Almost 30 years of recruiting. Thousands of interviews. Hundreds of placements. One recurring observation: the earlier people understand how they naturally operate, the better choices they make.

M Signal Path is how I'm putting that observation to work for the people who need it most.

Who I Am

I'm Brian Hughes. I run Great Bay Staffing Group out of the seacoast of New Hampshire, where I've been matching people with the right opportunities since 1997. I founded Great Bay in 2008 after cutting my teeth at major national firms, building a track record that spans healthcare, manufacturing, and IT.

But the placements that always stuck with me weren't the biggest deals — they were the ones where everything clicked. Where the person's natural strengths matched the environment. Where they didn't just get a job — they found their fit.

After nearly three decades of reading people for a living, I've gotten pretty good at spotting the signal — that pattern in how someone naturally thinks, works, and creates value. The problem is, most people don't see it in themselves. Especially young people who haven't had enough experience yet to recognize their own patterns.

So I built a tool that does what I do in my best interviews — but designed specifically for the people who need it most.

I Could Have Used This Myself

Here's something I don't usually say out loud: I fell into recruiting by accident.

I went to college and got a degree in business management — not because I had a clear direction, but because it let me learn a little about a lot. Accounting, marketing, and personnel, etc. I figured at least I'd have a starting point. But it didn't really tell me where to go next.

Five years after graduating, I walked into a staffing agency to land one of the jobs they were recruiting for. After a few hours of interviewing, they stopped and said, "We like you. Do you want to work for us?"

That's how I became a recruiter. Not because I'd planned it. Because someone dropped it in my lap.

And thankfully, almost 30 years later, I've enjoyed the ride. But building My Signal Path forced me to think deeper about my own patterns — and I realized I probably should have been in a more active, on-my-feet kind of role. Something like a physical therapist or a park ranger. Something that didn't involve spending most of my day behind a desk. That's the one thing that's always worked against me in this career.

My Signal Path would have helped me see that earlier. That's not a hypothetical. That's personal.

Why This Matters to Me

I'm also a dad. I have three sons in high school. I watch the pressure up close every single day — the stress about college, the anxiety about picking the "right" path, the feeling that everyone else has it figured out.

I know what it looks like when a kid is being asked to make decisions about their future before they have enough real experience to know what actually fits. I see it at the dinner table. I see it in their friends. And after spending my entire career watching adults deal with the consequences of that same lack of early direction, I wasn't willing to just sit back and hope it worked out.

My oldest is currently a junior. He took My Signal Path High School—and even knowing his dad built it, his reaction was, "How did it know that about me?" That's when I knew this thing works. If it can surprise someone who watched it being built, imagine what it does for someone coming in cold.

I built My Signal Path because I wanted to give young people something I wish existed when I was their age — and something I wish every candidate I've ever interviewed had gotten before they made their first big career decision.

The goal isn't to tell anyone what to do. It's to give them a starting point that actually makes sense for who they are. Less stress. More clarity. A direction that feels right — not random.