Kurt Rakos

Kurt Rakos
Kurt Rakos is a founder and partner at SkyWater Search Partners, the Short List ® search firm dedicated to placing top tier candidates in Sales, Marketing, IT, Accounting/Finance, and HR related positions.
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Recent Posts

5 Ways To Quit Your Job Gracefully

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 5/31/23 9:37 AM

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In a recent blog titled "Before you quit your job, read this!" we gave some advice on how to get your ducks in a row before leaving your current role, to set yourself up for success during the upcoming time of change. If you have now secured your next career move, it’s time to hand in your notice.

The way most people quit their job ranges from a spontaneous walk-out to agonizing over how to explain their decision to leave to their boss and colleagues. Some professionals become so anxious about quitting they decide not to accept an alternative job offer.

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Quitting Your Job: How To Handle The Exit Interview

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 5/24/23 9:53 AM

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You have an exciting job offer and you’ve quit your existing job, eager to get started in your new role. Now your current employer has asked for an exit interview, the thought of which fills you with dread. What do you do?

It’s HR policy in many companies to request an exit interview. This gives the hiring manager the chance to find out exactly why you are leaving the company and your views on working for them. This can be a difficult situation for many employees, especially if your time with your employer has not been a happy one. Do you air your grievances about your co-workers and your boss or do you smile and claim it’s “nothing personal?”

The decision is up to you, but as with every interview, preparation is the key. Our tips below will provide you with a good starting point.

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5 Big Mistakes Bosses Make in Performance Reviews

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 5/15/23 12:37 PM

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And How to Make Sure Never Make Them

Let’s face it. Rock-star employees are always tough to find. But in a candidate’s market (like the one we’re in right now), a superior candidate pool can seem as elusive as a herd of unicorns. At times like these, hiring managers often ask me for tips and tactics that can help them compete in a battleground market like this one.

My answer: keep the employees you have – and keep them happy.

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This Earth Day, Find Your Environmental Superpower

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 4/21/23 2:14 PM

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If you think Citizen Science is only for retirees and others who can spend hours tramping through nature and taking field notes, consider these surprising – and empowering – facts.

For many of us, the very idea of protecting our earth can trigger feelings of worry, anxiety, and even helplessness. After all, our best household-level efforts to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle can seem piddling, given the current pace of climate change.  But recently, in an effort to understand what more we mere mortals can do, I took a closer look at the Citizen Science movement. I was blown away by what I found.

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10 Best Interview Questions To Ask Each Candidate

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 1/16/23 1:42 PM

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Reveal a Job Candidate’s True Capabilities

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Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 1/16/23 10:25 AM

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Today, as we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we would like to pause and consider the opportunity this day holds for each of us. One way we can honor Dr. King is by asking ourselves what we can do now, going forward, that is better than what we have done so far.

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Stop Panicking! Pay Transparency Helps Employers, Too

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 12/28/22 9:00 AM

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 As more employers lift the veil of secrecy surrounding compensation, they’re discovering that the new openness benefits all, (including themselves).

You’ve read the headlines. If you’re like most employers, you’ve probably read them with some level of trepidation, if not outright fear. More states and cities are responding to workforce demands for pay transparency with new legislation that delivers just that. So far, the list includes California, Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada, Washington state, and New York City.

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Retained Executive Search vs Contingency: What's the Difference?

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 9/13/22 8:30 AM

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Finding and hiring the best talent is a high-stakes challenge for every organization. Whether you’re running a start-up, making your first serious management hire, or you’re a corporate recruiter, working on multiple open positions every week, filling an open job is not only time-consuming. It can be expensive, frustrating, and unpredictable.

Yet, every open job represents the future of your organization. Will this new person add long-term value – without too much short-term upheaval? Do they have the aptitude, attitude, and work style to gel with the rest of your team? By adding them now, do you move your organization closer to your vision?

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The Real Reasons We Have Labor Day

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 9/5/22 8:51 AM

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Rest, Reflect, and Recognize

Sure, your calendar says that the last day of summer is September 22nd. But if you’re like most of us in the United States, you know when summer really ends: Labor Day.  For most American workers – and their school-age children – the first Monday in September is a moment of transition. Monday is our last full day of the summertime slow, lazy mornings, and reduced pressures. Come Tuesday, it’s back to the business of higher expectations and a markedly faster pace.

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Juneteenth, Freedom and the Work Ahead

Posted by Kurt Rakos on 6/19/22 9:00 AM

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Learning, Understanding, and Driving Real Change

This year, as we recognize Juneteenth, we’re also reflecting on the fundamental human right to freedom itself. It’s not true freedom without truly equal access to education, rewarding work, and the opportunity to earn personal income and assets that can lead to generational wealth and security.

Yet right here, in spite of all the national attention on the Twin Cities’ woeful racial disparities in employment and income, those gaps still exist. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), unemployment rates are an impressively low 3.3%... until you look at the numbers by race.  As of April 2022, Black unemployment in Minnesota was 6.7%, more than twice the state’s average – and 2.4 times the rate for white Minnesotans.

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