Recruiting has come a long way since the days of “personnel departments” and faxed resumes. Few people understand this evolution better than Mary Kay Baldino, a recruiting veteran whose career spans decades in both corporate and agency settings.
In this episode of Meet My Network, I had the privilege of speaking with Mary Kay about her unexpected entry into recruiting, how she built a career in corporate talent acquisition and leadership, and how AI, proactive hiring, and strategic workforce planning are shaping the industry today.
From College Career Center to Recruiting Leadership
Mary Kay didn’t plan to go into recruiting—it found her. While working her way through college, she discovered an interest in HR (then called “personnel”) and started working in recruiting before she even graduated. That early start gave her an edge, allowing her to skip the usual entry-level HR roles and dive straight into recruiting.
After working in corporate recruiting at Famous Footwear and Manpower, she transitioned to agency recruiting, gaining a broader understanding of hiring at scale. But it was her return to corporate recruiting where she made her biggest impact—especially in the insurance and healthcare industries, where she spent a significant portion of her career.
What It Takes to Become a Recruiting Leader
Mary Kay’s career took off when she started challenging outdated hiring processes. She pointed out inefficiencies in how recruiting was being handled, leading her to build Manpower’s first corporate recruiting function. Her ability to see hiring from a strategic and operational perspective helped her rise into leadership.
Her biggest lesson in leadership? Understanding compensation and job architecture. She quickly realized that job descriptions, salary structures, and talent planning needed to be addressed before hiring even started—something many companies still struggle with today.
Key Takeaways for Recruiters and Hiring Leaders
1. Proactive Recruiting Is the Holy Grail—but Hard to Implement
Most executives don’t translate their business strategy into specific hiring needs until it’s too late. Mary Kay believes recruiters must push for workforce planning, even if it’s not naturally built into the company’s process.
2. AI Is a Recruiter’s Best Friend (Not a Replacement)
Mary Kay sees AI as a tool to remove repetitive tasks, not replace recruiters. She encourages TA leaders to embrace automation for scheduling, resume screening, and outreach, allowing recruiters to focus on relationship-building and strategic hiring.
3. The Best Recruiters Are Intensely Curious
Curiosity is what separates great recruiters from average ones. Mary Kay believes recruiters should ask better questions, learn the business inside out, and push leaders to make data-driven hiring decisions.
Final Thoughts: Recruiting as a Strategic Business Function
Mary Kay sees recruiting as one of the most impactful functions in any organization—and yet, most companies don’t invest in it properly. She hopes the future brings more CEOs and CHROs with recruiting backgrounds, as those who truly understand hiring understand how to build successful companies.
Her message to recruiters? Stay curious, embrace AI, and push for strategic workforce planning.
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Hi, I’m Michael, a recruiting exec based in the SF Bay area, who specializes in startup recruiting and HRTech building. I previously built recruiting functions at Oyster, Bolt, and Dropbox. Now I am co founder at TeamSourced, where we offer a free platform along with our recruiting service business.
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