Time flies! It’s hard to believe that 5 years ago today I walked into Talener for my first day of work. It still feels like one of the best decisions I've made, although not the path that my 2019-self was expecting to take. So I started reflecting on how I became an agency recruiter and built my staffing career over these 5 years.
In May 2019, I graduated from Clemson University with a degree in finance, moved back home to NYC and was pumped to start building a career in finance. With two internships under my belt, a curated resume, and connections to NY, I was sure that I would land a finance job in no time. I studied finance, my brothers studied finance – it felt like a sure thing. It’s just what you do in NYC.
Countless rejections later, I ended up having more time on my hands to question why I wanted to work in finance in the first place.
I then started to think about what my actual strengths and interests were, hopeful there was something out there that could better fit me. I decided that I wanted to leverage my ability to work with people, be competitive, shape my own career path and be proud of the work I was doing.
This opened me up to the idea of sales and business development. And thankfully during my spree of using Linkedin’s “Click-to-apply” feature on as many sales job postings that I could find in NYC, I applied to a Relationship Manager position Talener.
Naturally in my applying spree, I didn’t actually remember applying for the job until receiving an interview request. At first glance, I thought I’d be selling recruiting software. It wasn’t until I was on the subway heading to the interview that I realized I had applied for a recruiting position at a recruiting agency.
I figured I had nothing to lose. Worst case scenario – I gain some interview experience.
Everything clicked from the first conversation with the team. The list I made about what I wanted in a job aligned perfectly. The interviewers expressed a similar path of how they got there and seemed committed to taking someone like me on to teach the business.
Within a week, I was offered the position and needed to make a decision. Even after accepting, I still wasn’t sure where any of this would go. Once again, I decided that I had nothing to lose and the worst case scenario would be that I gain experience, collect a paycheck, and figure out whether this career path was for me.
Fast forward five years and I couldn’t be happier with the series of events that brought me to Talener. I’ve been able to learn from industry veterans like Michael Dsupin & Henry Boulos who have built their careers in tech staffing in real time as tech exploded. I’ve been able to pass knowledge onto others and help many job seekers and clients with their job searches and hiring needs.
Every day is still different and I am especially thankful today for everyone I’ve interacted with over these past 5 years, proud of the path that I chose and excited for what the future brings!