Senior Recruiting Partner & Coach Emerine Kelsey discusses her life-changing recruiting journey with our Goodwin team:

Emerine, you have a unique story! How did you end up here at Goodwin Recruiting?

I’ve done a lot of things, been in a lot of different roles, and I’ve had a lot of opportunities in my life. I spent some time in the military; I literally built bombs and missiles when I started out! I was the “grease monkey” changing tires on trailers. Then I became a stay-at-home mom, a manager of a Taekwondo studio, and then I began recruiting for another company. I first heard about Goodwin Recruiting from Stephanie Logan. A few years ago, she and I met at a wedding, and we just hit it off! She told me all about Goodwin, but at the time, I wasn’t looking for a new job. Fast forward three years, and just like hundreds of thousands of other Americans, COVID swept my job out from under me, and it seemed like a good time while everything was in flux to just try something that was really outside the box. I found that it was a good fit for me, and here we are a year and a half later!

What do you enjoy most about your role here?

As cliche as it sounds, I like helping people. It’s the best of both worlds where I get to learn and grow, and I’m constantly challenged because I can source candidates for roles that I have never even heard of. My favorite candidate story is from a person who received an offer for far more than what he expected. The sheer joy of being able to tell him, “Not only did they make you an offer, but it’s $15,000 more than what you were asking,” was an emotional moment for both of us.

Another part of your job is being on our coach team. What made you decide to start mentoring our new recruiting partners?

I love coaching! We get to help bring together clients and candidates in our job, but I get way more pleasure out of seeing other people succeed than myself. Being able to coach someone and see them from their first days when they were struggling, then they make their first placement, and then you see them on the top of the leaderboard, all of those things are so rewarding. We all go much further as a team than we do alone, and I love to help other people move forward in their careers.

You represent your own clients and candidates as well as coach new recruiters. What does a typical day look like for you?

It’s purely organized chaos! I live and die by my calendar to structure my day, but one of the pieces about this job that I enjoy is that it is always different. There may be times when I have my day booked straight through with back-to-back meetings, and then there are days when I have an afternoon available. I love that even if I’m working on similar roles for different clients, I’m going to have entirely different results.

I’m so impressed by your commitment to our core values. Which one is your favorite and why?

I think if you ask anybody who works with me which one sticks out the most, they will say Transparent Communication! With me, what you see is what you get, but I think that there’s tremendous value in that. The fact that you know I am being completely transparent with you shows that I have integrity. My clients know that I bring them a diverse set of candidates, and the candidates that I work with know that what I tell them will be the truth. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but this is who I am. I don’t have to alter myself to fit our core values because they are part of the foundation of who I am as a person.

You recently flew out to meet one of your clients in person. At Goodwin, this is something we often do, but you really went above and beyond here!

The client I met was my very first, and I placed three candidates with them last year. I really wanted to show them how committed I was to our partnership, so I booked a flight and went to meet them. It was valuable on so many levels because I was able to see the new facilities they had been telling me about and meet the candidates I placed in person! It was great to hear their perspectives and see that they are really happy in the company. Overall, the trip was of tremendous value for me, and as I source more candidates, I will be able to give them the “boots on the ground” view of the company.

What advice would you give someone who is reading this blog and considering joining Goodwin Recruiting? 

Prepare for the ride! This is the first job that I’ve had that brings all of my experiences together in one place. I’m responsible for other people’s futures, trying to make sure the candidates are a good fit for my clients, and making a positive impact. All those things come into play in this job in a way that I’ve never experienced, and the rewards are fantastic. Talking to a candidate six months or a year after they started a job and hearing how happy they are makes it very rewarding on a much different level. 

Are you ready for the next step in your career? Reach out to us today at ir@goodwinrecruiting.com!