What's Happening at CPR-INC.

The view from the CPR-Inc. office is breathtaking. Our offices are located in the tallest building in the Gem City, Stratacache Tower. The building, formerly Kettering Tower, has 27 floors with the reknown Racquet Club (now the Dayton Club) crowning the edifice. CPR has a suite of offices located on the 12th floor with phenomenal views of the city for miles out. The recruiting business has lots of daily ups and downs with a fast paced environment that can leave one weary and worn. The picturesque views that every recruiter gets to enjoy brightens their countenence and makes every day more enjoyable.

Stratacache recently acquired the Kettering Tower and along with changing the name they have a long list of repairs and renovation plans for the coming years. A few of the items on the to do list include adding a patio restaurant off the landing on the 5th floor, washing the windows (which hasn't been done in years) and placing a illuminated sign on the top of the building that can be seen from any direction. Stratacache's goal is to restore the tower and make it more attractive to businesses, residents and visitors.

Dawn Bastian
Vice President Business Development
CPR-Inc. - Corporated Personnel Resources Inc.

Many recruiters have come and gone over the past 30+ years at CPR-Inc. But a select few, like Dawn Bastian, have grown with the company. Dawn came on board as a recruiter for CPR-Inc. 19 yrs ago. She had never worked as a recruiter before and wasn't sure what to expect. I had an opportunity to sit and chat with Dawn about how she got started.

Me : Dawn how did you get started in the recruiting field?

Dawn : I answered an ad in the paper for a pharmaceutical sales rep position and a recruiter from CPR interviewed me. That was back when we used to interview candidates face-to-face. When the interview was over she said, "well, you know, we're hiring". All I cared about then was finding a job that was Monday through Friday, 9-5 because I had kids. I was hired that day.

The first day I came to work we were in a new building and we didn't even have furniture yet. The only offices that had furniture were the interview rooms. So, I asked my boss where I should go and he pointed to a phone that was sitting on the floor and said, "There's a phone, a yellow tablet, a phone book and a pencil. Get started making calls." And, he wanted me to sit on the floor! I never let him live that down.

Me : How long did it take you to get comfortable with the position?

Dawn : About 6 months. I started talking to business owners to get job orders and realized that they weren't gonna bite. Then I realized that it was very easy for me to do this. I didn't have a problem asking for the money. It was second nature to me. I started putting candidates into the roles, sometimes not having a clue what the actual role was. One of my jobs was for a Powder Coater. I had no clue what a Powder Coater was but I filled the order! I went after whatever I could get...restaurant, retail, whatever.

So after that, Ron from the corporate office took me under his wing because he had an opening for a communications company that needed to find Sales Reps to call on businesses in the Dayton area. They needed "hunters" to call on every office in a building to get them to buy their office equipment. I started interviewing people and I'd have eight interviews back-to-back. Long story short...I placed the entire office.

Then I got a contract from American Home Patient, a national respitory DME company where I ended up placing sales reps for their Dayton office and a respitory therapist and sales opening for their Springfield office. The fee was the largest I had received to date. It was then I realized that I could expand into other parts of Ohio because there were openings in Cleveland and Cincinnati too. Then, I thought, this is a nationwide company with over 350 branches, why am I limiting myself to just the Ohio branches. I could interview and do pre-screening on the phone and fax the paperwork. Well, I got the job orders for the nationwide openings. At that point I went to the CPR "powers that be" to request help because I couldn't successfully do the job alone. They gave me a recruiter and then they gave me another recruiter...that's when it all changed.
After that CPR decided to divide the jobs into departments and they put me in charge of healthcare.

Me : What is your biggest challenge at this point in your career?

Dawn : My biggest challenge now is finding new business. I think the healthcare industry is changing and expanding. I believe that maybe addiction centers and nursing homes are the wave of the future. I'd like to be involved in those opportunities.

Me : What do you like to do when you're not at work?

Dawn : I'm a huge gardener, that's my major hobby. I like to spend time with my family and my dogs, Finnegan and Murphy.

Me : What would you be doing if you were not a recruiter?

Dawn : Well, at one point I wanted to be a news anchor . I interviewed Donna Jordan on WDTN when I went to college but decided that it wasn't for me. I got a job at Nutrasystem as a sales rep, it was high pressure but I was all about the money. Then I got a job as a sales manager at Click Camera because I'm a huge photographer. So, I knew sales was it but I needed to get out of retail hours. I don't know...something that would have made a lot of money...maybe real estate or something like that.

Me : Do you think you'll retire as a recruiter?

Dawn : Yeah, most likely. My husband wants to move and that's okay because I can now do this job remotely.


CPR-Inc. has placed thousands of healthcare candidates nationwide. If you are an employer or hiring manager in need of a recruiter and you are interested in working with Dawn Bastian take a moment to complete our formand we will contact you immediately.