Hello everyone,
In this episode of The Modern Recruiter, I had a great conversation with Jared Watts, a former professional soccer player turned recruiter. I’m always a big fan of mixing different fields, so I was excited to learn how the skills and mindset from professional sport (in this case soccer or - as we like to call it in France - football) can be useful in recruiting.
Here are some of the key takeaways from our discussion:
1/ How to apply an athletic mindset to recruiting
Jared emphasized the importance of the competitive nature and resilience developed as a professional athlete. He shared how these traits have translated into his recruiting career. As he put it, “You're never as good or as bad as you think you are,” emphasizing continuous improvement and adaptability.
Here’s what he recommends:
Competitive Spirit: Just like in sports, recruiting is competitive. Jared’s story is a testament to the importance of a competitive spirit in achieving success.
Resilience: Failure is part of the journey. Jared emphasizes resilience and learning from every setback.
Data-Driven Decisions: Using data to back up your claims can make a significant difference, whether negotiating your contract or presenting a candidate to a client.
2/ The importance of numbers and data
Just as in sports, where every move is analyzed and optimized, Jared applies a data-driven approach to recruiting. During his soccer career, he negotiated his contract using performance metrics. Today, he tells candidates' stories backed with data.
He recommends to use data to tell a compelling story about the candidate’s potential impact.
3/ Balancing Multiple Roles
Jared’s journey is impressive not only because of his transition but also because of his ability to juggle multiple roles. He’s currently the only internal recruiter at his company, where he’s hired 65 people in the past 18 months. Simultaneously, he’s building his own side agency, successfully placing executives for other companies and bringing in close to $400,000 - AS A SIDE GIG (!).
Here’s how he does it:
He builds systems. Use tools like LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and Google Sheets to stay organized and efficient.
He manages his time (and works hard): He blocks out specific times for different tasks, including early mornings and late nights if needed.
As Jared says, “The way you do anything is the way you're going to do everything. So, I've taken that mindset and made sure that I've translated that into the recruiting side.”
Listen to the full episode to dive deeper and learn how to apply a competitive, data-driven mindset to your recruiting efforts!
By the way! I love when people reply to these emails, and I read and reply to all of your messages. So I’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode: How do you apply skills from other areas of your life to recruiting? What tools do you use to stay organized? Come on, just hit reply and let’s chat!
Have a great week!
Robin
The Modern Recruiter #75: From Professional Soccer to Recruiting, Jared Watts, Director of Talent @ Vantaca