The Rookie Diaries- 10 successes and insights from my first month

I've reached the end of my first 30 days in the recruiting industry. I have achieved several small successes that industry veterans may laugh at.(Or at least I hope they will)

1. I'm still employed.

2. Most of the marbles that were lodged in my throat when I made my first week of recruiting calls to candidates have begun to disappear only to reappear the first week I started making my marketing calls to potential clients.

3. I'm getting really good at recognizing when I have been hung up on rather than continuing my script.

4. I enjoy the thrill of the unknown each and every day.

5. I have digested 30% of the volumes of information that I have taken in to date.

6. The people I work with are all great people.

7. I have had 3 send outs.

8. I finally know what a send out is.

9. I now understand the phrase "not enough hours in the day"

10. I live by the phrase that I read on recruitingblogs.com "Done is better than Perfect"

Return for the second month roundup in another 30 days if, well.....I haven't been shown the door.

Jess

P.S. I wish I had found this industry a long time ago. I have not met anyone within the industry (yet) that I did not learn something from. This website is a great example of how the industry helps it's members be successful. It really does feel like 'family'. OK, 'nuff' of the touchy/feely. Time to call an HR Director.

Comment by RecruitingBlogs on September 15, 2012 at 4:20pm: Nice! Welcome to the business....there is a lot of great stories to be told, and we hope to hear yours. Best of luck, and hard work, Noel

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on September 17, 2012 at 1:50pm: Awesome - thanks Jess! How many times did you "quit" in your first 30 days? I still quit about once a week or so... :)

Comment by Bill Schultz on September 17, 2012 at 2:09pm: Excellent!

In your defense on #3, It's a lot harder to know when a line goes dead especially, with VOIP or cell. When I started, there was always a resounding click that cued me to stop blabbering.

Comment by Andrew Hanneman on September 17, 2012 at 4:05pm: Nice, I tend to rotate between being super confidant and feeling like a veteran recruiter to feeling like a rookie.

Comment by Eric Vecchiola on September 17, 2012 at 10:18pm: Do you really get hung up on? Maybe you are tooooo scripted? I think it's important to add personality to the call. I often try to find something to laugh about or mess-up because it immediately lightens the call. When telemarketers call and start scripting to me, I hang up (or end it very quickly). Even if I'm not interested, the ones I stick around for are the ones that sound different.

Also, congrat's on a successful 30 days! I got hooked early on and enjoy the flow of this business. It's ever-changing and any given day could throw a big hurdle at you. In the end, money, new friends and positive feedback from candidates and clients has kept me in the game. Enjoy the ride!

~ Eric Vecchiola

Comment by Martin O'Shea on September 18, 2012 at 3:01am: Number 4 is one of the main reason I'm still kicking in this industry. I still find that I am getting hung up on, and I am working as a rec-to-rec so I am talking to those who play the same game! or sometimes they are incredibly rude, so I tell them straight forward that I already and very busy working with a lot of candidates and roles so if your not interested, nor am I in working with you at the moment. And your right Jess, meeting all these new people and getting exposure in have conversations with a lot of Senior Candidates is amazing, and extremely beneficial for myself in improving!

Comment by Bonnie Brooks on September 18, 2012 at 1:59pm: Well written...my style. Well...your style since you wrote it. My style because my style of writing is like your style. Excuse me...time for coffee.