Graduation is like getting out of a lifelong challenge while stepping into a whole new one. We can choose to brave the waters on our own or we can entrust that future to the capable hands of recruiters. On the other side, it is essential for companies to hire a good fit but sometimes, they just don’t have the time and resources to really get to really look around or get to know prospects. If you are on the lookout for a good recruiter, you don’t have to look any further! Tune in as Casey Hasten, Director Of Recruiting for VIP, talks about the benefits of hiring a recruiter and her dedication to finding the perfect match for both applicant and company. She shares insights on their best practices focused on transparency and how she teaches her clients how to live “at choice” and how to co-create their own reality through managing perceptions. So don’t miss out on this chance to get to know the best people who can set you up for success.
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We are talking about recruiting. Specifically, what is a time for you to engage a recruiter? What are some of the benefits of using a recruiter and how can you spot a good recruiter? In order to do that, we have Casey Hasten. She is the Director of Recruiting and Coaching with VIP, podcast host of the We Are VIP Podcast and the Networking Ninja.
After being in the accounting world for over twenty years, she made the leap to recruiting those with similar backgrounds. It is her goal to help others find their career passion using all the skills and networking outlets she has gathered. Her mission is to help raise the consciousness of the world by helping those she touches learn to be at choice. To accomplish this mission, she focuses on the importance of mindset first and foremost and teaches her clients how to live at choice and how to co-create their own reality through managing perceptions. Stay tuned for this conversation that is about recruiting.
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Casey, thank you so much for being here. I’m very excited for our conversation. I wanted to start with one question. When do you think is the best time for someone to engage a recruiter when they are searching for a job?
Thank you so much for having me, and I’m so proud of you for launching this show and following your dream and your passion. That’s amazing. I love to see people doing that. When it comes to recruiting and when to engage with a recruiter, and interestingly enough, I had this question over LinkedIn from someone that had heard me on the radio.
I think the time to engage with the recruiter is as soon as you graduate with your degree. You want to start building that relationship from the very beginning so that you can trust that person so that you can learn to know, like, and trust them. I have relationships with my candidates that go back years to the beginning of my recruiting phase. In fact, I engaged with one of my candidates that I have kept in touch with.
I placed him back in 2014. That’s when I first placed him and he was a senior accountant level then. I have kept in touch with him all these years to see how he was doing, and he’s kept in touch with me and kept that relationship going. During the pandemic, he ended up opening a restaurant. During the pandemic. Who does that? He did very well with it, but he took a year off from accounting, which is what I do. I do accounting and finance.
Randomly, I called him and I said, “I know you are not wanting to look. You are busy with the restaurant.” He’s like, “The restaurant is running great and I’m pretty bored. I was thinking about giving you a call to stick my toe back in the water to see what was out there.” I was like, “Funny because I may have the perfect role for you,” which does not happen very often.
Timing’s everything but it’s rarely that good. I kid you not, he’s accepted an offer with that company. If we hadn’t had that relationship and hadn’t been working together for so long, I wouldn’t have known to call him to check on him. He wouldn’t have known to trust me because this is a startup company, and the company wouldn’t have known that he was a great candidate because I had known him for so long. There are so many moving parts there, but the sooner you can engage with the recruiter you like and trust, the better. That’s my opinion.
I think that is such a great strategy because, like you said, when you have that long-standing relationship, then you are able to trust each other and you know that you can count on him or her once you place them that they are not going to let you down. That’s a perfect answer, so I think that’s great. You are a recruiter. How long have you been in recruiting? The real question that I want to ask is, what is the status of recruiting in this day and age?
I’m going to clarify on the status part, but I have been recruiting for several years. This is not my first career, but from the time I first started to where I am now, my style has changed dramatically. I will tell you the one thing that was very interesting when I started recruiting was that, and maybe it’s because it was a second career and I was a little bit later in life, that I didn’t want to be put in a box with other recruiters. I didn’t want to do it the same way as everybody else, and I had to do some things the same way until I proved myself. Once I proved myself, my manager at the time, she was like, “You do you. You do it however you want to do it because whatever you are doing is working.”
I have a very different approach when I work with candidates. I don’t work with a ton of candidates at any given time because I want to make sure that I’m paying attention to those candidates that I’m engaged with and giving them my full attention. At this point, I work mostly off referrals. That’s the beauty of building a network. You don’t do that from day one as a brand-new recruiter.
