7 Figure Biller: A Different Path To Success with Krystal Parker

[00:01:56] Transitioned from secretarial work to executive recruitment. Thrived in private equity firm for over 20 years. Saved company millions through HR restructuring. Found passion for recruiting and joined agency. Chose agency with strong infrastructure and potential for growth. Satisfied and committed to current position.

[00:08:54] Surpassing income goals, reaching million dollar biller.

[00:10:35] Recruiting is my fun, rewarding game.

[00:14:56] Recruiter dislikes phone calls and conforming to KPIs.

[00:18:23] Unpredictable, fun MPC efforts bring new opportunities.

[00:23:05] Excited but unsure when to make change.

[00:25:12] Don't plan, embrace 360 model, diversify income. Candidates are key to success.

[00:30:42] Candidates provide market intel through interviews and referrals.

[00:36:51] Limited KPI tracking, interview quality over quantity.

[00:40:40] Don't forget basics, they yield big results.

[00:42:03] Resourceful, self-competitive, confident, emotionally resilient go-getter.

[00:45:13] Addicted to podcast, educates and entertains.

Intro [00:00:00]:

Welcome to the Elite Recruiter podcast with your host Benjamin MENA where we focus on what it takes to win in the recruiting game. We cover it all from sales, marketing mindset, money, leadership and placements.

Benjamin [00:00:18]:

I'm excited about this episode of the Elite Recruiter podcast. I have an awesome guest, Crystal Parker to talk about a different path to being a seven figure biller. And before we started talking, before we hit the record know, I always felt different in this industry. When I started out at the large staffing firm, honestly I didn't fit in the way that I did things, it didn't jive with everybody else. I had to go find my own way and my God, those recruiting, the ones that copied the process, copied the program, they had a ton of success, but I had to go find my way in my doing it and route and Crystal, you know, seven figure biller last year did the exact same thing. So I'm excited about having Crystal on to talk about not all paths are the same to becoming a seven figure biller. So Crystal, welcome to the podcast.

Krystal Parker [00:01:12]:

Thank you Benjamin, it's a privilege to be here with you at the moment.

Benjamin [00:01:16]:

You are an associate managing director for BGSF. You want to talk about that real quick before we do a deep dive into everything else?

Krystal Parker [00:01:25]:

Yeah, absolutely. So I actually started off with horn solutions. I've been with them for the past five and a half years. We were recently acquired by a larger public company, BGSF in December. So we've been going through acquisition phase this. So I am the associate managing director more in a leadership role than I previously was in a direct managerial role.

Benjamin [00:01:51]:

And first question that we ask all the guests, how did you even get started in the recruiting space?

Krystal Parker [00:01:56]:

Well, I'll sound like a broken record and say I just fell into it. But I'll go a little bit into my background and let you know that first of all, I am not college degreed. Never went to college, only child college. Was not talked about in my household. Didn't know what I wanted to do, but I thought, I'm detailed, I'm organized. And I ended up in a program for executive secretarial school, which is really going to date me by using the word secretarial. But I went through that program and applied to an ad in the newspaper for a company that was literally listing this would be a three year opportunity. Turned out it was a 23 year opportunity with what became one of the biggest private equity firms, private equity real estate investment firms in the Dallas area, second only to TPG Global, that's in Fort Worth. So it was a dynamic ride. Started out as an admin assistant, elevated up to office manager, then to HR director, had no HR experience, had nobody to train or mentor me. But I was extremely resourceful and if you know anything about dynamic private equity firms. You are dealing with some very sharp, highly educated people who you've got to answer to. So the fact that I survived there over two decades, I'll give myself a little pat on the back, but it was a really fun ride. And what I ended up doing there during the course of that time, I had recruiting under my HR umbrella for many years. And about three years prior to leaving, I established a business case to pull recruiting out of HR and to go be their VP of acquisition. So I saved them about a million dollars per year. And while I loved my HR job, I think we might all know that HR is the crazy train. So I soon found out that recruiting was something that really gave me an opportunity to deal with people who were excited about finding new opportunities, and to deal with managers that were super appreciative, getting away from policies, procedures, grievances, all the things that come into HR. So that was a fantastic experience. And when I came out of that company, you can imagine when your head's down in a PE firm, you've got a lot going on. There's very little time to devote to networking. So I really had to give some thought and look around to what am I going to do next? Do I stay in HR? Do I go into Ta? Do I stay on the corporate side? Or do I do something completely different by going to agency? And the reason that agency compelled me was the unlimited income for opportunity, but also simply because I had worked with so many agencies over the years, that maybe 25 or 30 different agencies, some who were good, but a lot that I felt like the bar was really low. And I figured if I could come into this industry just operating at the level of excellence that I normally do, not even upgrading, that I'd be able to really stand out among the competition. So that was the winning factor, and I dove right into it. Obviously, I knew all agencies were not created the same. I had to be thoughtful in who I was selecting. I ended up choosing a firm that had been really had some infrastructure for the past ten years in Houston, and was newly launching in Dallas. So I was the second employee hired for Dallas. It was important to me to choose a firm that did not have a reputation to overcome, didn't have people who were already ingrained in having territories or clients, and were able to really build a team to the culture and mindset they wanted to see grow versus loosely letting that go. So all those things I found in the firm that I joined, and I would say for the first five years, there's no phone call that could have came in that would have swayed me to leave. So it's been a really great experience.

