The Invisible Mentor

Archive for the ‘Mentoring’ Category

For National Mentoring Month, consider creating your Personal Board of Mentors. Having one mentor is seldom ever enough these days, because no one person can assist you with all your mentoring needs. It is your responsibility to ensure that all your needs are taken care of. Your Personal Board of Mentors is similar to an organization’s Board of Directors, except in this instance, you are the organization. You don’t have to meet with all the members on your Board of Mentors like an organization’s board would, but you do have to be in contact with them.

Before you choose the members of your personal board, you have to first assess your needs based on where you’d like to end up in life. Whatever you do should be a part of your life plan and subsequently take you closer to achieving your big goals.

Mentoring Needs Assessment

1. What are your vision, mission and purpose in life?
2. In the next three years, where would you like to be in your personal and professional life? Are you committed to achieving your personal and professional goals listed above?
3. Think about your professional goals, what gaps exist between where you are now, to where you would like to be in the next three years?
4. What actions do you have to take to fill those gaps?
5. Who are the experts that you can learn from, and what are their areas of expertise?
6. Of the experts that you identified, which ones do you respect and are respected by others?
7. Why do you need a mentor? What can a mentor help you with?
8. If trusted friends could introduce you to five people who would be ideal mentors for you, who would you choose?
9. Would your ideal mentors be similar to the experts you identified above?
10. Could your ideal mentors assist you with achieving your identified goals, and close the gap you identified above.

After you have answered the questions above, you are in a better position to find the appropriate persons to assist you in filling those gaps. There are also specific types of people who you should have on your Personal Board of Mentors.

• Connector: A well-respected person in the community who has influence, authority and access to an extensive network of people.
• Industry Expert: Someone who has already traveled the path that you are now on, and is willing to share her experiences, both good and bad with you.
• The Listener: Someone who you can call when you are having a down day, who will allow you to rant for a while, to get things off your “chest,” so that you can focus on your next steps.
• Tough Lover: An objective person who is willing to tell you like it is, holding you accountable to keep your promises and remain on track to achieve your goals.
• Sponsor: A senior level person in your organization who will open doors for you. But the catch is that you have to make yourself memorable so that he will choose you. Typically you choose your mentors, but sponsors choose you. An example of how to make yourself memorable is to take on difficult projects that others do not want, then do them successfully.
• And one other person who will also help you to achieve your goals based on the needs you identified above.

All the people on your Board should care about your success, and be willing to accept a quick call from you. Be very honest and clear with the members of your Board, let them know exactly what you require from them, and make it very easy for them to help you. Mentoring is about give and take, so find ways to give back to your mentors, and always let them know how much you appreciate what they are doing for you.

When you have decided who you would like to be on your Board, ask them if they would be willing to mentor you, and explain what’s required. It goes without saying that you should take some time to get to know them first before asking for a favour. And it is even better if there is someone who could provide an introduction. With social media, this is a lot easier to do today than it was five short years ago.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Related Posts

• Adventures in Learning: DIY Mentoring Program
• Adventures in Learning: DIY Mentoring Program, Episode Two
• Adventures in Learning: DIY Mentoring Program, Episode Three
• Five People You Need On Your Personal Board of Directors
• Forget Mentors: Employ a Personal Board of Directors
• Looking Out for Number One
• Create a Personal Board of Directors
• A Personal Board of Directors

Interviewee Name: Stefan Meister, Director,

Company Name: intercultures

Website: http://www.intercultures.de/ 

Avil Beckford: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Stefan Meister: I’m an artistically inclined, sensitive person who operates in the field of training, coaching, consulting in the intercultural field. I’ve discovered my entrepreneurial spirit, and my competitive edge.

Avil Beckford: What’s a typical day like for you?

Stefan Meister: It is very diverse and completely depends on the objectives of the day. I have over 200 travel days each year, but at the same time, I work with a global team of about 100 experts, so there is usually some sort of consulting and training with the clients combined with a lot of virtual communication while I’m traveling. We also have a team at the back office that I need to develop.