The time to engage with the recruiter is as soon as you graduate with your degree. You want to start building that relationship from the very beginning so that you can learn to know and trust them. – Casey Hasten Click To Tweet
As far as the status of recruiting now, are you talking about is it a hot job? Is it something or somebody? It’s a hot job and especially for those that are very entrepreneurial, this is the perfect job to get into. I would encourage you to do it only if you have a love for people because I feel like what separates a bad recruiter from a good recruiter is that love for people.
If you have a recruiter, that’s only in it for the money because you can make a lot of money recruiting. In order to do that, it means you sometimes have to sacrifice your candidates. By that, you may hold back some of the information about the company that you may know. Put them in a position where they are going to hate their life because the job is horrible. If you have that entrepreneurial spirit where you want to make money, we all want to make a living, but you still care enough about the people that you are not going to put them in a bad situation. That’s where the true superstars rise.
If you start sacrificing the benefit of the candidate, then you are holding them back for whatever detail, whether it’s salary or type of job or work-life balance. Kudos to you. I know you are a quality individual. We have had conversations before. You are a person that I feel honored that I can trust you. If anybody’s looking for a recruiter, Casey is your person because she does give the candidate that attention, and she doesn’t sacrifice the candidates for her own personal wellbeing, which is fantastic.
I had this one client that I found out later about the work-life balance, which was horrible, and I found out later about the toxic work environment. The manager would get so mad at people that when he would talk to him, he would spit on him. Have you ever had a manager like that, where they are so mad that they can’t even control her spit? I fired him. They came back to me and they are like, “No, Casey. You know what we want. We need you to help us.” I’m like, “I’m not placing people out there.” They are like, “We’ll pay you this fee,” and they gave me an exorbitant fee. It was ridiculous, and I was like, “Fine.”
Here’s what I’m going to do, though. I’m going to be completely honest with them, and the other thing was they had about a year’s churn. They were turning people over after a year, but they were paying very well for those people. I told him and said, “I will do this, but I am going to tell every candidate that they are going to hate their life. That they are only going to make it for a year and that they are probably going to get spit on. Are you okay with that?” They were like, “Not really.” I’m like, “Then I’m not doing it.” They are like, “Fine. Do what you got to do. Get us some candidates,” and I did.
It used to make my coworkers so mad because they would send me candidates and I’m like, I have to talk to every candidate before I submit them, and I would have that conversation. I’m like, “They are going to pay you very well, but you are going to work. You are not going to have any work-life balance.” I had one guy that didn’t even get to go to the birth of his kid. You are not going to be gone in a year. That’s a guarantee, and there’s a possibility of showers. I still had people willing to go and I placed a lot of people out there, but they went in it with their eyes wide open.
That’s a big difference. If you know what to expect, then you can make it work because you are prepared. The other side of the recruiting status. Why would someone hire a recruiter? What are some of the benefits of recruiting in this day and age with the pandemic and the Great Resignation that is winding down? Where do we stand there?
I’m assuming you are talking about companies, why would they want to hire a recruiter? Even though the Great Resignation seems to be winding down a little bit, it’s still going on. Our candidates have a shelf life of about 48 to 72 hours before getting multiple job offers. There are so many reasons of hiring a recruiter. Number one, we are going to reduce that time to get in that button seat for you, which is going to save you money. That’s where our fee comes in.
The other reason that you want us is because we are in constant contact with the candidates. Whereas if you are bringing candidates in on your own, you are not having those heart-to-heart conversations with them to see where they are at in the process, to see who else they are interviewing with, and to talk to them constantly about money. That can be a real issue and to find out what their concerns are.
I had a client that came to me and they were brand-new to using a recruiter. They came in with a lowball offer. One of the conversations I have with the candidates is I’m like, “Do you want the job? Rate it on a scale from 1 to 10. If it’s anything less than an eight, I’m going to start digging. What is it?” People don’t typically accept a job if they rank it less than an eight, but then I’m going to close them down on money. We closed down art. I need to know what your bottom dollar is. If I get an offer less than this number, do you even want to hear it? I will say, “Give me your bottom dollar and if I get a number less than that, you’ll never know you had an offer.”