Benjamin [00:06:20]:

So a lot of people 20 years into the job are still 20 years almost in the same spot. So without a college degree, you not only stayed at one place, but you also thrived. What were some of the internal motivations on making those constant career jumps?

Krystal Parker [00:06:39]:

I almost wear the fact that I don't have a college degree as a badge of honor, just because when people meet me the way that I carry myself, present myself, the success I've had, the question is always, well, where did you go to college? And it's really fun to tell them that I didn't go down that path, never incurred that expense. But working with the PE firm was just really invigorating. I was constantly trying to challenge myself, and it was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. But I've also just been super happy on the agency side. I wouldn't go back either, so it's been a phenomenal rewarding opportunity, and I.

Benjamin [00:07:21]:

Kind of want to also talk about this. I do not see that often somebody at a certain point in their career wants to make the jump over to an agency. So I think that was phenomenal. Secondly, you said you really looked for infrastructure. Did you have multiple companies that you were looking at to become an executive recruiter?

Krystal Parker [00:07:40]:

There's a few that I had given thought to, just based on my known relationships and partnering with them at the PE firm. But again, I really wanted to go with a company that just didn't have an reputation to overcome. I wanted to get out and put my own stamp on things and be able to be fresh in the market, but also have someone who knew what they were doing in another market. Right.

Benjamin [00:08:04]:

Well, is there any advice that you have to somebody that's like either internal or HR looking at making that jump to become an agency recruiter?

Krystal Parker [00:08:12]:

I would say you really have to shed your corporate mindset and behaviors. Agency is extremely different. There's a lot of hustle. You're in a production role. Currently, when you go into agency, you're no longer in, I will say, a reactive mode, but you're in a very proactive mode, and you've got to shift that mental mindset if you want to capitalize on the opportunity that you've been given.

Benjamin [00:08:41]:

Awesome. Now, jumping towards you being a seven figure biller, was there like a shift or something that happened that you just made this your goal and made the push for that?

Krystal Parker [00:08:54]:

It was absolutely not my goal, and I will tell you, a couple of years ago, our senior partner looked at me and he said, crystal, you're a million dollar biller. And at the time I was billing maybe 400,000 a year. The following year I was at 600,000. And I was thinking to myself, that's really funny because I've got so much on my plate already with what I'm billing. I can't even imagine what you're talking about. So I will tell you the goal that I did set for myself was more financial related, income related. Ever since I started, I set a goal to make $50,000 more than the year I had made previously. So year 1234, I met those goals. Year four, I made 250,000, and then year five, I doubled it to make half a million. So that was pretty exciting. And I hit the million dollar mark that he had forecasted, and we laugh about it to this day.

