Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

Closing Your First Deal

This summer I’ve been interning as a recruiter for a staffing firm called ALKU. For anyone who knows about the staffing industry, it is highly competitive, fast paced, and unpredictable. The overarching goal of a place like ALKU is to place people in jobs. While there are small wins along the way, such getting leads and building relationships with new clients, they all build up to the ultimate goal of getting a deal.

I didn’t go into the summer expecting a deal, which made getting one more special. It all happened so fast and was far from predictable. You can find the perfect candidate and submit them to a job, but so many things can fall through in between submitting them and getting an offer. The job can filled by someone else, the project can be pushed back, the hiring manager can no longer need someone, the consultant can take another opportunity, the interview can go poorly, they can even wait to get an offer and then decide they no longer want it. Even if you find the perfect candidate, they got the job, and they accept, you still need to get them on site to start work. This can mean passing a drug and background test, figuring out travel logistics, and onboarding them, which all leads room for the deal to fall through.

Moral of the story- I did not expect my candidate to get the offer. But she did, and she candidate accepted, which means I have closed the deal and am in the process of preparing her to begin work. The best part of closing the deal has been getting to go through the whole process, from submitting to onboarding. As an intern, you see the front end of the job. Calling candidates, getting information, screening them, and submitting them. Only as you close deals and work for a longer period of time do you start seeing the bulk of what recruiting is: relationship management. Getting a snip bit of what happens after closing a deal, and getting to build a relationship with the consultant I’ve placed has taught me more about the recruiting world, and has made me love the job more.

Getting my first deal gave me a rush of adrenaline, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t celebrate. The small victory, however, did not leave me complacent. I may only have a week left, but I’m more motivated than ever to experience that excitement again, build deeper relationships with more clients, and learn more about the company through success. As I learned from my first deal, staffing is unpredictable. So who knows, maybe I’ll end the week and the internship with deal number two!