Unlocking Good Recruiting Through Resiliency
Through my years of recruiting, I’ve learned that nothing comes easy. You have to be hyper-focused, determined, and bring your best self to work every single day.
My first sales job gave me my first lesson.
It was my sophomore year of college in San Francisco and I had decided to take a summer internship in SoCal to make some extra cash. What I thought would be an easy and fun introduction into the working world was quickly turned into my biggest learning experience to date.
For 6 months, 12 hours a day, my job was to walk door to door and sell pest control.
Mind you, it was June in a Southern California heatwave, which can get well above 100 degrees.
As I walked door to door and pitched people on why they needed pest control, I began to contemplate whether or not I could keep going.
I leaned towards being more introverted during my first couple years of school, so these sorts of interactions were a real punch in the gut for me. Many times a day, people were slamming doors in my face and telling me to get lost. It was really tough, not only physically but mentally as well.
It was hard to know whether people were just generally rude, having a bad day, or if I was just a bad salesman.
Through it all, I remember feeling pretty lost, and the thought of quitting was always creeping up in the back of my mind. Was it worth it? Would I be doing myself a disservice by not seeing this through? Would there be any doubts or “what ifs”?
I didn’t know at the time, but one thing was true, that I wasn’t going to give up that easily.
So I took my chances and decided to stay with it… and called my mom for advice.
What started off as half an hour of me complaining quickly turned into a discussion of positive outlook and personal growth. I was reminded of how lucky I was to have the opportunity to learn, be challenged in new ways, and develop my skills in the workplace.
That conversation is one that really sticks with me to this day. It not only put things into perspective but gave me a newfound resilience in the way I approach the unknown.
I went from wanting to quit to becoming the top-earning salesperson that year!
After that summer, I took this resilience home with me and applied it to other aspects of my life, which helped guide me to the tech industry.
That’s when I decided to make the jump from pests to people.
Recruiting has been an incredibly rewarding experience in my life and I owe it all to the lessons I learned in the summer of 2012.
Controlling Your Own Destiny
In recruiting, we consistently recover from difficult situations and develop a thicker skin than most.
Good recruiters know every day is different from the last.
We’re given the reigns to impact how our company scales, attracts and most importantly, retains the best talent. We are tasked with understanding that our hiring partners (managers, candidates, clients) have ever-changing schedules, needs, and deadlines.
Recognizing and practicing flexibility around all those factors is an undeniable key in successful recruiting.
I’ve sourced on weekends to close hard-to-fill roles, taken 7am candidate calls, hosted networking meetups for engineers, and closed offers over the holidays (once while shivering outside the hot tub I had to exit to take the call). The list goes on and on.
Going outside the normal scope of responsibilities is what separates the good recruiters from the great ones. If you’re willing to take that extra step, it will open a world of possibilities you may not have experienced otherwise.
Being so immersed in the work will not only make you more impactful, you’ll be improving candidate experience, making more hires, and becoming more efficient in everything you do.
The ones who are passionate about recruiting will keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and who they can reach.
Tips to Boosting Resiliency
Take decisive action - Don’t delay in acting when confronted with adversity
Maintain a hopeful outlook - Spend more time thinking about what you want and limit the time thinking on what you fear
Be cool with the fact that change is a part of living - Accepting those moments where things can’t be changed helps you refocus on things that can be
Move toward your goals - even the smallest task towards a goal sets you in motion, and that inertia will keep you moving
Celebrate success - taking time to recognize the small wins and celebrate them helps keep your spirits high and your motivation going