Greg Donatelli

Greg Donatelli is the Managing Director for Life Sciences and A&F, based out of the New York office

Why did you want to work in recruitment?
I knew there was a high income potential strictly based on performance.

What was your route into recruitment?
I joined a sales meeting when working for AT&T and was offered a job on the spot after my presentation. I started as recruiter for one year before transitioning to Business Development.

Why did you choose to work for Hays?
I enjoyed that it was the best of both worlds in the US. Large global company with excellent reputation and resources, but in its early growth stage in the US which I could help drive.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Helping those on my team achieve their goals whether it’s financial, career trajectory, or other fulfillment.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Balancing short term desk focus with bigger picture growth for Life Sciences, as well as completely starting over because of moving to a new city

What has your career at Hays been like so far?
Excellent. I love the culture and the people I work with. I moved to NYC for this position which has been a positive life move, and Life Sciences has doubled over the past two years in both net fees and internal headcount.

What’s the best thing about the team you work with?
Everyone seems to be like minded in that we take work seriously, and have pride in what we do, but can also enjoy life in the big city.

What is your ambition? What do you hope to achieve with your career?
To grow the Life Sciences business through the promotion and development of current and future team members. I would love to see the members of the team develop and become leaders in the business as I have been lucky enough to achieve. I want Hays to be a recognized leader in Life Sciences in the US and to eventually be in five offices throughout the country.

What have you most enjoyed about working in recruitment?
That there are no limitations to what you can accomplish and that it is very transparent with regards to performance. I’d be lying if I didn’t mention the money I have made in the process.

What did your friends say when you told them you were a recruitment consultant?
It was a long time ago now, but I believe they asked if I was a headhunter.

What advice would you give to someone considering applying for a job with Hays?
This is a career in which hard work is rewarded, so if you are motivated to perform, this will be an excellent career choice. Within recruitment, there are a few different careers paths, so be sure to choose one that you feel will emphasize your strengths for optimal success.

James Meier

James Meier is the Business Manager for Construction in the Dallas office

Why did you want to work in recruitment?
I started learning about recruitment from a colleague of mine at my previous company. He left that company for a recruiting job and told me about how much he was enjoying the new work and how exciting the world of recruiting was. Because of that, I started looking for opportunities in this industry.

Why did you want to work in recruitment?
I started learning about recruitment from a colleague of mine at my previous company. He left that company for a recruiting job and told me about how much he was enjoying the new work and how exciting the world of recruiting was. Because of that, I started looking for opportunities in this industry.

What was your route into recruitment?
One of Hays’ internal recruiters, Karin Ladis, sent a message to another one of my colleagues at my previous company. That colleague told me he was not interested in the opportunity but asked me if I was. I messaged Karin back and that is where it all began.

Why did you choose to work for Hays?
I was very impressed with what I learned about recruitment in general, and Hays specifically, through the thorough and rigorous interview process. What I learned about the values and philosophy of Hays, in conjunction with the planned expansion in the US made this opportunity stick out far above the others I was entertaining at the time.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
This job is rewarding for so many reasons. It’s extremely satisfying to help out a candidate in need of a good opportunity, as well as helping a client find an exceptional candidate who will make a significant and positive impact on their business. Additionally, I love the monetary reward for the hard work put into this job.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Being extremely thorough and gaining control over candidates and clients. You’ll find out quickly that spending your time and asking the proper questions upfront will save much time down the tracks.

What has your career at Hays been like so far?
It’s been a non-stop, action packed, riveting roller coaster in my two years with the company. Although stressful at times, it’s always very exciting and enjoyable.

What’s the best thing about the team you work with?
We are an extremely cohesive unit. We work very hard and well together. There’s a good level of healthy competition amongst our team. Additionally, quite often during our lunch break, we go to a park nearby the office and play sports together. This last bit may not seem to be important, a substantial contributor to why we work so well together.

