Building the Mining Teams of Tomorrow, Today

Meet Lindsey Schultz, the CEO of MRC Recruiting - a company that's on a mission to build sustainable workforces for resource companies across the globe. With a family-run business model and a network of experienced recruiters, MRC Recruiting brings its expertise directly to hiring managers in a collaborative effort to achieve their recruitment goals.

Specializing in clear and specific communications, a fee structure that works within a client's budget, and a proven hiring process, Lindsey and her team are experts in the resource and mining industry and are committed to providing

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you came to be the CEO of your family's mining recruiting company?

My Father, Robert Schultz founded MRC in 1984. He ran the business from our home for a number of years and I served in a variety of capacities over the years, I knew how to answer the phone “MRC this is Lindsey, how can I help you?” at the age of 7 and only the best, qualified candidates to their clients. With a focus on human capital development and organizational development, Lindsey is dedicated to helping her clients achieve their goals and build high-performance teams. transfer the call to the appropriate person. I coded resumes for Geology, Mining Engineering, Finance, whatever they may have been beginning in high school. Though, I never planned to join the family business.

I went to University and graduated with a Bachelors degree in Human Resource & Organizational Development, I wanted to be a consultant and help facilitate organizational change. After graduation, I interviewed with a number of companies and in my impatient youth, became disillusioned with the opportunities available to me with little to no experience, but a lot of enthusiasm. My dad invited me to join the company … “until I figured out what I really wanted to do” … that was 18 years ago!

Upon officially joining MRC I worked with HR clients across industry and pursued an MBA. In 2008, the mining industry was booming and my dad asked if I had interest in learning the mining side of our recruiting business. I of course said yes, and dove head first into learning everything I could about the world of mining. I took a mining 101 course, I visited clients’ mines, I read everything I could get my hands on.

It was not long before the fall of 2008 happened, I experienced my first mining industry ‘correction’ and the global financial crisis of 2008. This time allowed me to lean on my foundation in HR and I used my time to advise mining professionals on how to improve their resumes, cover letters, how to market themselves on LinkedIn, what to expect/how to prepare for interviews, and frame their job search for maximum success.

I spent the next year as things recovered building relationships with senior mining professionals and once they found jobs, they came back to me and MRC to help them build their teams. It was great fun!

I continued to take on a variety of searches with clients of all sizes all over the world, and began to influence and modernize our website, applicant tracking system, internal tools to help us be successful for both our clients and candidates. I also took on an active role in business development and strategic direction of our organization.

At the beginning of 2021

I was promoted to CEO. I continue to be a hands-on recruiter, business developer, leader/advisor/mentor to our team of skilled recruiters and volunteer my time with an array of mining associations and with students and non-traditional candidates in our industry.

What sets your company apart from other mining recruiting companies in the market?

MRC Recruiting has 40 years of experience, specifically in mining. We are a family-run corporation with a team of experienced recruiters who have both mining and human resource backgrounds. Our team focuses on the mining/ resource industry globally and can offer our services in both English and Spanish.

Our team has worked with exploration, junior, mid-tier, and major mining companies, we also routinely work with OEM’s, Mining Technology companies, Private equity firms, and Engineering Consulting and Contract Mining organizations.

We have enjoyed a wide array of search assignments from entry-level technical roles through management and up to board level.

We believe that the candidate experience is an essential component in our ability to recruit strong talent on behalf of our clients and work to ensure we have accurate details and feedback to provide throughout the process. We also feature a comprehensive database of qualified candidates and a proven track record of successful placements.

How do you stay informed and educated on the latest trends and developments in the mining industry?

We stay informed and educated on the latest trends and developments in the mining industry by attending industry conferences and seminars, reading industry publications and company press releases. We are members of numerous industry-related groups/associations and spend time volunteering with them.

We also take time to visit our clients- at their mine sites, plants, facilities whenever possible and use opportunities to go on mining field trips when offered through conferences. We view ourselves as connectors and are constantly networking with industry professionals.

We love the mining industry and believe that it offers many solutions for our modern world. We work tirelessly to understand how we can positively influence and help our clients and candidates grow and through this we also continue to expand our knowledge base.

Can you discuss any unique or innovative solutions your company has implemented to improve the recruitment process for both clients and candidates?

MRC has been around a long time! We’ve seen a lot of changes happen to the recruitment process. When my father, Robert Schultz started our company, many of our employees worked from our home, we had filing cabinets full of lead cards and resumes.

We also offer a streamlined application process for candidates, and take the candidate experience very seriously, we look at every single resume and inquiry that comes to us and work to provide timely feedback and/or connect directly with each applicant to better learn about their background and what they are looking for. We take the opportunity as often as possible to personally connect with high-potential candidates.

MRC is also certified in an assessment process that indexes how people naturally take action, approach tasks and work. We can use this with our clients and candidates to provide insight to how they work together and identify complementary styles and build high-functioning teams.

Our marketing slogan is: Building the mining teams of tomorrow, today. This is who we are, always looking forward to the future of mining and the future of our clients.

MRC Recruiting has 40 years of experience, specifically in mining. We are a family-run corporation with a team of experienced recruiters who have both mining and human resource backgrounds. Our team focuses on the mining/resource industry globally and can offer our services in both English and Spanish. We love what we do – we have selected our team because they also have a passion for connecting good people with good companies and understand the nuances of doing so.

I grew up fishing resumes out of the mail and admiring the fancy paper and letterhead they were sent on! Flash forward, we now use a fully customized applicant tracking and CRM system and our applicants use our streamlined online application process to apply for roles.

Beyond process changes … we love what we do – we have selected our team because they also have a passion for connecting good people with good companies and understand the nuances of doing so. Outside of our genuine interest in our jobs and focus the mining industry, we maintain a proprietary database of contacts, and we build long term relationships with them.

What do you believe to be the biggest challenges facing the mining industry today?

There are several … however, from my perspective the biggest challenge is social license to operate – the overall perception and/or knowledge of what the mining industry is responsible for is relatively poor outside of our industry. I believe we need to bring more (positive) awareness to our industry and what it is responsible for: agriculture, medicine, energy, recycling, technology, infrastructure, etc.

Mining and its products touch our lives everyday! Our world as we know it would cease to exist without it. We should actively be advocating for safe, sustainable mining practices and what mining brings to our lives. This would help to improve the image and knowledge base and help to attract talent (which we need), and ultimately improve our ability to innovate and solve other problems the industry faces such as the need to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and address environmental and safety concerns.