Becki Clague, CEO

"I love my profession! Especially meeting the candidates and assessing their strengths as well as their passions. On the client side, I truly enjoy meeting the executives. It’s exciting to learn about their organizations, and listening carefully to their needs from a staffing perspective. From there, it’s really a combination of recruiting and matchmaking skills, introducing the two to create long-term professional relationships,” says Becki.

Becki's path to recruiting began after receiving her B.A. in Human Development/ Psychology and then a career in social services. She eventually switched gears, earning her Series 7 and becoming a stockbroker. In 1985, her combined sales and social services background drew her to recruiting as a natural blend of her accumulated skills and experience. Ten years ago, Becki co-founded People Search and is currently CEO of her own firm, California People Search. The firm's focus is on staffing and recruiting all levels of Administration, HR, and Finance-related personnel.

When not recruiting, Becki spends her time traveling between the Bay Area-based business, and building a home in Santa Barbara. She enjoys entertaining, cooking, and gardening. She also balances the demands of her business with volunteer work, rescuing animals. Her charges currently include: a French Mastiff and a small flock of chickens.

Puja Venkataraman, Recruitment Consultant

Puja is a Recruitment Consultant on the California People Search team. She brings years of hospitality experience including management, in Operations and Human Resources. Prior to joining California People Search, Puja was employed as Human Resources Manager at the Sheraton Palo Alto. There, she sourced and filled a variety of service-oriented exempt and non exempt positions that ranged from Sales, Marketing, Finance, Accounting, Human Resources, Housekeeping and Operations. During her time with California People Search Puja has developed relationships with outstanding fortune 1000 companies and has a diversified database of clients within Technology Start up’s, Venture Capital, Skincare/Beauty, Retail, Hospitality and Construction to name a few.

Puja greatly enjoyed the recruiting aspect of her position and realized quickly that she wanted to continue her career with an organization that fosters long-term, mutually beneficial matches for both client and candidate. Puja lives in Redwood Shores and in her free time, enjoys yoga and participating in walkathons for the American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Walk and the San Francisco Aids foundations, AIDS Walk.

Puja received her Bachelor of Science degree in International Hospitality Management from Hotel Management Institution, Les Roches from Switzerland. Additionally, she received a certificate in Human Resources Management Studies from Cornell University, Ithaca.

Amanda Jurinen, Recruitment Consultant

Amanda comes to California People Search as a Recruitment Consultant with 10 years experience in Administrative Support and Sales in the dot com industry. What brings her to recruiting is her sincere interest finding candidates an opportunity in which their strengths and passions can shine and where their careers can grow. Her focus is primarily on recruiting Administrative Professionals for Venture Capital and financial services industry.

She grew up in Michigan and attended Western Michigan University where she graduated Cum Laude. She received two BA's and was awarded Presidential Scholar. She has also studied in France and has lived and worked in the UK.

While not working she is an avid marathon runner having completed 7 full events in the past three years (including 3 Boston Marathons) and scheduled to run two more this year. She is also a wine and food enthusiast, global nomad and amateur photographer. She is always growing her travel dossier and likes to run and eat her way through foreign countries capturing the moments on film.

Lale Basak, Recruitment Consultant

“My third week on board with Chemonics International, I was sent to Dakar, Senegal to recruit for a number of consultants for a multi-million dollar government funded trade project. The requisitions at hand included everything from fisheries and textiles to financial experts. I thoroughly enjoyed the search, the challenge of finding the right fit and interacting with such a diverse number of people. It became clear then that recruiting was my path.”

Since moving back to California Lale has gained experience as an IT recruiter, building upon a work history where cultivating and maintaining relationships was essential to success. She earned her B.S. in Philosophy and Political Science at Santa Clara University and her M.A. in International Relations with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. In addition, she served as a volunteer with both AmeriCorps and the PeaceCorps as a community organizer in San Jose and as a Small Business Development Consultant in Senegal, respectively. In her free time Lale enjoys practicing Yoga and reading.

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