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I had a few questions to ask Richard Lazaro, 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 initially started my career post-college in the world of Property & Casualty insurance, working on litigated personal injury and property damage claims across the private and commercial markets. Eventually, I felt that I needed a new challenge and made a move into Account Management, which then led to my first sales position within recruitment. The possibility of having your hard work rewarded in a professional setting was appealing to me, and now I have the chance to blend my past career in the Legal and Insurance industries with the new incorporation of helping both clients and candidates through a recruitment consultancy.
2. What is your advice for someone just getting into recruitment?
The most important aspect of succeeding in recruiting, in my opinion, is the ability to maintain an even keel from a mental standpoint and sticking with your process. There will be highs and lows no matter what, so the critical piece is being able to manage the peaks and valleys by continuing to follow a process-oriented approach and keeping the effort up. If you keep trying, results will inevitably follow.
3. What is it about recruitment that has kept you in the industry?
For me, the best part about the industry is the personal reward you feel when you can help both the client accomplish their needs and help a candidate achieve their career goals. It’s making a positive difference in people's lives, and not every job in the world gets to have that impact.
4. What is your proudest moment in your career to date?
My proudest career moment was getting the job offer from Eames. I’ve had my fair share of positive career experiences to date, but the chance to join and lead an emerging team in the US while working in a field of personal expertise represented a major opportunity. It also demonstrated the faith that the company places in me, and I’m excited to repay that faith.
5. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career so far, and how have you overcome that?
The biggest challenge I’ve faced so far was finding the next chapter for me after concluding my career in insurance. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave the only industry I had ever known to that point, but to find a new way to best utilize the skillsets and experiences I had developed in my career to that point.
6. What is your number 1 secret to success?
For me, the trick is to remain process focused rather than results-oriented. Of course, you want to see the fruits of your labor come about, and recruitment is a results-based business. But when you focus entirely on the results without any process behind it, you are subject to luck and your results won’t be consistent. But when you can map out a strategic plan and focus on consistently putting in the work from there, the results will naturally come about.
7. What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given?
The best advice I’ve received is to find a mentor and never be afraid to ask questions. Most people have a good heart and are willing to help in the same way that others have before them, or maybe even help in ways that they weren’t earlier in their career. The best experience is to learn directly from someone who has been there before and never stop learning. The day you stop learning is the day you start falling behind your peers.
8. What are you driven by, and how do you stay motivated?
I have incredibly high expectations of myself and much of my drive to win and succeed is internally motivated. I don’t compete against others in my field, the biggest competitor I have is the one staring back in the mirror.
9. How do you keep a work/life balance?
It is important to remember when to unplug and step away from the desk. It can be easy to burn out when you won’t stop until you complete a goal, but it’s important to take the long view and enjoy the simple things in life to recharge your batteries. It’s also important to realize that life is short, and you need to take the time to enjoy what it has to offer.
10. Why Eames?
Eames represented a very unique opportunity for myself personally, but also as a business. With a startup attitude in the US backed by proven results globally over two decades, you truly get the best of both worlds. I was also able to move into a field that I have expertise in, so it felt like the best application of my skillset possible.