Benjamin [00:09:55]:

I love that you actually had the goal set out, because so often I talk with recruiters, and I am not a coach, but I'm like, I love asking the question, what are some of your personal goals? And you know, when somebody has the goal set and somebody that starts thinking of what to say for goals.

Krystal Parker [00:10:12]:

Right.

Benjamin [00:10:13]:

So I love that it's set right.

Krystal Parker [00:10:17]:

There's a hesitancy if you don't have a goal.

Benjamin [00:10:20]:

Yes. So when it comes down to work ethic, what does a work ethic look like as a million dollar producer? And did you see a difference in the work ethic when you were two years ago producing?

Krystal Parker [00:10:35]:

I would not say that I saw a shift in my work ethic, because I always tell people I absolutely love recruiting. In fact, the lines are often blurred for me between what is my job and what is my hobby, because I have so much fun with it. I love games. I feel like ethic is the ultimate game. High stakes. It's very rewarding. Every day is different, and a lot of people who see my success think, oh, my gosh, she works so much. She works evenings, she works weekends. Poor her, right? But really, to me, it's fun. What I choose to do with my time after hours, I can read, I can watch a book. I'm probably one of the most boring people, you know, in that respect. But I have so much fun recruiting that the lines really do get blurred. And to me, it's just really an advantage because my hobby just happens to be something that makes me money as well. Right. So the work ethic has always been super strong. I would just say that over the years, especially when you're newly starting out, you're honing your craft, you're building your network, you're learning how to work efficiently. Those are the things that start to escalate and come into play to help you reach billing.

Benjamin [00:11:54]:

A million dollars, that is phenomenal. One of the things that it's, like, a consistent theme with some of these interviews is, like, I remember when I was beginning as a recruiter, I hit 06:00, I went home, I was done. But a consistent theme is, like, the stuff that you're doing. I don't want to say, like, after hours, but the non core hours that really sets you up for success has been across every single 500K plus producer that we've interviewed.

Krystal Parker [00:12:22]:

Right. I think you just have to know what you want and for some people, that's not their goal, that's not their Aspiration, and that's fine. You work the hours that the input you get is the output, right? So it depends on what you want from it. And I'm always in healthy competition against myself. I'm money motivated, and I would say even more than that, I'm just motivated to seal the deal. Like, I want to make sure I'm giving my candidates the best and I'm giving my clients the best, and I'm continuing to build a great reputation.

Benjamin [00:12:55]:

Awesome. Now, environment, I believe environment has an impact on somebody's success. Do you surround yourself with other high level producers, or is it kind of like a camaraderie ship that you're part of, or is it just like you're on your own and in your zone of excellence?

Krystal Parker [00:13:15]:

Unfortunately, I would love to say that I surround myself with like minded people and people who are really able to run with me. And I will say that I love my team, but with any team, it's newer. There are people who are just getting started in their careers. There's a learning curve to some of them. They haven't quite caught the concept of even if you're agency, you are running your own business within a business, and what do you want from this and what are you willing to put into it? So that has been one of the pain points. I would say, over the course of the years in agency, I haven't really had that dynamic team to run with. I would say over the past course of the year, it's getting better, but many years, yeah, I end up being in my zone of excellence, as you say.

Benjamin [00:14:07]:

I appreciate the people that are just like, hey, I am choosing my life to go chase this goal. And I don't want to say not care about the people around you, but when you're sitting there actually chasing your goal and hitting that, becoming that million dollar producer, you're also lifting everybody else up.

Krystal Parker [00:14:22]:

I would hope so, and I wish more people would tune in and maybe ask what I'm doing or try to seek a little bit of inspiration off of what I'm doing. But I also know that what I'm doing isn't truly conventional, and it doesn't work for the majority of people, but oftentimes it leaves you kind of feeling like you're the unicorn that people are looking to and thinking, well, I can't do that because she does all of this. And those aren't the things that I do.

Benjamin [00:14:52]:

When you say different, what do you mean by different?

