Laura Oliver-Suos

Laura Oliver-Suos

AVP, Global Talent Brand & Recruitment Marketing Manager - Capital Group

For Laura Suos, recruiting wasn't part of the original plan.

She initially set out to become a kindergarten teacher, driven by a desire to work with people and make a meaningful impact. But while studying education, she began taking a closer look at what that career would mean for her future.

"I realized I might not be able to support myself," Laura recalls.

A conversation with her grandmother changed everything.

Her grandmother, a successful businesswoman and lifelong mentor, encouraged Laura to consider business instead.

"I said, 'What's the people side of business? I want to work with people. I want to help people. I want to influence people's lives.'"

Her grandmother introduced her to human resources.

Laura changed her major, graduating with a degree in Business and Human Resources. During college, she joined the Inroads internship program, completing rotations across several HR disciplines at Best Buy. While working in performance management and learning and development, one team consistently caught her attention.

The recruiters.

"They looked like they were having the most fun," she says.

When internship assignments opened for her final summer, Laura requested something that had never been done before.

She asked to intern with the recruiting team.

Best Buy agreed.

During that internship, Laura experienced the moment that cemented her career.

After extending an offer to an early-career candidate, she heard excitement on the other end of the phone.

"She literally shrieked, dropped the phone, and started crying," Laura remembers. "She said, 'You don't understand. This is life-changing.'"

In that moment, Laura realized the impact recruiting could have.

"I was hooked."

More than twenty years later, she's still driven by that same purpose: helping organizations build exceptional teams while creating life-changing opportunities for people.

Leaders Who Shaped Her Career

Laura credits several leaders with profoundly influencing both her leadership philosophy and approach to talent acquisition.

The first is Eric Schellen, currently Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Home Depot.

Eric was Laura's director and mentor during her early years at Best Buy, where she was learning the craft of sourcing and recruiting before receiving an early promotion into leadership.

"He absolutely helped shape how I think about this profession," she says.

What stood out most wasn't just his recruiting expertise, but his ability to inspire others while genuinely investing in their growth.

Eric taught Laura to think beyond individual requisitions and instead build lasting relationships with exceptional talent.

"It's really about the hunt, about the matchmaking, about meeting and connecting with great talented people," she explains.

Rather than taking a requisition-first mindset, Laura learned to put people first—building relationships that could create opportunities today or somewhere down the road.

The second leader was Bronwyn O'Shea, HR Director at Starz Media.

Bronwyn hired Laura as the company's first Corporate Staffing Manager and entrusted her with building the talent acquisition function from the ground up.

At first, Laura admits she was intimidated.

"She had a very high bar."

But that high standard ultimately became one of Laura's greatest growth opportunities.

"When the bar is set high, people usually rise to the occasion."

Working alongside Bronwyn taught her how to build recruiting functions, support an expanding organization, and think strategically about talent at scale.

The third leader is Amber Costello, Laura's current manager.

Amber encouraged Laura to step beyond traditional recruiting and into the world of employer branding, talent marketing, and recruitment marketing.

"I never thought I would find myself in this space."

After spending more than two decades in recruiting, Laura now helps shape Capital Group's global employer brand and recruitment marketing strategy.

Amber's confidence in Laura helped her realize that attracting talent begins long before a recruiter ever makes first contact.

AI Is Accelerating Recruiting—Not Replacing It

Like many talent leaders, Laura has been deeply involved in her organization's AI initiatives.

She was the first member of her team to receive approval for an AI use case involving LinkedIn Hiring Assistant, and she works closely with HR technology and talent enablement partners to evaluate emerging tools.

Laura believes AI is changing expectations around how work gets done.

"It's shifting how people expect work to get done and be delivered."

She sees enormous value in AI's ability to accelerate research, strategy development, market intelligence, and planning.

AI can help recruiters understand talent markets faster, build sourcing strategies more efficiently, and improve workflows.

But she believes the industry's biggest transformation still lies ahead.

"I think we're still a few years away from really seeing the cumulative effects."

Most importantly, Laura believes recruiting will always remain a people business.

"It's about the humans."

While AI can support recruiters, she believes authentic conversations, relationship-building, and human judgment will always remain central to hiring.

Authenticity Will Matter More Than Ever

As recruiting continues evolving, Laura believes talent leaders should resist allowing efficiency to replace authenticity.

Technology will continue making recruiters faster.

AI will continue improving workflows.

Employer brands will continue expanding across digital channels.

But none of those advancements should come at the expense of genuine human connection.

"We need to remain committed to connecting and building employer brand and personal brand in a very human, authentic way."

Whether candidates first discover an organization through social media, a career site, LinkedIn, or AI-generated outreach, Laura believes the experience should always feel personal.

"We're dealing with people."

For Laura, technology should strengthen relationships—not replace them.

That philosophy has guided her entire career, from the first candidate whose excitement convinced her she'd found the right profession to the global employer brand work she leads today.

As recruiting enters its next chapter, Laura remains focused on what has always mattered most: creating meaningful connections that help both people and organizations thrive.