Long enough to know better...
...but I'm having so much damn fun I can't stop.
I've been a professional recruiter since the day the Iraqi's invaded Kuwait (August 2nd, 1990) -- smart move on my part eh? The economy went south a few months later, so it was the best of times, it was the worst of times to become a recruiter. The worst of times because the recession of the early nineties was all about down sizing and ultimately killed the real estate market too. The good news is that it gave me a different perspective about the work I do and built some pretty big shoulders and marketing might as I had to fight for every piece of business I could get my paws on.
During those first few years I learned that the recruiters job was moving well beyond filling empty seats and that sure if I made 100 calls a day, something would happen. But knowing the empty seat filling business was on it's way out save for the more entry level job market I chose to make fewer calls that were well researched and started asking my potential clients to meet me in person. I began building relationships and tons of repeat business because my clients quickly learned I was in the bizz for the long haul.
Some 24 years later here I sit, proudly telling Mom every August that I've finished another year of being successfully unemployed.