Sam Hodz - Amplify People

Zero industry experience. No relevant title. Not even close to what the client asked for.

Most recruiters would've moved on to the next candidate without a second thought but Sam Hodz didn't.

I sat down with Sam on this week's episode of Recruiter Wins and this story is a masterclass in what separates order takers from true recruiting partners.

Here's what happened: A business owner came to Sam looking for a technician. But instead of just taking the order and running, Sam dug deeper and realized what this client actually needed was an operations manager who could free them up to scale.

Then came a resume that checked almost none of the traditional boxes.

But Sam has a simple rule that told her to proceed:

"If there's a 75% match, if there's something at least 75% there, it's worth hearing the story to get the other 25%."

So Sam picked up the phone to explain why she was sending the resume before the client ever saw it.

That first meeting turned into a three hour lunch and today, they're building and growing the business together.

A few things from this conversation worth mentioning:

• The best recruiters consult. Sam's intake call completely reshaped what the client was hiring for.
• Trust is built before you ever need it. Because Sam invested time upfront understanding the company’s culture, personality and business goals, the client was willing to take a chance on an unconventional candidate.
• Never just send over a resume. Sam's approach of calling first and framing the "why" turned what could've been an instant rejection into a perfect match.

If you've ever wondered what it looks like to truly advocate for a candidate or if you want a reminder of why recruiting matters, this one's for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Recruiter Wins, your bite-size 15-minute podcast with your host, Zach Gallinger. This is the show where every guest answers one simple question. Tell me about your biggest recruiting win. You'll hear everything from gut-wrenching candidate conversations to game-changing business development wins. Real stories with lessons you can actually use in your next search.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Recruiter Wins. My name is Zach Gallinger, and I'm the founder of Talent Hero Media, a digital marketing agency that works exclusively with recruiters. In this podcast, we sit down with a highly successful recruiting expert to ask them a single question. Tell me about your biggest recruiting win. Our guest today is Sam Hods, the director of talent acquisition and executive operations at Amplify People. Sam has been working in the recruiting industry for about 15 years and is coming to us with a great story about what can happen when you give someone a chance. All right, Sam. So let's get started. Tell me about your biggest recruiting win.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Yeah, thanks so much for having me, Zach. Over 15 years, there's a lot of impactful stories that I could share. I chose this one because it I think it really highlights just what you said, giving people a chance. I had somebody in the integration space come to me, a business owner. And originally we were talking and they felt like a technician was what they really needed to join their team. And through conversations, we realized that while a technician would be really beneficial, they really needed somebody to help with the operations side to manage projects that could grow into that operations manager position and allow them to scale their business. So they could be working on the business instead of in it. And so through that dialogue and uncovering what it is they were really trying to accomplish, me and the team set out to really identify some potential candidates for them to review. And over the course of that kind of sourcing journey, we had a lot of people come with a good amount of experience, not just in project management and operations, but in the AV space specifically. And then one resume hit my desk. And it was somebody with zero custom integration experience who had not worked for any AV integrator in their career. They were hadn't had the title of project manager, let alone anything in operations. And their resume was really kind of taking on admin tasks at a variety of maybe adjacent industries like uh construction, for instance, but nothing directly related. So on paper, there were far better people to reach out to. But for me, I've always kind of believed if there's 75% interest, if there's something that you can find that's at least 75% there, it's worth hearing the story to get the rest of the 25%. So that's what we did. We reached out, had a conversation, and I felt instantly that they would connect with this business owner. I felt like it could be the missing piece to the puzzle. And so I wound up calling the uh integrator and saying, Hey, I know this isn't necessarily what you thought you asked for, but there's something special here. And I think you'll see it too. So they agreed to a sit down, and that first sit down turned into a three-hour lunch, and they are off to the races just enjoying building and growing this business together today.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

I appreciate that story. And I do like to hear about these, you know, a lot of the guests who've come on our show have told us, you know, these types of like stories that are very feel-good. And I think that sort of speaks a lot to how recruiters, why recruiters enjoy their job, which is that I think it allows you to kind of really help people out in a way that may often not be sort of understood by people outside of recruiting. So I do have a couple of a few follow-up questions I wanted to ask. So you've mentioned that during your initial sort of intake call that you realized that instead of like hiring for a technician or project manager, it might be better to hire an operations manager. So tell me what exactly sort of led you to that realization? And is there any sort of bigger lesson you can take away about how to handle that type of call?

