My“why”?

After reflecting on an entire decade, I began to think about my present even more than my future. I’ve been really thinking about my “why”.

• Why do I wake up and do this thing every day?
• What do I love about it?
• What isn’t so great?
• What do I choose to stay in this space?
• Am I comfortable or is there something more?

And then I pause…I start to answer the questions in my mind and it sounds fluffy, but it really isn’t.

Recruiting is something I started at a young age; it’s something I’ve learned over time…but it’s not something that I’ve mastered. I don’t think it’s something you can ever master.

If you’re considering a career in recruiting, here is what I would say FWIW:

• I promise you will never have the same interview twice, ever.
• I promise you that even when it feels really tough, there will be small nuggets of joy that will carry you through (I literally just experienced a little nugget of joy 3 minutes ago, after a crazy morning).
• I promise you that no matter how long you’ve been doing this, it will still hurt when your top candidate declines your offer; but it’s equally amazing when you make your first hire.
• I promise that even the toughest hiring managers and grumpiest clients or even the rudest candidates who “hate recruiters” are just people; maybe they’re just having a bad day, but it too will pass and it will be fine.
• I promise there will be more good days than bad.

My why: I love making the match. I love getting people jobs.

Simply, I just love it.

There is nothing like the feeling of helping someone land the role they’ve dreamt about at their dream company.

My why: I love helping companies grow.

Simply, I love creating teams that innovate and grow companies.

Perhaps I would be too scared to do something else at this point, a departure from my norm, or maybe I still feel challenged every day.

There hasn’t been 1 day in 20 years where I’ve ever felt like I really have it all figured out. Even in the days where I’ve come really close to that feeling…well turns out my entire job is dealing with people and people are people and they are human, and they’re all different, so you just never really ever have it figured out!

I like the ability to think of my feet, react or overreact sometimes. I like seeing my team grow and learn. I like seeing them learn from their successes and their failures. I like seeing them challenge themselves to know more, do more, be more.

There are times when things don’t go the way we want them to. Those days are tough, but in perspective; we aren’t doctors saving lives. Sure we help people, but if a candidate declines an offer or a hiring manager missed an interview or a candidate was late or the dog ate my homework, everyone is going to be fine. If it won’t matter in 5 years, let’s not spend more than 5 minutes harping on it.

I can’t recall the countless amount of time I’ve wasted catastrophizing things because of my own fear of failure or judgment that has led to my great burnout of 2018.

So for this new decade, the first year, I am going to set my intention on remaining true to my why, no matter the good or bad days.