DSML is a US-based Executive Search Firm with offices in Boston and Chicago, and we recruit for European companies doing business in the US. This year, DSML is celebrating our 15-year anniversary. As part of that, we are honoring our team members who have been a part of our journey and continue to be an integral part of our business. This month we feature Veronica Subers, Business Developer and Senior Executive Search Recruiter, to share her experience with providing a customized approach to executive recruiting at DSML. As echoed by other DSML team members we have interviewed, she shares her appreciation for DSML’s whole team approach to providing comprehensive results for clients and candidates. Veronica’s extensive experience in working in recruiting and her international background have been a huge asset to DSML in recruiting for European subsidiaries in Chicago and on the East Coast.
Q: Can you share your background? How did you get into executive search recruitment?
I began with 2 years of medical school, but with my desire to begin working faster, I decided to switch my degree to Business and English. My career started out as a Junior Recruiter at an executive search firm in Paris, where I stayed for 4 years and learned a lot. What drew me to executive recruiting is the interaction with people – asking the right questions to understand them, grasping what a company is really looking for, what their challenges are, and finding the right candidate. I enjoy this industry and utilize my communication skills to conduct individual situational assessments to find the perfect match.
Looking for a corporate experience that fit my more programmatic and concrete approach, I then moved on to Otis Elevators to create their Campus recruiting function, to attract and retain young graduates from business and engineering schools in Paris.
Then Disneyland Paris was coming to Paris, and I wanted to be part of this incredible adventure! I applied and obtained a management position. Some months later, I was one of the Directors for the recruiting force to hire 18,000 people in 2 years. It was an extremely challenging and incredible experience during which I learned tremendously from American management. I was in charge of the executive positions for all the corporate departments as well as the management of the Theme Park. I was involved in the pre-opening, opening, and after-opening. It was my first experience in an international environment merged with American management. I learned so much and enjoyed this rewarding experience: 7 years of fun and hard dedicated work!
I then joined Accenture, an American management consulting firm, as the West Europe HR Director for the newly implemented Strategy Competency. What a transition! I was coming from hiring operational positions for the Theme Park to top international MBAs. After 3 years of successful HR implementation, I became Accenture West Europe Recruiting Director, in charge of the complete reorganization of the recruiting department, from campus recruiting to senior executives. During those 7 years, I led, motivated, and managed cross-cultural teams with people in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France; all so different in their working approach! Global management did not always understand the differences in the various countries in Europe.
As I love innovation and didn’t want to miss the Internet adventure, I went on to work for a start-up company, MrTed, that invented the first recruiting system sold on the internet for Europe. I came on to be a strategic resource and was able to utilize my human resources experience and innovative recruiting background to help sell their product to potential clients.
I love change! So next my family and I moved to Atlanta, GA. I started my own company mixing my love of interior decorating and travel. I was offering shopping trips to interior designers to discover French products. My first experience of business development; it was fun and passionate but when the financial crisis hit in 2007, it required me to once again make a change.
I was hired as the Skills-Based Volunteering Director by the Points of Light Institute and HandsOn Network which is a non-profit organization focused on supporting volunteering. It was incredible to see how much I could use my knowledge of skills and competencies to put together corporate volunteering projects for clients of companies that I had worked for before, like Accenture and Disney.
I then moved to Philadelphia, PA, and helped build from scratch the US subsidiary of Loc Maria Biscuits, which makes delicious signature crispy crepes and rich butter cookies from France. This experience helps me immensely in my role at DSML as I understand the challenges faced in recruiting for US subsidiaries.
Q: How did you come to DSML?
I met Myriam through a connection made on LinkedIn. Because of my vast experience, Myriam proposed I do Business Development for DSML, as well as
Executive recruiting.
Q: What is your current role at DSML? How do you spend your days?
I have been with DSML for 3 years now. I do Business Development and Executive Recruiting. I work with a variety of clients. But no matter who the client is, we strive to ask the right questions and understand their industry’s challenges and working environment so we can find the best solutions.
Q: What do you feel is important to DSML?
One of the strengths of DSML is the quality of work. We each want to create a true and transparent relationship with the client and the candidate. We spend time until we find the right candidate and continue to talk with the candidate well after they are hired as well. It is important for me to use my knowledge and competencies to help clients and candidates and be efficient.
I love that at DSML, we work in a team-based approach. Even before Covid, many of us have been remote in different regions doing recruiting through video and phone so we have always been used to working that way. Our team is international and we all have been through the transition from Europe to the US. We have that common bond and experience of adaptation and flexibility which allows us to work well together. Of course, it helps our clients as well that we have that knowledge.
Q: What are the core values of DSML?
There are three things that stand out to me when I think of the core values of DSML. First is really transparency and developing true relationships with the client and candidate, as the candidate is not a “product” but a person we are working with. We need to find the right match for both of them and take the time to do that in order to produce quality work.
The second is really teamwork. It is especially important in recruiting, to be able to have a discussion together and decide who is the best candidate. And being in a team of women is especially nice and open! We understand each other so well.
The third one is our international background, as I do not think we could all do our job properly without that background and knowledge that each of us has. This means we really understand the challenges of a European company coming to the US market. And we know what we can bring to them with our knowledge of the salary market, the labor market in the US, and the differences in terms of management. For instance, when the job description isn’t adapted to the US market, we can really help our clients working on it.
DSML is an executive search and recruitment firm in Boston and Chicago that specializes in recruiting for European subsidiaries in the USA, and we are proud to have Veronica with her Senior level experience as a key member of our team.