A new resource is SDM’s BirdDog Career Center, to help you find  your next visionary.

Planning for this month’s cover story about game changers got me thinking about what a game changer means to me and how I’ve experienced them both personally and professionally. In my adult life, having children and becoming a mother was the most obvious game changer… all previous priorities seem trivial compared to being responsible for a young person’s life. Professionally, joining the SDM editorial staff and assimilating into the security industry back in 1984 was definitely a game changer for me as a young journalist.

In the years that I’ve been a part of SDM’s team, I’ve seen a lot of changes both in the magazine itself and among its staff. The introduction of certain departments such as SDM’s 5-Minute Tech Quiz; features such as the State of the Market series; and special reports such the SDM 100 and Top Systems Integrators Reports, Dealer of the Year and Systems Integrator of the Year Awards set SDM apart and contribute to its individuality. I consider these as some of SDM’s most important game changers.

In your company, what have been the important game changers and what effect have they had on your business? The adoption of certain technology platforms — and even specific systems running on those platforms — usually has a profound effect on a security company. Game-changing platforms may embody characteristics of making people uncomfortable (because major upheaval is involved) or altering the way every single department in a company operates — from sales to technical to billing.

But sometimes a person can be an important game changer, too. Someone with a vision of the security industry as it will be can set the wheels in motion for you to capitalize on that. This may be someone with a unique talent or skill whom you’ve developed over time, or it may be someone you recently hired who sees things in a uniquely winning way.

When it comes to finding the right talent for moving your business forward, we can now offer you a new resource. SDM’s parent company, BNP Media, recently announced a partnership with BirdDog Career Centers. Companies seeking employees or job seekers can access the Career Center by clicking on the BNP/BirdDog widget found on the home pages of www.SDMmag.com. Tailored to business owners and hiring managers searching for uniquely qualified tradespeople, the industry-specific Career Center will be powered by BirdDog’s Candidate Acquisition & Management System (CAMS). A Web-enabled recruitment program customized for security, construction, mechanical and engineering companies, CAMS allows employers to post an open position once. CAMS then distributes the opening across the BirdDog family of niche job sites, including BirdDogJobs.com, MEPjobs.com and ASHRAEjobs.com.

“The collective audience from our security, mechanical systems, maintenance and construction brands approaches one million subscribers or website visitors,” commented Tim Fausch, BNP Media publishing director. “By partnering with BirdDog, we will help those pros solve employment challenges so they can focus more intently on serving their customers.”

Beyond posting jobs, CAMS helps hiring managers score, track and maintain a database of applicants. This not only helps fill current vacancies; it supports BirdDog’s philosophy of “always-on recruiting,” which encourages companies to build a bench of qualified candidates for those emergency openings. During its 14-year history, BirdDog has helped more than 3,500 employers in specialized industries move to a strategy of planned hiring. The BirdDog family of sites and solutions has attracted more than 100,000 job seekers.

Maybe BirdDog can help you find the next game changer for your company —someone with the special vision needed to see just enough into the future to make positive change happen today.