Why I Love Recruiting

This is not the blog I thought I would write. I expected to wax poetic about my obsession with winning, my love of really cute shoes (need lots of money to fund that habit), or maybe even that I liked helping others. Every time I sat down to write, my thoughts drifted to a little girl named Kelsey.

When Kelsey was 3 years old she went to the doctor for her annual checkup. At first Kelsey’s mom didn’t think she had anything to worry about – Kelsey was slower than her siblings in most areas, but every kid is different. Then there were these weird birthmarks. Turns out that Kelsey had Neurofibromatosis – or NF. The delayed speech, muscle weakness, and café au lait spots (those weird birthmarks) are all symptoms.

No parent ever wants to imagine their child with an illness – certainly not a genetic anomaly that can cause tumors to grow on their nerve endings, or cause developmental delays and learning disabilities. No parent wants to hear that their child may not be able to play sports, ride a bike, or even read and write like everyone else.

Luckily Kelsey’s mom was a recruiter. All of a sudden those long days, evening and weekend candidate meetings, early morning calls and other wacky scheduling all made sense. Recruiting has never been a 9-5 time clock punching sort of job. So when Kelsey needed an MRI, mom could take her. When Kelsey started occupational AND physical therapy, mom could take her twice a week. When Kelsey finished her first year of school mom was able to lobby hard and schedule meeting after meeting with the teachers and administration to make sure she got a 2^nd year of Kindergarten, not wanting her to move up before she was ready.

And then there’s the money. You’d be amazed at how much of this stuff is not covered by insurance. So when the therapy bills started rolling in Kelsey’s family didn’t go bankrupt. Recruiting can be a lucrative business.

Thanks to the incredible, crazy roller coaster that is recruiting, Kelsey’s mom was able to arrange her schedule to be at the physical therapy appointment when 6 year old Kelsey rode a tricycle for the first time.

I love recruiting because it gave Kelsey’s family the financial stability and schedule flexibility to take care of their youngest daughter. This is Kelsey, and I am her mom.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Heather Wienbrock on February 10, 2012 at 5:45pm

Amy

I had written a really great piece about how recruiting has empowered me to be a better mom - a better business person and frankly a bit of a nicer person all around but after reading yours well there's just no point in submitting it. You said it all and said it better than I ever could. Recruiting is one of the few professions that you can do really really well at - give that 110% everyone always talks about and still make pockets of time for your family (even if that means you are sourcing at 2am lol).

Great job!

Heather

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Permalink Reply by Amy Ala Miller on February 10, 2012 at 6:02pm

Thank you John! :)

Heather - please post yours! I love these stories... so funny how recruiters have this reputation out in the world of being the used car salesmen of employment when in reality my colleagues near and far are some of the kindest, most passionate and helpful people I know! If you do this business RIGHT, you can't help but be a better person for it. Thank you so much for the kind words :)

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Permalink Reply by Amber on February 15, 2012 at 1:24pm

Great post, Amy - I knew your's would likely be the forerunner for the contest, but I posted mine anyway and am glad a lot of others have posted. Lots of good posts!

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Permalink Reply by Amy Ala Miller on February 15, 2012 at 3:22pm

Thanks Amber! Lots of great stories here, but all have an underlying theme - every single one of us is passionate about what we do! It's all about the "likes" so you never know... anyone's game still. :)

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Permalink Reply by Brigadier YR MAINDIRATTA on February 20, 2012 at 1:31am

Amy, what a real life story of an outstanding human being : loving, care-giver, and optimistic.

Whether you love recruitng or not but certainly Recruting Fraternity would love to have you around. Your love for your daughter is a faith-healer and a sustainer. It was about a month or so back that you were concerned for a job for your Mom. You have been fighting your battles at various fronts.

On top that you wrote such a compelling and moving piece with compassion.

God bless you.

Regards,

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Permalink Reply by Amy Ala Miller on February 20, 2012 at 11:36am

Thank you so much for the comments :) Hard to believe this small town girl from Kansas who never finished college has been able to provide for my family and fight those critical battles. Thanks for the kind words.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Spagnola on March 2, 2012 at 11:20am

Congratulations Amy. Thank you for sharing this great post. We hope you enjoy your new iPad.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Smith on March 2, 2012 at 11:50am

I am touched by your story. Thank you for sharing.

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Permalink Reply by Simon Hunt on March 2, 2012 at 11:57am

Amy, what a great story, it so wasn't what I was expecting to read (who was), but I am so pleased I did! Yours is a powerful story without or without the recruitment link. It just goes to show that not only do we work in a great industry, but the industry is full of people determined to make a difference, be that in their immediate family, or the World in general. Thank you for sharing.

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Permalink Reply by Kerris Hougardy on March 2, 2012 at 12:27pm

Sitting in my open plan office hiding behind my monitor so the rest of the team don't see the tears streaming down my face!!!

As a fellow Mum and Recruiter... I salute you.

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Permalink Reply by Amy Ala Miller on March 2, 2012 at 12:32pm

I am overwhelmed! Thanks to all of you who commented and of course "liked" the post. :) I'm thrilled to have won but more importantly I'm so happy I had a chance to put recruiting in a different light. We all have our reasons for what we do, and contrary to what the naysayers think, it's not because we're all channelling our inner used car salesman. (not that there's anything with used cars...)

thank you, thank you, thank you.