Christopher Burke, Director - Data Services

Q&A with Christopher

1. Tell us about your path here. Why did you choose to join Acertitude?

Soon after moving to Rhode Island, I landed a data support position at O'Neill Consulting. I liked working with information, and was engaged with learning the software as well as the various industries and organizational roles associated with the firm. At Acertitude's launch in 2016, I pivoted and became a member of the newly formed firm, as my work was strongly aligned with actively managing and enriching information in a fresh database with the goal of improving candidate research and assignment tracking for sales enablement.

I've chosen to remain at The Acertitude Group for almost nine years, which is longer than any company I've worked for. I love that I have had the space to grow and the opportunity to help build a forward-thinking shared services team that has transformed our business processes.

2. Describe a day in your life. Favorite parts of your job?

Our most important daily team task is to keep up with candidate input requests, so I'll typically start the day by looking through the queue and estimating overall workload. On most days, I have a couple of meetings, including one-on-one check-ins with the team, trainings, calls with software vendors, and a review of internal and external projects. The rest of the day is spent tending to quality control, data clean up, client company updates, working with project teams, as well as chipping in on data entry.

3. What is special about working here?

The ability to have a significant voice when it comes to owning my own career development. My role has adapted to my strengths and interests just as much as I've adapted to the world of executive search, data management, and team leadership. If I see an opportunity I'm interested in pursuing with respect to new responsibilities, connectivity with others in the firm, or being involved in a higher-level project, I always have the support to do so.

4. How has Acertitude helped you grow and perform at your best?

I have had the opportunity to advance from an entry level role to overseeing a team of 4-6 people, providing an appropriate level of challenge wherever I've been in my career progression. Creative problem-solving is one of the elements of my job that I like most, and there has been no shortage of opportunities, large and small, to do this every day no matter what my place has been in overall organizational structure.

5. In what ways - big or small - do you live out our mission of unleashing human potential?

I am cognizant of my growth journey at Acertitude and how operations have changed and will continue to change over time, and bring this personal experience to my own direct reports and people outside of our team. For everyone on our team, I strive to actively identify work opportunities that most engage their interests, as well as topics they want to learn more about. I believe this produces the best work, creates a natural team balance, and provides equal opportunity for all to carve out a niche for themselves. There is a lot of room for varying expertise, and investing in bringing that to light is a win-win-win situation for the employee, manager, and business.

6. What advice do you have for people looking to join Acertitude? What qualities do people need to be successful here?

My best advice is to embrace change and keep an open mind - both are essential. I didn't have much awareness or exposure to the executive search industry before I accepted a temporary assignment at O'Neill Consulting almost nine years ago. The work I've done here has changed consistently over time with the growth of the business and improvements to data and technology operations.

Christopher at a glance...