What has your training been like?
Hays training is top notch and world class. I knew NOTHING about recruiting two years ago and have learned an immense amount about the industry since then. Much of that knowledge has come from the in-depth, hands-on training that our company provides. To those who are new to the business, pay attention and be a sponge. Listen to the experts in the industry that can impart their years of knowledge and experience on to you.

What is your ambition? What do you hope to achieve with your career?
I strive to be the best in the business. My goal is to provide a better service than any other competitor that our clients could potentially use.

What have you most enjoyed about working in recruitment?
I really enjoy the thrill of recruitment and the fact that each day is different, it’s never monotonous. I also love that you needn’t have years’ experience in the recruitment to make a significant impact. What you put in is directly related to what you get out.

What did your friends say when you told them you were a recruitment consultant?
They thought it sounded very interesting and exciting - frankly they were a bit jealous because the monetary ceiling with Hays is much higher than the majority of my friends.

What advice would you give to someone considering applying for a job with Hays?
Do it! Apply for a job with Hays. Worst case scenario, the interview process will be an incredible learning experience for you. Best case scenario, you receive an offer of employment and have the opportunity to work with the best recruiting firm in the world.

Rosa Manges

Rosa Manges is the Business Director for IT, based out of Tampa

Why did you want to work in recruitment?
I loved the idea of building relationships with clients and helping match them with the right talent.

What was your route into recruitment?
I was recruited straight out of college by an internal recruiter at my first firm.

Why did you choose to work for Hays?
Everyone in town knew Hays had the best relationships with both their clients and candidates. That was something I wanted to be a part of. I eventually thought, if you can’t beat them join them!:)

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Helping a candidate get out of a difficult work environment and putting them in a job that puts a smile on their face. A great job can change a person’s life!

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Helping my clients find the best talent possible. There is so much more to technical recruiting than finding a technical fit. We have to take soft skills and culture fit into account as well. What works for one client may not work for another. It's all about learning who your clients/candidates are and what makes them tick.

What has your career at Hays been like so far?
It’s been very rewarding. I have grown my business at Hays every year thanks to the great partnerships we have with our clients and candidates. It's rewarding to build trust and see how people and relationships bloom over time.

What’s the best thing about the team you work with?
We work hard but have a lot of laughs too.

What has your training been like?
I have been lucky enough to shadow some of the most successful people in the business. Dan Rodriguez, Shaun Cheatham, Kevin Hudson, and Kris Katelman to name a few. Hays taught me how to build trust and be an advisor to our clients.

What is your ambition? What do you hope to achieve with your career?
My ambition is to be the best I can be for my clients and for myself. I still have a lot to learn but I am doing my best to get better every day.

What have you most enjoyed about working in recruitment?
Building the relationship with my clients. I love the feeling of talking to a candidate and realizing they are exactly who we have been searching for!

What did your friends say when you told them you were a recruitment consultant?
A lot of people ask what it is. The next question is usually “can you help me find a job?”

What advice would you give to someone considering applying for a job with Hays?
If you are hardworking and passionate about helping people then go for it, and go all in!

“I love working for a company where I can create my own career path and where hard work is rewarded.”

Sara Gitlin

Sara Gitlin is the Senior Business Manager for IT out of our Atlanta office

Why did you want to work in recruitment?
I didn’t know that I wanted to work in recruitment coming out of college, but I knew that I wanted to work in sales. My mom was a top Real Estate agent and my dad has been in software sales for 25 years.

What was your route into recruitment?
My degree is in Business with a focus in Marketing from the University of Florida. My first sales job out of school was for an IT recruiting firm, as a full desk recruiter. I worked there for about 6 months. I was unhappy there and posted my resume, and I received a phone call from David Brown. He found my resume on Monster, and the rest is history.

