“The way to get things done is to have a good assistant.” “A good assistant can change an entrepreneur's life, but keeping one from fleeing in frustration requires skill.”  These are two great quotes that have come to mean a great deal to me.  As many of you know, I am blessed to have an absolutely awesome assistant, Amber Jolley, working by my side.  I’d like to take a few minutes to introduce Amber to all of you and explain the role that she plays in the Whitaker Technical organization.  Amber is a Summa Cum Laude grad of Abilene Christian University with a BS in Psychology.  She came to Whitaker shortly after her graduation initially serving as the administrative coordinator for Whitaker IT (our IT contract/perm division) before I lured her with the thrill and excitement of working with me in the engineering world!  In the almost two years that Amber has been working with me she has become my “alter-ego” as she’s in the loop about every ongoing search and every interview in the process. 

This column isn’t long enough to tell you the myriad of things that she does, but some of the highlights include handling interview arrangements, travel coordination, updating and follow ups, covering for me when I’m away from the office, and fortunately for all of you, she single-handedly produces this newsletter every month – a Herculean task in and of itself!  Not to mention that, since she’s MUCH younger than I am her memory is a LOT better than mine and, combined with her superlative attention to detail, she ensures that nothing falls through the cracks.  The recruiting and search business has become her career passion and I’m proud to say she recently received her professional accreditation from the State of Texas, and will be sitting for the National Professional Certification exam in October.  Please don’t hesitate to call on Amber if you need information (amber.jolley@whitcos.com) and I’m sure most of you will be hearing from her sooner or later!