John Sumser

John
Sumser

John Sumser is the principal analyst for HRxAnalysts and founder and managing editor of The HRExaminer Online Magazine. John's work explores the people, technology, ideas and trends that drive the evolution of the HR and Recruiting functions

Over his career John has routinely advised Human Resources, Recruiting Departments and Talent Management teams with product analysis, HR Technology, market segmentation, positioning, strategy and branding guidance. He is widely sought as an advisor to software companies that serve the Human Resources and Recruiting Industry. Sumser has been cited in every relevant publication from the Wall Street Journal to the Washington Post; from the Harvard Business Review to HR Magazine; and, from RecruitingBlogs.com to HR.com.

He has been deeply involved in the evolution of the online HRTechnology industry serving as an advisor to the newspaper industry in the early 1990s and board participation in a series of startups (notably, Salary.com).

A liberal arts graduate at heart, Sumser learned to program using punch cards in the late 1970s. He was one of the first 1,000 certified Logistics Engineers. Graduate studies included Applied Behavioral Science (OD) at Johns Hopkins and the MBA program at Loyola of Baltimore. As a defense industry engineering manager, Sumser helped shepherd in total quality principles while managing R&D programs.

Just before he turned 40, Sumser moved his family from the heart of Maryland's farm country to the docks of Sausalito's houseboat community. In California, he ran the Point Foundation, published the Millennium Whole Earth Catalog and edited the Whole Earth Review. From there he launched interbiznet, the first firm to act as an independent analyst of online Recruiting. At interbiznet he helped guide the evolution of that industry over the course of fourteen years.

Today, Sumser runs both the HRExaminer and HRxAnalysts from the sleepy coastal town of Bodega Bay (best known for its birds).

HRxAnalysts recently published the 2012 Index of Social Technology in HR and Recruiting, an exhaustive study of the trends and directions of next generation technology. The HRExaminer averages 220,000 monthly page views and 50,000 unique monthly visitors.