I also have a private life so I communicate a lot privately as well. I write at least a poem a day and try to squeeze in some sporting activity.

Avil Beckford: How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

Stefan Meister:  I only do what I believe in, and at a certain age you reach that stage. I also only do what I can support ethically. That really motivates me. I’m also motivated by building an organization that people really belong to and that’s very important for me.

Avil Beckford: If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

Stefan Meister: I would marry earlier. I would have gotten into business earlier. I founded my company rather late, maybe 10 years ago. I would be more radical in my decision-making. I was also a heavy smoker until 12 years ago, so I would definitely have given up smoking earlier.

Avil Beckford: What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

Stefan Meister: In the business field it would be that I co-developed a product. I was always a service provider, a trainer, consultant, and coach, so nothing materialized and we have developed two assessment tools in the last couple of years, which went online last year and to me, that was an absolutely wonderful feeling that I could co-develop world-class products. It was wonderful!

Avil Beckford: What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Stefan Meister:

1. The biggest challenge is myself. I need to find the right balance between work and play so I don’t burn out. Luckily I haven’t done that yet – sometimes I’m on the edge with what I do.
2. General dependency on the world economy – we depend on that as consultants.
3. There is fierce competition in our field, which customers don’t always distinguish degrees of quality. I find that a big challenge that quality isn’t easily distinguished.

Avil Beckford: What’s unique about the service that you provide?

Stefan Meister: We have the best crew of consultants in the field together, at least on the European level. We have a very deep commitment to quality in our processes, and this is something that consultants as well as customers feedback to us. We have a very holistic approach which means that we do not only look at training because if you look at training that’s what you try and do, but most of the trainers and consultants also have coaching skills and can switch between the interventions that are necessary for the clients. A deep employment of diversity as a guiding principle – I know for the US, that’s something that comes naturally – but for Europe, not necessarily in Berlin. In the office here we have five nationalities and we profit from that, and obviously diversity is not only national or ethnic diversity. We are able to develop and offer unique products.

Avil Beckford: Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it. What kind of lessons did you learn in the process?

Stefan Meister: In business, everything is relative, luckily I have not lost a company yet. The biggest challenge for me was the death of my father when I was 11. What I learned from that is that you can, at least partially, change yourself if the context is challenging you. I found that moment of being responsible as the only man in the household. I was a rather shy human being, and that really changed my life.

Avil Beckford: Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Stefan Meister: When I read the questions, I had to smile because they are very much American questions, if I may say so. I couldn’t say that there was one big break. I think any person that wants to operate with me or us on a deep level, that for me is a big break – that trust that’s being placed through love or wanting to collaborate and work together and share – that’s the biggest break that I can have.

Avil Beckford: Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Stefan Meister:  For me, failure is a very American concept. Maybe it’s interesting for you that I give you this feedback, because failure to me means that there is success and there is failure. I don’t necessarily think in these categories, but I’m trying to juggle my way into the question. Probably one of my biggest failures was not to integrate very well on my first day in the US. When I was 16 or 17, I was in the corn deserts of Pennsylvania as a high school student. My neighbours were Amish. I lived in the US for three-and-a-half years but the first year as an exchange student was very tough for me, but what it did was planted in me the urge to explore intercultural dynamics at a deeper level, and it gave my life one of its major directions. It contributed to my life and the frustration that I had, was later channelled, and brought me into the intercultural field.

If I would have a first year outside of Germany, which was pure joy, I would not have pursued the issue as much as I did later on.

Avil Beckford: What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Stefan Meister:  More than once I have had to separate from close professional allies due to professional reasons and identity challenges. That to me is always a big challenge because I’m a little bit unprofessional in that I grow attached to people who I work with, then it is often hard to separate, and that’s usually a tough decision. The person that I like or even love I need to let that person go.

Avil Beckford: What are three events that helped to shape your life?

