Mike Adelman is a Senior Vice President at JSG and as of Monday, has 45 years of experience in the staffing industry. Mike is located in the Philadelphia market and brings a wealth of knowledge to JSG. We had the opportunity to talk with Mike and learn about his impressive tenure in the staffing industry.
You have been with JSG for 10 years now but have a total of 45 years of staffing experience. Tell about your career and how you got started in the staffing industry.
I started my career in the staffing industry in 1974 when I was hired as a recruiter for Joule Technical Staffing in Union, NJ. Shortly afterward, I transferred to the branch in Philadelphia and four years later, I started working at Yoh as a recruiter/salesperson in 1978. I worked at Yoh for 27 years and eventually became Executive Vice President, responsible for all 42 offices in the United States. In 2005, I left Yoh and acquired TechSource, Inc, a small staffing company. In 2009, TechSource was acquired by Johnson Service Group and I officially joined the JSG family.
Over the last four decades, how has the staffing industry changed?
The process of communicating with clients and submitting resumes has definitely changed through the years. When I first started working in the industry, you would speak to a candidate on the phone and they would have to mail you their resume. You couldn’t leave a message because voicemail wasn’t a thing yet. After you received the resume, you would have to retype it on a typewriter using the company letterhead. Then, we would have to mail the resume to the client since fax machines were not around quite yet. The whole submittal process could easily take over 10 days.
And while technology has ultimately made our industry more efficient, it has also made it more difficult to build relationships. With so many different ways to communicate with clients and candidates, it’s challenging to build relationships since we no longer talk face-to-face or over the phone as often. However, technology has also given us great access to candidates across the country. We are no longer restricted to local candidates as we can communicate with them from anywhere.
Why do you love working in the staffing industry?
I love the staffing industry because of the personal relationships we get to build. Over the years, I’ve prided myself on building strong relationships with my clients and contract employees. I have developed strong relationships with them and I believe it has helped my team and I fulfill our clients’ needs. Through the years, I have been extremely lucky with the staff I have worked with. Having a great staff and a strong working relationship with my team makes coming to work fun every single day.
Has the labor market ever been this competitive throughout your career?
I don’t think the market has ever been quite this tight. In today’s market, you’re not just competing with other staffing firms, but you’re also competing with your own clients, as they frequently post their open positions on their website. As a result, it’s not unusual for candidates to have already submitted their resumes to our clients. The market is about as tight as I’ve ever seen it.
Outside of work, what do you like to do?
I enjoy playing golf and I love to do yard work at our home. I’m an avid reader and love music. I recently started taking piano lessons and last Sunday, I had my first piano recital. It’s been very challenging, but it’s been a fun new hobby of mine. Also, this August will be my 45th wedding anniversary with my wife. We have three kids and we enjoy traveling internationally.
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