Working as a recruiter has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life.  Even when I haven't made "the" placement, I have made incredible connections and the fulfillment of those connections have meant everything to me.  For some reason, this career just synced with my life.  And that has made all the difference.

When I became an adult and settled on a career, I never thought there would come a time in my life when I would want to do something else or when something else would even catch my fancy.  I was seventeen years old when I graduated from high school.  Two weeks later, I started college.  I had made my choice, with the help of my mom, to attend an accredited three-semester long program, eleven months of dental assisting schooling at Indiana University at South Bend.  It was the right choice given where I what I wanted to do with my life at the time. 

Just before my nineteenth birthday, I started my first full-time adult job.   By the time I was twenty-one, I was married.  By the time, I was twenty-three, I was a mom.  At thirty-three, I was a mom of four and I had settled nicely into a nineteen-year long job as a dental assistant, dental front office manager, and a dental hygenist (illegally). But I was never internally settled with where I was with "my career."  It wasn't a career, it was merely a distraction.

When I joined a search firm, I felt like I had found my niche, my home.   And recruiting became everything to me.  I became obsessed with becoming the best recruiter possible and learning as much about the profession and perfecting tactics.  I listened intently to my boss and his wife.  They had only been doing this for only a couple years longer than I, but had built a successful firm and seemed to be doing it right. 

With what I learned there and going in-house to build a recruiting department, I realized that business was where my heart was and I returned to school to get my business degree.  I could be a mom and have a career, a real career - not just a job.  It was a huge dream for me and one that had to be balanced with what was already going on in my life.  The balance was not an easy thing to learn or achieve but there is this thing that happens when you want something so badly - you learn what to do so you can get what you want.   Balancing the gain when you gain the balance.

“Take what you can from your dreams, make them as real as anything.” - Dave Matthews   

by rayannethorn