Kathleen Mon

"K Mon"
In-House Lead
KATHLEEN-02_SQ2 KATHLEEN-05_SQ2 KATHLEEN-03_SQ KATHLEEN-04_SQ

 

 

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"No comment."

Kathleen Mon was once affectionately called “the hired assassin” by the head of her group at Clifford Chance. And rightly so. Kathleen is so effective that she’s been known to make an in-house placement in under a month, so versatile that she boasts not one, but two BAs as well as a JD, and so stealthy that she once surprised a fellow Whistler with a ring she had welded inspired by one of her tattoos.

But Kathleen, like an assassin, is not one to brag about her accomplishments (which is probably why it took two years of her working at Whistler for us to finally write her bio).

As a corporate associate at Clifford Chance, Kathleen was drafted into the Aviation group. We say drafted because the Aviation group had a lot of clout and moved mountains to get her. She thought it’d at least help her move overseas (spoiler: it didn’t). After three years at Clifford Chance, a recruiter lured her over to Torys with the promise of a broader corporate practice. And because, in her words, “Canadians are just so nice!”

After a couple of years of practicing at Torys, Kathleen left the law behind (kind of) and joined their administrative team. As Senior Manager of Administrative and Professional Resources, her focus was on improving Torys culture so the firm could attract and retain the best talent, and during her tenure she successfully advocated for them to pay market in the US (you’re welcome Torys associates). While making her first Torys hire, Kathleen was introduced to Whistler. Over the next five years, she kept an eye on our candidates because she thought: “those recruiters close deals.” And when Sean eventually asked her to join Whistler, he closed the deal.

As Head of In-House, Kathleen loves that “follow your dreams moment” that going in-house grants attorneys. She’s interested in the complexity and diversity of in-house roles, helping startups build more inclusive legal teams, and all elements of recruiting except for sales… but in-house jobs sell themselves really.

 

Desired superpower: “Time travel... and if I get to dictate the terms, the kind where you can change your personal decisions and actions as many times as you want without irreparable harm. In other words, NOT the movie kind where the moral of the story is to love and embrace the life you have because you'd have it no other way.”

 

Favorite interview motivation song: “I don't need motivation to interview. I actually love interviewing... as an interviewer and interviewee. I'd do it for fun.  But when I was an associate and needed motivation to work late at night, it was 2Pac's Thugz Mansion on repeat.”

 

Best dinner guest? “I don't host dinners... I only attend."

 
Check out what Kathleen's been up to.

testimonials about this recruiter:

I've had the privilege of working with Whistler and Kathleen Mon from both sides of the table. During my tenure as Chief of Staff to the General Counsel at Gopuff Kathleen helped me find dynamic tech and regulatory lawyers that were great additions to our team. Kathleen listened (rare in a recruiter these days), helped us build on-point candidate profiles, and then brought amazing candidates to the table. Most importantly, she understood that finding the right culture fit was equally, if not more, important than finding a candidate with the right set of skills. It made the search process easy and effective.
Most recently, I worked with Kathleen as a candidate. In a world of mega recruiting agencies, working with Kathleen on the candidate side was a breath of fresh air. She communicated honestly, was super responsive, and gave me great feedback and advice during the entire process - from resume prep through the interview stages. Kathleen landed me a role I am absolutely thrilled about and it would not have been possible without her. I can't thank her enough and I highly recommend Kathleen to anyone looking to take that next step in their career!

 

NAT FLANDREAU Nat Flandreau

VP of Legal at Hubble Contacts

I’ve met a lot of recruiters over the years, but very few measure up to Kathleen.  She’s a straight shooter, and it doesn’t hurt that her team has some of the best connections in the industry.  

 

KENT S.Kent S

General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Fynn

Kathleen and Virginia have been wonderful to work with, both on the search and ramping us quickly into the legal discipline, market and archetypes. We saw a full panel and got our top choice. They’ve been an outstanding partner.

 

IAN TIENIan Tien

CEO at Mattermost

I've never worked with a talent partner like Kathleen. She has great insights into each candidate with whom she works and represents them incredibly well. We were not sure if we were going to find the right fit for our position but then we met Kathleen. Every candidate she showed us was qualified and the process felt collaborative, not transactional. It was really a pleasure to work with Kathleen and we have recommended her services to portfolio companies and colleagues at other funds and will continue to do so.

 

DAVID BERGDavid Berg

CFO at Rainfall Ventures

Whistler Partners is an outstanding firm, and they've become the gold standard for tech recruiting both on the law firm side and in-house. They have a deep bench, and they have all  of the same resources (if not more than) the big shops do, but their differentiators are unparalleled relationships and how they make the overall experience to be highly personalized.

 


SACHIN BANSALSachin Bansal

General Counsel at SecurityScorecard

I spent over 6 months trying to hire the right in-house GC, using different agencies and interviewing dozens of candidates. Then came Kathleen.
She spent a considerable amount of time with me to understand the role, and more importantly to understand our company's culture.
Her very first intro blew the competition out of the water, and I'm happy to say she's starting next week. These guys are snipers!

 

OMRI DOROmri Dror

Co-Founder & COO of Obligo

I'd like to thank you so much for your assistance throughout the recruiting process, and for helping us find a great candidate. We're so appreciative of Whistler's support!

 

LEIGH CHECCHIOLeigh Checchio

General Counsel at The Trevor Project