Tricia Hitt

I attribute my success to good time management skills and really just putting in the time and the effort. Agency recruiting requires a lot of patience and a lot of time to build relationships and networks, so it's really about putting your nose to the grindstone and being patient through all of the downs and the ups that go into this business. Success comes from patience and grit.

Be patient. It doesn't all happen overnight. That's probably the advice I refer back to the most often. This business isn't easy, especially working on the agency side. It requires a lot of patience, a lot of time investment, and going through hard times. It's a very cyclical business, so if the economy is down or certain industries are struggling, then you kind of struggle along with them.

Lean on the people that say they are there to help you. Listen to how everyone does what they do, especially the people that are doing it well, and take the advice that they have and the tips and tricks that they give you. If it works for you, use it. If it doesn't, find tips and tricks from somebody else. Everybody works very differently in this industry, and everybody's personalities are different, so you kind of have to put your own puzzle together to make it all work.

The market is interesting right now, so it's definitely tougher to get new clients in because everybody's keeping their belts really tight. Being a third-party recruiter or talent acquisition professional, companies are trying to lean more internally than they usually do, so that's definitely a big challenge in bringing in new clients. It's also a candidate market right now, so a lot of great candidates are not willing to risk moving somewhere else. It's tougher to find passive talent to present to clients because everyone has kind of got golden handcuffs on them a little bit. So it's just a lot more time-intensive than it usually is to bring in new clients as well as find really great people that want to make a move.

In work, I definitely think that presenting yourself professionally and calmly is really important. I am definitely a champion of people, so really getting to know both my clients and candidates that I work with and understanding what their long-term goals are is key. I make sure that I'm matching people where they should be and where they're going to succeed, as well as helping my clients to find the right person. I jokingly say that I'm not a used car salesman recruiter. I'm really focused on a cultural match as well as an experience match for all of my clients. In life, it's kind of the same, just implementing that with the relationships in my life. I focus on where attention should be, pouring into people that pour back into me, and just being kind and patient with everybody around you.