I had a client come to me and they love the candidate, but companies want to save money, and this is not the time to do it. Not in this economy. They came to me and they came in $10,000 under what he told me his low number. I’m like, “That’s not going to do it.” They are like, “Give it to him and see what he says.” I’m like, “I’m not doing that. I have already closed him down. I know what his bottom dollar is. For me to bring anything lower than that would be an insult, and it’s going to start this entire relationship off on a bad foot. Either meet at least as a bottom dollar or let’s go find you another candidate.”
They came back and they are like, “Fine.” That’s a real benefit to having a recruiter on both sides. I saved them from starting a relationship with a bad feeling because he was going to ask, “Was that not worth it?” That’s what I asked for. I saved them from having to start the process over again to find a new candidate.
This is a little bit of a tangent conversation, but women don’t negotiate as often as men do. I know that you are working for the company, but do you do coaching to the candidates or is that something that’s out of your realm because you are working for the company. How does that work?
It’s a balancing act because we want our candidate’s best interest at heart. At the same time, we are paid on a percentage. The more the candidate gets, the more we get, but we don’t want to push that and seem we are a used car salesman with our clients, but we want to keep our candidates happy. We have to make sure that we are communicating with both of them.
When you are working with a recruiter, the recruiter does all your negotiating for you. That’s another benefit of having a recruiter. Like in that instance I gave you, I’m talking to the candidate and if their salary expectations are way out of whack, we are going to have that conversation. That’s a coaching conversation, and I have those constantly.
If they are too low, I’m going to have those conversations too, but I typically have arranged for them that we can expect the fall within and the same with the company. When it gets down to the nitty-gritty, if candidates heard some of the conversations I have with clients on their behalf, they would be like, “I’m so glad you got this.” It can get pretty hairy sometimes. That one conversation, I have to say, “No, I’m not going to do that. That’s not good enough.” Even though it is the client that pays us, we don’t have a chance of getting that money if we don’t have the candidates. We have to have both parties and we have to keep both parties happy.
I love the fact that you are still advocating for the candidate even though you are working for the company. Have you heard of the whole pay transparency thing that’s happening now? There are seventeen different states in the United States that have these pay transparency laws. Some states are required to have the pay range for the jobs listed. Other states will give the pay range if requested. Is that something that you delve into state by state? How does that work?
I am not familiar with the pay transparency laws. That doesn’t apply to Texas. I will tell you that I will not go into a role or into a search with a company without a pay range because I need to know. I also will not advertise that pay range like when I post a job or when I’m talking to a candidate, my common response. It’s not because I’m trying to be evasive or anything like that, but I will say that the salary is within your range.
When you have the confidence within yourself, don't just pretend that you're worth it. You're worth just as much as anybody else out there that is in that same role. You should be fairly compensated. – Casey Hasten Click To Tweet
I do that because if you give somebody a range from $160,000 to $180,000, and they are only a $160,000 candidate, but they see that they could have got $180,000, they are going to want that, and I have to manage those expectations. I let them drive that bus and tell me what salary range they are looking for. If it’s outside the range that I have available, then I will like, “That’s too much,” and then we can have that conversation. I don’t ever want somebody to think they are going to get the top of the range because it’s the top of the range.
That’s perfectly understandable because it might be experience or skills. It could be a number of things. I’m excited about the pay transparency laws because that’s going to help us get rid of the pay gap eventually if all states go to that. There are about seventeen states, which is exciting to me because it will help women get into the same ranges as men for various reasons.
I don’t know if this is part of that same act or not, but there are several states that have made it illegal to ask someone what they were making in a prior role and I support that. The problem I run into with clients now is this whole 10% mentality and they are thinking, “You were making this before, so we are going to give you a 10% bump. You should be happy even if you are still way under market.” I feel like if that job is worth whatever that pay range is, I don’t care if my person was making 30% less. They are underpaid. I hope that moves across the entire US sometime soon.
Negotiating salary is always something difficult for people to do, specifically for women. You are negotiating for some of your candidates on their behalf. Can you tell me 1 or 2 key phrases that you use with the companies to advocate for these folks, as far as trying to get them into the range that they want?
Every conversation is so unique when it comes to negotiations. I’m not sure that I have a go-to phrase or anything. The way that I negotiate is different than the way you would as an individual because I have a different vantage point that I can negotiate from. The fact that I know what the company can pay already. I know what the candidates are expecting, but I would say for someone that’s negotiating, especially a woman, number one, don’t be afraid to ask. You’ve got to ask. My favorite line that one of my mentors gave me was get your asking gear.
