From college to staffing with Mandy Hay
Reader’s note: This is a partial transcription from the first episode of the 10-Minute Talent Show. To hear the full episodes (it’s only about 10 minutes), click the podcast embed above.
How did you learn about recruiting?
I went to St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and I love writing, so I went to school for journalism. At St. Kate’s, I worked in the career development office and as a student worker, I was paid to work a career fair. While I had to do my job, I also knew this was a great opportunity to network and see if there were any publications or media outlets at this career fair that I could talk to you. Unfortunately, there were none. But I actually ended up running into the Horizontal booth. I spoke with Anna Gerold, Horizontal Talent’s Learning and Development Lead. Anna told me about staffing and recruiting, and it really aligned with what I was doing in career development at the time.
Why do you like recruiting?
No one thinks that they’re going to go into recruiting, but it has been great! I have always loved talking to people and that’s really all recruiting is. I also love playing board games and doing puzzles at home. I think of recruiting like a big game, a big puzzle; a role comes out and your job or game is to find the best person for that role. It’s really fun to try and search for these candidates, and the chase, the challenge is really fun. It’s a lot of moving parts, just like a puzzle.
How do you set expectations with candidates?
A lot of recruiting is expectation setting with candidates. It’s important to be real with them because there are a lot of rejections out there. But, when I’m super excited for a position, I still like to let the candidate know, “Hey you’re a great fit for this one! I feel strongly about your background, and I am so happy to be an advocate for you.” It’s important to express to them that they are awesome and that I’m going to find them a role. That’s my goal, regardless of if that specific one works out or not.
What makes a good recruiter?
Being able to talk to people, being sociable and personable goes a long way in this industry. Like I mentioned before, it is all about relationship building with candidates. It’s also a balance of getting to know someone and getting down to business because you still have a job to do, and you are trying to find them a position. Building those relationships and rapport with candidates will go a long way because they’ll use that as a resource in any other job search they have in the future.
What’s your biggest piece of advice for job seekers in this current market?
Regardless of where the market is at, there’s always going to be someone looking for a job and always someone needing to fill a role. Learn to deal with rejection because you will see a lot of rejection in a job search but keep going. Stay optimistic. There will be a roll out there for you somewhere. You just have to keep trying!
Want to work with Mandy? Contact Mandy Hay via LinkedIn.