Stefan Meister:  Any sort of intercultural encounter shapes my life. I have lived 10 years outside my native Germany, and there have been many events that have helped to shape my life distinctly so I cannot distinguish that. And of course we return to the question of love, and any love, have hopefully changed my life. And the death of my father shaped my life.

Avil Beckford: What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Stefan Meister:  I have always managed to remain authentic, and I always remain caring even if it’s a challenging global business environment, I’m always a caring person and I would always prefer relationships over money.

Avil Beckford: How did mentors influence your life?

Stefan Meister:  There have been several mentors whether they knew it or not, and they have helped me to grow and advance in various ways.

Avil Beckford: What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Stefan Meister: One core message that I picked up from Robert Dilts is that the map is not the territory.

Avil Beckford: An invisible mentor is a unique leader you can learn things from by observing them from afar, in the capacity of an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Stefan Meister:  The simplest advice is to always be true to yourself and to others.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Further Reading

The Invisible Mentor Interviews Sunniva Heggertveit Aoudia
The Invisible Mentor Interviews Sunniva Heggertveit Aoudia Part Two

The Flinch is a great book for mentoring because it teaches us to step outside our comfort zone, and it assures us that we are not our mistakes. Because we have failed before, doesn’t mean we will not succeed. Failure is feedback, inventor Thomas Edison said, “If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

The Flinch by Julien Smith is one of the books in Seth Godin’s Domino Project, and is distributed for free to spread the message. I read it on my computer (I have the Kindle apps) and it takes under an hour to read. Smith includes homework assignments for the reader to do.

According to Smith, “This is a book about being a champion, and what it takes to get there. It’s about decisions, and how to know when you’re making the right ones. It’s about you: the current, present you; the potential, future you; and the one, single difference between them. It’s about an instinct – the flinch – and why mastering it is vital.”

The content of the book isn’t new, but it is presented in a different way, and it is easy to consume. This shouldn’t prevent you from reading The Flinch, because we often have to hear a message about nine times before it sticks. As I was reading the book, I was reminded of Martin Luther King’s quote, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase,” and Susan Jeffers’ awesome book, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.

There are many times in our life, when we flinch, and do not do the things that we know will make a major difference for us, and to make ourselves feel better, we work hard at justifying our actions, yet we wonder why we never have major breakthroughs in life. The Flinch is not about feeling no fear, it is about having the courage to move forward despite the fear. We avoid the perceived pain and flinch, instead of dealing with it.

I have heard that 92 percent of the times, what we worry about never occurs, yet we waste time worrying and not take action because of what we think may happen. But the funny thing is that most of the time what we worry about never occurs, and if it does, it seldom is as bad as we imagined. The author encourages us to take back our life, to take control and stop flinching.

If we stop flinching and just do the work, our future self will thank us. When you see children playing in a park, they are fearless, and when they fall down, they get up, dust themselves off and continue like nothing happened. The Flinch is about going back to that time, when we brushed ourselves off when we got knocked down. The formula for success in life is really about trial and error, experimenting until we find what works, and it helps us to understand the environment that we exist in.

In The Flinch, Julien Smith says, “…The lessons you learn best are the ones you get burned by. Without the scar, there is no evidence or strong memory…Firsthand knowledge, however, is visceral, painful, and necessary. It uses the conscious and the unconscious to process the lesson, and it uses all your senses. You fall down, your whole motor system is involved…”

A research report by The William Glasser Institute about how we learn backs up what Smith says, we learn:

• 10 percent of what we Read
• 20 percent of what we Hear
• 30 percent of what we See
• 50 percent of what we See and Hear
• 70 percent of what we Discuss with Others
• 80 percent of what we Experience Personally
• 95 percent of what we Teach to Others

 If you experience something, you are 80 percent likely to learn from it. Nothing beats trying and testing your limits besides teaching what your learned from the experience to another person. You constantly have to test yourself to see how far you can go.

