text: Cenergy International Services on constant hunt for renegade types - Houston Business Journal
  Career & Workplace Cenergy International Services on constant hunt for renegade types
  Career & Workplace, Energy Nicole Bradford Special to Houston Business Journal
  June Ressler, president and CEO of Cenergy International Services LLC: 'The types of… more When a business jumps 24 spots to become the nation's second-fastest-growing woman-owned company in the course of a year, it better have a good plan to accommodate growth.
  All along, June Ressler's strategy hinged on the ability to quickly grow, shrink or hold the line — depending on the circumstances. She has not, however, needed the latter two options in the last few years.
  June Ressler, president and CEO of Cenergy International Services LLC: 'The types of… more Ressler is president and CEO of Houston-based Cenergy International Services LLC, which provides workforce solutions in the oil and gas industry. In 2012, the company soared to No. 2 on the Fastest Growing Woman-Owned Companies list released by Women Presidents Organization in partnership with American Express OPEN.
  That's quite a feat for a business begun 17 years ago as a way for Ressler — then a mother of three young children — to work from home.
  Her career up to that point had been diverse. She managed a gourmet food store — work that may have given her an edge at learning how to hire — and taught high school art. The retail arena, she said, quickly teaches the importance of being service-oriented.
  "I expect everyone I hire to be the same way," she said, but admits, "You don't always get it right."
  That was especially true in the early years.
  David Cook C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston See More People on the Move Ressler later attended law school and passed the bar, but realized she did not want to be a lawyer. She does, however, use her knowledge of the law to review her company's legal contracts, but said that is her least favorite part of the job.
  "Everything is part of the journey," she said. "I don't think I really took time to learn what I was creating. I was hiring people who had expertise in certain areas — but they weren't what I needed. The types of people I need are people willing to act fast, with a small-company attitude. I revamped and started looking for renegade-type people."
  With job descriptions that tend to creep, her staff is carefully selected, but not necessarily for their skills.
  Over the years, the company has hammered out a workable interview process that reveals what Ressler truly wants to know about potential hires. And it's usually not what they think.
  "What I hire for is attitude," she said. "You can learn the industry, but attitude comes as part of your personality. That's what we look for. We've developed great questions to ask, depending on which job they're interviewing for."
  And she isn't afraid to try a test run with interviewees.
  "If we are hiring a recruiter, we sit them at a desk and say, 'This is a position we are hiring for.' We put them in the hot seat and see how they work," she said.
  Ressler started the business in 1996, but by 2001 had outgrown her home office, moving into the Crescent City's Central Business District.
  On hurricane winds
  Cenergy specializes in finding personnel for the oilfield industry, and while Houston seems a likely place for such a company to grow and thrive, it was a hurricane — not Houston's reputation as the Energy Capital of the World — that eventually brought Cenergy's headquarters here.
  Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, relocated many businesses and crippled others.
  Cenergy was among those that relocated to nearby Lafayette, La. Despite all the upheaval, the company continued to grow, going from 50 to 100 employees in the months after the hurricane. When Ressler finally reopened the New Orleans office, she not only kept the Lafayette office open, but opened the company's first Houston office.
  In 2007, the year the economy began to falter and fear set in for business owners, Ressler moved Cenergy's headquarters to Houston. Always ready, Ressler said she braced for the downsizing that already was affecting many businesses. But it didn't happen quite that way.
  "The recession didn't stop our growth, but instead of 30 percent, it was 5 percent," she said. "I mapped out my ability to be scalable, down or up. I could scale down and we could hit the ground running. But we didn't. We ended up identifying some key management people who were suddenly available. I started interviewing and got some really good people."
  A Pittsburgh, Pa., native, Ressler now splits her time between New Orleans and Houston. She still believes that the key to handling growth is the ability to foresee needs ahead of time, whether adding staff or a line of credit.
  "Part of that is having a good banking relationship and the ability to work with a banker if you see a need," she said. "It's also making sure you've got good managers in place in each area. I have to be able to rely on them to let me know, 'Hey, we need another person.' " n
  Cenergy International Services LLC2011 Revenue: $165 million2010 Revenue: $99 millionTop Exec: June Ressler, president and CEOEmployees: 1,010Locations: 10Founded: 1996Business: Provides workforce services to the energy industryWeb: cenergyintl.com