In this month’s “All-In At Acara” employee spotlight, we’re featuring Erich Brunner. While Erich began his career in counseling and education, he eventually made the move to the staffing industry. As a Recruitment Manager, he oversees recruitment and delivery for Acara’s key accounts and works closely with other team members to match qualified workers with open job opportunities. 

Life Before Acara 

I grew up in Williamsville, New York but relocated with my wife and kids to Orlando a couple years ago. I studied psychology at SUNY Fredonia and received my Master’s degree in Counselor Education from Canisius in Buffalo, New York. 

After graduating, I started working as a high school guidance counselor in Fair Haven, Vermont. I ended up moving back to Buffalo and worked in admissions for a couple colleges in the area before moving over to staffing. 

Working in college admissions was challenging, especially for a small, private school where tuition is very expensive, but I ended up developing a lot of skills that made the transition to staffing easy. 

I was job searching online when I came across a position for an onsite Account Manager position with Acara. I applied and had a great interview and onboarding experience. 

Life At Acara 

I was in the Account Manager role for a couple years and moved up the ranks as a Recruiter, then Regional Program Manager. 

In my current role as a Recruitment Manager, I oversee recruitment and delivery for our key accounts. I work closely with recruiters, program managers and operations to establish a strong recruitment plan for each client to ensure their jobs are filled quickly and with the best people for the job. 

One of my favorite parts of the job is helping people find work and get paid, as opposed to my job in college admissions, where I was trying to get people to spend money. I really enjoy seeing our team succeed and our customers happy with the service we provide. 

Looking ahead, I think the industry will remain stable over the next 10 years. As companies continue to look for ways to save costs and boost productivity, they’ll see the benefits of working with a staffing firm and how we can take care of their hiring needs, allowing them to focus on their day-to-day operations. 

Life Outside of Acara 

Outside of work, my wife and I are always out doing things with the kids. We like going to Disney World and spending time with friends. On a typical day of, you can find us taking the kids to a park or playground. If there’s something special my kids want to do, like making homemade pizza, we’ll go to the store to get the ingredients and have fun preparing the meal. 

If money or time off were no object, I’d probably travel to Europe. My family is from Italy and Germany, and I’ve hard some pretty cool stories about life over there. It would be fun to see those countries and others in the surrounding area.