You need to know in your mind what that tipping point is. If they come in below such a number, you got to be okay with walking away. If you don’t walk away, you are going to go in with a bad taste in your mouth from the very beginning. That’s not going to be a very fruitful relationship or career, more than likely. When you do ask for that number, have that number in your head ahead of time. Be confident. Don’t say, “Maybe I should be making this much.” No. Be like, “I understand that you are coming in at $145,000, but I do believe that my skillset deserves a minimum of $150,000 a year.”
I like how you said that. It’s so matter of fact. One of the things that I have been telling people is you have to articulate your worth with massive confidence and conviction, and you did that, Casey. They say it’s not what you say. It’s how you say it. That was a perfect example of what you did.
That is so important. Probably the confidence. Have confidence within yourself. Don’t pretend. Know that you are worth it. You are worth as much as anybody else out there that is in that same role. You should be fairly compensated.
Do you work with companies or do you work with individual candidates that come to you?
I do both. When we talk about working with companies, so there are two sides to what I do. I run what’s called a full desk. I run the client side, which is the company that pays us. They are the ones looking for talent. I run the candidate side, which are the people that are looking for the job. From a client-side and company-side, I’m always working with companies.
They don’t come to me to say, “Help my people find work.” That’s a totally different type of recruiting. They come to me to say, “HI have got holes in my organizational chart, help me fill them.” Then I will go out and look, and sometimes they will say, “We want somebody from that company.” They will point me in the right direction, although not as often as I would like, but then I will work with individuals. I find the individuals that I work with through a variety of methods. I do post jobs on LinkedIn, but let me tell you something. Do you know how many people I have placed that have applied to my LinkedIn jobs? Goose egg.
It’s almost like I do it because I have to. It keeps me out in front of people when I post those jobs as a recruiter. Rarely have I ever gotten a candidate through a job posting. My go-to is I do go to LinkedIn, but I use a LinkedIn recruiter. In that way, I can filter, search, and look for candidates with a specific quality. Here’s a tip for people that are looking for a job, boost up your LinkedIn. If you don’t have those keywords on there for what I’m looking for, I won’t find you. If you want recruiters to find you, you better have a very robust LinkedIn. At least mimic your resume.
People can reach out to you as an individual so that you can work with them. I know that you also have a podcast. Tell me a little bit about your podcast.
I love doing a podcast, as I’m sure you are loved doing yours. It is our company podcast. It’s called We Are VIP and it was born out of an idea. First of all, I was going to do a podcast myself because I’m a huge networker. I met so many interesting people and had so many great conversations and I was like, “I need to share this with the world. Not that they are not talking to people, but why not multiply it?” A podcast gives you that platform.
I approached my partners at VIP, and just, so you know that I do not own VIP. I am what you call an intrapreneur. I get to be an entrepreneur with somebody else paying the bills. It’s amazing. It’s like the best of both worlds. I approached them about doing this podcast and I was like, “I want to let you know I’m going to do it because that I’m a reflection on you. I won’t embarrass you, but if you don’t want me to do it, that’s going to be another conversation.” They like, “No. That’s a great idea. Why don’t you do it for us and we’ll pay for it?” I’m like, “Bonus.”
We found a studio that we love. We record it on Real News PR, which is Jeff Crilley’s studio. He’s amazing. It was born out of wanting to give back. One thing I love about VIP so much is that they support that give-back initiative. Give value first. Very different recruiting organization from any that I have worked in before.
We set this up so that we could bring on experts and thought leaders to give tips, tricks, and insight into finding that better job, or making the job you have better for you now. Analyze some of those gremlins that you may have in your life if that bad job keeps following you around. Maybe it’s not the job. Maybe we need to do some inner work.
That’s what the podcast originated for. We have done 169 episodes. We have had people talk about things from all different kinds of mindsets to body language, which can be important, especially when the pandemic hit, to interviewing by video. The dynamic changes when you are not in person. All kinds of great information are out there and inspirational stories that will help you lead a better life.
You should always go in with a Go-Giver attitude. You want to be the one to give value first with no expectation of anything in return. – Casey Hasten Click To Tweet
Here on the show, we are primarily targeting women in corporate that are trying to move up that corporate ladder. Some women may be stuck and they don’t know why they are stuck. Like you, I started my show to be able to help people on a broader scale because I get asked different questions as far as career advancement.
