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Make Me A Match:
Careers First Links Workers To Jobs
By Cindy Bellinger
For The New Mexican
Tuesday October 23, 2001
Finding a job in Santa Fe is one thing. Finding dependable employees is another. Both sides of this dilemma can be disheartening and frustrating.
Signing up with Careers First, a new local employment agency owned by Shannon Boniface, is creating a lot of employer/employee satisfaction for many Santa Feans.
"Shannon is absolutely wonderful. I can’t say enough good things about her," said Leila Stoilis, who recently took a job with Arena Media Group.
After trying to get back into the job market after a year, Stoilis is happy as office manager with this local publishing company. "I’ve had many temp jobs in my life and was looking for something permanent." She has been working full time since August.
"My approach is hands-on," said Boniface, who a year ago started Careers First, a temporary- and permanent-employment agency. "I meet with the clients who are looking for an employee. I want to feel the working environment. I want to talk with the person who is perhaps leaving."
Boniface also spends a lot of time talking to and screening prospective employees and checking their references. "We give lots of tests on the computer, like research, word processing, the Internet. We have 45 different testing packages," Boniface said.
But her approach is not to disqualify anyone. It’s to find the perfect match. "If someone comes in with no computer skills at all, we’ll train them," she said.
Her goal is to fit work situations with applicants. In the past 10 years, the way employment agencies work has changed – now the employers pay, not the job applicant.
"It wasn’t working the other way," Boniface said.
"The industry finally realized it wasn’t worth anyone’s time to sign up with an agency only to lose half your wages to that agency."
Boniface’s fees are calculated as a percentage of the employee’s annual compensation and are on a contingency basis. Her six-month guarantee offers to replace the employee at no additional fee should a resignation or termination occur during that time. Percentages range from 8 percent to 15 percent.
It might be assumed that Boniface’s own background would be in personnel. That would be incorrect – she’s held positions in real estate, in development and office management and has a degree in dental hygiene. She also worked for a local employment agency for four years and says she helped "grow her business 300 percent."
It was after leaving the agency that Boniface began to feel restless. She didn’t know what she wanted to do.
She and her architect husband, Ed Boniface, vacationed in Italy and she couldn’t enjoy herself. "I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I came back," she said.
But upon her return, former clients as well as job seekers called her at home, asking if she couldn’t do them one last favor. She then realized she loved doing that kind of work, and with her husbands encouragement, she formed her own company.
It took her only a month to set up the business. She personally invested about $40,000 to furnish the office, buy computers, the testing software and to begin advertising. Quickly the business began paying for itself.
Boniface has 200 people registered who are looking for jobs. Her list of companies needing the perfect employee tallies about 15 right now and she says it changes daily.
"I do a lot of direct mailings to client companies," she said, "but most of my business comes in by referral."
Judy Ruggles, human-resources director for La Posada de Santa Fe Hotel and Spa, has used Careers First four of five times. "Shannon has a good understanding of what we’re looking for," she said. "She comes and talks with people the new person will be reporting to. She shares a sense of companionship with you. We’ve never had any issues with the people she sends me."
When Stoilis signed up with Careers First, she continued searching for a job on her own. But after a few weeks, she began to trust Boniface and let her do the searching. Stoilis says she can’t believe she actually found a position where she can use her college degree in communications.
Boniface uses one full-time employee in her 900-square foot office off Old Pecos Trail. "When I started, I worked out of my home, and it was a nightmare," she said.
Now she works out of a streamlined office – just the way Careers First seems to be: efficient and effective. "I’m loving what I do. It’s like match-making," Boniface said. "I love to see a perfect fit."
For more information about Careers First,
call 995-0404 or check www.mycareerfirst.com.
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