Krystal Parker [00:14:56]:

What I mean by different is what you'll hear from most successful recruiters. They will list their phone activity, high phone activity. They'll list their KPIs, they'll list planning their day. And those are things that I do not conform to. I actually don't even enjoy being on the phone, which sounds ridiculous for a recruiting, but I don't enjoy the idle chitchat. I just want to get down to brass tacks. What's your problem? How can I solve it? But of course, we all have to play the game, right? Build relationships. I'm great at doing that because I have to do that, but it's not something I really enjoy. So it would shock a lot of people to know that I may get on the phone anywhere from five to ten times a day. And there are some days I don't get on the phone at all. If I was in my happy place, I would do everything digitally because I'm super efficient that way. But it's a means to an end. You have to do it. KPIs. I cringe actually at the word KPI. I've never met KPIs since I joined the firm. Our senior partner told me at the beginning, he's like, if you're producing, I'm not talking to you about KPIs. And to this day, almost six years later, he's held his word. But it is a big thing in our organization, especially the acquisition that we went to. They're very big on KPIs. But if I had to conform to KPIs, I would say I would probably leave my job, because I don't even know how people fit their KPIs into their day with all that I have going on. And in a particular sore point that I have on KPIs, you're told to interviews a certain amount of candidates every week. Let's say that number is ten. So you're constantly sourcing identifying, meeting with people, trying to reach your ten candidates. And you've got some great candidates that you've met with that are ready for you to do something with. It may not be an open job that you have, but I don't believe in just finding candidates for a job. I believe in finding jobs for candidates. So in order to be able to pivot and to be strategic, to really maximizing the value of investment that you've met with these people, you've got to call a little time out and be able to actually go do something with them. And if you're in this constant quota that you're trying to meet of getting more people more people, more people into your pipeline, I believe that's really challenging. And a lot of agency managers will tell you, well, you're building your pipeline. I think you're building a pipe dream. Because at the time that comes, I mean, you're really relying on the stars to align at the time that comes down the road, that you have the perfect job at just the right time, that they're ready to make a move. When the time is really now, they have a pain point. They're ready to make a move. You should capitalize on it. Stop what you're doing to try to get them placed instead of always looking for the next thing.

Benjamin [00:18:01]:

So are you doing a lot of NPCs with these candidates?

Krystal Parker [00:18:06]:

I love NPCs.

Benjamin [00:18:07]:

Yeah, because a lot of times the agency is like, hey, you have a job, go get it filled. But it sounds like you're creating the relationships and correct me if I'm wrong, creating the relationship with candidates that have a pain point to move, but you're out there marketing them.

Krystal Parker [00:18:23]:

Absolutely. And that's actually the most to me, that's the most think, you know, you can go out in NPC and then stop what you're doing, go back to recruiting for your open jobs and just wait to see what comes in from the NPC efforts. And to me, those are the most unpredictable, the fun things that come up throughout the day, the new relationships that you build, new clients you're able to gain. And a lot of times you're doing it in a capacity where they may not even have an open job right now, but you've presented someone that sparked their interest. They were thinking about it and they like this individual and all of a sudden you've bypassed your competition. You're not even competing with anyone.

Benjamin [00:19:03]:

I will guarantee you there are people listening to this podcast that are just like, oh my God, thank God I can do well in this job and not have five and a half hours a day sitting on the phone at a phone time. Now, when it comes to all the digital work that you're doing, you are in real quick. She is hopping on the phone, but she's doing a lot of work. What are some of the digital work that you're doing to still see this level of success?

Krystal Parker [00:19:31]:

It's nothing super impressive as far as anything technology savvy or AI results. I mean, it's linked in to the most part. I've never in my life sent a bulk message out to anybody. It's always very pinpointed to who I'm targeting, to who I really want to spend my time with. But just through the simplicity of doing that outreach with opportunities or sharing candidates, NPCs or even just a lot of people say, well, you can't get good candidates from job post. I would disagree. I have a ton of great candidates from job post. Especially you post a remote role out there and everybody starts applying right? There's a lot to go through, but you get some really great candidates out of it as well.