Smith recommends that you do the opposite of your habits to build your tolerance to the flinch, and the power it holds over you. In a Seinfeld episode, George Louis Costanza discovered that when he did the opposite of what he usually did, he had great success. We are socialized to respond a certain way, which is seldom the way to blaze a new trail.

The Flinch by Julien Smith is a great reminder of how important it is to stretch ourselves beyond our comfort zone. And the best part is he demonstrates how to do so in the book. Give The Flinch a read, all it will cost is an hour of your time. Even though the content isn’t new, we need a reminder. Download The Flinch today.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book link is affiliate link.

Wisdom of Life: “Pick the right people to surround yourself with, it will set the bar, encourage and support you. However, if you choose the wrong people, they will bring you down a different path,” Invisible Mentor, Jeanne-Marie Robillard tells her 12-year old son.

Interviews for Mentoring: Key Lessons from Jeanne-Marie Robillard

• Be grateful for what you have in life and count your blessings.
• Prepare for your day the night before, to help to decrease stress the following day.
• Network, network, then network some more, and never let little things such as shyness or “introvertedness” stop you. (Note to self)
• Allow people to get to know the real you.
• People rarely remember what you said to them, but they remember how you made them feel.
• Give a new job sufficient time – at least two years – before you decide if the fit is right

Invisible Mentor: Jeanne-Marie Robillard, Senior Account Executive

Company Name: National Speakers Bureau/Global Speakers Agency

Website: http://www.nsb.com 

Avil Beckford: Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Jeanne-Marie Robillard: I am currently a senior account executive, which is an agent to public personalities and celebrities for their speaking engagements. I’ve been doing that for 11 years. Prior to that, I was an agent to the performing arts community – groups like the National Ballet of Canada, Canadian Opera Company, to helping place them into seated environments for audiences to enjoy.

Avil Beckford: What’s a typical day like for you?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard: It would be to make a lot of calls, touch base with clients, follow-up on proposals, keep speakers abreast of developments, and continue our marketing initiatives for the people who we are representing.

Avil Beckford: How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard:  I’m pretty lucky because I work with speakers who are inspirational and motivational so I’m surrounded by positive thinkers all day, every day. I’m very blessed.

Avil Beckford: If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard:  I would come back to being blessed. I have no regrets with my career path. I started first in the Arts working through the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and Art Gallery of Ontario. I did some consulting for the museums, all of that was very important, though I always struggled financially. I would say having gotten into sales, I call it the meritocracy – the more you work, the more integrity you bring to your work, the better compensated you are. Maybe I would have done that a little earlier getting into the private sector.

Avil Beckford: What’s the most important business or other discovery you’ve made in the past year?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard: I would say that I have gained more confidence in my own public speaking. It’s funny that I represent speakers and performers and I have been nervous for so many years to get up and introduce them, and tell audiences about them. I would read from a script and now I have more confidence in just going for it. It goes much better. If I had changed that sooner, I wouldn’t have been as nervous.

Avil Beckford: What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard:

1. Since I work mostly with the corporate sector placing speakers for public appearances, endorsements and sponsorships, the crash of 08/09 was a hard one that we are still recovering from. Many cutbacks occurred, lived through a time of austerity. Canada wasn’t affected the same way, but it reacted the same way as the US. We’re still seeing ourselves climb out of that. Our clients saw speakers as perhaps a luxury, and having not booked them for a year or two realized that speakers were an absolute necessity. Professional speakers bring all kinds of wonderful energy, insight and a fresh perspective to organizations, so now we’re seeing the recovery. That would be the biggest threat.
2. Another threat within the industry I work in is that there are many new agencies – individuals who are branching off and doing this from their homes, or from smaller offices, so there is more competition out there.
3. The third threat is the Internet of course which continues to be a competitor because people feel that they can contact the speakers directly, and they can, though it means being directed back and it makes the process so much longer and more complicated.

