FEDERAL MARKET: We Dominate!

"The value for our firm in selecting KLA was: a) reputation; b) ability to get results; and c) the fact that the principals have a robust network in the Federal space. It was a great match for us! KLA was able to be our business partner in achieving a key objective of filling a very critical team position–Director of Federal Solutions.

It wasn’t an easy search; our CEO was very particular. As a small, California-based software company we didn’t have the local knowledge or networking expertise for building a Federal team with a DC presence. Frank very effectively bridged that gap. Right away, he made a vast difference from our own search where hardly any of many, many applicants met the criteria. He was able to present a small number of highly qualified candidates through a very efficient process that didn’t waste any of our time. We were impressed with KLA’s responsiveness, focus, and the quality of their candidates, and we’re very happy. I highly recommend Frank. I really appreciate his work style, responsiveness, availability, and pragmatism. He never tried to sell a candidate to me. Not only is he very easy and enjoyable to work with; he really gets a lot of satisfaction from making the connections that build companies and careers."

– Mark Varah, Vice President of Operations, MotionDSP

"KLA is a well-regarded “go to” recruiter for the Federal technology space. ... a solid understanding of the market and the dynamics of the industry... Keenly empathetic to both parties... assesses the candidate’s skill sets and requirements as well as the roles of the company to look for a good match. With my background in communications, mobility and security, [KLA] worked with me to define my goals and the appropriate niche where I was most qualified... created an efficient model to target the right companies within that subset of the market instead of shooting for a broad range ... matching me to the right position. I will absolutely work with Jodi to build out my team for this new position."

– Mark Zentz, Director of Federal Accounts, Accellion

"To me, Ken Leiner and Frank Munero are synonymous. They’re true professionals who I really respect and have worked with for 15, if not 20 years. Frank has helped me fill positions that have resulted in growth in sales and overall business. He is an excellent recruiter; one of a very few in DC in the Federal space who fully understands the clients and the candidates and the opportunities for each. He knows my requirements, roles, company culture and types of personalities I’m looking for as a hiring manager, as well as the requirements, qualities and personality of the candidates. His greatest value is that he finds and presents the highest qualified candidates for each role every time, only putting those in front of me that need to be seen, without wasting my time… I strongly urge other companies to use KLA."

– Jeff Kidwell, Big Data Federal Sales Leader for IBM

"I’ve been working with Frank and Ken since 199­3… When Ken or Frank call, I’m interested as they’re usually SPOT ON. Nine times out of ten, the first or second resume I get is the person I want to hire, saving me an incredible amount of time and creating a profitable outcome… The people I’ve hired through Ken and Frank have been successful and met my expectations. Some of my best hires and long-standing relationships with employees have come through KLA… Their approach has included coaching me through decision criteria and making alternative recommendations that usually pan out better than my original thinking. They want me to make the right hire as much as I do. Despite a long list of recruiters with varying networks, KLA is on my short list for any position I hire and always the first one I call for a DC Metro or Federal role."

– The late Brian Murphy, VP, End Point Division, BeyondTrust (2012)

"I have worked together with Ken and Ken Leiner Associates for about 15 years both as a hiring manager and individual looking for a new role. KLA always delivered quality candidates at previous companies I worked at... When I joined CyberRes, a Division of Micro Focus, it was to rebuild the US Federal Civilian business and regain lost market share. A key part of our strategy was to up-level our talent and expand roles to ensure we could meet market demands. While we have a strong footprint within the federal government, our recruiting team did not have much Federal expertise and looked to engage a company with the expertise in this space that could jump start our talent search.

Beth Kandianis was assigned to our account and has honestly become an extension of my team to ensure that we bring on the right candidates that not only fit where we are today, but where we’re going tomorrow. ... he screening of the candidates prior to me getting them has been fantastic; the communication and follow-up ensured we moved quickly and captured the best talent possible. Beth has helped staff about 80% of my team. ... e’ve had a lot of different needs and each territory has needed just a little something different. She’s been very good at understanding what we need for each of these roles. That has even grown to the point where we’ve been able to get her engaged with some of my peers outside of Federal. She’s helped with state and local, she’s helped with some product specialists and now, she’s helping in Canada. She’s doing an amazing job.“

– Sara Hobson, VP, Federal Sales of CyberRes, a Micro Focus line of business

"KLA “gets” that the decision to hire is not about checking all the boxes; it’s about people… matching the right person with the right company and culture for successful business growth, and making everyone happy… I have worked with KLA over the last 20 years, first as a candidate and then as a hiring manager. What I appreciated most as a job seeker was their dedication and focus… Plus, helping me understand more about the market and how I fit into it was invaluable. The majority of my recent hiring has been… primarily with Amy… She’s a very strong broker… Integrity sums up Amy’s approach. In fact, integrity is a big part of the KLA brand. In this business, you can’t be as consistently successful over the years as they are, without it. Other recruiting companies I’ve worked with just throw everything at you… I know [KLA] can’t say on their website, ‘We‘re not obnoxious like the other guys are,’ but its true."

