In this concise "6 questions in 7 minutes" interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with Joe Lynch, founder and head of Wonderbench, a recruiting firm that connects college students with small‑to‑mid‑size companies lacking dedicated campus recruiting resources. Lynch explains how Wonderbench matches student passions, capabilities, and interests with employer needs, a service especially vital during COVID‑19 when students struggle to find opportunities. He emphasizes the importance of keeping the big‑picture endgame in mind, using mentors and personal principles to stay true to one’s purpose during tough days. Lynch shares a practical framework for the employee lifecycle—thoughtful onboarding (gifts, introductions, listening), active mid‑term engagement (continuous listening and collaboration), and respectful off‑boarding (maintaining relationships, “walking someone to the car”). He acknowledges peers he respects—CJ Napolitano, Amy Belt, and Deb Kilpatrick—and recounts his first job scooping ice cream at Baskin‑Robbins, where being trusted with additional responsibility taught him to reward success with greater opportunity. The episode closes with contact details (LinkedIn, Wonderbench website, and email jlynch@wonderbench.com).
Chapters
This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Hey Pete, I thank you so much for having me on the show, first of all. Yes, I'm Joe Lynch, and we did enjoy working together some time ago, but now I head up Wonderbench. Wonderbench is a recruiting firm focused on opening up more opportunities for college students. So we get to know the students, and then we work with companies that don't have resources to do college recruiting, so typically small smaller companies, and we serve as their college recruiting arm and then make the matches happen.
Joe, it's so great to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
Yeah, so, you know, the space that I'm in, especially nowadays with COVID students are having a tough time getting out there. And so I know for them, having someone who's there to help them, to help them figure out, you you know, what's the shape of what they're looking for. I almost think of it as a puzzle and there's a piece that's their passion, their capabilities, their interests, and I work with them to help, you know, understand that. And then I talk to companies and understand what's the shape of their need and then, you know, bring them together. And it's very enjoyable. There were people early in my own career who did that for me. It meant a lot to me. I think it really influenced my career. So it's nice to be able to do that for others.
I love that. It's a conduit of making things happen from both sides. It sounds great. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business I think most companies should read.
First of all, yeah, it's a nice book. I'm gonna have to reserve it at my library. I'd like to give it a read myself. You know, I'm assuming there's a chapter on there on keeping the big picture, the endgame, in mind. And so I know, you know, most of us work for bigger reasons. We select our job, the company we work for, the way we approach work with a big picture view in mind. And yet in the day-to-day, when things get hard, even like they've gotten hard recently, you know, it's easy to— it's easy to lose it a little bit. It's easy to lose your cool or to make a snap judgment. Or to respond in the moment where you're no longer as true as you'd like to be to those principles. And so I think having ways to be true to the endgame, to the big picture, to why I'm working, to what outcomes I'm really working toward, having people in my life that can help me with that, that allows me, I think, during those tough days to do my best work, do a better job.
Very well said. Thank you. Question number 4. Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, What advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
Yes, you know, in the area that I'm working on and working in, which is engaging talent, I like to think about the stages that any new employee might have, you know, if I'm the manager, if I'm the leader. And so there's the beginning, there's the middle, there's the end. And I think there are things to keep in mind with each of those. You know, during the beginning, that's a special time. So finding just the right person who's going to come and help your organization, that's obviously important. But then once that decision's been made, you know, doing the preparatory work to make sure that that beginning is as excellent as it can be. I've worked with people before that would have a little gift ready for the person that they use to welcome them, and they might have a plan laid out, or, hey, here's 5 people I want you to meet with. Even having the first day, you know, lunch, whatever. Doing small things to make that special is a big deal. And also listening carefully because in the very beginning, that's where some of the greatest insights come from. The person who's new, they have outstanding questions. There's a lot of good listening that the manager can do then. During the middle, you know, that's the meat of the experience of working together. And so listening well and learning to understand each other, learning how to optimize work with each other. And then in the end, I think it's making and keeping commitments to each other. That's in the end what work really consists of. And so hopefully we learn to do a great job of that, but we're going to make mistakes. We're going to have some issues. And I think having an environment where it's okay to surface that and to say, okay, I need to share something with you. I need your help and to problem solve together. So, you know, that's how I think about the middle, the substance of the work that we do. And then at the end, Pete, I think a lot about a friend of mine who early on in my adult life did something that just has always stuck with me. Whenever I finished my time with him, we were friends, he would walk me out to my car. And it wasn't just like to the door, see ya. It was like all the way to the car. Hey, Joe. You know, we were buddies. And he was showing care all the way to that moment. I hadn't had anyone who did that for me before until he did that. And I think thinking about the exit, because most situations don't last forever, you know, people go on to their next opportunity. Having an excellent close where the door remains open, where we can maintain the relationship and being thoughtful there as well as you were at the beginning, all that matters, I think.
And I think that's so pertinent because we think about, oh, don't burn bridges. But that goes both ways, both from the employee as well as the company and the manager.
Is that what I'm hearing?
Yeah.
So it's absolutely—
Very insightful. Question number 5: What other business leaders like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
Yeah, well, you've had a number of people that I respect whose podcasts I've enjoyed. CJ Napolitano, someone who I'm close with, I have great respect for him as a, as a business leader as well as a great sports coach. He's led a lot of soccer teams, so he comes to mind. There are a few people who I haven't interacted with recently but who I, you still track on social media and I admire all their accomplishments. Amy Belt and Deb Kilpatrick, each are very successful in their own respective realms. So those are 3 people who come to mind.
Great. Thank you for those referrals. I'll reach out to them. And our final question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.
Yeah. So one of my first jobs was working at Baskin-Robbins. And so, you know, you know the job, I scooped the ice cream. I did I did enjoy making the cakes. You know, if there was extra time, you were expected to use that time to make the cakes. And that was a therapeutic, enjoyable process. Who doesn't like ice cream cake? But yeah, it was a great job. And one thing that sticks with me about that experience, in addition to getting free ice cream at work, which was awesome. You know, I remember after being, doing my job for, I don't know, some number of weeks or months, the owner of the store, you know, said, Joe, it's time for you to close the store, or it's time for you to come in early and open the store. And even though on the one hand that might seem like extra work or longer hours, felt great. Felt like, great, you know, they trust me, they are going to give me this additional responsibility, they're going to, you know, give me more room to, you know, give me the keys, that sort of thing. And, and that was a great lesson for me that you just You keep rewarding success with giving people more opportunity, and that feels really good. And so that's one thing I took away from that, and I try to do the same as best I can.
That's a great story. Isn't it interesting, even in a, in a simple retail environment, being trusted with more responsibility made all the difference in the world?
Yeah, absolutely.
So, Joe, thank you so much for being on the show. How could people find you?
Oh, they can find me on LinkedIn, and they can also find me at Wonderbench. You can visit Wonderbench, and my email address is jlynch@wonderbench.com.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. For more insights and ideas, please go to LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, or iTunes and search for the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
