S7E24 Larry Copponi | The Most Important Skill To Get Hired As An Engineer

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For more than 40 years, Larry Copponi has been working at the intersection of engineering talent and product innovation. Today, he serves as Vice President of Staffing Solutions at Spanner Product Development, where he helps companies across industries assemble the engineering teams they need to bring complex products to life. 

Larry’s work spans sectors including consumer electronics, robotics, renewable energy, life sciences, and medical devices. His team specializes in placing highly skilled professionals—mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, product designers, industrial designers, and quality engineers—into organizations that are racing to transform ideas into real-world products. By deeply understanding both the technical landscape and the people who power it, Larry plays a critical role in helping companies scale their engineering capabilities. 

Before joining Spanner, Larry spent more than 14 years as Division Manager at Pro Source Inc., supporting companies with contract engineering talent and CAD professionals to keep product development projects on schedule. Earlier in his career, he helped build recruiting and sales teams at TriMech Solutions, where he launched new recruiting initiatives focused on engineering and technical sales professionals. 

Across decades in the recruiting and staffing industry, Larry has built a reputation for understanding the real needs of engineering organizations—matching the right talent to the right challenges and helping companies deliver products to market faster. His career offers a rare vantage point on how engineering teams evolve, how companies compete for talent, and what separates organizations that build strong technical cultures from those that struggle to grow. 

In this conversation, Larry shares lessons from decades of working alongside engineering leaders, insights into the hiring challenges facing technical organizations today, and practical advice for both companies looking to build great teams and engineers navigating their careers. 

 

LINKS: 

Larry Copponi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-copponivpstaffingsolutionsspannerpd/ 

Spanner Website: https://www.spannerpd.com/ 

Aaron Moncur, host 

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