I, too, decided I was going to start giving back and that’s exactly what you and I are doing here now. Thank you again for your time. When someone is looking for a recruiter, what are some of the basics that they need to start looking for? As you said at the beginning of the show, there are good recruiters and then there are not so good recruiters. What are some things that people can look for when searching out for a recruiter?
When you are first searching for one, I will look to see how active they are on LinkedIn because that’s going to give you an idea of their engagement with their community. Not to say that those that aren’t active on LinkedIn or any social aren’t engaged, but how are they engaged if they are not giving information back to the community on LinkedIn?
The next part that I would look at is when you reach out to them on LinkedIn, how do they respond? Do they respond, number one, but how do they respond? I’m going to put some of the onus back on the candidates too that are looking for a recruiter, make sure you are targeting a recruiter that can truly help you. If you are in human resources and you reach out to me, I’m going to respond to you because that’s the person I am, but I’m not going to be able to help you. I do accounting and finance. Find that recruiter in the field you are looking for because they will be more likely to reach back out to you.
When they reach out to you, look at their tone and how quickly they responded to you, because that’s how they will respond to you when you are doing your job search. Once you get them on the phone, ask them how often they communicate or what their communication style is with the candidates they are involved with.
For me, I will tell you straight up. I will call you when I have something for you. I’m not going to call once a week to check in. I’m not a babysitter. That’s not what I do. However, if you have questions, if I can help you in any way, you call me. Rarely will you catch me because my job is to be on the phone, but leave me a message. You have to leave me a message. If you leave me a message, I promise to return your call within 24 hours. If you do not leave me a message, I consider you a spam.
You said that you do accounting and finance. Do all recruiters specialize with a specific type of job or how does that work?
Most do because of the nature of how quickly everything moves. In the past, the main reason was that you wanted to have a pipeline. If you call me and you say, “I need a staff accountant.” I want to have eight staff accountants lined up for you. Not the case right now. That doesn’t work like that right now. In the past, that’s why you would want to specialize so you could focus and have that pipeline readily available for when your clients called you.
I’m assuming that you yourself have your own network of a recruiter. If I was in law, for example, and I come to you looking for another law job, do you have a network of recruiters that you refer people out to?
I do. I don’t have people in every industry, but I have some trusted partners that I will refer people to specifically technology. I have got a great strategic partner when it comes to technology that I refer people to.
I do some volunteering for an organization. I also coach executives. One of the things that we talk about, and you mentioned it earlier, so I wanted to circle back to this, is networking is the number one way that candidates get jobs. They say that for our results, 80% of the jobs are by networking. Do you agree with that?
Yeah. I heard that number was a little bit higher. It’s 85%.
Do you have any good tips for networking? A lot of people hate networking. It’s hard. It’s difficult, like we were talking about earlier. Sometimes you go and you are trying to find a job. What are some good tips? You said, “Get your asking on.” Networking and how to perform it well so that it makes an impact.
I love this question because networking is huge. I get a lot of pushback of people saying, “I have a job. I don’t need a network.” I’m like, “What’s going to happen when you don’t have a job and you don’t have a network?” You always need to be pouring into that network and feeding it. You don’t want to be that person that only reaches out to people when you need something. You want to be there when they need something too.
You might be the person that helps somebody be a part of that 85%, but you may need some help to be part of that 85% next time. We are starting to see layoffs. These big companies are starting to lay off crazy. If you’ve already got your network in place, then you will have a much easier time finding that next role, and you will have a leg up over other people.
Here’s what I don’t like. I don’t like people that network to see what you can do for them. You should always go in with what I call a go-giver attitude. You want to be the one to give value first with no expectation of anything in return. My favorite thing to tell people when I’m training them for a sales team, “Give value first and the money will follow.”
Don’t ask for it. That’s the one time you don’t get to ask and give. You want to give value first. When you give value first and people know that you care that you know they can trust you, then that money is going to follow all day long. I belong to an organization called Success North Dallas and the founder has been running this meeting for many years. It’s incredible. He has a word that I absolutely love. Instead of networking, he calls it net weaving. When the right people connect for the right reasons at the right time and you want to feed that network.
You want to show up when you need something. I can’t say that enough. You want to make sure that you are constantly pouring into that network, whether it’s through a networking organization or volunteering. However that looks for you, find a network to plug into and be all in. Don’t go once a quarter or once every 4 or 5 months. You need to be all in. You need to show them that you care about the people in the room and that you are there to give value.
