I had a few questions to ask Tom Allen, senior consultant at Eames Consulting in the USA, and he shared his advice for someone getting into recruitment, his number one secret to success, and why Eames.
1. How did you get into recruitment?
I jumped into business development/sales right out of college, and in a post-pandemic market, I figured that the job market would be the best brokerage to get into. As fate would have it, a recruitment agency reached out not too long after and the rest is history, as they say.
2. What is your advice for someone just getting into recruitment?
Relationships are everything. As cliché as it sounds, your network is your net worth. Try not to think of every conversation you have as needing to have a dollar sign attached to it, but rather, a new connection and the foundation for a long-standing relationship that will eventually lead to a deal or open a door that would be otherwise unattainable.
3. What is it about recruitment that has kept you in the industry?
People. With as little arrogance as possible, I could probably sell water to a boat. Sales is sales. It’s much more fulfilling to be able to change someone’s life for the better or to understand multiple industry verticals while still using a business development skillset.
4. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career so far, and how have you overcome that?
Being conscious of my coachability. Although my nature tends to convince me that once I comprehend something, I am home-free and have the best modus operandi to go about monetizing it. This could not be more false. I still have so much to learn and a threshold that can only benefit from humbling myself and understanding what I do and do not know.
5. What is your number 1 secret to success?
Discipline, consistency, creativity, and keeping your “why” in mind whenever you begin to sway.
6. What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given?
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
7. What are you driven by, and how do you stay motivated?
Elevating my family. Becoming the best version of myself personally and professionally.
8. How do you keep a work/life balance?
Hybrid work has helped immensely, but admittedly I am a bit of a workaholic and am working on separating work and life/staying offline when needed.
9. People would be surprised if they knew?
I am extremely artistic/a creative. I signed a record deal with Sony when I was 16 that eventually fell apart, and have two screenplays written. My passion outside of work truly lies in the arts.
10. Why Eames?
I want to be a part of building something great from the ground up. A large reason I left my previous firm was because of the bureaucracy attached to large corporate, as well as the lack of transparency between leadership and reps. I want to know what is happening and the reason behind it. I enjoy my opinions being heard with open ears and not being written off as invaluable.