Meet the Team Archives

Long Story Short:

Austin’s startup ecosystem is teeming with great opportunities for emerging businesses right in central Texas.

For candidates who are looking to get their feet wet in the startup world, who can they connect with?

As Viaduct’s Senior Talent Consultant, John Jameson is helping link Austin’s hottest startups with high-quality candidates.

Keep reading to learn more about John and explore his professional journey.

Where did you grow up? Do you have Austin roots?

I spent the majority of my childhood and adolescence in Mechanicsburg, PA (Central PA). When I was young, my family lived in the mountains of western Oregon on a ranch. Our town didn’t have paved streets and our neighbors owned a buffalo ranch. It was a rich cultural experience! In grade school, I lived in Alaska and to this day enjoy visiting in the summer for adventures in the great outdoors. College took me to Chicago where I remained through my twenties. If you can survive the winters, Chicago has something for everyone and the summers offer endless opportunities for fun. In 2020, I moved south to Austin, TX for warmer weather and new experiences. I don’t have roots in Austin, but I am considering putting some down here.

Tell us a little bit about your professional background. How did you get into recruiting?

Recruiting has always been a passion since my first encounter with it. In college, I worked with JP Morgan Chase in a human resources rotational internship. I attended a career fair to recruit college students for open positions. Speaking with job seekers about their career interests ignited a sense of purpose at work. Shortly thereafter, I started my career in campus recruiting. After several years, I graduated to experienced hire “full-cycle” recruiting at a real estate firm. During the great recession, while working at a local college, I launched a company that taught job seekers how to network and present their best selves in interviews. In 2012, I began a career in search and over the last 10 years, have been fortunate enough to gain experience in both contingency and retained, at both startup and global organizations. Along the way, I co-founded Memory Farm, a farm-based day center that gives people living with early-onset dementia and Alzheimer’s a sense of purpose and meaning in life.

How did you find the opportunity at Viaduct?

Viaduct and TalentRise both have strong brands in the Chicagoland area so they were on my radar. A TalentRise leader had been a mentor of mine over the years, and it was really a matter of timing. In early 2021, TalentRise had an opening for an executive recruiter with a background in organizational development that could help synthesize the executive search and leadership advisory practices, which aligned with my interests and experience.

What are your primary day-to-day responsibilities?

No two days are the same in recruiting, which is one of the main reasons I remain in this profession. In full-cycle executive search—from the deep-dive analysis into our client’s needs through new leader onboarding— I lead each step of the hiring process. A significant investment is made on the front end to understand the client’s need—which saves everyone time. We prioritize creating a positive client and candidate experience. However, finding the right candidate and position alignment is most important, and as a result, a significant portion of my time is spent thinking, researching, talent mapping, following up, and interviewing.Partnering with startup leaders and founders to hire executives is both fun and challenging. It’s often difficult to hire the first employee of any new position in an organization. As a result, Viaduct helps founders carefully design positions around current and future needs.

What excites you about the startup ecosystem?

Energy! The buzz surrounding the startup ecosystem and the evolution of what companies are building and becoming is exciting! Innovation and growth happen daily in startup incubators and beyond. I’m fortunate to have my office at Capital Factory, a venture capital fund that invests in startups. I’m drawn to the “all hands on deck” culture within startups. On a broader level, successful startups create jobs, which in turn help provide for families.

What do you want people to know about you?

Helping people “fills my tank” so don’t hesitate to reach out and request a call to brainstorm—whether it be to explore a career transition or a potential opening on your team. Basketball, soccer, hiking, and tennis are my favorite sports, and I enjoy winding down and watching television at the end of the day. I am getting married in April of 2023 and we look forward to honeymooning in Thailand!

Interested in connecting with John to explore opportunities with Austin’s emerging startups? Shoot him a note at jamesonj@viaduct.com.

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Long Story Short:

Buffalo’s startup ecosystem is teeming with great opportunities at emerging businesses right here in Western New York.
For candidates that are looking to get their feet wet in the startup world, who can they connect with?
As Viaduct’s dedicated Talent Advisor, Chad Witherell is helping link Buffalo’s hottest startups with high-quality candidates.
Keep reading to learn more about this interview with Chad and explore his professional journey.

Where did you grow up? Do you have Buffalo roots?

I grew up in the Southern Tier not far from Fredonia in a small town called Perrysburg. I’m an alum of Forestville High School, where I graduated with about 50 kids in my class. For college, I studied at Ithaca College, where I received my undergraduate degree in sports communications. During these years, I took advantage of great internships with the Boston Celtics, Buffalo Bills, and Buffalo Sabres. I loved my time in college and my exposure to such cool opportunities. Earlier this year, I completed my MBA with a concentration in business analytics from St. Bonaventure University.

Tell us a little bit about your professional background. How did you get into recruiting?

I began my journey in recruiting back in 2009 when I joined TEKsystems in their Rochester office. I had a lot of friends that worked at the company, so I figured it was a good place to work. Plus, I hoped to get more exposed to IT. This experience helped to lay the foundation of my recruiting career. I loved being able to help people evolve their careers and discover new jobs. It was an extremely gratifying opportunity for me.

After TEKsystems, I was in the process of moving back to the Buffalo area when a friend referred me to Crossfuze—known as Inergex at the time. I accepted a corporate recruiting job within the organization and stayed with the company for over seven and a half years, where I had the opportunity to shape its growing team and execute the recruiting function. This was another awesome experience that has helped to enhance my career as a recruiter. Even after leaving my full-time role at Crossfuze, I’ve been able to continue supporting the company’s growth through my independent business.

How did you find the opportunity at Viaduct?

I’ve always had an interest in the startup community, so when I saw that Viaduct was looking for a dedicated Talent Partner, the opportunity immediately piqued my interest. After connecting with Christian Gaddis, Pete Petrella, and Tom Hausler, I got to learn more about the job. These three helped me understand the overall goal of Viaduct and made the organization’s mission clear: to build a talent community for the startup world. I knew that there are so many employment opportunities available for candidates, so getting to interact with them on a daily basis felt like a dream come true.

What are your primary day-to-day responsibilities?

In my role, my primary goal is to support our 43North portfolio. I work hand-in-hand with Christian Gaddis and the rest of the 43North team to serve the portfolio wherever needed. Some days, I spend a lot of time working with companies like Strayos or Magnusmode—two organizations that don’t have a full-time talent acquisition resource—to act as an extension of their team. Other days, I’m dedicating my time to organizations like HiOperator or Kangarootime by helping them boost their talent efforts and attract better candidates. No two days are ever the same, and that’s one of the reasons why I enjoy this job so much.

What’s been your favorite part about moving back to Buffalo?

For me, Buffalo has always been super livable. You can do almost anything in Buffalo that you can do in other cities around the U.S. without having to deal with long lines or crazy wait times. It’s definitely got that “big city feel.” The quality of life here is so high and flies under the radar across the country. And being able to start my family in Western New York has been incredible. People really mean it when they say this is a great place to raise kids!