It’s all fixable but it changes the landscape a little bit.

Avil Beckford: What’s unique about the service that you provide?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard: I like to say I do not sell a product, but I sell an experience. People won’t remember exactly what you say, but they will remember how they feel. I’m pretty lucky, and I would say that what I love most about what I do is I get to brag about people all day long. Can’t ask for better than that!

Avil Beckford: Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it. What kind of lessons did you learn in the process?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard: The most recent was going through a separation and divorce, almost six years ago. Though I was very hurt, it was not my choice, but four months later I realized I had gone through a process where forgiveness rose to the top. Though that may sound corny to some, it honestly changed my life when I realized I had forgiven. My ex and I are best of friends – we were as of that year – and we have a son and we parent together, he lives nearby, we email constantly, and speak every other day. My health improved during that time. My health stopped breaking down, my job got better, and I’m not kidding, it happened that quickly. Forgiveness is powerful!

Avil Beckford: Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Jeanne-Marie Robillard: I’ve had a lot of opportunities. I can’t tell you that there is a single big break, but I would say that every time someone offers you an opportunity it’s so important to talk that through. It doesn’t mean to seize it immediately and jump all over it, but it does mean to talk it through. Find out what it’s about, investigate, explore it and see if it lands where you need it to land. Every single job opportunity, and I have loved every one of my jobs, has been through a break. I have been so lucky. I have had six different positions in the course of a 30-year career.

Avil Beckford: Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard:  It was when I was a professional failure. We all have our personal failures on a day-to-day basis. However, on a professional level, when I did consulting for museums with one other person, the woman who owned the company, she recruited me from the Ontario Arts Council.  It was an exciting opportunity, but I realized that I worked better as part of a team. She was traveling so much to Europe mostly, and I was keeping the Toronto office intact alone. I think I failed on many levels – failed myself, failed her and my clients in that I need the energy of others to stay inspired and motivated. So working in a team is what I learned out of that. I need that.

Avil Beckford: What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard:  I was adopted as an infant into a fabulous family, another blessing in my life. I was only 10 days old so I was very little. I always knew I was adopted, and when I finished university I decided to meet my biological mother. It was a big decision and it impacted my life in every positive way possible. I learned all kinds of lessons and I was able to add a whole new arm to a family of friends. I’m very lucky and I would say that was a tough decision.

Avil Beckford: What are three events that helped to shape your life?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard:

1. What I just talked about, landing in the family I landed in to parents who think they couldn’t have children adopted me and two years later adopted my sister. She was equally tiny when we adopted her. And mom and dad we already pregnant with my brother, they had nine months between the two of them. They had three children under the age of three. I have the most wonderful family. It has provided me with opportunities on every level, socio-economic, unconditional love and support, and encouragement. I won the lottery early in life.
2. Having certain people around you. I tell my son who is 12 to pick the right people to surround yourself with, it will set the bar for you and encourage you and support you. However, if you choose the wrong people they will bring you down a different path, and it’s just so true.
3. I would also say that one of the largest events that shaped my life was first year of university when I had a summer job as a tour guide on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. I met Pierre Elliot Trudeau. I walked across the room at a party, he was standing alone, he was the Prime Minister of Canada at the time. I walked across and introduced myself, and as a result, we had a friendship where we skied, had dinner and he invited me as a guest to parties at 24 Sussex Drive. It was a friendship that was quite exciting for about a year-and-a-half until it went in the media that I was a girlfriend which was not the case. But we never spoke after that. That experience shaped my life to learn to move through your fear to something that attracts you. Trust your gut. When you feel like there is an opportunity in front of you, take it. The worst that could happen is often not that really bad. What would have been the worst? that he didn’t say too much, “nice to meet you, see ya.”
4. I also think that having my son has shaped my life in a very positive way. I learned how to increase my empathy level and responsibility.

