Kathleen has always gone after what she wants. “As a kid growing up, I told my parents that I wanted to understand what everyone’s job was,” she explains. “They told me that was called “human resources” and so that’s what I knew I wanted to do, all the way through high school and through college.” Little did Kathleen know that years later, she’d be forging her own path at Verigent.
When Kathleen joined the Verigent team over 6 years ago, it was as a generalist. “I’d previously worked as a headhunter at another staffing agency, but I was brought on specifically to help onboard Verigent’s newest contractors,” she continues. As Verigent’s growth took off, Kathleen noticed that although dozens of staff members were involved in various points of the recruitment process, a central management position had yet to be created. “I told the executive team I was interested in taking that role on,” she explains proudly. “That’s where I got involved and over the years as we’ve grown, so has the team I manage.”
Today, Kathleen is Verigent’s Human Resources Manager. Her role touches many aspects of the business, from corporate recruiting to internal HR issues including benefits, PTO, and more. Kathleen says she loves the way her job’s evolved, but also the way Verigent has handled growth. “I remember in my interview, Kevin [Kiernan] told me where he wanted to take the company. I was really excited to work for a company that knew where it wanted to grow,” she explains. “We’ve gone through a lot of changes and I love the challenge that provides.”
Kathleen’s life has evolved almost as much as her role at Verigent. When her husband, Jim, was offered an incredible job opportunity in Oregon a few years ago, Kathleen was afraid she’d have to leave the role she’d come to love at Verigent’s headquarters in North Carolina. “We figured out a way to make it work,” says Kathleen, who now works remotely from Salem, Oregon, where she lives with her husband and three young children. “Senior leadership does a great job of reinforcing the company’s values, and that trickles down to all the employees,” she explains. “They’re open to feedback and suggestions which has helped maintain that positive culture.”
