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What is #CareerConvos™️with Nikki?
#CareerConvos™️ with Nikki is a top-rated podcast hosted by Nikki Winston, CPA. Centered on lived-in career advice, the show speaks to accountants, CPA candidates, and finance professionals navigating the realities of Corporate America. With a focus on career development for Black professionals, each episode dives into workplace dynamics, personal branding, leadership, job search strategy, and includes a dedicated CPA exam prep series.
So I've also received a question about working with recruiters. And a lot of times the question starts with, I sent this recruiter my resume, or I talked to this recruiter, or I met with this recruiter and they couldn't find me a job. And sometimes I stop them there, but I just let them keep going and talking because a relationship with a recruiter is no different than a relationship with anybody else. And don't make contact with a recruiter with the expectation that if you're talking on Tuesday, they're gonna have you on the first day of your new job on Wednesday. It just does not work like that.
Nikki Winston, CPA:And I tell people all the time, if the first time you reach out to a recruiter is because you're trying to find a job, that's mistake number one, because this is a relationship business, especially from the recruiter standpoint. And you have to think about their perspective because they get paid when they place people in roles. So they have an incentive to try to place you in a role. But if you're working with a good recruiter, they're not gonna place you in a role that doesn't work for you, that doesn't work for their client, and is not really aligned to what your career objectives are. And I have a recruiter in my network that we've known each other for, I think twelve years now.
Nikki Winston, CPA:She was one of the first people that I met when I moved to Atlanta. And she didn't find me a job right away, but I knew that she could be a great resource for me, whether I'm looking for a job, maybe I can be working in my current job and I have questions about things about the market or what's going on. Or when I got to the point in my career where I had direct reports, if I needed to fill a job, I could call this recruiter and say, Hey, what are you seeing out there with the staff accountants? What is the market looking like? Do you have any stellar candidates that you can send to me?
Nikki Winston, CPA:So first and foremost, a recruiting or any relationship you have with a recruiter, as with anybody else, is a mutual relationship. And if you feel like, you know, I sent my resume and they didn't find me a job or anything like that, I get calls, emails, some recruiters text me. I get messages on LinkedIn where people are saying, Hey, Nicole, I saw your profile on LinkedIn, or I'm impressed with your background, or I'm working on this opportunity. Are you interested? And it might not always work.
Nikki Winston, CPA:I might not be in a position where I'm looking for a job, or it might not be within the pay that I'm looking for, or there may be other things that just don't work with my career goals. And so just the fact that they found me, that they reached out to me, that when they get these types of roles and they wanna run them by me, I appreciate that. So anytime I see that a recruiter is calling me, if I get an email or a LinkedIn note or something from a recruiter, I always reply back. Even if it's to say, yes, I'd love to explore this or no, I'm not interested because even if that particular job does not work right now, who's to say six months from now or hell six years from now, they won't have a job that's perfect for me. And don't always look for somebody to help you.
Nikki Winston, CPA:Think about how you can be of value to that particular recruiter. And then that might come back around and work for you in your favor at another time. And going back to my conversations with recruiters, it's not all about, not always about what they can do for me. A lot of them reach out to me for roles that are not even within the scope of what I do. It might be a staff accountant role or a senior accounting role.
Nikki Winston, CPA:And they'll reach out to me because they know that I mentor a lot of accounting professionals and I've had a lot of accountants work for me previously. So they'll say, Hey, is your old direct report looking for a job? Because I have this, this or this. Or if I'm working with one of my mentees, I'll say, Hey, what are you looking for? What part of town do you wanna work in?
Nikki Winston, CPA:Is there a specific industry? And I will vouch for them with one of my recruiting friends, reach out to the network and say, Hey, I have Jessica who used to work for me and she's in the market for a new senior accountant opportunity. She's great, she's this, she's that. I vouched for her work product. What do you have that could probably work for her?
Nikki Winston, CPA:So even if that recruiter is not sending me a job for myself, I can at least try to send them a candidate that I know would be great for their clients to try to help them get some money, to try to help them land somebody and get paid for that. So you have to look at it on both sides and not get upset just because you've talked to a recruiter and they haven't had a job for you. They might feel like there's something in your background that might work for a role that they know is gonna be coming available soon. So they can be trying to move you ahead in that process and have these early conversations with you now so that when these roles come available, they can just slide you right in there for an interview. So don't get these relationships with recruiters twisted because number one, it is a relationship like any other that takes time to build and grow.
Nikki Winston, CPA:Now, kudos to you if a recruiter reaches out to you today and they can have you working tomorrow. That speaks volumes about you and also about their urgency for filling their clients' needs. But that's not always gonna be the case most of the time. So it's important to understand what the role of the recruiter is and also for you to make certain that you are bringing your best self to the table so that they can present you and get you a job and get you paid, and then they can get paid too. So think about that the next time you have a run-in with a recruiter and don't always look for what can you do for me, but how can I cultivate this relationship?
Nikki Winston, CPA:And hopefully in the future, we can both be mutually beneficial. So let's talk about it. If you have questions or comments about this, I would love to hear your input. Send me a message, hellonickwinston dot com. You can also catch me on Twitter or Instagram nickwinston.
Nikki Winston, CPA:And of course on LinkedIn, I would love to have this conversation. I think it's a great one to have, and I look forward to talking to y'all soon.