I have been a recruiter for nearly a decade now. Being a recruiter is not for everybody; however, for me it is a way of life. I truly enjoy it, and finding this pure enjoyment in what I do professionally has made what seems like a difficult profession to most become relatively seamless to me.
Don’t get me wrong — I have my days. There are the standard frustrations, ups and downs, and the things that happen that make me take a step back and say “ the candidate did what!?” We are dealing with human capital, the most volatile and important resource known to man, and there is a certain degree of absurdity you need to work within from time to time.
I was doing some reflection the other day, as to why things seem to just come together for me so often with passive candidates, hiring managers, and other areas within recruitment, and I found one simple trend.
I never stop recruiting. When I say never, I mean that I am always looking to connect people to their exciting next step in their profession. I don’t just get a requisition and fill it. I am actively working to fill other companies’ positions as well. I connect friends, loved ones, and strangers with one another because I get a true level of satisfaction from it.
The side effect of doing this is that people are always introducing other people to me. These people refer more people, and it has a cascading effect. I always answer my phone, and am always willing to listen to and talk to strangers. I have no inhibitions or apprehensions of striking up a conversation with anybody, and it almost always leads into a game of referrals. Most importantly, it’s fun!
I make my contacts work for me; I make my personal life work for my professional life; my volunteer work assists my professional work; and vice versa. I also make my friends and acquaintances work for each other. I do this sometimes without knowing, and ultimately it reduces my stress level at work by working smarter rather than harder.
Recruiting is a profession for some, an art to others, but for me it is a way of connecting and ultimately helping people. It is essentially a way of life.