Itzel Valdez

Bilingual Talent Acquisition professional with 3+ years of dedicated recruiting experience leading full-cycle recruitment across multiple locations. Experienced in workforce planning, requisition management, sourcing, screening, interviewing, offer coordination, talent pipeline development, community outreach, and candidate experience. Skilled at partnering with hiring managers to develop recruiting strategies for high-volume, hard-to-fill, exempt, non-exempt, and operational roles.

Fluent in English and Spanish.

Talent Acquisition Recruiter - Aimbridge Hospitality

(2021-09 - 2024-11)

• Managed full-cycle, high-volume recruitment for 20+ select service hotel properties across the DFW market and select locations nationwide, supporting hourly, supervisory, and hard-to-fill positions.
• Partnered directly with hiring managers and hotel leadership assess workforce needs, develop recruiting strategies, prioritize open requisitions, and ensure timely staffing aligned with business demands.
• Sourced, screen, interviewed, and coordinated onboarding for candidates while maintaining strong talent pipelines through job boards, networking, employe referrals, career fairs, and community outreach.
• Recruit for high-volume hourly roles and hard-to-fill hospitality positions across multiple locations, balancing immediate hiring demand with long-term talent pipeline needs.
• Led recruiting initiatives including job fairs and targeted sourcing campaigns, strengthening candidate engagement and supporting continuous hiring needs across multiple locations.
• Develop creative sourcing strategies using job boards, social media, networking, employee referrals, community partnerships, educational institutions, and local workforce organizations.
• Support process improvement by identifying sourcing gaps, candidate flow trends, and hiring bottlenecks across assigned properties.
• Present employment opportunities, compensation details, benefits, and career advancement paths to prospective candidates.
• Establish partnerships with workforce development agencies, social service organizations, and local schools to expand diverse sourcing channels.

Planned Career Break

(2024-11)

Started a small party business during family leave for a very part time side income and now prepared to return to a full-time recruiting role.

Banquet Manager - Hilton Garden Inn Denison

(2018-10 - 2021-09)

Promoted rapidly from Front Desk to Sales & Catering Manager, successfully securing a variety of events from social gatherings, conferences, and corporate events while managing client relationships and event logistics. Transitioned into Banquet Manager, overseeing high-volume event operations, staffing, labor allocation, inventory, and day-to-day logistics.

• Managed and scheduled 20+ person banquet team, strategically aligning staffing levels and employee assignments with event requirements, guest counts, and operational demands.
• Led execution of events ranging from 30 to 750+ guest plated events, ensuring teams were properly staffed, trained, equipped, and compliant with food and beverage safety standards.

Wedding Coordinator - The Milestone Aubrey, Walters Wedding Estates

(2016-08 - 2017-06)

• Secured wedding contracts, supported monthly revenue goals, and coordinated event details with banquet teams.
• Served as day-of coordinator for 23 weddings while building relationships with local vendors.

Hotel & Merchandise Internship - Walt Disney World Resorts

(2017-08 - 2018-05)

• Upheld Disney's world-class safety and quality standards, proactively monitoring environments to eliminate hazards for all guests
• Demonstrated high adaptability by successfully cross-training in multiple departments based on operational needs
• Earned multiple Four-Keys Cards from Leaders and Cast
• Received "Applause-O-Grams" from guests impacted by my personalized interactions

F&B Internship - Walt Disney World Resorts

(2016-01 - 2016-05)

Bachelor of Science - Hospitality Management - University of North Texas (2017)