SPEAKER_00 4:08

Absolutely. No, for me, I've always approached kind of intake or onboarding calls with a little bit of skepticism, if you will, a natural intrigue or curiosity, because oftentimes people choose a talent partner, a recruiter, because they don't a hundred percent know how to articulate what it is that they want. And they want somebody to partner with them and have that dialogue. And so I approached this conversation very similarly. And so through discussion, he was doing a lot of the technician work himself, plus running the business. And so he was like, Well, if I get somebody to take the technician work, then that frees me up to do all of these other things, but I still won't be able to accomplish my ultimate goal of opening another location because I'd still be tied here. And so that was kind of the key that unlocked it for me. Was like, so ultimately what you're trying to do is get yourself so you can be removed completely from this day-to-day location so you could focus on scaling the business somewhere else. That needs oversight, somebody that can develop standard operating procedures that can communicate with your technicians on site. So you don't have to be there showing them. They could have somebody leading the charge so that you could focus elsewhere. So that was really kind of what unlocked it all.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

So it sounds like it's paying close attention and kind of thinking a bit deeper than what might be shared with you directly.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

For me, there's a lot of things that people think of when they think of the recruiting space. But I feel like people that are successful in this space and really enjoy what they're doing aren't just order takers, that they're actually consulting with candidates and clients alike to find that match. And so that's how I choose to approach it.

SPEAKER_02 5:53

All right. So just walk me through for the next question. You know, what when you have this candidate with zero relevant industry experience, how do you speak to the client to get them to take that person seriously?

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Yeah, I think that, you know, it really goes back to what we were talking about before. And it starts with that initial intake call. If I had just taken an order and been an order taker, I wouldn't have buy-in from this client. They they would have no reason to trust that I had their best interest at heart. It would be really transactional. But because we invest the time up front to really learn about what they need and what they want, not just hard skills, checking off something on a resume, but what sort of personality would fit in well, what the company culture is like. Because we understood all of those other things, I was able to reach out directly and have a phone call and say, here's why I think this is somebody you should consider. I understand if I had just sent the resume over and had just kind of flung it over and hope for the best, this wouldn't have been a story I'm sharing today. But because I invested the time and our team invest the time in that initial intake call, we've got the buy-in and the trust built that we've got their best interest at heart and understand a little bit deeper. And so I'm able to have that dialogue.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

And another question how did the client react when they first saw the resume before actually meeting the candidate in person? Like, is there an initial sort of shock, or do you feel like that everything's kind of, as you said, been sort of set up for this moment so that they are ready for perhaps someone who doesn't on paper look like the perfect fit?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Well, my approach in these situations is to never just send over the resume. So for me, I've made a phone call and said, before I show you this, let me give you the why I think this is something you should consider. So they're able to go into it without that shock value. Um, they're a little bit more open, receptive, and understand from my perspective what I'm seeing. They're able to read between the lines and they don't have to fill in that 25%. I've given it to them.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Right. Okay. And one final question. I'm going to go a little bit outside of the, you know, the story that you told, but I've noticed, as you said, you've been in the industry for 15 years, which, you know, it definitely makes you a veteran, a recruiter. What's kept you coming back every day for that long period of time? What is it that sort of gives you the fulfillment that you need sort of to be in a role for a decade and a half?

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Yeah, I think for me, it's really the fact that every day, I say this all the time, every day is an adventure. I get the ability every single day to make an impact on people's lives. I get to help business owners fill the void in their organizations and feel the success of what it means when you've got the right person in place. And I get to help individuals find an opportunity that really suits them. They're able to grow their careers and be happy. Nobody just wakes up in the morning and says, I'm gonna look for a new job today. There's a reason. There's some reason that they're, if they're not on a job board and a recruiter just calls them out of the blue, that they're open to engaging in that conversation or that they've put themselves out there. And so for me, understanding the why and being able to get to that finish line because it looks that journey looks different every single time you go through it, is what has kept me here so long.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

Awesome. All right. So that's kind of all I have today. So I appreciate again you taking the time to speak with me today. And uh hope you have a great rest of your day.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Thank you so much, you too, Zach.

SPEAKER_02 9:30

All right, bye. Thanks for listening to Recruiter Wins. This episode has been brought to you by Talent Hero Media, the digital marketing agency that works exclusively with recruiters to help them win more business and scale faster.