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The Comfort Zone

by Veronica Blatt

Yvonne Kelly, our guest contributor, is the Director of Driftwood Group based in Sydney, Australia. Driftwood Group is a generalist recruitment business that works on senior-level appointments globally in the pharmaceutical & biotech, financial services, cyber security and technology industries. She is a director for Australia and New Zealand with NPAworldwide.

As we lead into the festive season, many recruiters start to wind down a little. We reflect on what we achieved this year and how we adapted to some new directions and hurdles thrown at us. It’s a great time to start thinking about what we want 2021 to look like and how we can develop as recruiters.

I speak to many seasoned recruiters who feel they do the same type of training each year and don’t really stretch themselves. Last year I decided I wanted to stretch myself, that I was getting into a bit of a rut. I’ve been in the industry most of my career and love it; but wanted to try some new things and get myself out of my comfort zone. These are some of the things I did that worked:

Set a Personal Plan alongside your Business Plan

At the start of 2020, I set a personal plan alongside my business plan. I really thought about what I wanted to achieve and what areas of my business and personal life I wanted to expand. Some of these goals included becoming a better writer, working on raising my profile in the industry and giving back to others. Setting an intention and writing it down really does make a difference in keeping it top of mind. Every quarter I would review my goals and was so surprised how many things I was ticking off, without really realizing it.

Learn from other Recruiters

I love collaborating and since joining NPAworldwide, realise how much you can learn from other recruiters. Sharing and taking on ideas opens your mind to alternatives. Having a network of seasoned recruiters you can reach out to for advice and ideas, makes a huge difference to me stretching myself and trying new things. This year I was so delighted to join the NPAworldwide Board of Directors to meet even more recruiters globally and give back to our network. This was one of my big goals.

Learn from other Industries

This year I found a podcast called The Small Business Big Marketing Show. The host interviews entrepreneurs from different industries every week. I get so excited to go for a walk each Tuesday and listen to the newest episode hearing the highs and lows of business but learning so many marketing tips I can easily implement in my business. I love the breadth of industries and how relevant their ideas are to recruitment.

Apply for an Award

I have never been one to apply for an award or really promote what I do. This year, I decided to work on some of my business goals and then apply for a recruitment industry award. If you are not in it, you can’t win it. In the past I would dismiss any awards I saw and think, why would they give that award to me. To my huge surprise, we won our first award. I was beyond excited.

Get an article published

I always think I am a terrible writer. It doesn’t come naturally. So this year, I put myself out of my comfort zone and started to write more. I was so excited to get a recruitment article published with Smart Company. The process was so much easier than I thought, so just give it a go.

Put yourself out there, set some big goals and stretch yourself. No matter where you are in your career, there is more to learn and development steps you can take. Another great podcast is 100 Things. Sebastian Terry wrote a list of 100 things he wanted to do with his life after his friend passed away. Some of them are pretty crazy, but they all put him out of his comfort zone. What are you going to do to put yourself out of your comfort zone in 2021? I would love to hear about them.

Tags: professional development | Posted in: Recruiting Resources

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