JANIE SAYAVONG

Age: 37

Ethnicity: Laotian

Occupation: Vice President of Talent

Sayavong is originally from Hawaii, where her parent’s settled after immigrating from Laos in the 80s. She is the president of National Association of Asian American Professionals - Colorado.

Janie Sayavong works in human resources, creating a connection for top organizations and the best people! She loves what she does. From developing strategies to attract the talent you need, or managing human experiences when we sadly must scale down.

She had the opportunity to work with some of the best known companies and do some pretty great work in the talent space

• attract and manage employment brand

• recruiting process mapping and consulting

• employee experience, onboarding and engagement

• scalable sourcing and recruitment

• recruiting training and compliance

• culture, diversity and inclusion strategy

• all the while having a lot of fun and meeting some great people along the way!

How would you describe your job?

I help organizations find the talent they need, to make amazing things happen. I’m a Talent Executive, with a decade of experience in Talent Acquisition a speciality in the field of Human Resources. I have worked with Fortune 500 companies, private multi-billion organizations in multiple industries.

What advice do you have for students curious about human resources?

I work in a space that is dynamic, it’s always changing and I love working with people. There is no ‘single’ path but a couple things help set you up for success:

• Networking: Get to know and understand how people work. At the end of the day, a job is done by people. People connect with each other and relationships develop from your personal and professional Network are valuable.

• Education: Whether it’s formal through a 4 year degree, or a certification - you need to continue learning and developing since people are always changing. Stay current, read, always study your craft.

• Experience: Finding the right job is ideal, but don’t dismall opportunities that aren’t perfect. Having an internship, an entry job that is tough and not ideal can be humbling but it gets you the experience you need. I started at the front desk of the staffing agency, took the opportunity to learn and develop my recruiting skills and made my first placement in three months. I loved it and it was history from there on!

What are your hobbies and interests?

I am usually outdoors hiking (either by myself, with my son or my friends!). This year, I want to hike more 14ers! I always travel. Last year, I went to to London, Portugal and Hawaii. This year, I’m planning on Croatia and Laos!