Why Recruitment is Like Crowd-Surfing the Greatest Gig of Your Life…

There was a very rock and roll period in my life when I would live in a van for weeks at a time, surrounded by inspiring creatives, friends and strangers in very unique confines — incredible locations and long journeys. Living day-to-day, city by city from budget motels to expensive hotels with life all packed in a suitcase (from books on fluvial sediments to endless rolls of tape). I collected a fair few stories on the way and without realising I was setting myself up for a career in recruitment.

Sometimes I go as bold as saying I was a ‘tour manager’, although this is probably not a fair label when comparing myself to those who actually are tour managers. More realistically I was someone who got things done, very quickly, at the demand of many possible ‘stakeholders’ — there and then.

From sourcing a replacement wheel in the middle of the Black Forest, to finding accommodation in a small Swiss town on a Sunday night, to flying out a full backline to Oslo from London with 6 hours to go to the festival appearance on a shoestring budget (to then remotely coordinate whilst in said van outside of the airport) to finding a supplier of a very niche guitar pedal in Belgium.

Nothing is impossible, you get the job done no matter what the obstacle — perhaps we can now replace the needle in a haystack recruiter expression with “there’s always a spare wheel in a forest”. It was the best of times, it was the most stressful of times — and I was just one cog in a very big chain.

Sounding familiar, recruiters?

Then there’s the people you meet — glimpsing into the lives of creatives and coordinators, facilitators and entrepreneurs who make these events happen along the way. Never spending more than 24hrs in one place at a time (5 / 6 hours if lucky), gaining glimpses into people’s lives long enough to understand their motivations, passions, pains and loves.

These people were the disruptors, people who were not happy with the status-quo and so did things differently — or simply loved it all so much they couldn’t just sit back and not be a part of it. The members of this community who were the most ‘successful’ were the ones who stood by their principles, their thoughts and originality (see a great article: Never be Boring by Tim Leroy). Although one of my favourite quotes perhaps challenges what originality really is -

“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I have ever known.” (Invisible Monsters, Chuck Palahniuk)

As a recruiter my understanding of any technical area is shaped mostly through conversation, yep I try to immerse myself wherever I can to build this insight, but naturally much of my time is spent on the phone. This for me is one of the most rewarding experiences in my day to day life and is particular true as I gain such glimpses into the lives of UX’ers. The scope of the UX industry is vast, from speaking with interaction designers working on medical tools (literally saving lives) all the way to crazy branding campaigns to crafting some of Europe’s best known online (and offline) stores — literally anything where a user could interact physically, visually, emotionally with a product/concept/idea… People who want to define and influence me, as a user, to the ultimate experience. The most fitting? The most convenient? The most inspiring? The most credible? The most engaging? / all of the above.

I live in a very privileged space, where I get to speak to people just for the chance. It can be a very weird world, sometimes responded with confusion and other times excitement. Too many times I get the response email/call back from people along the lines “I never normally respond to recruiters, but…”. Why be a recruiter if you’re not going to try and be the best recruiter in the world. Be original, be yourself, be engaging. This for sure is not to say I’ve always been like this, or that I’m anywhere near being the best at what I do now — but if you’re not even trying, you’re never going to begin succeeding.

So from my touring days I still keep in touch with people who I met for literally 6 hours in Nijmegen, just the same as the first ever placement I made as a recruiter — approach every relationship with the uniqueness that person deserves, with the passion you know and the right level of engagement necessary.

Bottom line — there’s no difference between being a recruiter or a tour manager, it’s all very rock & roll and we are all shaped by the interactions we have along the way. Crowd-surf as much as you can and make the most of it.

I work for Zalando, Europe’s leading destination for online fashion — scouting and searching for the best talent within UX and Product to disrupt, define, refine the world of fashion mobile and e-commerce. If you’re interested in joining our adventure, or just simply hearing about what we’re up to at the moment (start-up products to innovation lab to our “tour of mastery”) drop a message or connect! See also for open vacancies in UX & more: tech.zalando.de/jobs/ux/

Linkedin: Joseph de Garr Wilkinson
Twitter @josephdegarr
Zalando Tech @zalandotech