business »

Evan Gonzalez

From
IDF
To IT

Rabbi Tzvi Hochstadt
in the Qstride
office in Detroit

Oak Park rabbi embarks on a career in
technology recruiting with QStride.

Martin Michalek | Special to the Jewish News

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38 February 4 • 2016

n evenings and week-
ends, Rabbi Robert “Tzvi”
Hochstadt studies the Tanach,
the Hebrew bible; but weekdays, he’s
immersed in the world of information
technology in Downtown Detroit.
Hochstadt, who received a bachelor’s
degree in Talmudic studies from Aish
HaTorah College of Jewish Studies in
Jerusalem and also became an ordained
rabbi there, is the first participant in the
“QuickStride Career Pathway,” a training
program started by the Detroit-based IT
company QStride.
The technology solutions provider
helps Fortune 500 companies and others
better leverage their data to increase met-
rics and profits through analytics consult-
ing, software, outsourcing services and
specialized IT staffing and recruiting.
Each day, Hochstadt travels from Oak
Park to a suite on the eighth floor of
Chrysler House at 719 Griswold, where
he is learning how to pair companies with
top information technology talent from
Michigan and across the country. He
began the new role in August after previ-
ous careers in the kosher food industry,
Jewish education, sales and recruiting. He
also served in the engineering corps of
the Israel Defense Forces in 1991.
“For the most part, this is all new to
me,” Hochstadt says. “As a rabbi, I’ve done
speaker training. I even taught English
and public speaking at Yeshiva Gedolah
high school in Oak Park; but I’ve never
worked in IT recruiting.”
Realizing the common theme in his
various lines of work, he begins to grin.
“I guess you could say they all involve
talking to people and trying to help them
find what they’re looking for — to take
them where they want to go,” he says.
Atop Hochstadt’s
desk are the types of
things you’d expect
from someone study-
ing a new discipline:
binders, sticky notes,
a laptop computer
and an empty 2-liter
bottle of water. The
Shane Gianino
52-year-old husband
and father of four is a quick study,
according to QStride CEO Shane Gianino
and Eric Kornbleuth of Oak Park, who

handles the training. Kornbleuth — like
Hochstadt — is Orthodox. The two were
already friends when Kornbleuth recom-
mended the high-tech job opportunity
and brought the rabbi onboard.
Following the three-month training
program, Hochstadt is now a full-time tal-
ent acquisition sourcing specialist. QStride
intends to expand Detroit’s growing IT
market by helping passionate people enter
the information technology field.
“At first, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to
come Downtown for work — driv-
ing, parking, all the hustle and bustle,”
Kornbleuth says. “But once I started, I felt
the energy of the city right away. I find
myself energized by it.”
“It’s a really special community in
Detroit,” Hochstadt says.
This week, QStride is moving into its
new Downtown Detroit headquarters
on the 16th floor of the landmark One
Woodward Avenue building, owned
by Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock Real Estate
Services. QStride is consolidating its
former Troy headquarters and offices at
Chrysler House and filling 30 new tech-
nology jobs. The fast-growing technology
company has multiple lines of business.
“Not every company knows what
they’re doing when it comes to IT work,
but they need something — maybe an
app,” Gianino explains. “We find the
minds each company needs to get the job
done efficiently and effectively.”
It’s a great ecosystem of mutual ben-
efits: IT professionals get a string of high-
paying corporate jobs, companies with
little technology experience get results,
and QStride helps people like Rabbi
Hochstadt break into the computer world.
“I’m excited about this new opportuni-
ty,” he says. “Detroit continues to grow and
change with an emphasis on technology,
innovation and entrepreneurship. There
is tremendous opportunity to make an
impact here, and I’m proud to be playing a
part in the city’s historic resurgence.”

*

To learn more about job
opportunities at QStride and
the QuickStride Career Pathway
training program, visit www.
qstride.com or email your resume
to info@qstride.com.

