Why I Got Into Recruiting: A Letter from Plus10’s Founder
What do you think of when you think of recruiters? Unfortunately, that word doesn’t have a positive connotation for everyone - and I used to be one of them.
Before I got into the industry, my general feeling about recruiters was similar to car salesmen. In my mind, they were people that worked off a commission, and were motivated only to fill a position as quickly as possible. And for recruiting - much more than cars - that kind of attitude felt particularly harmful.
Career choices represent major life decisions for people, and they’re not the type of decisions you want to entrust to anyone. For most of us, we’ll spend a ton of time at our job throughout our life - as much as one-third of it. That’s not something to take lightly; for something that will take up a considerable portion of your life, you want to love what you do. You should love what you do.
A person’s career choices, especially in their prime working years (usually defined as those aged 25-54), heavily weigh on your career growth. Roles you choose to take, and companies you choose to work for, have a major influence on your career path, the skills you have the opportunity to develop, and your salary, to name a few.
Clearly, though, something changed for me. I’m a recruiter today, and I’ve now been working in this field for five years now. So what was it?
I've had great mentors that helped me work towards a fulfilling career and learn the value of paying it forward. Helping others find the right opportunity and grow is what ultimately led me to become a recruiter and start Plus10.
Before I got into the industry, my feeling about recruiters was similar to car salesmen.
Career choices represent major life decisions for people. These decisions aren’t ones you can entrust to just anyone.
Finding the right role is difficult.
I don’t need to tell any working-age person how difficult it is to find the right role. It’s stressful enough - not to mention time-consuming - to apply and interview for jobs. And most people don’t have the time or know-how to hit pause before they start on this process to deeply understand what they should be applying for.
This first step - understanding what you truly want - is key to finding a job that you actually want to stay in and a company you resonate with. But most of us aren’t trained in leadership or psychology. Understanding what we truly want from a job can feel impossible to figure out. Should you focus on finding a role based on what you’re best at? Or the types of roles you’ve held in the past? How important is the company culture, values, or personalities of the people you work with?
Many people don't know how to ask the right questions, let alone work through the decision-making process. This is where a good recruiter can help, and was a major motivator for me in getting into this industry.
A good recruiter can help you find and grow in the right opportunity
Making a choice that's not aligned with your values and strengths can push your career in a direction that doesn't feel right for you. In order to make the right move, you first have to develop a deep understanding of both your professional and personal self.
For me, this is at the heart of recruiting. It’s not about the “what” - it’s the “why.” Why are you excited to get up in the morning? Why do you enjoy the projects and tasks you do? Why do you prefer to work with some individuals over others?
These are the types of questions I help job seekers dig into to find a role that truly feels like a seamless fit.
It’s not about the “what” - It’s the “why.”
Why are you excited to get up in the morning? Why do you enjoy the projects and tasks you do?
My goal as a recruiter? To help job seekers develop themselves professionally
My focus has always been on my own coaching mindset and processes first. I believe that, in order to be effective in understanding and supporting others, you first need to understand yourself. It’s through my commitment to personal growth and development that I’ve learned so much in how to help others realize their potential.
For me, recruiting is about people. To be a great recruiter, you need high EQ. You need a strong sense of empathy. And you truly need to care about the people that work with you. I don’t just work hard to get to know my clients and understand their wants; I’m truly interested in it. I care about the people I work with. Their happiness - be it a founder of a company looking to hire or a job seeker looking for their next opportunity - is central to my sense of success. At the heart of it, recruiting isn’t just about finding someone a new job. It’s listening, learning, and providing sound career development coaching.
“Many of us can relate to the LinkedIn message from a recruiter about a role that’s totally incompatible with our skills and experience. Those messages demonstrate just how little time some recruiters spend getting to know people.
I aim to set myself - and Plus10 - apart in this respect. ”
Recruiting isn’t about me. It’s about you.
Many of us can relate to the LinkedIn message from a recruiter about a role that’s totally incompatible with our skills and experience. Returning to the earlier example, I think this is an example of why people might have a negative view of recruiters. Those messages demonstrate just how little time some recruiters spend getting to know people, even on an early level. They haven’t taken the time to so much read your LinkedIn profile, let alone tailor a message that speaks to your unique attributes.
I aim to set myself - and Plus10 - apart in this respect.
A great recruiter truly cares about you
I believe it’s only through a commitment to understanding the people I work with that I can be truly effective in helping you evaluate the right role or fit.
With clients, it's more than just knowing the open roles.
If you’re a leader or hiring manager, you’ve no doubt read through dozens of resumes that look more or less identical. How do you know how a person will truly perform in your organization based on a four-year degree and a few sentences about their experience at various companies? In short, you can’t. How could a recruiter taking that approach do any different?
Any recruiter can “fill a position.” But how long will a candidate stay in that position? How happy will the client be with the fit and the work they do? Without understanding the nuance of a company, it’s nearly impossible to ensure a candidate is well matched for the business and team they’ll be working with. And without taking the time to get to know candidates, you can’t ensure someone is truly well matched.
A recruiter should be driven to understand the roles they’re hiring and why they're integral for business growth. That means asking questions, getting to know the business structure and company values, and understanding what “success” looks like for each specific company - because success for every company is different. It also means interviewing and getting to know candidates holistically. It’s not just generic technical tests and screening questions. Recruiters need to get to know their clients so they know how to interview and evaluate the candidates.
With candidates, it's more than just placing them in a new position.
The candidate-facing side is no different. As a recruiter, I believe strongly in the need to dig deeper. That means understanding both the big picture and small details that matter to them when making a career move.
For the big picture, I believe it’s vital to understand their career goals first. Knowing where a candidate wants to go, and in what timeframe, influences the opportunities that I as a recruiter look for. On top of this, I put a lot of emphasis on understanding their values. In what I’ve seen, candidates that feel aligned with a company’s values is a big predictor of the purpose and happiness they feel in a position. I also spend time understanding each candidate’s personal strengths and attributes, so I can match them with a role where they will be successful.
Zooming in, I help candidates work through the details, too. These can’t be overlooked: at the end of the day, the details can make the difference - they’re the things you encounter and experience everyday in your job. I dig into the minutiae of what they like to do: the projects they like to take on, how they approach tasks, what they like to do in a day, their preferred team dynamics, and what their ideal working structure is.
Combining the big picture and details helps get out of the standard "role, title, compensation" questions people are likely to have in their job search, and into the "meat” of what makes a candidate truly successful in their role.
Recruiting is more than just placing someone in a position.
To be a great recruiter, you genuinely have to care about people. You need to be curious about them, and take the time to understand them so you can help people be truly successful.
I’m grateful I got into this industry.
If you told me 15 years ago I’d one day be a recruiter, I wouldn’t have believed you. But now, I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’ve learned that recruiting is about empathy and emotional intelligence. I love it because I care about people, and as a recruiter I get to work with people everyday.
But not all recruiters are created equal, and they aren’t all driven by a desire to see job seekers and companies be successful. I believe it’s only through a commitment to understand the people they work with that a recruiter can be truly effective in helping evaluate the right role or fit.
