Broadcast, print and electronic media are overflowing with news about the volatile economy. Real estate values are declining, and the jobless rate is rising. Obviously, this is not the best time to be out of work and shopping around your resume or furiously networking to land your next job. Is anybody hiring?
Even if you're one of the fortunate ones with a secure job, you never know what may come – good or bad. So it never hurts to be prepared just in case your job is downsized or you decide to branch out in a new direction.
When the time comes for career advancement or new challenges, having established networking contacts can be the difference between finding a job and finding the job.
And if you are on the other side of the hiring equation, an established network can be the difference between hiring someone and hiring the one.
But creating professional networks and conducting employment or employee searches are difficult tasks to accomplish on your own. That is where CSH Consulting Inc. comes in.
Based in Phoenix with a satellite office in Dallas, CSH is a recruitment firm focused solely on the payments industry. Founded in 2000 by President and Chief Executive Officer Curt Hensley, CSH connects top industry sales, operational, Internet technology and executive leadership talent with leading companies in the industry.
"Recruiting in the payments industry is all that we do, so it makes us very proficient at serving the merchant acquiring industry," said J.T. Driscoll, Vice President, Recruiting Services at CSH. "The combination of experience and specific knowledge of payments acceptance makes us a very unique and highly effective talent source."
Prior to founding CSH, Hensley and Driscoll worked together at an information technology staffing firm. While there, Hensley's largest clients included American Express Co., Vital Processing (now TSYS Acquiring Solutions) and a major POS integrator. He saw a need for a job placement business for the payments industry and decided he would be the one to fill it.
CSH's client roster includes ISOs, processors, POS manufacturers, payment gateway providers, financial institutions and just about any type of organization affiliated with the industry.
Candidates for employment do not pay for access to CSH's network; the company is compensated by the hiring companies. Fees are generally calculated as a percentage of the base salary for the hired position.
CSH's 27-person staff comprises 12 highly trained and experienced recruiters and 15 industry consultants; the average recruiter has a decade of relevant experience.
CSH places talent at all levels of the payments industry. But that wasn't always the case. The company was originally established to focus on executive level positions, and that segment remains a large part of its business. However, success in finding good jobs for higher level professionals has generated new opportunities for the company.
"Placing business leaders has opened up a lot of other levels of jobs to be filled, including merchant level sales recruiting," Driscoll said.
Hiring agents who are looking for applicants reach out to CSH. When industry professionals seek new opportunities, CSH is one of the places they call. However, the placement process begins much earlier than those initial contacts.
Hensley and Driscoll have worked to become part of the fabric of the industry so that when businesses are ready to hire, they are already aware of top candidates, or they know who to contact to scout high caliber talent. CSH's custom-built talent database exceeds 30,000 candidates. The process seems to be effective: The company recently completed its 1,200th placement in the payments industry.
Every CSH staff member participates in the company's networking efforts. Each day the team contacts industry professionals, matching each client's hiring needs with the very best talent.
"We've been able to help even the most well-connected hiring managers," Driscoll said. "Where they may know a good candidate or two for a particular search, with our help they would have a much larger candidate pool to interview, resulting in hiring the absolute best person for the job.
We will interview, in some cases, up to 100 candidates and narrow it down to the best three or four to present to our clients."
CSH is proactive in its talent search. "We call industry professionals, even though they are not looking for a new opportunity, to ask if they know who is the best," Hensley said.
This forward-looking process eliminates the stigma that if someone is talking to representatives of CSH, he or she must be looking for a new job. Hensley has had relationships with professionals for as long as 10 years before the timing was right for those individuals to make career moves.
Hensley and Driscoll are acutely aware of their clients' need for privacy, and they take that responsibility with utmost seriousness. "Working in a small niche, we have had to develop incredibly strict confidentiality guidelines," Hensley said. "We go to great lengths and err on the side of caution. We never share a resume with a client without express permission to do so."
Many industry players seem to jump from job to job. One day a merchant level salesperson works for ABC ISO; the next day he's moved to ISO XYZ. Some in the industry feel such job hopping reflects a lack of loyalty. However, Hensley believes it is just the opposite and attributes job fluidity to healthy business growth.
"Our industry is so dynamic," he said. "There is a lot of opportunity out there for great people to start their own companies. People have allegiances to those folks. There is a lot of loyalty in this industry, a lot of partnerships."
But Hensley stressed rapid employee turnover married with the equally fast growth of the industry is exactly why CSH is a valuable service. For companies experiencing brisk growth and expanding workforce needs, CSH is there to help.
Even if you are not in the market for a job today, Hensley advised now is the best time to start networking because valuable contacts and significant relationships do not happen overnight.
"Anyone with a year or more experience in payments and transactions, we would love to be talking to you and have you in our network," Hensley said. "We will keep your resume on file if you just want to know what is going on out there."
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact names or information may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
ISO/MLS contact:
Curt Hensley
President and CEO
Phone: 480-315-8800
E-mail: curth@cshconsulting.com
J.T. Driscoll
Vice President, Recruiting Services
Phone: 480-609-7444
E-mail:jt@cshconsulting.com
Company address:
9555 Lebanon Road
Frisco, TX 75035
Phone: 214-705-1175
Fax: 214-705-9263
Web site: www.cshconsulting.com
ISO/MLS benefits:
Company Profile originally appeared in
The Green Sheet Issue 081102
231102 - Merchant Advisory Services Inc
231002 - Wellesley Hills Financial
181201 - Network Merchants LLC
180902 - MainStream Merchant Services Inc.