Find a network to plug into and be all in. Don't just go once a quarter or once every four or five months. – Casey Hasten Click To Tweet
It’s the number one way to be a human. It is to serve and give back first. As you said, “Whatever you are putting on the universe that you are asking for will eventually come your way.” That’s fantastic. You said you have this great network, but are there other networks or any specific networks that you recommend or is this the one that’s your go-to?
This is absolutely my go-to for a local network. I’m in Dallas. I went to several networking organizations around town that were business networking organizations. All of them charge a fee. Success North Dallas was so far above, in my opinion, than the other organizations that I have visited that this is where I decided to dedicate my time and my money. That’s where I have found the most value that works for me.
There are other organizations around. There are a couple that is a little different. There’s one called The Networking Hub that was started by Frank Agin, which is very valuable. That one’s more for entrepreneurs. That’s more for people looking to connect with people who help them and can help each other trade services. It’s not probably going to help you find a job, but it’s good if you want to be around like-minded people creating ideas and doing that stuff.
There is another organization and I have not been that plugged into it. I learned about it, and I like the founder, called Success Champion. This one started a few years ago, but it’s got 55 chapters across the world already. Donnie Boivin is the one that started this organization and he will have small pockets in each area so that people are in the same area and he’ll have somebody there curating the meeting. They do everything virtually, but if the cohort chapter or whatever decides they want to meet in person, they are all in the same area, so they can do that.
Do you service just Dallas or do you service companies across the country?
We do service companies across the country. We are international now, but primarily DFW. One of my main clients is based out of the UK, and we have got some out of Canada. Most of the time, the reason we are serving people outside of the DFW areas is because our clients have other locations.
The DFW is Dallas-Fort Worth area. I want to go back to a couple of things that we talked about. You were saying that you are starting to notice companies starting to lay people off. How does that pair up with the Great Resignation? We said the Great Resignation is winding down. How do those two pair up right now?
If you look at our unemployment right now, which is at 3.5% nationwide. I didn’t look at the jobs report, but we still had 11 million jobs. There are still a bunch of jobs out there. There’s still small unemployment. For every person out there that’s looking for a job, there are two jobs, but we are starting to see hiring freezes. We are starting to see companies laying off. 7-Eleven is one that had a massive layoff. I don’t know if you heard about that. 7-Eleven is headquartered here. I believe they laid off 30% of their workforce. That is what the news said. It was huge. One of my old candidates was caught in it, but don’t worry, I got him a job. Go, networking.
Companies are starting to lay off. Companies are calling people back into the office, which disgruntled people because now we are used to working from home. We still have the Great Resignation. What are the trends that we are seeing other than these couple of things that we have already mentioned in the workforce?
You are absolutely right about companies calling their workforce back to the office and it is being met with brute resistance. This is not something that the workforce is going to tolerate, at least not 100% in office. I will have people not accept a job that’s offering a higher salary because they are 100% in office and take a lower salary that’s hybrid or remote.
This is something companies need to consider. Pandora’s Box is open. We know we can work from home. It doesn’t mean we want to be there 100% of the time, but you are going to have to consider that hybrid work schedule as part of life going forward. That’s probably the biggest trend that I’m seeing. Another thing has come up and I don’t know if you’ve seen this. We have seen a real mind shift through the pandemic of people. They are like, “I’m not going to work my life away for the man anymore.” Have you heard of this new term quiet quitting?
Yes, I have. I’m glad you brought that up because I did a post. I have a survey on are you quiet quitting? There’s only been probably about 50 people that have taken it, but a third of the people are saying that they are quiet quitting. The rest of the people are saying, “No, I’m not doing that.” It’s very interesting. Why don’t you explain quiet quitting?
Quiet quitting is where you are not quitting your job. You are just not putting forth the same amount of effort that you once did. You are doing the least you can do to get by and not get fired because you don’t care.
I also heard the term that you are still doing your required duties, but you are not going above and beyond. It could be a little bit of both. I wish it would be called something different because that quitting part is throwing people off. I wish it would be something recovering workaholic, something like that, because the pandemic showed us that there is more to life than work. There has to be a recognition from companies that they have to treat the person holistically.
