>> My name is Kerstin Kelly [phonetic]
and I'm a Technical Recruiter
for Computer Technologies Consultants.
Computer Technology Consultants, or CTC
started about 20 years ago, recently the past 4
or 5 years they have a staffing augmentation
division so it's a new business unit
that I'm apart of and we provide.
Technology, I choose staffing for
Government Integrators around the area,
as well as commercial businesses.
As a recruiter, I contact applicants on
the market, candidates that are out looking
for a job whether it's through a job board or a
referral or keeping in touch with various people
through Penn State networks and other networks
and I inform them of what we have going on,
keep them in mind for future opportunities
and then set them up with interviews.
I basically walk them through the process
from introducing them to the company,
setting up a phone screen and in-person
interview, sometimes multiple interviews
after that, and really serve as their guide
through the process making them more comfortable
and ultimately more successful as
they go in as prepared as possible.
When I get to the office in the
morning, I usually start by making ten
or so phone calls right off the bat and emails
just to reach out and cast my net for the day
and then I respond to the people who get back
to me or if they answer the phone right then,
working on whatever requisition or
job opportunity I have at the moment.
Some days I walk in candidates
to their interview so I may be
at the client's sight whether it's
downtown D.C. or further out into Virginia
and I introduce the candidate to the manager
and then I'll come back to the office after I do
that short interview prep I guess.
And get back on the computer and on the phones.
So it's hard to put a time, you
know number of hours a week.
It's definitely around 40 but you want to put
in the extra hours to support your candidates
and consultants and make them more successful.
It's really about relationship building and
you can't just log 9:00-5:00 hours if you want
to build successful relationships.
[Pause] I love meeting new people every day.
This is actually my second job out of
college and my first one I didn't get
that social interaction with
the clients and the candidates.
It's really about relationships across the
area so I love being able to get out there
to represent my company, but also
to be a friend to these people
and to form something that's longer
lasting than just a 10 minute conversation.
So it's the social network aspect that
drew me the most to this opportunity
and you know I do feel like I'm helping
people in a way to teach them something
that they may not know and
ultimately make them more successful.
Well, in terms of the challenges with this
opportunity, it's a technical recruiting role
so I'm working in the world of IT with different
types of developers and testers, analysts.
All stuff I wasn't familiar with
coming from a business background.
I'm using the networking and people and
marketing skills that I took from my major
but I'm having to immerse myself in a pretty
unfamiliar territory but with the support
of my managers and my coworkers, I'm able
to learn as I go and each new position
that I'm working to fill, I'm learning
something new there and I even learn
from these candidates that I'm speaking with.
And I'll admit I'm not very technical, can
you explain a little bit more about that.
So it's really a chance to
grow with each new task.
[Pause] For recruiter role or a sales role,
I definitely recommend anyone considering it,
to talk to someone in the
industry, each recruiting industry,
as well as sales issues,
are going to be different.
So if you're working as a recruiter for
the company themselves or if you're working
for a staffing agency like I am where
you're supporting other people's needs,
those are two different roles.
So first learn what you're looking at here
and see what the demands in
your schedule would be there.
And I would ask them what their day looks
like because that's also very different.
If you're starting out, you may not have
that flexibility but I made it very clear
when I was going into my role like this is
what I don't like about my previous job,
this is what I'm looking to move into, so
set your expectations when you're having
that conversation and I definitely recommend
meeting with your manager if you're able
to as you're going through
the interview process.
I don't think it's unreasonable
to ask can I meet with the person
who I'll be directly reporting with because
you want to get along with them and you want
to make sure that they're invested in you too.
I think that's been one of my
biggest areas that I've grown is
because my manager is behind me
100% checking on me and teaching me
and making sure I'm learning
when I might do something wrong.
So his guidance is absolutely been
crucial to my professional development.
[Pause] I went to Penn State University Park, I
graduated in 2011 and studied marketing there,
I also have minors in Economics
and Business law.
I didn't envision getting into this role.
It's really in the same being as
sales and that's the next step
from here is becoming a Business Development
Sales person and I never thought I'd like that.
I don't know exactly what I
envisioned but I gave PR a try
and that wasn't exactly right for me.
It did utilize the marketing
skills in a different way
but I feel this is more hands-on marketing
so I tell people, you know if you told me
in May [inaudible] when I was
graduating what I would be doing now,
I would say you're crazy I don't
think I'd like that at all.
And I really do enjoy it and especially
having another experience to compare
with my old job for a year before I switched.
I feel like I've seen a number
of different environments
and I'm really glad I'm in this one now.
[Pause] I think for the college student
out there wondering where they want to go,
you want to talk to a lot of people because,
for me I didn't think this job sounded
like the right fit for me and it's been
an excellent move so you want to talk
to your friends and families, go to job
fairs, talk to the recruiters there,
ask them about their daily life,
come prepared with questions.
I think the most frequent complaint I hear
from my friends is really I didn't know
what I was getting into with this job.
This aspect surprised me; I can't believe
I can't leave my desk all day long.
If you get a laptop, you're probably
going to have some flexibility there.
If you're working on a desktop,
you probably won't.
Things like that are new to you
when you get out in the workforce
because you haven't really had
to deal with that in college.
I think it's asking questions and
then even asking for your contacts
in the professional world already, like what
type of questions should I go into as well?
So be curious but don't be afraid
to ask for help in that field.