Believe me, it is my pleasure. I am proud to be a recruiter!
Everyone searches for purpose in their work lives. For most people, “making a difference” is what gets them out of bed in the morning.
From my point of view, a recruiter makes a difference by sourcing the right people to make a difference for our clients. That is the ultimate measure of our great profession, and I get a huge amount of satisfaction in seeing past placements develop into industry leaders.
It isn't about the money. That is a short-term transaction, which helps to pay the bills, but it can never give true satisfaction. The measure of my worth is how long it takes for my candidates to get promoted, how they grow their teams and how much of an impact they have on the wider world. Putting the right person in the right job can have a knock-on effect for thousands of others. That is what I live for.
Tracking the legacy of their placed candidates is the true measure of happiness for any recruiter – the one sign of a job well done.
This sort of recruitment is sustainable and hugely pleasurable. The relationship doesn't end after the placement fee has been paid. We follow a candidate’s progress like proud parents, celebrating their successes and learning from their failures. Clients understand that we care, and with every new role the sense of ownership of the process grows ever stronger.
Not all placements go to plan, but if we are truly engaged with the hiring company and the candidate, then we can work out what didn't go quite right and do a better job next time.
There is nothing more satisfying than being treated like a strategic partner, and feeling like you truly have a stake in the success of your client’s business. You want them to do well, you follow their stock performance, you read their press releases with interest – you are emotionally engaged with them.
Searching for joy in recruitment is like any other job – you want to have something to believe in. The great thing about what we do is that are able to put our belief in other people, and we find new people to believe in every day. We invest our time and knowledge in helping them get a job and then they repay us by justifying our belief, going on to have successful careers.
Sometimes your belief is tested, sometimes you are just plain wrong, but there is always another chance to get it right, another hopeful candidate walking through that interview room door, saying….
“Help me to tell my story, let me make a difference.”