About Tricia Tamkin

Tricia Tamkin grew up in the Chicago suburbs, the only girl in the boys’ baseball league, and spent her teenage years fitting in gymnastics, cheerleading, and a starring role in Grease between innings.

At 19, she interviewed for a job she’d never heard of – Headhunter. The next morning, she called the agency owner and told him she was going to be a recruiter, either for him or someone else. He hired her. She was the top producer in the firm before she was old enough to order a drink.

When a boss told her to play nicer in the sandbox, she opened her own executive search firm instead. She ran it for nearly two decades, survived more than most people face in a lifetime, and eventually pivoted into training when a client asked her to build a recruiting team rather than fill one.

For the past sixteen years, Tricia has been a recognized leader in both the recruiting industry and the emerging application of AI to recruiting work. She’s the co-founder of Moore eSSentials and creator of The Complete Library and has accumulated over 175 testimonials on LinkedIn from practitioners at every level of the industry. She still makes cold calls and answers her own phone.

Go ahead and call her at 630.240.4454. She’ll pick up. Just make sure it’s because you want to invest in yourself. She’s been in recruiting long enough to know within thirty seconds if you do.

Timeline

2026

Retirement. Balance. Joy. Peace.

2025

Began reclaiming personal identity and meaning through therapy

2024

MARS program launch. The most complete recruiter support program ever.

2023

Co-launches first ever ChatGPT program for the recruiting industry.

2022

After more than a year of having a waitlist for Private Coaching, co-launched Group Coaching program for the recruiting industry.

2021

Major overhaul of both sourcing and sales programs, and development of over 100 hours of new recruiting training.

2020

Heads down in Church of Executive Search Private Coaching Practice. Help dozens of recruiters generate millions of dollars.

2019

Presented Keynotes and Breakout Sessions at 14 conferences in one year.

2018

Co-Founded Church of Executive Search, while simultaneously training and recruiting.

2017

Attended Tony Robbin’s Business Mastery- overloaded with ideas.

2016

Expanded Moore eSSentials staff and focused on building training and speaking business.

2015

Launched Client Cornucopia. Married again, third time’s a charm.

2014

Taught Pinnacle Society for the first time (top 80 headhunters in North America) to rave reviews.

2013

Co-launched first ever Facebook sourcing class, 18 days after Facebook launched Graph Search.

2012

First time speaking at ASA, traveled around North America and Canada training recruiters.

2011

Taught first Sourcing Class and first Private Training for an executive search firm.

2010

Retained to recruit, hire, train and build external recruiting department for client.

2009

Second Husband dies, better knock this off. Let everyone go and moved recruiting desk home.

2008

Build Wolftec to 10 recruiters and 3 support staff.

2007

Launch FastGround, a web-based real estate collaboration platform.

2006

Win award from Cognizant Technology Solutions for executive search excellence.

2005

Son is born, husband is diagnosed with terminal blood cancer.

2004

Closed Lockwood Ross (it was profitable, but not fun!) Returned to sole focus in recruiting.

2003

Generate 1M from one client for first time (Accenture).

2002

Launch Lockwood Ross, an outplacement firm. Married second husband.

2001

Closed $150K engaged deal (50/50/50), biggest to date.

2000

Tech bubble bursts, closed Padigent, bought Disney property.

1999

First husband dies, started traveling extensively and launched Padigent, and HR company for startup firms.

1998

Only accepted 100K jobs. Blanked for 5 months. Closed 11 deals in 10 weeks. Took 3 months off.

1997

Started Wolftec, an executive search firm still running today, took first class in Boolean.

1996

Top internal recruiter with 72 starts, 94% of which were unassisted with over 19% executives.

1995

Accepted internal recruiting position at Whitman Hart.

1994

Top producing recruiter in 15-person agency, billing 272K in first twelve months.

1993

Left college after 2 years to become a commission only agency recruiter in IT.

1991

Graduated from St. Francis High School, and began college at Eastern Illinois University.

