Donna W. Held

Donna Held is an entrepreneurial businesswoman with expertise in the worlds of information technology and financial services. She is known in her industry as a high energy salesperson and recruiter, knowledgeable, responsive, bottom-line driven, with a reputation for quick, effective turn-around on projects under her direction.

Ms. Held started Career Techniques Inc. in 2008. It is a privately held recruiting firm specializing in the fields of financial services and technology recruiting for both the consultant and the permanent employee. In addition, Career Techniques Inc. specializes in job preparation skills including resume writing, interview and negotiation skills. Ms. Held has been a guest speaker at TENG, NWO, Connect to Care and other networking groups. Some of Career Techniques Inc. clients include: JPMorgan Chase, Bunge Global Markets, Deutsche Bank, Omgeo, The Church Pension Group and more.

Ms. Held spearheaded the development of the Information Technology Consulting Division for The Ayers Group, a multi-national human resources consulting firm. Ms. Held joined the firm in 2000 as Vice President, Staffing Services, and was promoted to Managing Director in 2004. She grew the business from its inception, developing its infrastructure, compensation plans, and hiring its recruiting and sales staff. When The Ayers Group was sold in May of 2006, Ms. Held’s division was generating $7.5 million in annual sales.

Prior to her work with The Ayers Group, Ms. Held was an Executive Account Manager from 1995 to 2000 for TSR Consulting Services, where she held responsibility for major accounts such as AIG, Citigroup, IBM and Deloitte & Touche -- a $5 million annual revenue business for TSR.

Ms. Held began her consulting sales career at AGS in 1987, where she oversaw both staff augmentation and the firm’s introduction into the project practice business. She is credited for opening business, most notably, with Kidder Peabody, Citibank and the New York Stock Exchange, among many others, and serviced both practice areas with her accounts.

Ms Held began her sales career as a Sales Representative for NCR in 1981, with a specialty in consumer banking. Her primary accounts included Republic National Bank, Chase and Citibank. She was the Number One Salesperson in NCR, globally, for her $8 million dollar platform automation sale to Citibank in 1984 and 1985. Ms Held was also the first Account Manager in this history of the firm to train and manage her own junior sales representatives.

Ms. Held began her career at Citibank as a financial analyst, which provided firm grounding for her quantitative skills as well as her understanding of the financial services markets and industry.

Ms. Held obtained her MBA as well as her BS from Lehigh University. The institution greatly benefits from her active and successful annual fundraising efforts. She is a member of Second Shift, a working mothers group based in Westchester New York. She also is a member of the National Association of Professional Women. In her home community of Chappaqua, Ms. Held volunteers for the PTA, Temple, and various community activities. She donates her time for fund raising for The Alzheimer’s Foundation and Friends of Karen.