180801 - Century Business Solutions
180502 - Priority Payment Systems Northeast
180501 - Merchant e-Solutions Inc.
180301 - Wirecard North America
171202 - Secure Cryptopayments
171002 - National Benefit Programs LLC
170902 - Frates Insurance & Risk Management
170901 - DCS Holdings Group LLC
170802 - Apogee Payment Systems LLC
170702 - Active Software & Hardware Systems
170701 - Veratad Technologies LLC
170502 - Frontline Processing Corp.
170501 - Platinum Choice Bancard LLC
161202 - International Bancard Corp.
161201 - CSR Professional Services Inc
161102 - Digitzs Solutions Inc.
161101 - Residual Sheriff LLC.
160801 - DigiPay: Solutions Inc
160702 - CreditCardProcessing.com
151202 - Benseron Information Technologies Inc.
151201 - CardWare International Inc
151101 - Lion Capital Group LLC
150801 - Topcreditcardprocessors.com
150702 - Vision Payment Solutions LLC
150601 - Conformance Technologies
150502 - Global Processing Systems
150402 - Mercantile Processing Inc.
150401 - Field Guide Enterprises
150302 - Signature Card Services
150301 - Premier Payment Systems Inc.
150201 - Humboldt Merchant Services
141102 - National Merchants Association
141001 - Instant Credit Manager
140902 - Merchant Cash and Capital LLC
140701 - National Transaction Corporation (NTC)
140601 - Total Merchant Services
140501 - Nationwide Payment Solutions
140501 - BPC Banking Technologies
140301 - Meritus Payment Solutions
131202 - First American Payment Systems L.P.
131102 - Evo Payments International LLC
131001 - Live Reps Call Center
130901 - Regal Payment Systems LLC
130901 - The Merchant Solutions
130802 - North American Bancard LLC
130801 - Payment Logistics LLC
130702 - Plug n Pay Technologies Inc.
130601 - U.S. Merchant Systems LLC
130402 - National Processing Co.
130202 - Charge Card Systems Inc.
130202 - Layered Technologies Inc.
121202 - American Microloan LLC
121102 - Keep in Touch Systems Inc.
121102 - Merchants Choice Payment Solutions
121002 - Washington Bancard Merchant Services LLC
120902 - Central Payment Co. LLC
120802 - Royal Merchant Holdings LLC
120801 - National Benefit Programs LLC
120602 - Cardinal Commerce Corp.
120601 - Veritrans Merchant Services LLC
120502 - ExecuTech Lease Group
120502 - The Small Business Authority
120402 - Chargeback Guardian Inc.
120401 - Electronic Payment Exchange
120301 - Complete Merchant Solutions LLC
120201 - CSR - Compliance Solutions and Resources
111002 - Lead Source Call Center
111001 - First Annapolis Consulting Inc.
110902 - Point of Sale System Services Inc.
110901 - Sage Payment Solutions
110801 - Century Payments Inc.
110702 - Creative Vision Studio LLC
110702 - Network Merchants Inc.
110701 - Capital Access Network Inc.
110602 - eProcessing Network LLC
110602 - Moneris Solutions Inc.
110502 - Paragon Application Systems Inc.
110401 - Merchant Implementation Services
101202 - CheckAlt Payment Solutions
101102 - Impact Payments Recruiting
101101 - Global Electronic Technology Inc.
101002 - TriSource Solutions LLC
100802 - Federated Payment Systems LLC
100801 - Voltage Security Inc.
100601 - NETSURION (formerly Vendor Safe Technologies)
100502 - Transaction Network Services Inc.
100402 - Secure Payment Systems Inc.
100401 - Elite Merchant Solutions
100302 - Retail Decisions Inc.
091201 - Performance Training Systems Bankcard Boot Camp
091101 - Merchant e-Solutions Inc.
091002 - Whitehall Capital Advisors LLC
090901 - CoCard Marketing Group LLC
090801 - First National Merchant Solutions
090701 - checXchange Money Transfer Systems Inc.
090601 - Sterling Payment Technologies
090502 - Infinity Payment Systems
090501 - Merchant Cash and Capital
090401 - UseMyBank Services Inc.
090401 - Data Delivery Services Inc.
090302 - Velocity Merchant Services
090302 - Metro Merchant Services
090301 - Smart Transaction Systems Inc.
090301 - DCC Merchant Services USA LLC
090202 - TransFirst Holdings Inc.
081202 - Affirmative Technologies Inc.
081201 - On-line Strategies Inc.
081101 - Vision Payment Solutions LLC
081002 - Veratad Technologies LLC
081001 - International Merchant Solutions LLC
080801 - GreenSoft Solutions Inc.
080702 - Smart Circle International
080601 - International Bancard Corp.
080502 - DRG Telemarketing Inc.
080501 - BCC Merchant Solutions
080402 - U.S. Merchant Systems
080401 - Greystone Business Resources Corp.
080302 - Transmedia Payment Services Ltd.
071202 - Barclay Square Leasing Inc.
071102 - FirstView Financial LLC
071001 - Sage Payment Solutions
070902 - YourTownMall Business
070901 - Nxgen Payment Services
070802 - All card Processing-AAMonte-USA
070801 - Money Movers of America Inc.
070602 - Central Point Resources Inc.
070601 - Positive Feedback Software LLC
070502 - Premier Payment Systems
070501 - Amacai Information Corp.