Entering the World of Recruiting
I entered the world of recruiting the same way most recruiters do: by accident. Except in my case, it was not so much of an accident as it was pure luck. I spent the majority of my professional years in the customer service and administrative world where I helped people in minor ways. I helped them pick out a new outfit, helped schedule an installation, helped an event, and so on. I’ve always enjoyed the business of People but I wanted more. I wanted my efforts to go towards a bigger cause but I wasn’t sure what that cause should be.
As luck would have it, an opportunity to join a creative staffing agency presented itself and it just all made sense: help connect good people to great work. It wasn’t as straight forward as abolishing world hunger or saving the whales but it was something feasible that I could put my skills towards and make a substantial impact to people’s lives. While I’m a firm believer your work should only make up a small percentage of your qualify of life; admittedly, it plays a big factor in facilitating everything else. I recognized this and I was excited to have found my cause.
The training process was an incredibly steep learning curve and I quickly discovered how psychologically savvy and mentally tough you really have to be in order to excel at this job. You have to understand your candidates: what drives them to do what they do, where they want to be, and WHY. Just as importantly, you have to understand your clients: what they want accomplished, who they want it accomplished by, and again, WHY. My days were consumed with researching the creative industry, connecting with everyone I came across, and studying everything my team was doing.
I realized the only way to succeed as a fresh recruiter in this fast paced industry is to tackle it full force with good intentions. The best way to do that is to dig deep and ask the right questions. Once I got around to picking up the phone, I was amazed by how passionate people are about their craft and how eager everybody is to learn, grow, and become a better version of themselves. I admired their tenacity to not settle for less than what they deserved and it quickly became my mission to help get them to where they want to be.
With about one month of experience under my belt, I can say this profession is not for everybody. For those that stick it out, the reward of knowing you helped someone find not only work, but work that they are proud of, where they can hone their craft and continue to grow, that’s a pretty amazing feat. Of course, not all placements will be into a dream role but just as important in the path to where we want to be are the stepping stones leading us there.
Jen Huynh – Recruiter Artisan Creative