Why did you choose to work for Hays?
I was actively interviewing with three IT recruiting companies, including Hays, during my job search. I decided to go with Hays because I really believed in the leadership and I could tell that there was a lot of opportunity to grow and start a career with this company. Hays had just opened the Atlanta office two months before I joined. I knew I had my work cut out for me but I was excited about it. I also felt that the commission structure and compensation plan was very competitive.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
I really enjoy setting high goals and achieving them. This includes hitting my sales target, earning company trips, breaking into new accounts, and hitting my commission goals for the year.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of this job is that you can never be content with what you have. You always have to be hunting down new business and finding a way to make more placements. The moment you become content with what you have, something inevitably will happen within your accounts and you will find yourself falling behind. No matter how great your period may have been, the next month your placement number starts back at zero and you have to find a way to hit your goal again, and again.

What has your career at Hays been like so far?
I have been a Recruiter, Account Manager, Sales Manager, and an Account Manager again. I have had small to mid-sized accounts and I have had to navigate large VMS accounts. I have been a farmer of a large account and now I am out hunting again trying to break into new accounts.

What’s the best thing about the team you work with?
The best thing about the Atlanta team is that we all want to win. The best part about working with this team are the victories we have along the way - making a big placement or opening a new account from a lead generated by a recruiter.

What has your training been like?
I have been with Hays for twelve years, I have received a lot of training and was mentored by one of the best in the business. There is plenty of training at my fingertips if there is anything I need to learn.

What is your ambition? What do you hope to achieve with your career?
I want to a be a million dollar biller one year and I want to break into new accounts.

What have you most enjoyed about working in recruitment?
I enjoy that every day is different and that there is always opportunity to learn. I have not stopped learning since the day I’ve started.

What did your friends say when you told them you were a recruitment consultant?
Most of my friends think it sounds exciting, and didn’t realize that it truly is a sales position.

What advice would you give to someone considering applying for a job with Hays?
With Hays, you can take your career wherever you want. If you put in the hard work and have a high quality approach to your job, you will be successful and have a lot of fun along the way.

Jenni Scott

Jenni is the Managing Director for Construction, based in our Chicago office. With Hays for over 10 years, she has worked in Australia and the US.

Why did you want to work in recruitment?
I was naturally drawn to the sales and high performance culture that this industry promotes. I loved the fast paced energy and liked the fact that I was directly responsible for my own success and subsequently my earning potential. Plus I love getting into the psychology of people and learning how someone navigated their own career path to where they are now and where we can take them next.

What was your route into recruitment?
Like many in this industry, I somewhat “fell” into recruitment. I actually began working for Hays initially as an Administrator on a short term contract, supporting a high volume Construction & Labor Hire business. In a short time, management transitioned me into a permanent Trainee Consultant position to develop a new Property desk, and I’ve never looked back.

Why did you choose to work for Hays?
Everyone knows the Hays brand in Australia and across the globe, so it was an easy choice to join the largest recruitment company in the world. Their global size and reach was attractive to me, even from my first few years into the role, as I had always dreamt of working internationally to broaden both my professional and personal life experiences.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
While there are many I could mention, the one I am most proud of is looking back to my first day in the Houston, Texas business. At that time we were a complete start up business, no Hays brand and no database of clients or candidates. But ahead of us was an enormous opportunity that we grabbed hold of. In 3.5 short years we built a multi-million dollar business and positioned ourselves as true experts in our field, taking market share from recruiters who have been firmly established in the Texas market for more than 20 years. And really, we haven’t even scratched the surface.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
You become more and more resilient to the highs and lows of this job, but even after 10 years, there is always a small shadow of anxiety when starting each month on $0 or working hard to build a pipeline of fees. While this adrenaline and anxiety to always perform can be testing, I think it’s also what makes you successful. At the end of the day, we are dealing with people, and people are unpredictable and that is always challenging.

What has your career at Hays been like so far?
Hays has given me more opportunities than I had ever imagined for myself. It’s enabled me to relocate within my home country of Australia and take on this amazing journey building a startup business in the US – taking on the world’s largest recruitment market. I work hard and play hard and with the financial freedom this job gives me, I’m constantly travelling and living life without boundaries.