1985

Won essay contest to be the Attorney General of Bloomingdale for a day.

1978

Played the Grand Prize Game on Bozo’s Circus and missed the first bucket.

1973

Born September 17th, an only child.

Enthusiastic Love from Tricia's Clients

Michael T.

Human Resources Business Analyst

Tricia and Jason are a verifiable treasure trove of information on the efficient use of Boolean searches for lazer focused, high quality searches. After taking their webinar course, I was able to cut the time of my searches in half, and be able to come back with greater accuracy and relevancy on the candidate backgrounds. Also, Jason has a fantastic hat.

Charles Kriston

Executive Recruiter/Career Coach at Charles Kriston Group

I completed an on-line training course that was masterfully crafted by Tricia. The power of sourcing using Boolean and other internet tools have allowed me to reach candidates I sensed were accessible, but did not know how to reach. In addition to be strong in these skills she is also empathetic to the student as we are exposed to powerful tools in a short period of time and are unable to complete cycles of learning to establish mastery of the skills.

Patti Avornyoh

Talent Acquisition, Executive Search, Contract/Corporate eBusiness Develop.

I never write recommendations for just anyone but this one is truly deserved. I was a student in Tricia’s class and the thing that impressed me the most was her professionalism, knowledge of the industry, accurate if not perfect answers to questions. Although, the class was online it was almost like being in the classroom physically. I highly recommend Tricia as my knowledge of sourcing increased under Tricia’s tutelage.

Toddie Downs

Project Coordinator at Olson Search International, Inc.

The depth of knowledge Tricia has about eSourcing in the eSSentials class is nothing short of mind-blowing. She is extremely thorough, but also, like the very best teachers, very enthusiastic and passionate about the subject. I also greatly appreciated her accessibility to questions outside class via email.

Becci Bowen

Software Support Specialist at ATOM Software, LLC

Tricia and Jason had me in their “eSSentials eSourcing” course and it was a great course to take. I feel the information was given in great detail and well taught. The webinar was fun and interactive, not boring and impersonal. Professionally this information is beyond useful to finding everything I need and I am eager to take the next step with them in February in their “Advanced eSSentials.”

Al Born

Senior Director of Recruiting and Client Services

Tricia has been invaluable in teaching me new techniques on how to become a better recruiter. Her method of teaching is refreshing and engaging. She definitely keeps you engaged during her training sessions. I would highly recommend her.

Greg Eskew, MSS

General Manager at Smith Staffing, Inc. and Flexnursing. LLC

Tricia and her sidekick Jason are nothing short of astounding! The information they teach has limitless potential and their knowledge of the subject matter is remarkable. Tricia is concise and professional while at the same time personable and enjoyable. The passion she displays is always evident and is infectious. While geared toward recruiters the tools she teaches have universal applications. Well worth the investment!

Jon Olson

President - Head of Search and Recruiting at Olson Search International

I have nothing but the highest praise for Tricia as an instructor, and eSSentials is a course packed with outstanding content.

Mike Martin

Executive Search for Consumer, Lifestyle & Outdoor Brands

The eSSentials training provides immediate returns with sourcing passive candidates for open job orders. It is an incredible value from both a time and cost perspective and the returns can be measured right away. We’ve missed big on some past training from industry “experts” and I was hesitant to commit the spend but the techniques we learned are invaluable. I am very thankful she talked me into the class and she delivered way past my expectations!!!

Dick Bordwell

President & Managing Partner at GRN Fairfax

When it comes to getting the most up to date methods for finding and researching available talent on the internet, Tricia is truly an expert in this field. The training she has provided over the last several weeks cover a number of diverse topics on internet sourcing and provide immediate results. The classes move quickly, are laced with humor, and will keep you on the edge of your seat. The best part is the ability to fully cover questions and receive immediate feedback on the topics being covered in a weekly question and answer period. If you’re serious about getting your internet sourcing skills to another level, then Tricia can teach you those skills to get there, and then continue to keep you up to date on new developments. . .