Recently I was in a elevator with a group of people and the silence was killing me. As I looked around and saw a few people dressed suits and ties, a Fedx delivery man, and some others in business casual attire. I could feel that everyone was feeling uncomfortable.

I decided that I would say something. At the risk of my life and limbs and looked over at the guys in the suits and said, "How you are you guys doing today?"

The seas parted and the silence was broken! One of them replied, "we're doing pretty good, how are you?"

I responded with, "I'm doing great, just left an awesome meeting with a new client."

The truth is that recruiters break down barriers. We are the ones who walk across a filled restaurant and stop at table filled with potential candidates and say, "hello". Or we look over as we are pumping gas and see the person on the next pump wearing a shirt with a Google logo on it and ask, "do you work for Google?"

The conversation has to start somewhere. Don't be shy, be proud. It doesn't matter if you are out of work and looking for a job, trying to sell a product, or recruiting on a hot job order. Being a little assertive, out going, friendly, bold, interested, or just plain old nice is a good thing.

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare composed poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"
---Martin Luther King, Jr.

Craig Silverman