Before my HR days, I ran facilities for a company and the HR director was one of the best I'd ever seen. She was no-nonsense and told it like it was. She lasted less than a year and was fired by the owners because she was honest and told them their practices were illegal. I think that when HR personnel do their job and support the employees, the employer begins to feel as though that individual is the enemy. It's a fine line to walk. My job is to support the employees and luckily, I work for a company that allows me to do that. I will protect the company as much as possible, but I will look to support the employees first. Wise, you know what I mean. Example: I had a candidate be extremely rude to other staff members on the phone. I supported their complaints of his rudeness and consequently, we did not hire them. There was no management saying "that doesn't matter, he's good."
Cort - what sort of field? For technical, I've found great candidates through a company called Adecco Technical Recruiting. I know their in the western states, but not sure how far east they go. The other thing that works for us is posting on our website - check out big companies in your field and look at their websites for their career openings. I found a great product marketing manager this way (or he found us).
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