Professional Development Summit 2020
  • Home
  • Registration
  • Program
    • 2023 Session One >
      • Employer Panel
      • Juliet Turpin
      • Ross Saunders
      • Chris Keevil
      • Natalie Ripp
    • 2023 Session Two >
      • Women in Technology Panel
      • Susan Power
      • Robert Newcombe
      • Greg Kirczenow
      • Zafar Muhammad
    • 2023 Session Three >
      • Agile Panel
      • Carlo Carandang
      • Graham MacDougall
      • Jessica Reid
      • Angela Arsenault
  • Keynote - Shawn Kanungo
  • Sponsor
  • About Us
    • About Us
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    • PDS Committee
  • Previous Events
    • 2019 Program >
      • Opening Address - Chris Crowell
      • Mike Lipkin - Keynote
      • 2019 Session One >
        • Precious Williams
        • 2019 Robert Newcombe
        • Martin Davis
        • Women in IT Mini-Panel
        • Dawson Mossman
      • 2019 Session Two >
        • 2019 Susan Power
        • Doug Denny
        • Karla Pooley
        • Blockchain Mini Panel
        • Thomas Ley
      • 2019 Session Three >
        • Tracy Zwicker-Forbes
        • James Slupsky
        • Kim Scaravelli
        • Nachiket Parab
        • Chris Mitchell
    • 2018 Program >
      • Jim Harris Morning Keynote Speaker
      • Jim Harris Lunch Keynote Speaker
      • 2018 Session One >
        • Jean-Claude Beaudry
        • John Robertson
        • Chris Fullerton
        • Bill Carroll
        • Ian Ghent
      • 2018 Session Two >
        • Danielle Comeau
        • Stephen Smith
        • Martha Wenc
        • Andrew Pery
        • Mini-panel - Evolution of Technology
      • 2018 Session Three >
        • Charles Villanyi Bokor
        • Melanie Gallant
        • Mini-panel PM Stories
        • Tim Dickinson
        • James Slupsky
      • 2018 Session Four >
        • Perry McLeod
        • John Buckley
        • Emad Rizkalla
        • Michelle Murray
    • 2017 Program >
      • Ted Graham Keynote Speaker
      • 2017 Executive Panel >
        • Fawn Annan - Moderator
        • Peter Burns
        • Sandra Cascadden
        • Roman Coba
        • Spiro Bokolas
        • Jeremy Wubs
      • 2017 Session One >
        • Dianne Gaudet
        • Kevin Schwenker
        • Brenda Fay
        • Matthew Leach
        • Jeremy McCurdy
      • 2017 Session Two >
        • Katalin Allen
        • Victor Zhu
        • Gary Cox
        • Robin Veinotte
        • Nathan Dennison
      • 2017 Session Three >
        • Ian MacNeil and Carrie Forbes
        • John Trites
        • Teri Fearn
        • Brian Fanning
        • Anas Aman
      • 2017 Session Four >
        • Victoria Mcintosh
        • John Robertson
        • Emily Hemlow
        • Jordan Kyriakidis
        • Patrick Rogers
    • 2016 Program >
      • 2016 Keynotes >
        • Jennifer Gillivan - Opening Keynote
        • Perry Monaco - Lunch Keynote
      • 2016 Session One >
        • Ian MacVicar
        • Natalie Doyle Oldfield
        • Victor Zhu
        • Grant Sullivan and Greg Foran
      • 2016 Session Two >
        • Livia Botyanszki Boss
        • Ron RIchard
        • Patricia Uptegrove
        • Dale Kehler and Lynn Clark
      • 2016 Session Three >
        • Catherine Vardy
        • Devin Cameron and Melissa Reid
        • Steve Caseley
        • Victoria McIntosh 2016
      • 2016 Session Four >
        • Louise Harris
        • Mike Frenette
        • Stephen Doiron
        • Tim Pratt
    • 2015 Program >
      • 2015 Session One
      • 2015 Session Two
      • 2015 Session Three
      • 2015 Session Four
    • 2014 Presentations
    • 2013 Presentations
    • 2013 Workshops
    • 2012 Presentations
    • 2012 Workshops
    • 2011 Presentations
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Karla Pooley
Unicorns Are Real: Attracting And Retaining Newcomer Talent In Atlantic Canada 

​Presentation Synopsis:  We get it.  There's a war for talent.  Everyone is looking for the same senior developers and cloud-certified architects.  Are these people even in here?  Are they even looking?  Do they even exist?

From start-ups to expansions, there are amazing things happening in the Atlantic Canadian tech scene.  Like most companies, you probably have a webpage full of difficult-to-fill job openings.  Talent acquisition is more than just posting ads, participating in the annual career fair circuit, and having an agency on retainer.  Maybe you’ve found a fantastic candidate elsewhere, only to lose them when they won’t relocate.

Did you know that each year, our region welcomes over 4500 skilled workers from all over the world?  These talented newcomers are already here, they're ready to work, and they’re bringing in-demand skills.  They speak fluent English or French, hold industry-recognized certifications, and have often worked in senior roles for multi-national corporations.

How can you find them and ensure you’re hiring the best?  How do you attract, assess, and onboard them?  Once they’re hired, how do you develop, engage, and retain them?  How do you support them as employees?  Who can help support you as employers?  Most importantly, how will you and your company ultimately benefit?
 
