Why did you choose a job/career in this field? 

 

I studied a double concentration in HR and Marketing within my B.Com and I decided that I wanted to focus more on the HR side of things. I enjoyed staffing in a previous summer HR job that I had, so I decided to try recruiting.  I wouldn't have necessarily had IT recruiting as my first choice, however there is a good market for it in Ottawa, and generally the opportunity for profit margins are quite good since the pay rates for the consultants are in a pretty good range (anything from $300-$1000/day). 

 

I thought that recruitment would be a good introduction to HR. It is in that it is giving me in-depth experience in one area of HR.  In another way, I am not getting the overview of the different areas of HR that I may get from a corporate HR position.

 

 

 

How did you find your job/Career?

 

I found my job through a friend of mine that was working for Procom in the summer.  She was doing Market Research for them, and they were talking about needing recruiters, so she referred me.  I went in for a few meetings/interviews and then had the job.

 

 

 

What suggestions could you give to those out there who would like to work for the same company or are looking to make a similar career move?

 

If looking to get into recruiting, there are a ton of staffing/recruiting agencies out there to choose from.  Be careful which one you select because typically there is a high level of turnover due to the high pressure/time sensitive environment (this applies to all industries and companies).

 

Make sure to pick a company where you will feel comfortable working because that makes a big difference in how much you like your job.  Pick a place with an environment that you will thrive in (e.g. structured vs. autonomous) and try to get a feel for it in interviews or meetings.  Also, try to speak to a few of the employees there, whether you do it then and there or ask for some contact numbers where you can call them and do your own investigation.

 

Build up your network and keep in touch with your contacts (social and professional) because you never know who will have an opportunity available for you (even if you're not looking). If you are looking, make people in your network aware of what sort of opportunities you are looking for.

 

Finally, be honest with yourself.  Decide on what you are looking for and what would make you happy in a job, and really ask questions to get the answers that you need to help you decide whether a certain opportunity is for you or not.

 

 

 

About Going traveling while looking for a job?

 

I graduated in December and went traveling from January until June. I didn't have any concerns with leaving because I knew that this was something that I really wanted to do, and once I got into the "real world" I wouldn't have the opportunity to leave and travel for 5 months with no commitments. 

 

Once I started a job, I knew that I would be caught in the scary scenario of only having 2-3 weeks holiday to start so I knew that the time to travel was there, and that I had to take that opportunity.  I traveled without worry for about 3 of the 5 months, and then started looking briefly at my university's job boards/career services website a month or two before I was to come home.  It wasn't an in-depth search, but it was something to get started and a way to send some resumes out.  I also contacted my contacts from previous jobs and asked if they had any openings for June.  It turned out that one of them did, so I reprised my role of Purchasing Assistant for a few months.  It didn't have anything to do with what I wanted for the future, but I was honest about that and they just needed the position covered for a few months so it worked out well.  While in that job I continued my job search and ended up where I am now.

 

Moral of the story: If you are thinking about traveling at all after graduation -- do it.  You will never regret doing it, however you may regret missing out on it -- we have the rest of our lives to work!