Benjamin [00:20:26]:

I love that just because real quick, I love that you're also personalizing every message. You're a million dollar producer and you've never sent a single bulk message. There's so many people out there that are now talking about sending like 5000 messages a day. And I'm like, I'll be honest, I've seen some of their numbers. They're not billing what you're billing.

Krystal Parker [00:20:46]:

That hurts my head to even think about the responses you'll have coming in.

Benjamin [00:20:52]:

Well, because you also have had a nontraditional career and a nontraditional success. Is there some things that you where did you learn and where did you educate yourself on recruiting or whatever to be able to hit some of the success that you've gotten?

Krystal Parker [00:21:11]:

I would go back and give kudos to my time at the PE firm because that really teaches you about the quality and caliber of talent and what really speaks to people. You have to be really on target with the type of individuals you're recruiting for that type of firm. And I think it has really created a keen eye for me to recognize talent. So a lot of times when I'm recruiting on positions, I would say the majority of times, I can get by with submitting one or two candidates and they'll get hired. I don't have to go through this five to ten down this rabbit hole just because I have a really good eye for what speaks to the client.

Benjamin [00:21:52]:

And for those that don't have that really good eye yet, how do you develop that eye over time?

Krystal Parker [00:21:59]:

I think it takes as a process of really talking to the good, bad and the ugly, you have to go down that trek to really be able to identify. When you first start out, you think everyone's great until you really start to get down the exercise of figuring out and being able to identify the really elite candidates from the ones that are just so so. And I would say the ones that are so so are not so much the ones that I represent. I'm really representing top quality candidates, and I'm really very thoughtful to my clients about not sending them individuals to just see what sticks. And they thank me for that all the time, for really making the best use of their time. So it works out.

Benjamin [00:22:49]:

Earlier in the interviews, I really appreciate the part that you said that you look at this as your own business. Your day is structured as your own business, your desk is structured as your own business. You already have that mindset. Have you ever thought about making the jump?

Krystal Parker [00:23:05]:

I absolutely have, and I know it's coming down the road. I'm super excited about it. But I will tell you the reason I haven't jumped yet is because I know that when I do jump, I'm not going back. And so there are certain things about my team and what I'm doing right now that I really enjoy. So it's not just all about the money or the flexibility, but I really want to take advantage of all that I enjoy right now for a bit longer. And there are certain factors that may come down the road. If there are things that happen within the firm that I'm not really crazy about, maybe that'll cause me to jump. If my current team disbands and I don't like the new team members, maybe that'll cause me to jump. But also just the fact that I'm just getting older, right? Like, I'm approaching 50 next year. So I've been working since for somebody else since I was 16. So at some point, I want to make that jump. I've built up enough financial foundation to where that will make sense for me. But for now, what I'm doing is rewarding. And I just know that's something to look forward to coming down the road.

Benjamin [00:24:18]:

I thought I would ask you've had a lot of success. Your company recently got bought out, right?

Krystal Parker [00:24:26]:

And if you're a deal maker, if you're capable of making deals, that makes sense for someone to go out on their own. And I love to hear the stories of people who just jumped into it and had no experience and had great success. I'm such a methodical, analytical person that I really have to take in my surroundings, listen to other people marinate on it. So I really love to hear those. It's really encouraging and I'm excited about it.

Benjamin [00:24:55]:

But always enjoy where you're at is one of the most important things. I always tell people whether absolutely you're working for somebody, you're gaining skill sets, it is part of your personal story and find a way to enjoy where you're at. And I absolutely love that you're doing that.

Krystal Parker [00:25:12]:

