Sam Hammer
Technical Recruitment
Freelance Marketing Coordinator
Graphic Design
Comedian
About Me
Hello!
After attending Oklahoma State University to acquire my Marketing Degree and work as Chief Editor of The Black Sheep Magazine, I moved over to Chicago. Since then, I have been performing, doing graphic design, and writing copy for my creative clients to attract as many ticket buyers as possible for their live performances as well as my own. In my time here I have worked with over 30 comedians, musicians, and influencers of varying notoriety to increase their brand awareness and trajectory through my graphic design and marketing.
In a professional setting, I have spent my last four years working as a recruiter in both staffing and RPO; meeting with clients such as NBC Universal, ULTA, and United Health Group. Since I began this career, I have found jobs for over 40 of my hard working candidates - anywhere from IT Data Architects to Warehouse Administration.
From the fluid creative field to the tactile tech industry, collecting in depth requirements from clients and delivering the best possible results for them is something I believe in! I am looking to use all of the transferable skills I have worked on during my time as a recruiter, and move into the field that allows me to coordinate projects within the brand, strategy, and marketing world!
Relevant Work Experience
Horizontal Talent, 2021-2023
Technical Recruiter
summary:
My time at Horizontal Talent was truly exceptional as it provided me with invaluable experience in technical recruiting.
I had the opportunity to dive deep into the intricacies of the field, working closely with account managers to understand client requirements and effectively market open roles to potential candidates.
Throughout the process, I meticulously tracked progress and maintained organized records within the Bullhorn ATS, ensuring seamless coordination and a streamlined recruitment workflow.
- Assigned 3-5 requisitions at any time and tasked to source for these requisitions via multiple recruiting platforms, primarily LinkedIn Recruiter.
- Strong relationship-building and communication skills, fostering productive partnerships with hiring managers, team members, and external stakeholders, enabling efficient coordination and collaboration throughout the recruitment process.
- Utilized Boolean Search Strings to populate a list of applicable candidates who were in the market and formulated a message to schedule prescreening calls in order to gather information on what kind of roles the candidate is looking for.
- Learned the ins and outs of every position in the technical industry such as QA, Front End Developers, Back End Developers, and IT Architects for just a few examples.
- Cross referenced our database, in Bullhorn, for any one of our hundreds of requisitions we had open in order to find a role that fit the candidate’s wants and needs.
- Generated $166,520 in spread revenue over the course of my time here through placements at massive names such as NBC, ULTA Beauty, United Health Group, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Relevant Work Experience
Bayard advertising, 2019-2021
rpo recruiter & Account manager
summary:
During my career at Bayard Advertising, I thrived as an RPO Recruiter and Account Manager specializing in the hospitality and airline industry. Utilizing the company's in-house software, I diligently tracked the progress of each recruitment campaign, ensuring transparency and efficiency.
Working closely with our clients, I personally acquired their requirements and implemented effective strategies to fulfill them. Additionally, I leveraged programmatic advertising to market job opportunities to potential candidates within our allocated budget, maximizing reach and attracting top talent.
- In charge of a $40,000 account with one of our bigger clients- tasked with getting the client 80 hires within 3 months after requirements were gathered.
- Set up and held weekly meetings for one of our big clients to better the communication and expectations between the client and our recruiters on the account.
- Created tracking sheets for both the recruiters on the account and the client so the numbers we were hitting were easily visible for further discussion on how we as recruiters could improve down the line.
- Brought the cost per hire on the account for the client from $600 to $440 by figuring out a way to increase the weekly number of candidates that were hired.
- Scheduled 35-50 candidate interviews a week after working with the client to open more interview slots on their end and by optimizing the recruiting process on our end.
Relevant Work Experience
The Black sheep, 2016-2018
Chief editor
summary:
During my time at Oklahoma State, I was the inaugural Chief Editor of The Black Sheep comedy magazine. I was hired on and tasked with creating and distributing the marketing material to attract comedy writers to my team.
From there, my ridiculously hilarious team would write articles, I would edit them, give feedback, and send the articles through multiple distribution channels like flyposting, social media, and paper material distribution. For multiple weeks over the two years we were the most clicked channel across 55 other collegiate campuses!
- Seasoned Chief Editor with a successful track record of overseeing all aspects of content creation and distribution for The Black Sheep comedy magazine, resulting in significant growth and recognition as the most visited website across 55 campuses for two separate months.
- Proficient in creating compelling marketing materials to attract talented writers, utilizing innovative and creative strategies to effectively communicate the unique value proposition of contributing to The Black Sheep and driving a substantial increase in writer applications.
- Expertise in editing and refining comedy articles, ensuring high-quality content that aligns with the magazine's brand voice and resonates with the target audience, resulting in increased reader engagement, social shares, and website traffic.
- Skilled in implementing distribution strategies to maximize the reach and impact of published articles, utilizing various channels such as social media, email newsletters, and campus events to effectively engage the campus community and expand The Black Sheep's online presence.