What’s the best thing about the team you work with?
Our Houston team is made up of five different nationalities and cultures who all share the same drive to be successful. What is more important is that they are team players who see what an enormous opportunity we have in the US, and how their individual success impacts the future of our business throughout the US. It’s a great story and I’m proud to be a part of it, and I’m excited to start the next chapter of my career in the Chicago business!

What has your training been like?
The Hays training I have received has been excellent from the initial training modules to more focused People & Business Management streams. But the best training in my opinion comes from working with a diverse group of individuals with varying years of experience. Taking the best advice and implementing that in your own business. Even today with 10 years’ experience I continue to learn new and more polished ways of doing this job.

What is your ambition? What do you hope to achieve with your career?
The sky’s the limit. With so much growth and investment into the US market the options are available for leadership, opening new offices, developing new specialisms, training and developing our exceptional people, maximizing national accounts and cross selling specialisms/offices. My ambition is to contribute to the US business to position Hays Construction and Property as the largest and No 1 ranked Specialist Staffing Agency in the US.

What have you most enjoyed about working in recruitment?
I’m never bored of my job and no two days are ever the same. I’ve been very fortunate to work in different specialisms across different demographics and across different countries. While at the end of the day, recruitment is recruitment, each bring their own challenges and rewards. Plus I get to work with some passionate people who are not just colleagues but have become lifelong friends all around the globe.

What did your friends say when you told them you were a recruitment consultant?
“Can you get me a high paying job working a 4 day week?”

What advice would you give to someone considering applying for a job with Hays?
If you are self-driven, persistent, sales focused, have a competitive spirit and are motivated to make money, then this is an exceptional career for you. If you’re looking for that cruisy 9-5 corporate job, this isn’t the place for you.

Molly Smith

Molly is the Business Manager for Construction, based in Tampa.

Why did you want to work in recruitment?
I honestly had no inkling to work in recruitment. I didn’t fully understand what it meant and entailed until I started. It was after I started when I realized how much room for growth and earning potential there is within this business.

What was your route into recruitment?
I worked in outside sales when I graduated college, when a good friend pushed me to interview at Hays.

Why did you choose to work for Hays?
I met with a couple of key people in the Orlando office and very quickly was convinced this was the company I wanted a career with. I saw an amazing opportunity to become a part of the Orlando business from the beginning stages and to work next to top billers in the company. There were a lot of factors that made my decision easy, but the top three were - the earning potential, working for a global company at the beginning stages of growth, and the team in Orlando.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
When I get a call from a candidate after they have accepted a position. There is nothing better than hearing someone smiling on the other end of the phone and feeling like you have changed their life for the better.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
The fact that our “product” is a person. So it is important to really know the person and cover all your bases because it is hard to close a deal when you don’t have proper control.

What has your career at Hays been like so far?
It has been the most successful two years of my life. When I started with Hays I could never have predicted the success I would have in my first year. I am surrounded by people who genuinely want me to succeed and push me to reach my goals every day.

What’s the best thing about the team you work with?
Our team is great. We are all very close and it makes waking up and coming to work a lot easier. We have such a respect for each other that makes us strive to be successful not only individually but as a whole.

What has your training been like?
My training may have been a little different than most since I was the first hire in Orlando. It was very much hands on. Now that it is more formalized, I have attended a few training sessions to help me better utilize our systems that have proven very helpful.

What is your ambition? What do you hope to achieve with your career?
I hope to help open another office shortly. There is so much opportunity and growth in the US operations and I hope to be someone Hays can rely on to continuously bill as well as help grow their footprint in the US market.

What have you most enjoyed about working in recruitment?
I enjoy the specialty I am in. I am passionate about Construction and feel such a pride when I drive past projects that my placed candidates are working on.

What did your friends say when you told them you were a recruitment consultant?
Most don’t know what it entails. So I always joke that, “I change lives for a living.”

What advice would you give to someone considering applying for a job with Hays?
I would tell them to take the chance and to not give up in the first six months. It is challenging at first and you really have to keep pushing. But when it clicks, the job becomes very enjoyable and the commission checks are worth it!