Absolutely. And I will share too. I've shared some things that I don't do that are more conventional. I also don't plan. Like I know that is a big thing be planned for your next day. I have never planned a day in my life in recruiting. I just have it in my head I know what I want to do and I think that's fantastic for people to do that. But it's just not something that I've ever conformed to. But I will say on the road to billing a million, I think it's really important for people to embrace the 360 model. I mean, if you're solo, you're having to do this, but if you're an agency depending upon your role I hear so many people think of 360 as a burden with the recruiting and the marketing side. Either I don't have time to do all of it or I am not good at doing all of it, or I don't enjoy doing all of it. They have one lane versus another. But you really diversify your income when you have a more positive, open mind to it. Because again, it's not just about finding candidates for a job, it's about finding jobs for a candidate. And recently there was on one of the online recruiting forums, an individual who was solo and struggling in their business had asked, what comes first, the candidate or the client? And some people tend to think, well, it's the client. You need a job opening in order to fill that job, to attract candidates. And I would say the client to me, is more two dimensional. You fill that job one and done, you're moving on. Or you can maybe tap into that client to see who they know for opportunities that you're working on. But two dimensional is how I look at it. For me, the candidate is king. And why I say that is I look at a candidate as an octopus. So an octopus has eight arms. I used to think these were tentacles, but I've since been corrected they're arms. But the ways that you can diversify a candidates to complement your income stream in multiple ways is huge. So if you think about the first thing we talked about MP, seeing a candidate, if a client has that direct need, you connect them. That's who they need. Great. You made a placement, you gained a new client. If you take that candidate to market and they don't have the need, you're still able to showcase the type of candidate you represent in the market. So time and time and again I've had clients come back and say, oh, that's a really great background. I don't have a need for that right now, but I have a need for X. So you're off to the races now, you're recruiting on that role and you've gained a new client. Or you have a reference situation. You should always be pivoting to try to turn that reference with these manager level references into segue, into a marketing opportunity at the end. And I would say two pro tips in that make sure you're building rapport with them. You're making yourself seem approachable. Hopefully you're throwing in some humor, you're making it comfortable for them. But at the end, don't ask a yes no question. Don't ask them if they partner with external firms. You need to turn it into an open ended question. How does your firm partner with external agencies for talent? Get them to talking and then you can really spin off those conversations. And then additionally, you should make it on the references to where they feel like, let's say, don't ask a positive question, you need to ask a negative question. And what I mean by that is most of the people you're talking with, if you're building a good rapport, they'll be open to you reaching out in the future. But there will be some individuals who are more closely guarded. They don't have any pain points right now, and they can't see far enough down the road to anticipate they'll ever need you. Right? So what they're wanting to do is tell you no. They don't want to say yes to you. So don't put them in a situation where they get to say yes out of their mouth. So if you ask a positive question, can I reach out to you in six weeks to see how your team or projects are going? They don't want to say yes. So they may say, well, no, we really don't partner with outside agencies, or I have a really stable team, whatever it is. So turn that into a negative question where they're able to say no and feel good about themselves, feel like they won. You can say, for instance, so do you think it would be a bad idea if I reach out to you in six weeks? To see where you are with your team and projects. Well, first of all, it sounds ridiculous to say it's a bad idea, right. And second of all, you're giving them the chance to say no. They'll say, well, no, I don't think it's a bad idea. Right. So you're like, great, I'll reach out to you in six weeks. So they've got to say no, which is a win for them. And you've got the yes, which is a win for you.

Benjamin [00:30:32]:

I absolutely love the shift with the language because little language shifts like that are just so impactful for a conversation and for future business development.

Krystal Parker [00:30:42]:

