Where It All Began
It’s a beautiful sunshiny,
fall day in 2003. The wind is blowing oh-so slightly and the birds are singing
a harmonious song. By staring at the clouds, picture perfect shapes pop out to
fill an imagination. However, staring up into the sky was the least of all the
concerns—at least it was on the playground. At 11:23 the lunch bell rings at
Glenville-Emmons, which only means one thing. Recess! As we spring out to the
kickball field, the anticipation of today finally being the day that the highly
sought after home-run would happen for bragging rights for the rest of the day.
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| Glenville-Emmons Elementary, Glenville, Minnesota |
But first things first,
we obviously had to pick teams. Only the best of the best were nominated as
captains, and only the best of the best were chosen first. Alternating picks,
both team captains weighed their options from the non-existent resumes each
potential player provided—Who played the best during the morning recess
kickball game? Who looks tired and who looks like lunch fed their motivation
and drive?
“For my first choice, I choose Peter.” “I choose
Landon.” “I choose Spencer.” “I choose Zack.” “I choose Andrew.” All of the
boys were definite first picks. Then it was on to the handful of girls who
decided to test their endurance that day. “Ummmm… Alayna.” “I guess I’ll go
with Kailey.” “Hmm Devin (whew, made the cut)”. “Robyn over here and Nisha over
there and the two Emily’s split up”.
These decisions of
picking teammates could impact the moods of everyone for the remainder of
recess, or even the entire day.
If us farm kids weren't getting
our hands dirty on the kickball field, we were getting our boots dirty in the
barn. From the kickball field to the barn, we transitioned into recruiting the
best livestock. Yes, livestock.
Growing up in a
small-farm town community, 4-H and FFA were
popular organizations. Within these organizations, we had the opportunity to
raise and eventually show our own livestock in a showing competition. In the
ending months of winter, my family would go to the local pig farmers farm to
pick out which piglets we would want to show at the upcoming Freeborn
County Fair during the first week of August, known as "The
Best Six Days of Summer".
Many things had to be
kept into consideration which choosing the most ideal show pig. Who do we buy
the pigs from? What are the genetics of the pigs? But most importantly in my
eyes at such a young age, which piglet was the cutest, most adorable thing I
had ever seen in my entire life? When this decision was finally reached, we
welcomed aboard the newest member of the Cooper family, for those select few
piglets now held a special place at the Cooper farm to be cared for during the
next seven months in hopes of winning a purple ribbon at the county fair.
Where It Continues From
Here
Little did I know, these
childhood activities unconsciously served as stepping stones for my career and
professional interest in the communication and recruitment field. The workplace
is not the only place where we find evident signs of recruitment, but also in
our everyday lives. In recruitment, the same childhood thought processes and
mechanisms that were used in such simple instances can be applied to
recruitment and networking situations in the business world today.
Throughout this blog,
you can expect to hear the latest recruitment tactics, reoccurring and ageless
human resource ideas, personal experiences, networking solutions, insights on
what strategies companies prefer, and not mention probably an unintentional
biased opinion.
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