Talent Acquisition Specialist
I recruit for our Direct Care, Administrative, and sometimes Clinical teams in Southeast Michigan. I look for people with compassion, who love what they do, and have an interest in caring for folks with mental illness or developmental disabilities.
My major in college was sociology, and my minor was communications. Toward the end of college, I started considering a career in HR, but was close to graduating and didn’t want to take bunch of additional classes to change majors. So I graduated, leaned on what I learned in sociology, and worked my way up in HR to the point where I started recruiting.
I used to be a Direct Care worker myself, actually! Long ago. I know what Direct Care professionals go through, so I offer a unique perspective when recruiting them.
Don’t be discouraged if you’re not exactly where you thought you’d be at this point in your career. Be patient.
I once hired a woman as an entry-level Rehabilitation Assistant, she eventually worked her way up to Shift Supervisor, and now she’s a Program Manager. She’s definitely come a long way. I knew she was going to go far.
Being too nice. I put myself in a position where I was everyone’s go-to person. I made myself so available to everyone that I became bombarded with work that wasn’t my own. I learned to make boundaries.
Often times, new hires mistakenly think I’m their boss. I get why it happens – I’m their first contact at the company – but it’s still funny.
The career mapping opportunities. There’s a lot of places you can go here.
I was kicked out of my first college. It’s a long story involving a professor and resident assistant. It worked in my favor, because I ended up getting a scholarship at the college I graduated from.