Bupree tuck jumps in a suit
Name: Paulo Tatad
Occupation: Headhunter / Practice Director – Technology, Viventis Search Asia, a leading executive search firm in the Southeast Asia region. (Viventis has offices in Manila, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and soon, Hong Kong and Thailand)
Sports: Basketball, Volleyball, Badminton, Scuba Diving
Fitness Goals: Mens sana in corpore sano
Favorite CrossFit Exercise: Burpee tucks
What do you do for a living? How did you get involved in executive search/headhunting?
First profession out of college and been at it for more than 10 years now. I was recruited by both a college buddy and an older peer to join the executive search business. I enjoyed it, got really good at it, success followed, and the rest is you can say is history.
What’s the difference between a bounty hunter and a head hunter? Hunters often use rifles to catch their prey. What do you use to catch yours?
Let’s just say headhunters are resourceful, creative and determined to catch their prey. We have “trade tactics/secrets” which will allow us to get the job done. And with the advent of technology and social networking, the world becomes much smaller and makes our job somewhat easier to reach out to talent faster. Oh, unlike bounty hunters, we don’t believe in violence. It solves nothing. Haha.
What’s the toughest thing about headhunting here in the Philippines? Do you think the Philippines is still experiencing a brain drain?
Toughest thing is competition. There are a lot of players in our industry – big names, niche or boutique players, individuals and HR departments of our own clients who have internal recruitment programs. And we always say that we’re just as good as our last hire. So we need to be hungry and focused in every search we do. As for brain drain, these days its relative or seasonal. There are still a lot of Filipinos who look for opportunities abroad but there are equal number of Filipinos who do, or want to, come back.
What are the hot jobs nowadays? Do you think my Crossfit Certification will get me in one of those jobs?
Technology, healthcare, and finance are hot jobs these days whether locally or internationally. The BPO (& Contact Center) industry continues to be a huge boost to employment for our country and the economy.
We did get a few searches for Fitness related jobs in both Manila and regionally this year. And yes they were looking for people with your type of certification. Sayang, had we met earlier we’ve could’ve profited off each other. Kaching!
On to sports and fitness. What sport do you usually play? When friends form a team for a tournament, are you the first or last one called/picked?
In high school and college, I was part of the Volleyball Varsity Team. I’ve shifted to basketball since then. Regularly, I play basketball 2 times a week. I am normally one of the guys who do the picking though, haha. But if picked, never first nor last though, middle of the pack. I also hit the gym for weight/strength training 2-3 times a week as well.
Do you play to win? Play to sweat? Or Play to eat?
All of the above! Let’s just say I have a high degree of “competitive enthusiasm”, so I love to compete and of course, win; but just as important, I want to have as much fun with the people or group I am playing with. Coincidentally, masarap lang talaga kumain after a good workout or sweat.
How did you hear about Crossfit?
I heard about Crossfit a few years back through a Pinay friend in the US who did it (and I think she’s now a Crossfit instructor in the US). She was raving about it and said I’d enjoy the workouts. I did my research and discovered a lot of top athletes did it. But “regular or everyday Joes” that I could relate to also did and had positive things to say about Crossfit. When I finally contacted Crossfit MNL on FB a few months ago, I knew this was my chance to give it a go. To my surprise it was actually Miggy, a friend, who was pioneering it in Manila.
You seem to show up in most of the Crossfit sessions. Actually, you almost have a perfect attendance. Why? What kind of Kool Aid are you drinking?
Personally, the Crossfit experience has been up to par with my fitness expectations. It hits the spot when they say it does work on the 10 fitness skills – agility, power, balance, coordination, accuracy, speed, stamina, cardio, flexibility, strength. Challenging and limit-pushing no doubt, but it’s crazy fun doing and finishing each WOD. It’s short and intense. Lastly, Crossfit compliments the other fitness regimens which I already do… Nothing special in the Kool Aid really. Haha.
And to newbies out there, you shouldn’t be intimidated since Crossfit is scalable to one’s fitness level and eventually, one will improve over time as you get the hang of it. You’ll be in good hands with the Miggy and his team.
What’s more challenging? A Crossfit workout or getting your siblings to join a Crossfit workout or taking care of your new born baby?
More trick questions?!? I think the most challenging is getting your sibling to join the workout. Sobrang challenging talaga – seriously! Haha.
If Santa were to give you a cheat day and not earn any calories/fat, what would you use it on?
What’s Santa’s budget?? I’d settle for a steak dinner with the works at Peter Luger in New York. If Santa says local, any of the following buffets: Spirals, Circles, Crossover buffet at Dusit, or weekend buffet at Inagiku. Food Coma!
What were your new year’s resolutions last year? Are you copy-pasting them for 2011? Any new ones?
Overall, just to “continue to grow and be better in various aspects of my life than the previous year”. In terms of fitness “faster, stronger, improved” than the year before. 