If your company is serving global and diverse customers, you absolutely need a global and diverse workforce. Let me share some of Blue Spurs' experiences, including our best practices, successes, and lessons learned, and help you tap into a new market for talent. 
​

​Speaker Biography:  Karla is known by a lot of things, including "HR Lady"​, "Talent finder-person"​, "Hey, you know Human Resources, can you answer this for me?"​ and "Provider of memes"​.  She also has the pleasure of working for Blue Spurs, an international award-winning IT consulting company in Fredericton. 

A prospective Software Developer who took one class in Java and dropped it before she could fail it, Karla subscribes to the philosophy of "Those who can, do, and those who can't, work in HR".  Even if she can’t walk the walk, she can still talk the talk, and found a different way into IT. 

As Blue Spurs' Manager of Organizational Development, Karla brings over a decade of experience in Talent Acquisition, including domestic and international recruitment, staffing, employee engagement, talent management and workforce planning.  She is an advocate for non-traditional hiring in the workforce, and has received numerous recognitions for her efforts in promoting diversity in the region.​



 Partner Associations Include:
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2023
  • Home
  • Registration
  • Program
    • 2023 Session One >
      • Employer Panel
      • Juliet Turpin
      • Ross Saunders
      • Chris Keevil
      • Natalie Ripp
    • 2023 Session Two >
      • Women in Technology Panel
      • Susan Power
      • Robert Newcombe
      • Greg Kirczenow
      • Zafar Muhammad
    • 2023 Session Three >
      • Agile Panel
      • Carlo Carandang
      • Graham MacDougall
      • Jessica Reid
      • Angela Arsenault
  • Keynote - Shawn Kanungo
  • Sponsor
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • PDS Committee
  • Previous Events
    • 2019 Program >
      • Opening Address - Chris Crowell
      • Mike Lipkin - Keynote
      • 2019 Session One >
        • Precious Williams
        • 2019 Robert Newcombe
        • Martin Davis
        • Women in IT Mini-Panel
        • Dawson Mossman
      • 2019 Session Two >
        • 2019 Susan Power
        • Doug Denny
        • Karla Pooley
        • Blockchain Mini Panel
        • Thomas Ley
      • 2019 Session Three >
        • Tracy Zwicker-Forbes
        • James Slupsky
        • Kim Scaravelli
        • Nachiket Parab
        • Chris Mitchell
    • 2018 Program >
      • Jim Harris Morning Keynote Speaker
      • Jim Harris Lunch Keynote Speaker
      • 2018 Session One >
        • Jean-Claude Beaudry
        • John Robertson
        • Chris Fullerton
        • Bill Carroll
        • Ian Ghent
      • 2018 Session Two >
        • Danielle Comeau
        • Stephen Smith
        • Martha Wenc
        • Andrew Pery
        • Mini-panel - Evolution of Technology
      • 2018 Session Three >
        • Charles Villanyi Bokor
        • Melanie Gallant
        • Mini-panel PM Stories
        • Tim Dickinson
        • James Slupsky
      • 2018 Session Four >
        • Perry McLeod
        • John Buckley
        • Emad Rizkalla
        • Michelle Murray
    • 2017 Program >
      • Ted Graham Keynote Speaker
      • 2017 Executive Panel >
        • Fawn Annan - Moderator
        • Peter Burns
        • Sandra Cascadden
        • Roman Coba
        • Spiro Bokolas
        • Jeremy Wubs
      • 2017 Session One >
        • Dianne Gaudet
        • Kevin Schwenker
        • Brenda Fay
        • Matthew Leach
        • Jeremy McCurdy
      • 2017 Session Two >
        • Katalin Allen
        • Victor Zhu
        • Gary Cox
        • Robin Veinotte
        • Nathan Dennison
      • 2017 Session Three >
        • Ian MacNeil and Carrie Forbes
        • John Trites
        • Teri Fearn
        • Brian Fanning
        • Anas Aman
      • 2017 Session Four >
        • Victoria Mcintosh
        • John Robertson
        • Emily Hemlow
        • Jordan Kyriakidis
        • Patrick Rogers
    • 2016 Program >
      • 2016 Keynotes >
        • Jennifer Gillivan - Opening Keynote
        • Perry Monaco - Lunch Keynote
      • 2016 Session One >
        • Ian MacVicar
        • Natalie Doyle Oldfield
        • Victor Zhu
        • Grant Sullivan and Greg Foran
      • 2016 Session Two >
        • Livia Botyanszki Boss
        • Ron RIchard
        • Patricia Uptegrove
        • Dale Kehler and Lynn Clark
      • 2016 Session Three >
        • Catherine Vardy
        • Devin Cameron and Melissa Reid
        • Steve Caseley
        • Victoria McIntosh 2016
      • 2016 Session Four >
        • Louise Harris
        • Mike Frenette
        • Stephen Doiron
        • Tim Pratt
    • 2015 Program >
      • 2015 Session One
      • 2015 Session Two
      • 2015 Session Three
      • 2015 Session Four
    • 2014 Presentations
    • 2013 Presentations
    • 2013 Workshops
    • 2012 Presentations
    • 2012 Workshops
    • 2011 Presentations