Based in Pleasanton, California, Valerie Watson-Smith has served as a Technical Recruiter, Contractor, and Career Consultant for a variety of leading companies and agencies throughout California. Over the course of her career, Valerie Watson-Smith has amassed a great deal of recruitment expertise in a variety of fields, such as technology and healthcare. In addition to her senior roles at Kaiser Permanente; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Honeywell International Inc.; and DBM, Valerie Watson-Smith also founded her own recruitment service in 1996, through which she acts as an independent consultant. As the owner of TechNet Consulting, Valerie Watson-Smith sourced technical and non-technical talent for numerous businesses, mostly in the computer technology sector. With an emphasis on the recruitment and training of individuals for senior management positions, Valerie Watson-Smith remained engaged in every step of her client’s job placement process. Valerie Watson-Smith recruited high-quality senior managers, project managers, software and hardware developers, sales and marketing personnel, and IT professionals for global tech companies such as Sony Corporation of America and AOL Inc./Netscape Communications Corporation. As head of TechNet Consulting, Valerie Watson-Smith also provided corporate and technical talent for companies including start-up iQ.com, Inc.; Core Media Connections; BEA Systems, Inc.; LifeScan, Inc.; Silicon Graphics, Inc.; XO Communications, Inc.; Cylink Corporation; and Inventa Technologies, Inc. After building TechNet Consulting into an extremely successful recruitment business, Valerie Watson-Smith accepted a position with Sodexho Alliance, where she served as a Virtual Senior Recruiter, Sourcer, and Contractor. Moving on to join Cisco Development Organization, Valerie Watson-Smith functioned as a Contractor and Senior Technical Recruiter for the company, where she oversaw the conscription of talent in three key business units. After leaving Cisco Systems, Inc., Valerie Watson-Smith went on to serve as a key player in technical talent recruitment at Honeywell International Inc., Kaiser Permanente, and DBM.