- Proven ability to manage a team of writers, providing clear guidance, constructive feedback, and support to foster their creative growth and maintain consistent editorial standards, resulting in a diverse and high-performing writing team that contributed to the magazine's success.
Marketing Campaigns
Client: Hot Clown Company
Client's Job: Sketch Comedy Group
Brand: Raunchy comedy group with a sketch comedy mind and goofy attitude
Mission: To create artwork encapsulating the essence of the show and spread international brand awareness through guerrilla marketing and social media presence within the Midwest, Edinburgh, and Zagreb.
Budget: $6,000 - spent on merchandise, social media post boosts, time spent on artwork, and physical copy material to spread across 3 cities.
Project Tracking: G Suite softwares: Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Google Drive- tracking show dates, marketing material publishing dates, and printing schedules.
End Result: 8 sold out shows in Chicago, 7 sold out shows in Edinburgh, Scotland, and 1 sold out show in Zagreb, Croatia over the course of 6 months. Resulting in just under $8,000, 7 off-broadway reviews, 1,300 tickets sold, and 1000 social media followers.
Marketing Campaigns
Client: Shock value
Client's Job: Improvisation Comedy Group
Brand: Improvisation with a "shocking" twist. That shocking twist being that we wore shock collars during our live performance, allowing the audience to shock us.
Mission: To create artwork encapsulating the essence and gist of the show and to spread brand awareness through guerrilla marketing and social media presence within the city of Chicago to attract ticket buyers.
Budget: $200 - spent on social media post boosts, show materials, time spent on artwork, and physical copy material to spread across the city of Chicago.
Project Tracking: G Suite softwares: Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Google Drive.
End Result: Shock Value lasted for 4 years in the city of Chicago thanks to these marketing efforts. It began to get big enough where the main source of marketing became word of mouth. I was the creator of this concept when I first moved to Chicago - I knew I had to have a show idea that made me stand out. Now, Shock Value has been performed for over 150 shows, and 4 festivals.
Marketing Campaigns
Client: Blooper troopers
Client's Job: Improvisation Comedy Group
Brand: Movie genre based, long form improvisation for live theater.
Mission: To create artwork encapsulating the essence, and gist of the show and to spread brand awareness through guerrilla marketing and social media presence within the city of Chicago to attract ticket buyers.
Budget: $600 - spent on social media post boosts, time spent on artwork, rehearsal space, and physical copy material to spread across Chicago and surrounding cities.
Project Tracking: G Suite softwares: Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Google Drive.
End Result: Blooper Troopers ran at many theaters across Chicago, particularly Second City and Annoyance Theater for 3 years. With ticket sales always being 90% filled capacity or more throughout our entire 2 year run.
Marketing Campaigns
Client: Second City
Client's Job: Sketch Comedy Groups
Brand: Both shows had a similar brand: taking the mundane activities of every day life and putting them through the lens of insane, over the top characters - very much like Tim Robinson.
Mission: To create artwork encapsulating the essence of the show and spread brand awareness through guerrilla marketing and social media presence within the city of Chicago to attract ticket buyers.
Budget: $500 - spent on show materials, social media post boosts, time spent on artwork, and physical copy material to spread across Chicago.
Project Tracking: G Suite softwares: Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Google Drive.
End Result: 4 months of near sold out shows at The Second City theater generating a net revenue of $1500.
Marketing Campaigns
Client: Journey Maranto
Client's Job: Live Theater Comedian
Brand: Kid friendly comedy show with themes of friendship and a dash of Shakespearian literature.
Mission: To create artwork encapsulating the essence of the show and spread brand awareness through guerrilla marketing and social media presence within the The Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Budget: $4300 - spent on show materials, social media post boosts, time spent on artwork, and physical copy material to spread across Edinburgh, Scotland.
Project Tracking: G Suite softwares: Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Google Drive.
End Result: This show has yet to be put on for the Fringe Festival, but the theater we chose was within out budget and seats 50 people. Journey will have 8 shows while she is here and we are aiming for $4,000 in gross revenue.
Influencer Marketing Campaigns
Client: Wic Whitney
Client's Job: Music Industry
Brand: Jovial Soul Singer and Nature Lover from Arkansas
Mission: To create art for 2 of the client's music albums and 2 of their singles while pushing his brand to engage and grow the client's follower base.
Budget: $2,000 - spent on merchandise, social media post boosts, and time spent on artwork.
Process
I've worked with Wic Whitney since I moved to Chicago in 2018. Wic is a wonderfully nice and hilarious person who creates introspective and impactful music with an optimistic attitude. I captured that in our campaign together after my many work sessions with Wic. I gathered the requirements he needed in order to move forward, set deadlines, and coordinated copy.
I managed to include all of the things Wic holds dear: Cooking, Friends, Tea, and Nature. I brought all of this forward in the art, delivered in a grassroots, relatable, and optimistic way to get an abstract look into Wic's persona.
Client: Wic Whitney
Project Tracking
For this project, I utilized Monday.com. This software held my requirements, deadlines, and research websites for any sort of inspiration I would bring into this work.
