We recently connected with Jennifer Jeansonne and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

The industry standard for recruiting support is to use an expensive, industry-specific recruiting agency that charges a contingent rate based on the hired candidate’s anticipated first-year compensation.

This is often far outside of the budget of many companies, especially startups and small businesses. It also often charges the business for products that they don’t actually use.

By providing several different options for engagement, I aim to take a more involved approach in the business so I can better fill the roles that they need to fill. It also gives companies an opportunity to set up a recruiting structure that can be replicated by someone in-house at a future time.

Some of the products that I offer include:
– Team design (This product helps companies identify the people, partners, resources, and tools that they need to support their company goals. Most traditional recruiting agencies will only fill full-time positions, whereas I help companies identify if they need W2, contract, or fractional labor in addition to helping them assess if they can accomplish their goals with a piece of technology – or a combo of both!)
– Fractional senior-level recruiting services (I function as an in-house recruiter and part of their team, learning the intricacies of their business and the profile of their ideal employees in a way that is hard to do with a one-and-done engagement like a traditional agency. This also allows companies to spend only as much as they need and turn it on and off when they need it.)
– Recruiting process design and optimization (I design custom processes that can be replicated and tweaked in the future, either by myself or someone on their team. This gives a company access to mentorship for more junior recruiters and an outside perspective that introduces improvements and enhancements for both the hiring team and the candidate experience.)

Jennifer, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

With over 15 years of experience in talent acquisition and workforce development, Jennifer Jeansonne is the founder and owner of JAJ Consults, a New Orleans-based firm specializing in people-first, business-focused HR solutions. Just like an interior designer transforms a space into something functional, beautiful, and efficient, Jennifer designs teams that power businesses forward and helps companies build the right mix of people, resources, and tools to accomplish their goals. She leverages her diverse background across industries such as technology, startups, hospitality, non-profits, education, and healthcare to implement customized solutions that align with each client’s unique needs.

After spending nearly 10 years as an in-house recruiter, Jennifer decided that she wanted to launch a business to prove that not all recruiters are terrible and offer services that traditional recruiting agencies do not offer. She offers role design (including job leveling, compensation structure, performance metrics, and job descriptions), 1:1 leadership coaching, personalized recruiting support, and deep-dive projects that improve and enhance company culture. As an industry-agnostic independent recruiter, she helps organizations of all sizes design customized talent acquisition processes and employee engagement strategies through contract or fractional engagements. (note- see previous question for benefits of why I offer different services)

I am a big believer in the fluid staffing model to help businesses hire people in a project-based format. This gives companies the flexibility to allow for reconfiguring teams based on changing business needs and access to broader talent pools with reduced fixed costs.

In addition to offering team design support for businesses, Jennifer also works directly with job seekers, with a particular passion for mid-career individuals who desire to pivot in their careers. She offers resume support, interview prep, offer negotiation, and job search strategy. She prepares individuals for the hiring process by giving them insight from someone who reviews resumes, designs and executes interview loops, and helps hiring team make hiring decisions on a daily basis.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I am really big on relationship marketing. I love forming partnerships with other service providers that will often allow me to work on some part of a project with them or to form a project-based fluid team around a specific initiative or project for a company.

Additionally, I love to get involved in work-adjacent programs like startup incubator mentorship groups or advisory boards. This helps me learn from both company owners in the programs but also from other mentors and board members and expand my network in ways that I might not have known would be possible.

I like opportunities where people can get to know me, see how I approach work and team design, and have an opportunity to build trust. This leads to new customers and referrals from people that I interact with in deeper way than I would with traditional paid marketing efforts.

Have you ever had to pivot?

My business was ultimately born after being laid off from a job in the startup world in June 2023. I was already thinking that I wanted to build something for myself but I had not yet decided what that would be. When the unexpected layoff happened, there was no question that I would start building a business instead of finding another full-time W2 role.

Over the last 18ish months, I have connected with work in a way that I never thought was possible and am finally discovering what I think is the true version of myself. I love the creativity to work on a variety of project types, connect with whatever type of client that I choose, and have the flexibility to pivot my business at any point I wish.

An added bonus is that I am able to disconnect more in this type of work environment because I always know what’s coming up, what’s on the agenda, and I’m never relying on someone to just deliver or decide what I am going to be working on. I also get to decide what I’m good at and what I want to work on that is connected to that instead of my supervisor deciding for me.

I would have never discovered this connection to work or this feeling of my true self if I had not gone through the layoff and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to work for myself, serving my clients and helping them achieve their goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jajconsults.com
• Instagram: @jajconsults
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferjeansonne/