Her Story
About Maria
I'm a recruiter for Casino Arizona and Talking Stick Resort, where I've been for almost 14 years. Before that, I spent 9 years recruiting for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Tribal Government. I've been in recruiting for over 20 years now, though it wasn't my original plan. I went to school and got a legal studies degree to become a paralegal, and I did a 6-month internship with Salt River's Defense Advocates Office, but it wasn't for me. By chance, I got a job with Human Resources as a technician and worked my way up from there. Now I recruit for security, IT, finance, and also for tribal members through our Pathways to Success program, which helps enrolled tribal members get on individual development plans and trains them for positions they're interested in. I currently manage about 40 open requisitions at any time. What I love most about recruiting is that we get to be the good guys and watch people start off as maybe a dishwasher or a clerk and then move up to a manager position.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Maria
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my passion for what I do. I love recruiting because we get to be the good guys, and we get to watch people start off as maybe a dishwasher or a clerk and then move up to a manager position. That passion for seeing people grow and succeed is what drives me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Go to school. Minimum of an associate's degree. I highly recommend you need a minimum of an associate's at the very first thing. I mean, I wish I would have did it right after I got out of high school, but I didn't. I waited till I became a mother. I mean, I have 8 children. My ex-husband and I were together since we were young, so we started our family young. But I encourage everybody to do it, because that's part of what we do here at the casino in recruiting. We have a program called the Pathways to Success, so for any enrolled tribal member of Salt River, if they're interested in a certain position, we help them get on what we call an individual development plan. And then we train them for that position. We always get them in school, whatever it is that they do.
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