Message from the President
Welcome to our website! At Pauly Group, we have a real passion for serving our client colleges. We keep our work confidential while ethically working with potential applicants and candidates. These high standards were important to our founding president, Teri Pauly, and continue as the standards for service I have upheld during my presidency.
Most people wonder, “What is my real purpose in life?” I know for certain that my professional purpose is to serve through the Pauly Group. I have felt at home here from the time I walked in for an interview with Teri in 1996.
As fate would have it, while working on my graduate degree at the University of Illinois, Springfield campus, I happened to see a small green piece of paper posted on a bulletin board. There, printed on that paper was the simple notice, “Part-time clerical help needed.” Having nothing to lose, I thought, “I might as well call the number to see if I could land that job.” I called, I interviewed, and sure enough, I was offered a part-time clerical job. Glad to have an opportunity, I took it.
After about six months, I realized that I wanted more than a part-time job, and announced that I was going to start looking for another position. I left that Friday thinking that I had appropriately given two weeks notice so that I could quit my job. When I came back in on Monday, I realized what had really happened. Teri interpreted my “quitting” as a challenge to give me more responsibility. Once again, I was happy to have the opportunity – so I took it.
Teri was a great mentor. She taught me how to reference candidates and find the true story. She taught me how to listen to what presidents and other administrators needed; then to talk about the services that could meet their needs. She taught me what it meant to recruit applicants. I also learned how to train consultants to meet our standards, to work with search committees, and all of the day-to-day tasks of running a small business. Over the next several years, thanks to Teri’s guidance, I learned, and learned, and learned.
Teri and I began to work more as partners rather than as boss and subordinate. She began to ask me for my opinion and to allow me to spread my wings. I began to improve some of our processes. Teri, Pauly Group, and I evolved together. Teri has retired now, but we spend a lot of time talking about the business, but probably more time talking as friends. And, glad to have the opportunity, I take it every day!
Now that you have read my story, my hope is that you see that I am intimately involved in every search, from the first call to our office to the time the candidate is hired. Every step of the search matters to me. If one step is not up to our standards, then the entire search is not up to our standards. I put a lot of pressure on myself and Pauly Group staff and consultants to be confidential, ethical, and excellent in providing customer service. But, then again, our client colleges deserve nothing less.
Please feel free to call me. I’ll be happy to talk with you about our services and how we might help your college successfully navigate through the search process.