Wic and I worked once a week after the agreed upon 5 editing sessions for art, 5 sessions for social media copy, and 3 sessions for channel distribution and social media post timing decisions.
End Result
Wic has gained over 179,000 followers since our working sessions together. The art I have created for him has been viewed over 800,000 times across social media thanks to our sessions together.
Influencer Marketing Campaigns
Client: Teddy gales
Client's Job: Online Sketch Comedian
Brand: Mind-bending video sketches delivered in over-the-top characters for his online audience.
Mission: To create art and help decide the channels of distribution for the client's merchandise and form a deliverable brand trajectory of the filmed content.
Budget: $4,000 - spent on merchandise, social media post boosting, time spent on artwork, and production of films.
Process
Working with my long-standing client since 2020 has been a collaborative process where we regularly scheduled sessions to discuss and work on his specific requirements for my artwork.
Additionally, we had insightful discussions about enhancing the branding of his internet comedy sketches, exploring various creative approaches to improve their impact and audience engagement.
Finally, we would discuss options like colorways and channels of distribution for merchandise such as stickers, clothes, and hats for his 500,000 followers at the time.
Client: Teddy gales
Project Tracking
Project tracking for this client was handled the same way- I utilized Monday.com. This software held my requirements, deadlines, and research websites for any sort of inspiration I would bring into this work.
Teddy and I also worked once a week after the agreed upon 6 editing sessions for art, 3 sessions for social media copy, and 2 sessions for channel distribution and social media post timing decisions.
End Result
When we worked together, Teddy had 500,000 followers. Since our working sessions together, Teddy is currently sitting at around 700,000. After the merchandise campaign finished, Teddy was able to make close to $10,000 in merchandise and ad revenue.
Education, Certification, Awards, & Others Activities
Oklahoma State University
Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Business Administration
GPA: 3.75 / 4.0
While I was at Oklahoma State University pursuing my marketing degree, I gained a solid foundation in marketing principles and strategies, equipping me with the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in the field.
Chicago reader runner up - Best new theater company (hot clown company)
Through our marketing efforts, Hot Clown Company was able to get so recognized throughout the city that we were voted 2nd best new theater group in the city.
Short COURSE in Google adwords and programmatic
Google Fundamentals Course
During my last semester of college, I took it upon myself to seek out courses that would advance my marketing skills. I took the first 8 courses for Google Adwords and Programmatic functions while learning more in depth strategies for SEO.
1st place - Capspire plan and pitch competition
Talens Marketing Association, 2024
Planned, coordinated, and budgeted an entire College Campus Marketing Campaign with a team of 4 engineers. Won first place for our campaign and was credited for the implementation of CapSpire's new marketing campaign.
Second City conservatory
Worked with countless comedians through Second City's improv and sketch programs for 2 years. Learned how to effectively collaborate with other creatives in order to present the best possible shows to our audiences.
Skills & Proficiencies
soft skills
Writing
I can write in a variety of styles: business reports, social media posts, research articles, advertising copy, and I have even written my own fiction book.
Communication
I am an exceptional communicator, adept at effectively conveying complex ideas and fostering strong relationships with clients and colleagues. As a dedicated team player, I thrive in collaborative environments, bringing a positive and supportive approach that inspires collective success.
Problem-solving
Outstanding problem solver in the business world, adept at finding innovative solutions to complex challenges. With a proactive and adaptable approach, I thrive in dynamic environments, consistently delivering results that drive business growth and overcome obstacles.
Technical skills
Applicant Tracking Systems
I excel at navigating and maximizing the potential of applicant tracking systems, efficiently managing candidate data and optimizing recruitment processes for streamlined and effective talent acquisition.
Social Media Marketing
I possess a strong expertise in social media marketing, leveraging my strategic approach and creative skills to drive engagement, expand reach, and effectively communicate brand messages to target audiences.
Project Coordination
I am highly skilled in project coordination, successfully managing multiple tasks, stakeholders, and deadlines with precision, ensuring seamless execution and timely completion of projects.
Client Testimonials
"Working with Sam on my music career has been truly transformative. His workshops were incredibly influential, helping me refine my brand and convey my unique persona through his art. The effectiveness of our workshops and meetings were outstanding, allowing me to attract a larger audience and connect with more people who resonate with my music."
Wic Whitney
Musician
"I loved our workshops together. It was a total game-changer for my online comedy sketch career. Your workshops really helped me level up my brand and connect with my fans on a whole new level. Plus, you were super efficient and productive in our sessions, making sure we get things done and brainstorm awesome merchandise ideas. I'm grateful for the guidance on this hilarious journey!"
Teddy Gales
comedian
Appendix
Extra Artwork and Designs
18x20 painting
11x17 drawing
18x20 painting
18x20 painting
18x20 painting
18x20 painting
Digital Art
Digital Art
Digital Art
11x17 drawing
11x17 drawing
11x17 drawing
11x17 drawing