Avil Beckford: What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard:  It’s an ongoing accomplishment and it’s that of helping people. I really enjoy helping people further their careers and/or their personal lives in some ways when they are struggling, and it’s usually through helping people make connections with other people who know exactly what to do. I’m a very good connector, that’s what I do in my work as well. I do it for friends who are looking for love in their lives, I’m a good matchmaker. And I do it for those trying to improve their lives and meet professionals who can help them.

Avil Beckford: How did mentors influence your life?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard:  They taught me to stick to certain standards, to set certain standards, certain expectations of yourself so others know what you are about. There is a confidence for others in that. Mentors are also important in a continued, consistent kind of environment, so I was very fortunate to have those kinds of people as well. They are people who are dependable and there, present and engaged. So I have learned to do that in reverse for those who I have mentored.

Avil Beckford: What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard: I would say to have integrity. Integrity is key to every part of your life. Do it with intent, do it with meaning and do it with purpose. I would say that’s how I live my life as best as I can.

Avil Beckford: An invisible mentor is a unique leader you can learn things from by observing them from afar, in the capacity of an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?

Jeanne-Marie Robillard:  I would say it’s what I just said before, be true, do everything with intent, meaning and integrity and it will fall in the right places.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Related articles

• The Chief Mentoring Officer Interviews Annemie Ress, Senior HRD eBay & Global Engagement Lead at eBay (theinvisiblementor.com)
• The Chief Mentoring Officer Interviews Annemie Ress, Senior HRD eBay & Global Engagement Lead at eBay, Part Two (theinvisiblementor.com)

This is a guest post by Mao Risby,  an employment specialist for local colleges.

The job market is rough and many people are turning to career recruitment services in hopes of landing a position. Recruitment agencies can help job seekers find temp, temp-to-hire and direct hire positions.

Finding a new job or switching careers can become stressful for many people and using career recruitment services is a great way to get rid of the stress of the job hunt. Recruiting companies offer a variety of services to help clients find workers and job seekers get jobs.

Here are some important tips to know when working with agencies for career recruitment services.

Build a Strong Resume

Like with any recruitment services website, a strong resume is going to put you at the top of the growing pile of resumes recruiting agencies receive. Recruiters see hundreds of resumes a day so make sure you list all your jobs, duties and skills.

Your résumé should include recent job positions that relates to the job you’re applying for. For instance, if you’re looking to switch careers to marketing then your résumé should include previous jobs that show you can handle a marketing position.

Prepare Additional Information

Depending on the job you’re applying for you might need to include writing, marketing or design samples. Make sure you have something ready so your recruiter can send it over right away with your résumé. Not having samples could cause a short delay in being presented for the position. With the tight competition out there, that’s not something you’ll want happening.

Search the Database Every Morning

While part of the recruitment services include contacting you about possible positions, it’s always good to check the job database each morning. If a position catches your eye, simply hit the apply button. You only need to send your résumé once and it’ll get stored on the website. If the recruiter feels you’re a great fit, he or she will contact you to speak about the position before presenting you to the client.

 Stay in Contact

One of the biggest mistakes a job seeker can make is not staying in contact with recruiters. They’re busy and won’t always have time to contact you back. It’s recommended to follow-up with the account executive via e-mail or over the phone to get updates about the position.

Prepare for an Interview

Before meeting with the client you’ll meet with an agent at the recruitment agency. They will ask you to fill out paper work and go over your résumé and the position. Treat this like an actual interview. Show up early, dress professionally and answer their questions like you would on a regular interview. You want to make a great impression on them because they’ll push you more to the client.

During this interview ask any question you would be nervous about asking on the interview. This includes dress code, salary, insurance and time off. They will gladly go over all of this with you so you won’t have to awkwardly ask the client in the event you’re invited in for an interview.

About the Author: Mao Risby is an employment specialist for local colleges. Using recruitment services can definitely ease the burden when it comes to searchign for a new job or career, especially in a touch economy where businesses don’t do as much public advertisement of open positions.