Summit Interview with Sharon O'Hara

Summit Interview with Sharon O'Hara

1.  How did you get into recruiting? By accident.  I always swore I would never be a recruiter.  I was determined to be in L&D (Learning & Development) or Compensation when I completed school.  During my first internship I became involved in recruiting and since then every job I have held seems to involve recruiting. 

2. How many years have you been in recruiting? Officially 17 years.  Unofficially I have always “selected talent” in every job I held.

3.  What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you? I have my motorcycle license.

4. What are your top 3 goals you hope you and your team accomplish in 2013?  Implement GRS technology at the store level, Complete the EVP & Branding activity and introduce Candidate and Hiring Manager satisfaction metrics.

5. What do you like most about your current job? My team is amazing.  They are young, eager to learn and amaze me every day with their new ideas and creativity.  What do you dislike?  Solicitation emails & telephone calls from agencies who have not done their homework. 

6. Do you have a work pet peeve in yourself or others?  I am a great idea person but not good on follow-through.  Fortunately I have a team that take my ideas and make them even better.

7. What is the best thing for you about working for Walmart? The associates.  Hands down.  From the stores to the leadership I have met and worked with some of the most amazing people.

8. When does the day start for you? I wake up at 5:30 am answer some emails, get ready and arrive at the office for 7:30.  It gives me 1:30 hours to get ready before we start our day with a huddle. 

9. What was your first impression of NWA and Bentonville?  Coming from Toronto I found it very small.  But after living there for 18 months I love it – Fresh Air, fun activities and friendly people.

10.  When you are off work how you do relax? I love to have dinner with friends, paint , read and travel. 

11.  A few unchecked items on your Life’s Bucket List:  Cambodia, Italy, Drive a Stock Car at Daytona

12.  Tell us about yourself (home town, residence, family, education, etc)  I was born in Montreal Canada a long time ago.  I mostly grew up outside Toronto and actually worked for Woolco (the stores Walmart bought) in high school.  I went to the University of Guelph (pronounced gwellf) for my undergrad and masters in Sociology, got my HR certification and worked for a number of Canadian technology companies before joining Walmart July 10, 2006.  I am single but two dogs (my boys), 2 brothers, 7 nieces and nephews and a whole bunch of other wonderful kids in my life.  I lived in Fayetteville for 18 months before moving to Shenzhen, China.  Located just over the border from Hong Kong, Shenzhen was the first special economic zone in China and, until about 30 years ago it was a sleepy fishing village.  The city is now a growing city of 15,000,000.  You can imagine how fast it is growing!  Whenever I can I get home to Canada to spend time in my cabin in the woods with my dogs and no electricity, cell service or distractions.  It is heavenly.

13.  If you could have dinner with some notable person dead or alive – who would it be and why? Curtis Joseph.  My favourite hockey player ever.  And more seriously with Terry Fox, a great Canadian who started the Marathon of Hope where he proposed to run across Canada, running a marathon a day, to raise money and awareness for Cancer Research.  He made it almost half way before he had to stop because his cancer had returned.  Every year millions of people around the world carry on his mission and run or walk to raise money.

14.  What was your top take-a-way from the 2013 Global Walmart Recruiting Summit?  We need to cooperate and talk to each other more.

15.  If you had a Magic Genie and one wish; what one project on your plate would you ask for help on?  Field Recruitment – it is tough when you are dealing with people who don’t have computers, internet access and the country is growing so fast.

16.  Fill in the blank: “I’ve been fortunate to travel the world and meet people from all over”

17.  Where do I spend most of my disposable income: Books and Travel

18.  One word to sum me up: According to my co-worker I am Complicated – I prefer to say I am Canadian.