It’s not because they walk in the door or they log on to your system, they quit being you Rosie or Casey. Some companies that are more innovative are trying to provide self-care in the way of they are paying money towards health care, health club, meditation, yoga, and stuff like that, because there are starting to see the person holistically, which is the best way to go.
You then have those employees buying into your culture. It’s your company culture. Companies do need to look at that compromise of that at least hybrid because people are okay going into the office a couple of days a week, but every day is too much because you give up your cooking time, working out time, and that type of stuff. Time with family.
I am a very much a people person and I would never want to be 100% remote. When we were shut down during the pandemic, I about went crazy. I was like, “Where are my people?” I get so much more done from home. I do a hybrid schedule because it’s my choice. I will work Monday and Fridays from home, but here’s the thing. I don’t have to drive to the office. I don’t have to put on makeup and get all dressed up if I’m not don’t have any meetings. If I do, I can do it five minutes before and I can walk my own dogs during the day because I’m right here.
I don’t have to hire somebody to come walk them because I’m too far to come in the middle of the day. That brings me joy. It’s a little thing. I want to be able to be around my people. I need to be around my team. I do go to the office three days a week, but I still have that flexibility. As you said, I can get the whole load of laundry on while I’m checking emails, and that doesn’t mean I’m not working.
The number one way to really be a human is to serve and give back first. And whatever you're putting on the universe that you're asking for will eventually come your way. – Rosie Zilinskas Click To Tweet
I used to go to the office at least two days a week. We were home three days before the pandemic, and those two days, you weren’t able to connect with people. You would be in someone’s office chatting for maybe 10 or 15 minutes. What’s the difference if I throw a load of laundry or walk around my dog a couple of times, or whatever? It’s the same.
For some people, it is better because you have joy being in your home, walking your dogs, and stuff like that. I think that’s great. I wanted to ask you a couple more questions before we go into the end segment. I wanted to know what piece of advice you would give to someone that’s starting out as a recruiter? The reason why I’m asking is because I want recruiters to what the dynamic for women in corporate is. That’s why I’m asking the question.
I got a couple of pieces of advice up here. Number one, don’t pay attention to how well the other team members that have been there for so long are doing because that’s a beat down. Don’t walk in and expect you are going to bill and put up numbers the same as the experienced recruiters. Number two, the first year is going to suck. Get ready for it because you’ve got to build your book of business and you are building from zero, from scratch. You are going to work harder than anybody else, hopefully in that office, and you are going to see a third of the results.
It’s that compound effect. I read that book, The Compound Effect, but it’s true. That penny that you double every day for 30 days is worth $10 million at the end of 31 days. It’s the same thing with recruiting. The more you make your calls, you are going to have to make cold calls. There’s no way around it. You got to do it. Make your calls, bury your head, and do the activity for that first year, and then that activity will start to compound and that’s when you’ll start seeing the results.
At what point does a recruiter niche into what we talked about, the various types of jobs?
I would say from the very beginning. That’s not to say you can’t switch. We have been very successful. We have got a lady that works with us now that used to be a legal recruiter and now she’s recruiting for accounting and finance. You are pretty much always going to niche. It’s, where do you niche? It doesn’t mean you can’t move to a different niche.
I want to ask you one more personal question as far as when do you feel inspired and motivated?
I feel inspired and motivated all the time, but I’m weird. I feel inspired and motivated when I’m helping people. Outside of others causing that inspiration, I’m most inspired and motivated when I take time for myself for self-care. Whether that’s meditating, reading a book, or doing something to improve me personally or professionally, that’s when I feel most motivated. That’s when I’m like, “Yes.”
I know that you have a planner coming out.
Every day we create our own reality by the choices that we make. So be very conscious of your decision-making. – Casey Hasten Click To Tweet
I do. It’s a planner/journal. Probably more of a journal. I’m a journal junkie. I have told you this in the past. I was carrying around 4 or 5 different journals, and I was like, “This is crazy.” Besides, my back’s starting to hurt. I went out to the market to try to find a journal that had everything in it that I wanted and it didn’t exist. I was like, “I will create one.” My journal is called Awaken Your Potential and it has six different sections in it. It’s got mindset, affirmations, and efficiency. That’s how you get so much stuff done. Goal setting. Huge. If you are not goal-setting, start now. Call me, LinkedIn me, and talk to me. Productivity and then finance. All in one.
There’s a segment or a section for each one of those in your planner.
