logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2025
18m 12s

Building Candidate Pipelines for Long-Te...

RYAN DULL
About this episode

On this episode, Ryan Dull is joined by Candi Thomas, Director of Talent Acquisition: Field, Corporate and Supply Chain at Mattress Firm. With 22 years of experience, Candi shares her journey from retail management to leading TA teams, unifying processes and building a strong talent acquisition brand.

Candi discusses key metrics like time to fill and offer turnaround, as well as initiatives like AI-enabled assessments and active sourcing. She emphasizes the value of honesty in recruiting and fostering autonomy and creativity within teams to drive success.


Key Takeaways:


(02:31) Candi’s career is rooted in achieving operational excellence and customer focus.

(04:45) Mattress Firm sought a TA evolution to streamline processes.

(06:39) Field site hiring is the top priority for the TA team.

(09:37) Metrics help improve turnover rates and retention strategies.

(11:54) Career growth is a key focus from employee engagement surveys.

(13:12) Recruiting focuses on industries with commission-driven professionals.

(15:51) Providing realistic job previews builds trust with candidates.



Resources mentioned:


Candi Thomas -

https://www.linkedin.com/in/candi-thomas-sphr-58a01b9/


Mattress Firm | LinkedIn -

https://www.linkedin.com/company/mattressfirm/


Mattress Firm | Website -

https://www.mattressfirm.com/




This episode is brought to you by Sagemark HR.


Sagemark HR can help you:


✔ Improve your talent practices and make better, more informed people decisions.


After 20+ years of experience leading Recruiting and Talent Acquisition across a wide variety of industries, I've seen enough hires (over 100,000 to date) to know that hiring decisions truly can make or break an organization.



✔ Identify opportunities to not only improve your talent practices, but also delivering tangible business results.


We understand every organization is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all magic solution. So we listen first and identify the gaps and sticking points in your current process before ever recommending a solution.



✔ Bridge the gap from “traditional” to modern recruiting, without the painful learning curve.


We believe recruiting, talent, and HR technology is a deep well of untapped business potential, and our mission is to help you identify and implement those hiring tools in a way that works for you.


If you’re interested in learning more, you can reach me at:


www.sagemarkhr.com

ryan.dull@sagemarkhr.com




#Talent #Recruiters #Recruiting #HRTech

Up next
Oct 21
The TA Shift That Cuts Hiring Time by 40% with Cortney Grant of Johnson Controls
Building a world-class recruiting function takes more than filling roles — it’s about strategy, technology and getting close to the work. On this episode, host Ryan Dull is joined by Cortney Grant, Director of Global Talent Acquisition of Johnson Controls. They discuss Cortney’s ... Show More
19m 38s
Sep 23
Blending AI and Human Insight To Define TA Success with Carin House of Grainger
Navigating talent acquisition at scale requires a balance of technology, candidate experience and recruiter-driven success metrics. On this episode, host Ryan Dull is joined by Carin House, Director and Talent Acquisition Partner at Grainger. They discuss her career journey, the ... Show More
11m 47s
Sep 9
Structuring Early Careers Teams To Support Large-Scale Campus Hiring with Jeff Ollinger of Sun Life
Balancing innovation with the human side of hiring is shaping the future of talent acquisition. On this episode, host Ryan Dull is joined by Jeff Ollinger, Director, Talent Acquisition – Corporate and Campus, of Sun Life. They discuss Jeff’s career journey, the evolution of his r ... Show More
26m 52s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2025
#1 Thing an Effective Head of Operations Does for an Agency CEO with Jhana Li | Ep #765
<p>Would you like access to our advanced agency training for FREE? <a href= "https://www.agencymastery360.com/training">https://www.agencymastery360.com/training</a></p> <div id="block-1ac35ad461bec9993a43" class= "sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" data-bor ... Show More
19m 38s
Dec 2023
Ep. 5 Building Dream Teams: recruitment secrets for career advancement
<p>Curious about recruitment at Revolut and leadership tips to motivate a growing team?</p> <p>Yasin Bostanci, an Operating Partner in the CEO’s office and Head of Recruitment at Revolut, sits down with host Alex Carril. In this episode, they discuss managing a team which is dedi ... Show More
24m 43s
Aug 20
579: Former Accenture Partner Brad Englert on Career Growth Through Relationships
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Brad Englert,</strong> former Accenture partner, IT strategist, CIO, and author, shares how building genuine relationships has been the cornerstone of his career success. From his early days in technology consulting to leading large-scale initiatives, Brad re ... Show More
52m 24s
Feb 2025
When Hiring, Emphasize Skills Over Degrees
The best leaders know that a person’s skillset and their willingness to learn are more important than the degree they have. Ginni Rometty, former Chair and CEO of IBM, understands this deeply. She spearheaded a company-wide shift to skills-based hiring and development during her ... Show More
31m 36s
Feb 2025
Best Practices for Hiring Top Talent w/Jesse Klekamp
In this episode of Leadership Launchpad, Jesse Klekamp, a recruiting and people leader at K2 Space, shares her extensive experience in recruiting for specialized roles, particularly in the space industry. She discusses the importance of collaboration between hiring managers and r ... Show More
34m 28s
Mar 2025
Enhancing Sales Skills
In this episode of "Accelerate Your Business Growth," host Diane Helbig welcomes sales leadership expert Charlie Locke to explore the intricacies of building successful sales teams. Charlie, known for co-founding SDR Nation with Michael Gagliano, discusses the persistent stigma a ... Show More
39m 27s
Aug 2023
376: The Global Customer Growth and Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce, Tiffani Bova — The Experience Mindset: Changing the Way You Think About Growth
<p dir="ltr">Welcome to Strategy Skills episode 376, an interview with the author of <em>The Experience Mindset: Changing the Way You Think About Growth</em>, Tiffani Bova. This book details exactly how your company can adopt an Experience Mindset, at scale. It's not enough to kn ... Show More
45m 40s
Nov 5
Drew Meyers on Value Creation at Seaport
In this episode of Karma School of Business, Sean Mooney interviews Drew Meyers, Partner at Seaport Capital. Drew shares how his unconventional path—from off-track betting to M&A integration—shaped his approach to lower middle-market private equity. He breaks down Seaport's focus ... Show More
40m 8s
Jul 2025
$300M Jobs Lost to AI with Douglas James
Douglas James is the Founder and CEO of a SAAS platform called LeadFi.ai - LeadFi focuses on helping businesses reveal the exact buying power of their leads in real-time. Using just name, email and phone, LeadFi provides complete credit and financial information allowing Sales Te ... Show More
27m 40s
Oct 15
594: $2 Billion NYC Real Estate Broker on the Strategy of Homeownership
Scott Harris, a New York City real estate broker with more than $2 billion in career sales and author of The Pursuit of Home, reframes buying and selling property as an emotional journey—"a place where life is happening for you"—that requires the same discipline leaders apply to ... Show More
51m 42s