Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition Bill Castillejo shares how Deltek is balancing the need for technical, specialized skills and broader, human-centric competencies.
By Debbie Bolla
HRO Today: What is the biggest hiring challenge you are currently facing and what are your plans to overcome it?
Bill Castillejo: The biggest challenge we face is balancing the need for specialized technical skills and product expertise with the broader competencies that set people up for long-term success. Especially with the pace of change fueled by AI, we need employees who can adapt, learn quickly, communicate effectively, and think critically.
To address this, we partnered with business leaders to identify the core competencies that matter most and redesigned our hiring process to assess them. This included adding competency-based assessments, refining behavioral interview questions, and launching junior hiring programs that focus on potential. We’ve paired this with stronger onboarding and learning paths so new hires can ramp up quickly.
As a result, we’re seeing higher-quality hires, stronger retention, and lower overall costs. This is proof that when you hire for both skill and potential, everyone benefits.
HROT: How do you align talent acquisition with broader business goals?
Castillejo: For us, talent acquisition is always anchored to Deltek’s strategic priorities, whether that’s entering new markets, accelerating innovation, improving customer experience, or driving operational efficiency. Alignment starts with understanding those priorities deeply, then cascading them across our global TA team through planning sessions and shared initiatives.
A powerful example is how we’ve integrated AI into our recruitment process. This directly supports Deltek’s broader push to embed AI across the business. We now use AI-driven sourcing tools to proactively identify high-potential candidates with niche skill sets while filtering out fraudulent applications. We’ve also deployed an AI assistant to help hiring managers create tailored job descriptions quickly, and integrated AI-powered phone screen summaries to save recruiters valuable time.
Together, these tools improve the candidate and hiring manager experience, reduce time-to-hire, and free up our recruiters to focus on what matters most: building strong, strategic partnerships with the business.
HROT: How does your organization have a competitive advantage when attracting and hiring talent?
Castillejo: Deltek has a compelling story to tell when it comes to attracting top talent. Our flexible work environment, exceptional culture, and strong employer brand set us apart.
We prioritize flexibility, with hybrid and remote options that empower employees to do their best work wherever they thrive. Our culture emphasizes community, inclusion, and impact, with leaders committed to transparency, recognition, and support. This is reflected in our consistently strong employee engagement survey results.
And it’s not just us saying this—our Glassdoor rating is among the best in the industry, and we’ve been repeatedly recognized as an employer of choice. Recent accolades include The Washington Post’s Top Workplaces, Forbes’ America’s Best Midsize Employers, Brandon Hall Award for Excellence in Learning and Development, and Asia’s Best Employer Brand.
HROT: What’s your favorite way to spend free time? Are you binging anything right now?
Castillejo: The majority of my free time goes to my wife and three kids. Juggling work, practices, and school is my second full-time job. In the rare occasion I get free time, I like to spend it being active. Most recently, this included golf or pickleball. After the kids fall asleep, we like to binge watch crime dramas. Currently, we’re watching Dept Q.