– Kimberly Baker, VP Public Sector, Readseal Network

"I’ve been working with Ken, Frank and KLA for 20 years. They’re highly professional, give me a straight scoop and an honest assessment, and present candidates of great value… They value the person looking, and the person hiring, and support them more than any other recruiter I’ve ever seen, resulting in quality candidates that fit the job and become long lasting employees. Other recruiters try to fit a square peg into a round hole, sending you the same list of names whether they’re selling airplanes or toilet paper. The candidates KLA have placed with me have met or surpassed my expectations. They have helped the company grow. And that’s because there’s a trust level on both sides. KLA does its “due diligence” for both sides… they’ve become a confidant, a trusted advisor… Part of being successful is to… recognize opportunities. When KLA tells me that someone really good has popped up I will try to get a position open, because great people are hard to find–no matter what."

– Alfredo Perez, SVP, Business Development, Behavioral Recognition Systems (BRS Labs)

"What I love about our industry is that you can have fun, be competitive and make a wonderful living for yourself… It may sound corny, but working with [KLA] was a lot of fun… Our valuable time was never wasted… KLA became a trusted advisor of our company. They helped us recruit a world class sales force which annihilated the competition. We sold the company for $945 million, which translated into fantastic financial rewards for its employees."

– John Leary

"I have worked with KLA for over ten years as both a candidate and in a hiring capacity. They have consistently done a great job on both. If you are looking to hire be assured that the candidates they present will be well qualified and a solid match for your needs. We have hired over 80% of the candidates they have presented and they are all meeting our expectations."

– Client-candidate Jim Trionfo, Director, Enterprise Sales

"They do an excellent job screening. Most of these executive search firms just throw anybody and everybody at you. Ken really does a good job of matching up what my requirements are and screens very appropriately so candidates I do see… at least 90% of them… their skills are pretty well matched to what my business requirements are."

– John Albanese, Regional Sales Director

"Ken Leiner Associates has proven to be a true strategic partner as I’ve grown my sales and engineering team. I needed a partner who could help me build an effective sales team in record time to scale our business. Frank Munero provided quality candidates that met my needs and didn’t “spam” me with unfit candidates. This is important when you’re in hyper-growth mode and time is of the essence. Frank has a great nose for talent and is a master of the art of finding the right fit for the right job."

– Nick Cayou, Greenplum Software

“Any good recruiter helps manage the process for both the hiring manager and the candidate. That’s why I like Gary Boisen. He has a lot of high energy, is dedicated and is a very efficient networker, on occasion bringing me a multiple choice of candidates. I’ve been working with Gary and KLA for a decade or more, building strong sales force teams both at federal, and state and local. It has been a good experience because of their quality of work. They are well networked, having amassed a wealth of resumes and personal contacts to tap into for candidates. Yet it all comes down to the importance of personalization, and this is where they shine. They understand the position at hand and requirements on both sides, they prequalify and then match quality candidates.

While at Informatica and Cognos Corporation I hired no less than 20 people from Gary–and a high percentage of them were quite valuable in helping the companies grow. I recommend Gary Boisen and KLA for the vast amount of resources and quality candidates they present to the marketplace. They have a great reputation because they’ve earned it, and I’m very happy with their work.”

– Dan Greening, VP of Public Sector Business Intelligence Sales at a major software vendor

"I think of Ken Leiner Associates as sharpshooters; folks that could find a needle in a haystack. In 2004 I hired Ken to place me. He gave me some really good options. I ended up being placed at EMC and spent 11 years there. I’ve since worked with the whole KLA team, and more recently with Gary. He placed me at JTEK, where I’ve now hired several of Gary’s candidates; sales folks and sales executives… primarily “A" players; very high-end sellers.

Our #1 challenge as a company is hiring good sales talent. Gary’s been able to find and align them with us. We’re a small business, and we compete in a big business space. Some of our competitors are multi-BILLION dollar companies. … Corporations and technology companies really go after the folks who have their own rolodex in Federal — or high relationships within big Fortune 500s. So, we’re kind of a small fish, yet very able to extrapolate and get good talent. …

One of the pieces is that we’re a technology company that services both the government and commercial market. It’s kind of hard to hire both… and Gary and Ken have absolutely helped us on both sides of the fence. ... Gary is able to take the bullsh*t out of the gray areas with candidates… He’s been unbelievably helpful in helping us migrate a very difficult role in a company to hire. He’s very much a listener. Gary really understands what we’re looking for. He understands what we’re NOT looking for. He understands where our growth is and what would do really well from a technology side.

We’ve been in business 14 years [now in 2024], and I think he’s been working with us maybe 12 years. He’s found very qualified candidates. ... So, we try to vet them and qualify them as much as possible with Ken and Gary. They really help execute that qualification process. That’s why I think of KLA as a hired gun, with a sniper approach; they’re not shooting from the hip."

– Jody Ferguson, Vice President, JTEK Data Solutions