Talent Beacon Spotlight: Wendy Manninen

Talent Beacon Spotlight: Wendy Manninen

Wendy Manninen is a Corporate Recruiter in the oil & gas industry, supporting full-cycle hiring across the Gulf Coast Rockies assets, including Bakken in North Dakota and Eagle Ford in Texas, as well as the IT and commercial business units in Houston and the UK. She thrives on building relationships with hiring managers and candidates, developing sourcing strategies that attract and retain top talent, and creating a positive, personalized candidate experience from first outreach through offer acceptance. For Wendy, recruiting is more than filling open roles; it’s about connecting people with opportunities that truly align with their skills, goals, and values, while helping leaders build teams that can deliver in a competitive market.

From Finance to Full-Cycle Recruiting
Wendy’s path into talent acquisition began in an unexpected place: an employee benefits open enrollment session. After five years in finance, she realized HR was where she belonged and started as an HR Specialist in Anchorage, Alaska, supporting onboarding at a pace of nearly 300 employees a month across Alaska’s North Slope and Russia operations. When her company was acquired, she was recruited into a recruiter role with an Alaska Native company, an opportunity that sparked a lasting love for recruiting and taught her how to find hard-to-reach talent in remote or limited markets. She later stepped into a Recruiting Manager role supporting oil and gas operations in Alaska, modernizing processes, introducing recruiting tools, and leading the company’s first large career fair. That leadership experience became a pivotal turning point, shaping how she approaches talent work today: consultatively, proactively, and in close partnership with the business (no “posting and praying”).
 

A Consultative Approach to Talent
Wendy sees herself as a talent consultant, blending relationship-building, strategy, and technology to help meet workforce goals. She’s continuously learning about emerging tools and how AI can improve efficiency without losing the human connection that makes recruiting meaningful. In her day-to-day work, she leverages video prescreening for many roles, along with Copilot and AI-assisted search tools in LinkedIn Recruiter to create more targeted sourcing and outreach. And she’s quick to set the record straight on a common misconception that AI will replace recruiters.

“AI is a tool that supports recruiters,” she says, “but it does not replace the human side of recruiting or make hiring decisions.”

Community, What's Ahead & Beyond the Desk

As a Talent Beacon, Wendy is an active voice in the LinkedIn Talent Community, drawn to the chance to learn from other recruiters, share practical sourcing approaches, and stay current as the industry evolves. She’s proud of contributing to discussions that turn real-world recruiter feedback into better practices, whether unpacking sourcing concepts like “counter-intelligence,” trading recommendations on LinkedIn Learning paths, or weighing in on product constraints that affect high-volume recruiting. Looking ahead, she’s excited to explore employer branding, the importance of clear and consistent job descriptions, and how application length and complexity can shape candidate drop-off and engagement.

Outside of work, Wendy is an avid knitter and crocheter who volunteers with Loose Ends, a nonprofit that helps families complete knitting or crochet projects left unfinished by loved ones. She’s also a Big Sister to two high school students, creates glass art, and stays active through cycling, gym workouts, and outdoor time with her husband and dogs. Fun fact: she taught herself to knit from a Michael’s kit in 2007, and later won two first-place ribbons at a state fair in Delta Junction, Alaska.

💬 Connect with Wendy in the Talent Community and on LinkedIn.