The Recruiting Blog | People First Recruiting

It’s funny how time flies when you’re having fun.  It was 5 years ago this August when I accepted my position with People First Recruitment & Executive Search, starting out as an Administrative Assistant in the Executive Search division. I remember waiting on pins and needles for the job offer to come through and how excited I was about joining such a respected and well-known employer. A lot of exciting things have happened over the past five years.  Little did I know then where my path would lead me!

Fast forward five years and today I’m a Talent Sourcer, supporting our Recruitment professionals and our Talent Sourcing & Consulting division.  People First invested in my learning and development and as a result I’m now professionally accredited and part of an elite team of specialized researchers (we call ourselves Talent Sourcers!), the first of its kind here in Winnipeg.  Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined my career choices leading me here – especially because I didn’t know a role like a Talent Sourcer even existed – but here I am today working in the most rewarding career of my life and absolutely loving it.

The best part is that I also get to flex my creative muscles by leading our division’s marketing efforts.  My past training in graphic design and experience with HTML has really come in handy when tasked with designing materials and deploying various marketing campaigns.  I enjoy the change in pace this aspect of my job affords me, as well as the creative control and responsibility I’ve been given. Learning how to navigate the social media landscape with LinkedIn and Twitter (I tweet as the Purple Squirrel) has been a challenging learning curve for me but at the same time it’s been fun learning something new!

Proposal writing is another aspect of my job that is very rewarding to me.  Both my sourcing and marketing hats have given me strong insight into our business, I know our team and our abilities inside and out.  I help write our responses to various RFPs, RFSO’s and other requests for information and nothing can beat the feeling you get when you find out a proposal you’ve worked long and hard on, together with the rest of your team, has been successful.  It’s a huge adrenaline rush.

I would be remiss not to mention the team I am lucky to work with.  Our team is made up of extremely talented and professional individuals who contribute to my job satisfaction in a big way.  It’s the reason why I love my job so much to be honest.  Never before have I been surrounded by mentors of this calibre, people who truly are the best at what they do. We’re like a family and celebrate our successes and challenges, always having a lot of fun along the way.  The opportunities for learning and advancement have been limitless and I’m so thankful for the growth I’ve experienced over the past 5 years.

It’s always been important to me that my employer have a vested interest in the community I live in.  I’m proud to say that People First is 100% committed to giving back and has been a strong supporter of the United Way for over 10 years.  I even had the opportunity to be part of the United Way fundraising committee for the past 3 years. We’ve been involved in numerous other fundraising initiatives that matter to me too, things like the Christmas Cheer Board and the Dragon Boat Races.  It feels good to work for an employer who really does care about giving back.

5 years ago I didn’t know what lay ahead and never could have predicted the phenomenal change and growth our company has gone through. Perhaps the most important piece was joining the People Corporation family. We’re now part of one of the fastest growing companies in Canada – something that really appeals to my entrepreneurial streak!  One of my fondest recent memories which really drove home how much we’ve grown happened during our annual company gathering.  Our CEO asked everyone who had joined the company during the past year to stand up.  I couldn’t believe the numbers – we had almost doubled in size. How exciting is that?!

There is nothing better than working with talented and professional people within a company that is growing at such a dynamic rate.  Thanks for the past 5 years People First, it’s been a memorable and truly remarkable ride. One that I hope continues for another 5 years! 

~written by Pamela Habing, Talent Sourcer and Creative wiz extraordinaire

As a Talent Sourcer at People First Recruiting I’m lucky to work with a team of incredibly talented individuals.  Oddly enough, we’re all very different yet we fit together like a beautifully crafted puzzle.  I like to think of the work I do in a similar way.  When I’m tasked with researching the talent landscape on behalf of a client, each piece of information I’m able to gather is like a piece of a puzzle, waiting to be solved.  Once the information is gathered, the fun of solving the puzzle begins and typically involves some good old fashioned teamwork. 

Over the past three years, I’ve been working on a puzzle of a different kind, artistically speaking.  As a proud Winnipeg resident I’d like to announce a newly unveiled mosaic mural located on the north wall of the Red Road Lodge at Logan and Main.  Working together with a team of talented and artistic individuals, and with the help of many community members, this mural was lovingly created over the span of three years. 

Our group was comprised of a group of core artists, led by Annie Bergen and mentored by local tile mosaic artist Ursula Neufeld.  Most of the materials used were donated by local business people and the rest were purchased with funding we received from Neighborhoods Alive, Take Pride Winnipeg! and the Manitoba Arts Council.

Many lessons were learned during the planning and creation of this mural.  New acquaintances were made and lifelong friendships developed.  But most importantly the value of teamwork was clearly demonstrated and its power felt.  Without the many people who donated their time, many of it evenings and weekends, the mural may never have been finished.  What we started out to accomplish in the beginning, even if it was overly optimistic of us, was realized and the result is a beautiful community mural which Winnipeggers can take pride in.  I invite you to stop by and visit the mural yourself when you have the chance.

I personally found a great love for the way the tiles seemed to find their way back to one another, ultimately creating a beautiful mosaic of color and form.  Sifting through the various materials we had collected to find just the right complement of color and texture was like food for my soul.  It’s similar to a gigantic puzzle really, where you’re trying to find the pieces that fit best together.  Tile mosaic has become one of my favorite mediums as an artist and I believe in a way it further kindled the passion I have for the work I do at People First.

As I mentioned earlier, as a Talent Sourcer at People First I work as part of a team to identify talent on behalf of our clients.  This often involves creative thinking and problem solving, much like the fitting together of tile mosaic pieces on the mural.  There is nothing more gratifying than the successful completion of a project, whether the result is a person you identified through research offered a job by our client or a beautiful community mural.  With the strength of a team behind you, anything is possible.

Written by Pamela Habing - Talent Sourcer for People First Recruiting