I have got it here. I can show you. This is my working, so don’t worry about all the dirt. There’s the cover. What I did was, it is tabbed. Each of the sections are tabbed. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s got a good coil binding on it with a pocket in the back, but it’s thick. It’s a lot of work. You got to want to improve to do this.
There are people that love to have their finance and their goals, so that would be a perfect planner and I love be Awaken Your Potential title. That’s fantastic. Congratulations. Is it out yet?
It will launch in November 2022.
Casey, this has been a fantastic conversation as far as what does a recruiter do. Do you have two tips? I’m more thinking of women in corporate that if they are unhappy with their work and they want to work with a recruiter, where do they start?
I’m not going to go straight to the recruiter. The reason I say that is because I coach women, as I know you do all the time on this. If you are unhappy in your work, hire a coach. You need to find out if you are truly unhappy in your work or you are unhappy with yourself and that’s reflected in your work and in your workspace.
A client that I had, she was unhappy. She was telling me all the reasons she was unhappy, and I’m like, “Why did you leave your last job?” All the same reasons. “What about the job before that?” All the same reasons. I’m like, “Do you see a pattern?” From that point, we got to start digging in. I will tell you, I’m very proud that she had those difficult conversations with her current employer and was able to get the promotion that she felt she deserved all along and that she wasn’t getting because of the men. She ended up getting it because she worked through those limiting beliefs and was able to do that.
That would be my first advice. Get a coach. Make sure that you are not the problem. If you’ve done everything that you can do to make sure that this is not going to be a good place for you and you are going to reach out to a recruiter, again, those steps I gave earlier, do that, but make sure when you engage with the recruiter that you have that connection with them. We all know what I mean by connection because a candidate affects recruiters for one paycheck. This is going to affect you for years, so you want to make sure that person has your best interest at heart.
I’m excited that you said get a coach because there is so much work to do that you can do before you decide to leave your job. By no means is Casey and I advocating that you up and quit your job or anything like that. You have to take the proper steps, you have to be prepared, and the other thing, like the example that Casey said, you must be able to have those difficult conversations with your employer if you are not fulfilled in your job.
Once you are fulfilled in your job, your productivity goes up 12% to 14%, which impacts the employer too. It’s absolutely necessary that if you are not feeling fulfilled, there is something missing. Maybe you are not challenged enough. Maybe you are not working on projects, but more than anything, you have to ask for what you need. That’s exactly what Casey said and I fully support that. Any final words of advice?
I would say, be true to yourself. Usually, I have way better advice than that. Make a choice. Every day we create our own reality by the choices that we make. Make a choice about what you want your reality to look like. If you want it to be a victim in your reality, that’s fine because your brain will confirm that for you, but know that you made that choice. Be very conscious with your decision-making.
I like that because two people can have the exact same life situation and one of them can react so horribly and they are angry and stuck in that, and the other person says, “Life is happening for you, not to you, and you learn from whatever that situation is, and then you make the best of it.” That’s the difference between the growth mindset and the fixed mindset. This conversation has been awesome. It has been a pleasure to hang out with you. We will have to do this again, but thank you so much for being here on the show.
Thanks for having me.
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What a great conversation that we have with Casey Hasten about recruiting. One of the things that I want to focus on is I asked her originally or at the beginning of the episode, “When is a time to make a connection with a recruiter?” She said, “As soon as you graduate.” That’s great advice because you can keep that relationship going throughout your career.
I want to recap her two tips. Tip number one is to hire a coach because you need to find out if you are truly unhappy with your work or you need to work on your mindset. Tip number two is to make sure that you have a connection with a recruiter. You want to make sure that the recruiter has your best interest at heart. Casey is a great recruiter because, as she said in the episode, she puts the candidate’s best interest at heart and that’s very commendable. With that, remember to be brave, be bold, and take action.
Casey Hasten is the Director for over twenty years, she made the leap to recruiting those with similar backgrounds. Her goal is to help others find their career passion using all the skills and networking outlets she has gathered. Today, her mission is to help raise the consciousness of the world of Recruiting and Coaching with VIP, Podcast Host of the We Are VIP Podcast, and the Networking Ninja. After being in the accounting world fld by helping those she touches learn to be at choice. To accomplish this mission, she focuses on the importance of mindset first and foremost and teaches her clients how to live “at choice” and how to co-create their own reality through managing perceptions.
