JJ Houldin, Principal

Q&A with JJ

1. Tell us about your career path here. How did you find yourself at Acertitude and why did you join the firm?

I started in financial services before determining my curiosity about people meant that I should pivot into a people-focused career. I had never heard of executive search, but thankfully ‘saw the light’, setting up a run that has spanned traditional executive search, leadership advisory work, and working on the talent team at a leading investment firm. I found myself wanting to bring all of these experiences to bear at an entrepreneurial firm pursuing ambitious goals with great people. Acertitude checked these boxes and more!

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

My favorite part of the job is that no two days are exactly alike, which makes it hard to describe the day in precise terms. A typical day includes a mix of: time with clients, including updating them on search status, time with candidates and guiding them through a process, time with newer prospects and getting to know their story or simply building a relationship with them in general, and time with prospective clients, explaining how Acertitude can best serve them.

Variety is indeed the spice of the executive search life. All of these interactions allow me to connect with exceptionally smart and interesting people, which is another favorite part of my job.

3. What is special about working here?

Working alongside intelligent, humble, and driven colleagues who are working towards a common set of goals. I’ve also found that the team here is quick to laugh or embrace moments of levity, which is a critical tool when navigating an industry that is full of unpredictable moments.

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

I’m early on in my journey, however so far, I’ve already been empowered to push myself to learn new markets and candidate pools so that our firm can ensure we always know the talent best suited for a role. Our project management team does an excellent job of maintaining a high bar and pushing us to continually expand our networks, so that clients experience a steady stream of quality candidates. This can be easier said than done in practice and is something that I have heard clients describe as a “key differentiator” when working with us.

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

I believe that everybody has untapped potential, even those who we might assume have hit the pinnacle of their careers. It is our job to remain curious and focused on uncovering where this potential exists.

In my role, this translates to being engaged during the interview process and thoughtful when building a relationship with candidates. This also comes through when we are presenting a candidate to a client – it is easy to talk about chronological career roles. It is harder to explain what motivates a candidate and what else they are positioned to accomplish in their career; however, this is a critical step to unleashing human potential.

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

My advice would be to show up each day ready to work hard and to remain solution-oriented when the unexpected inevitably surfaces. As I mentioned above, this world is inherently unpredictable, which means that a key quality is being resilient in the face of change and uncertainty.

Additionally, clients are not just hiring us for our networks – they want to know that we have a point of view. This means that we need to be comfortable surfacing questions or ideas that our market experience tells us are important to the overall success of the search. This relentless focus on driving towards a positive outcome allows successful individuals to prioritize their days and how they engage with clients and candidates alike.

JJ at a glance...