Our Community Manager, Casey Fieldman, recently got the chance to work on a role of her own and get a little taste of the recruiting world. Although she never thought that was a side of the business she wanted to work on, this role pleasantly surprised her. Casey decided to share her thoughts and her success to show that sometimes the things you aren’t very excited about at first can turn out to be the most rewarding. Check out Casey’s blog below to learn a little bit more about her and her very first placement!
I recently made my very first placement, and I must say the whole process surprised me in ways I hadn’t expected. This was not only my first placement, but the first and only role that I have been given to work on. That being because I’m not actually a recruiter, I do Community Management here at The Melanie Andersen Agency. I am most definitely intrigued by the business of recruiting- that’s what drew me to this company. As Community Manager, I am responsible for helping the business run smoothly- working backstage and behind the scenes. I keep the recruiters organized by mapping out their hectic schedules, making sure everything is in its right place, and tying all the loose ends together.
We work on a ton of high level roles for a particular company, and so when they needed to fill a very junior level role for a luxury fashion brand, we agreed to work on it for them. All the recruiters were already exhausting all their time and energy on countless searches of their own, so Melanie asked if I could reach out to my network of young professional friends in New York to see if anyone would be interested. I agreed- and to be honest, I agreed reluctantly. I just never really thought I had that knack that all other recruiters seemed to have – the intuition they seemed to possess and the ease of conversation they exhibit. But Melanie was right, the odds were I knew a person that would be perfect for this role.
So I reached out to my immediate network of friends through social media, and immediately got a ton of responses. Then I started interviewing some of those people, which at first was the part that seemed the most unappealing to me. In my mind the interviews would be like forced small talk with strangers (don’t ask me why), which is probably my least favorite thing on the planet. But I was pleasantly surprised! The conversations flowed naturally and it was genuinely interesting to get someone’s mini history and hear about their ambitions or uncertainty of the path they wished to go down, which was common as I was speaking with young people who had just embarked on their career (and we all know what that’s like).
The last person I interviewed was actually a friend of mine from college. She was currently unhappy in her job and quite frankly feeling a little bit fixated on a path she did not wish to be on. She was incredibly excited by the prospect of this new position and I immediately knew she would be perfect for it. I submitted her, she interviewed, and was instantly well-received. Within about two weeks she was hired. She was ecstatic. I was ecstatic. The feeling was sort of amazing. I had just played an absolutely integral role in redirecting the career path of this individual back towards her passion, which was fashion. It was so rewarding to see how happy and grateful she was.
I always thought that my backstage role at the agency was best suited for my personality, but my experience working on and filling a role really shed light on some abilities I never thought I had. It was an awesome opportunity to explore the other side of our business and maybe an untapped part of my self. I will say I now understand what everyone means by the “recruiter’s high”. It’s a real thing! We really are doing amazing things for candidates by providing them with opportunities they may not have access to otherwise, and providing companies with amazing assets to their team. GO TMAA!