us more effective. To thrive, we still have to do everything we did before the digital shift, and then some. Technology should be a tool, not a trap. That means resisting the urge to hide...
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Win the Relationship, Not the Deal: How to Get Better Recruiting Results w/ Casey Jacox
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Most people think sales is all about getting deals and hitting targets. That mindset misses a much bigger opportunity. The fact is: even the best salesperson won’t win every deal, that’s just the nature of the game. But what if you could lose the deal and still win the relationship? What if you could deliver value even when someone chooses not to work with you? When we shift from chasing transactions to building trust, we gain something far more lasting. Because long after the deal is off the table, the relationship can still be intact, and still be meaningful. Relationships don’t grow...
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Tech Recruiting: How to Hire at the Intersection of Code, Business, and People w/ Vlas Lezin
Talent Hunters
Most people think tech jobs are just about building complex systems, but that’s only scratching the surface. Technology doesn’t exist for its own sake. It exists to solve real problems for real people and companies. At its core, working in tech means standing at the intersection of two worlds: the product and the business, the hard technical skills and the soft human ones. The challenge? That intersection is often ignored in hiring. Too many tech companies treat roles like a checklist of tools and buzzwords. They build convoluted hiring processes that favor keywords over clarity. In the...
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Gamechanger or Job Killer? What AI Really Means for Recruiters w/ Debra Senra
Talent Hunters
If you ask five recruiters what they think of AI, you’ll get five different answers, ranging from “total game-changer” to “the end of the profession.” The truth is somewhere in the middle. AI isn’t a magic button, and it’s not a death sentence. It’s the perfect tool for subject matter experts who want to cut out the busy work and spend more time where they truly add value. That makes it a natural fit for recruiters who know how to leverage it. But AI has its limits. It’s not human. It doesn’t feel. It can’t build trust or navigate the nuance of candidate...
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How to Solve Healthcare’s Workforce Collapse with Data and AI w/ John Derse & Will Self
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For most of the workforce, the chaos, uncertainty, and intensity of COVID are in the rearview mirror. But for the healthcare workforce and hospital systems, it’s still very much the present. Not only has the sector struggled to recover from the effects of the pandemic, but in many ways, working conditions have worsened. From unsustainable hours to shrinking margins, the human toll has been immense. Simply put: we’re not attracting doctors and nurses like we used to, and we’re rapidly burning out the ones we still have. Something has to change. We need to rethink talent...
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Find the Pain Point: the Timeless Truths of Recruiting Success w/ Ashley Smith
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Week after week on Talent Hunters, our host Vince Holt has brought out powerful insights from guests across every corner of the business. From former governors to top-tier doctors and seasoned recruiters. But today, we’re switching things up. Vince is stepping out of the host’s chair and into the spotlight. With over 35 years in the recruiting industry, what does he believe is the key to long-term success? How can recruiters and franchise owners stay focused on the fundamentals instead of chasing every shiny new trend? In an era of hiring freezes, layoffs, economic uncertainty, and...
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Most doctors and nurses didn’t choose medicine for the money. They chose it to make a difference. But for many, that purpose feels out of reach. Declining working conditions. Long hours. System friction. Eroding efficiency. Burnout. Too many patients, not enough providers. It’s turning a calling into a transaction. As older healthcare workers retire and fewer new professionals enter the field, the shortage is only growing. To fix it, something has to change. The treatment of people who work in healthcare should matter as much as the work of healing people. How do we make...
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Boomerang Boomers: The Real Reason Retirees Are Returning to Work w/ Dr. Bob Murray & Alicia Fortinberry
Talent Hunters
One of the biggest trends we’ve seen in the working world recently is the rise of the Boomerang Boomer—retirees returning to the workforce. There are many factors driving this trend, and while financial necessity might seem like the obvious reason, it’s not the only motivator. Human beings are relationship-forming animals. We’re actually driven by purpose, community, and learning, not just money. We need to feel useful in ways that go beyond financial contribution. The challenge is that many of the other places where humans used to find these things—connection, identity,...
info_outlineA successful acquisition takes place when an organization that sees something special to invest in meets a company that will be propelled further through a partnership.
It’s a perfect marriage allowing both sides to achieve more together than they would separately.
This is what HireQuest looks for when they’re looking to acquire a business. It’s not about money - in a people-facing service-based industry like recruiting, the true asset of a business is its employees.
An acquisition is about empowering and pouring into organizations that are bringing value to the industry. That’s why HireQuest focuses on not only investing into great companies, but also into talented employees who have the potential to become leaders in their own right.
For the target company, the acquisition is an opportunity to escape the corporate administrative burden a lot of businesses are cursed with, which fuels even more growth!
Today we’re joined by two people who were on each side of an acquisition - HireQuest Direct and Snelling franchise owner, Kevin Semerad and HireQuest’s VP of Corporate Development, David Hartley. They share why this partnership is the perfect marriage in the recruiting and staffing space.
Guest Bio
Kevin Semerad is a Franchise Owner at HireQuest Direct and Snelling. He has 35 years experience in multi-unit growth and management within the staffing industry and 11 of those years were in independent and franchise operations and 14 were in a public setting. Initially, Kevin built a regional staffing company from the ground up (1 to 16 units) that he sold in 2006. His experience is that consistent execution is achieved by hiring the right people for the right positions, clearly communicating goals and expectations, and empowering them while continually providing the training, tools, and support that is required to be #1. Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.
David Hartley is the Vice President of Corporate Development at HireQuest Inc., specializing in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), strategic growth initiatives, and corporate strategy. With nearly a decade of investment banking experience prior to joining HireQuest, including the 2019 HireQuest-Command Center merger, David brings a wealth of expertise in deal execution, valuation, and integration strategies. At HireQuest he has led 13 acquisitions of staffing/recruiting companies and franchisors significantly expanding the size and breadth of HireQuest’s franchise network. Before investment banking, David honed his skills in corporate development within the medical device industry. He holds an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a BA from Johns Hopkins University. Connect with David on LinkedIn.
About Your Host
Vince Holt is the founder and CEO of Management Recruiters of Mercer Island. With 35+ years industry experience, he is the only MRINetwork team member to win CSAM of the Year, Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. In addition to spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren, Vince has raced motorcycles for over 50 years, winning 5 National Championships.
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