In honor of Thanksgiving here’s a brief tribute to a few of those who made “AlaRecruiter” possible. Now you know who to blame.

Justin – you were my first real recruiting boss. You taught me a very valuable lesson when you grabbed me by the shoulders and said “repeat after me – I f%^&$ed up.” Take the blame and move on – even if it really was the candidate’s fault. I’ve been doing it ever since. We laughed at you when you said you were going to be the youngest VP our (at the time) company ever had – at 25, you did it! Plus you wore suspenders and managed to pull it off. 

Scott – you made sales look so easy. To you, third party recruiting was very simple – find people for jobs, and find jobs for people. You never questioned the ethics of the business – and never doubted we were doing a tremendous service to everyone we touched. One of the best things you taught me was to buy myself something shiny with every commission check. No matter how bad of a day I was having I could fiddle with my “something shiny” (or in my case, look at my shoes) and remember why I put up with this nonsense.

Michelle – you taught me that it was ok (even necessary) to toot your own horn. I never questioned your commitment to our team and making sure we got our props from your bosses. There were no cogs in the wheel in your office – we were VALUABLE and you made sure we knew it. After all these years you’re still my mentor AND friend. I still have my first BIG commission check that you helped me earn.

Rebecca – you thought I was your mentor, but the truth is I learned far more from you than I can ever hope to have passed on. Your enthusiasm for our business and what we called your “Korn/Ferry aspirations” made me want to work harder and be better. Wherever you are – I’m sure you’re kicking a$$ and taking names. Thanks for watching Tony Byrne VHS tapes with me.

Natalie – Have I told you lately how much I love my job? Thank you for giving me a shot at the corporate side of recruiting. You teach me every day that internal recruiting is NOT for the faint of heart, or those that can’t cut it in the real world. I am so grateful that you give your team the autonomy we need to do our job. There are several reasons why I joined Zones – working for you is definitely one of them.

There are so many people who've influenced me throughout my career - and I'm eternally grateful to every single one of you.