I had a few questions to ask Isabel Collazo, consultant at Eames Consulting in New York, and she shared how she got into recruitment, her number one secret to success and why Eames.
1. How did you get into recruitment?
I moved to Kenya, Africa, to volunteer after school and shortly after, I ended up getting a sales position in a logistics company. I moved into business development and eventually became a business development manager. When it was time to come back to the States, I was looking for similar opportunities, and I found myself in recruitment. The skills I learned dealing with account management and being in a client-facing role translated well, and I felt a career in recruitment was a natural fit for me as I love talking to both candidates and clients.
2. What is your advice for someone just getting into recruitment?
Get on the phone as much as you can! I don’t know if talking on the phone to strangers comes naturally to anyone, but the more you do it, the more you get confident and comfortable.
3. What is it about recruitment that has kept you in the industry?
The ability to help someone advance their career or find what’s right for them. Helping someone not settle for a lesser role because they want a better work-life balance is something I hold very dear. I’m happy to be that person for someone, whatever the reason for their move is!
4. What is your proudest moment in your career to date?
I have a lot of things I am proud of in my career, but my proudest would have to working on an international level and signing up clients in different countries and fulfilling with those clients. This is my proudest because I could really see how my work was impacting the businesses positively, and it was an incredibly rewarding challenge. It was enjoyable to work with people in different countries and of different cultures and refine my skills.
5. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career so far, and how have you overcome that?
I think with every challenge I have faced there’s always something to learn, and although this might not have been the biggest challenge, I felt I learned the most; Learning how to effectively deal with clients in a tactful but firm way. Learning to advocate for my candidate has helped me be firm, and setting expectations always helps to reduce friction.
6. What is your number 1 secret to success?
Building relationships. There are a lot of different types of recruiters, but for me, where I have found success is in building meaningful relationships with people. People you help make a move today, you could help them hire for their team in the years to come if they had a positive experience with you.
7. What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given?
A “no” is not a no forever. In this industry, we face a lot of rejection. People change, circumstances change, and although someone might not be interested today, tomorrow, they could feel completely different. This has hugely impacted how I view my work and helps me stay positive and continue reaching out to people day in and day out.
8. What are you driven by, and how do you stay motivated?
Having a clear vision for my life helps me to stay focused and motivated. The more focused I am with goals in my personal life, the more I push myself at work to achieve my goals.
9. How do you keep a work/life balance?
This is something I struggle with as I can easily pour so much of myself into work, but setting an off time after work to be with my family helps me unwind and keep a balance.
10. Why Eames?
I loved the culture the team had created, and I loved the opportunity to be a part of this culture and contribute to it.