My Recruiting Story

My recruiting career began in 1997 as a freelance researcher for a Bay Street executive search firm.  Its specialty was offering fees for service with a promise of taking on no more than one search per sector at any given time. With NCR as their first and only tech client, I quickly built an extensive network of data warehousing executives.

These first contacts led me to work for a handful of boutique recruiting firms whose foundations were built on the early successes of software and telecommunications startups, in what would be called the Emerging Technology Sector.

Since then I have been passionate about startups and high growth companies, I am often called upon to work with clients and candidates with a penchant for ‘greenfield opportunities‘ and complex turn-around challenges. 

My career has been a blend of full-time roles and freelance engagements. At times, joining a team as a permanent employee makes the most sense, while other times I have ventured out on my own.

After working successfully with a social impact center in 2012, I shifted my focus to Canada’s broader public and not-for-profit sectors, successfully identifying leaders for positions spanning the country – from Iqaluit, Nunavut and as far West as Regina, Saskatchewan. I placed Deputy Ministers, Commissioners, and C-level executives, across diverse fields, including health and community services, legal counsel, corrections, communications, human resources, municipal administration, finance, transportation, technology, and urban planning.

Re-entering the private sector in 2020, my first year was dedicated to placing full-time and interim leaders in the mid-market across healthcare, industrial manufacturing and consumer packaged goods. Then in 2021, I transitioned into the dynamic global payments sector, an exciting market brimming with innovation and socially impactful advances. Here I had opportunities to deliver C and VP-level executives specialized in risk, operations, finance, treasury, legal, sales, product development and fraud.

My LinkedIn profile will tell you more about my accomplishments and background.

Views and opinions expressed on this website are my own, I do not take on clients when I am employed full-time.

LinkedIn Recommendations…

  • “I had the pleasure of working with Carmen at Knightsbridge. The depth of her relationships within the recruiting and HR communities is truly remarkable. I reached out to her on many occasions for recommendations and referrals and was always able to uncover outstanding talent within her network. Regardless of what she has on her desk, Carmen is always open to lending a hand, making an introduction, or sharing vital information about the market. I could not recommend Carmen more highly to assist in any talent acquisition project” – Barrie Carlyle, RVP Business Development Canada, Right Management 
  • “Carmen is a very effective recruitment executive with excellent analytic and research capabilities, and I would certainly recommend her as an extension to an organization’s hiring processes.” – Martin Ambrose, Strategic Advisor, Hiveway Inc.
  • Carmen has worked with Crawford Connect on a few projects to identify strong talent for the nonprofit sector. She is excellent at identifying and attracting excellent professionals. – Deborah LeGrove, President, CFRE, Crawford Connect
  • Carmen worked with me at Maxlink during the dotcom boom when telecommunications start-ups were expanding aggressively in Canada. We had niche requirements for senior-level candidates in Network Architecture, Product Development, and Software Development. Carmen was able to source strong candidates from competitive companies who would not have found their way to us otherwise. She understood our business, the market and was extremely effective at engaging candidates during the recruitment process. She is a natural relationship builder and networker. It was truly a pleasure working with her. – Vesna LoveLock, Human Resources Consultant, Talent Consortium
  • Carmen asked pointed and thoughtful questions to ensure she had an excellent understanding of our needs. Within days of meeting Carmen, we had 4 top-quality candidates lined up for interviews, one of whom we hired and are exceptionally happy with. – Simon Brown, Director of Canadian Human Resources, Xtrata Nickle Mining 
  • Carmen managed the recruitment process for Knightsbridge that led to my selection as CEO of the Pecaut Centre for Social Impact. Throughout the process I found her to be engaged, straight-forward and insightful. She navigated some ambiguity around the position and was able to help bring more clarity to the proposed role. She helped to identify a variety of potential candidates with tremendous potential. I felt well informed, supported and clear of the next steps throughout the recruitment. After our formal work together concluded, she continued to stay engaged with our organization, offering advice when I needed it and providing recommendations on hiring prospects. I would not hesitate to recommend her to organizations trying to fill a niche role that requires a capable recruiter with insight and imagination.  – Andrew Steele, Vice President, Strategy Corp
  • It was so great to work with Carmen. We had an immediate need at an executive level and Carmen was able to provide us with several well-qualified candidates to choose from. She took the time to understand our business needs but was also able to deliver candidates to us quickly. She also followed up regularly to make sure we were happy with the candidate. I would definitely recommend Carmen – Jennifer Spragge, Vice President People, Technology and Chief Ethics Officer, Nuclear Waste Management Organization
  • I have hired Carmen Jeffery for two unique and challenging projects. She was tenacious and diligent, but most importantly, the results of her work were spot on. – Gerald LeGrove, DGA Careers
  • I’ve had the pleasure of working with Carmen on various recruitment roles. She’s extremely intuitive and has a great sense of the candidate’s capabilities and their potential fit for an organization. She listens carefully to her client’s needs and in turn, is able to put forward quality candidates. Both clients and candidates have a great amount of trust and respect in her as a recruitment professional. I would recommend her to any organization without hesitation.– Emily Collins-Thompson, HR Manager, Bacardi
  • Carmen is definitely a team player and a mentor. I love working with her because she makes my job as a recruiter easier! She knows her client well and is very hands-on when it comes to her accounts. Carmen is also very honest and genuine. It’s hard to find people like that these days… It’s definitely a pleasure working with her! – Katerina Arroyo, Contract Recruiter 
  • Carmen is a high energy, agile thinker who will work with you to get results. She is both intuitive and pragmatic. This coupled with her solution orientation makes for a great working relationship. – Ursula M. Erasmus, Organizational Change Expert