Yeah. It's just part of the human psyche. Right. It's just using that psychological nature. But beyond that so the fourth thing with the candidates is being able to gain market intel. So you always want to make sure you're talking to your candidates after interviewing them, finding out what other places they're interviews, but you don't want to sound like you're fishing, so you want to talk to them about what other places you're interviews, what roles, what companies and why. So as soon as you throw in the and why, you've shifted it from them thinking that, oh, she's just fishing to see what roles she can go capitalize on and throw some competition in the bowl right. To being and why is more personalized. What is speaking to you about that role. And you'll also find out a lot about the candidate because they'll tell you, ideally, what they're targeting in the initial point of the interview. It may be beyond their reach, but it's what they want. Right. And then you get down to the brass tag. So what really are you interviewing for? What are you open to? So always ask and why? And from integrity standards, I would never go and try to recruit on a position that one of my candidates is interviewing for and throw some competition in. But the second part of that question is what opportunities have you turned down that you have declined or that you haven't been chosen for? So once they tell you they're out of the mix for something, what you're really looking to understand is the market intel of how did you come across this opportunity? Are they using recruiters? Was it through a recruiter? Because you're just trying to find out if this is a company you can go market to and know ahead of time that they already use recruiters. And if they do tell you that it's an opportunity that they were declined or whatnot, then that to me is a green light that you can go contact that manager, say, hey, I understand you have this open opportunity. You may have had a candidate that turned it down. Here's a sample of a candidate I have to offer. Would this be a good fit for you? So always operating by integrity, I think is really important. Absolutely. And then beyond that, so the fifth thing would be on the market. Intel really capitalize on the information they share with you about the companies they've been at most recently. You can learn a lot about whether those companies are going through they have high turnover, they're going through reorganization, what projects they're involved in, if they've had a relocation from another city lately, things that you can really tap into to make those your next target list for your clients. And then the 6th thing I would say is referrals. A lot of people say they encourage you to ask your candidates, who else do you know in the market that I could tap into or that is looking for an opportunity? I don't really like that question at the point in time where I am dealing with active candidates because a, if a candidate is unemployed, they need you. They feel like they need your attention. And if they have any pain points and they want to get out of their situation, they want your attention. So by you trying to let them know that you're diverting your attention to other people, I don't think it's the smartest move. I prefer to ask those kind of questions after I know they get settled into an opportunity and either I place them there, who can I do the same for? Or if I didn't place you, I gave you a great candidate experience, who could you recommend? But what I do like to ask for referrals with active candidates is at the end of the interview to let them know I'm happy to support you in this endeavor, and I'm hoping that you can do me a favor and just help me to build out my future pipeline by sharing with me maybe two individuals, you know, of one that maybe you revere or that you aspire to be that has really some great accolades in their job that I could put into a future pipeline if I have a solid opportunity. I like to approach solid candidates. And the second being, who is someone in your network that you, regardless of whatever company you go to, you would want to work with and why? So these are people that I'm letting them know that I just want to put them in a future pipeline. It's not my target today, but it's a good little trade off for I'm supporting you today in these efforts. Thank you for supporting me in my future pipeline. So that's how I really work with the referral question.

Benjamin [00:35:13]:

Oh my God. That is just so much actionable advice. I love this. Is there any more arms that you want to talk about?

Krystal Parker [00:35:20]:

Yeah. So the 7th arm would be if they have the potential to be in a managerial role, whether you place them or you didn't place them, make it a good candidates experience because you're going to want to be able to approach them in this managerial role and be able to partner with them in a different way than you did on the candidates side. You want to help them build their team, and you've earned the right to do so. And then the 8th arm, I would say, don't take your eye off the ball of their career. Have some touch points with them if they get placed into a new role. If you did not place them there. Touch points, three months, six months, one year. How is that going for you? A lot of people take opportunities that they're sold one way, but don't turn out to be the way they thought would happen. So be prepared to recapitalize on their candidacy. Maybe you missed it the first round and didn't get to place them, but you can place them the second round, so just don't take your eye off the ball. So I would say those are the eight arms that I think you should always look at on the candidate side and why I think the candidate is king.

Benjamin [00:36:27]:

I don't laugh. I feel like what you just shared, the actionable advice on dealing with candidates is better than what I've seen in some training programs out there.

Krystal Parker [00:36:37]:

Oh, nice. Thank you.

Benjamin [00:36:39]:

Before we move on to the quickfire questions, is there anything else you'd love to share about work ethic, learning, billing, sales, recruiting?

Krystal Parker [00:36:51]:

You know what's interesting? I'll give you a few stats. I said I'm not into KPIs. I do track my KPIs from the standpoint of how many candidate interviews I have, how many submittals, how many client interviews. I don't track them from the standpoint that I study them, and I don't track them from the standpoint that it causes different behavior in what I'm doing. I just track them to have a glance back and see what I did. So when I was preparing to come on and speak with you, I thought, people may want to know what KPIs went into achieving that success. And it's really going to be disappointing because when I look back at 2022, on any given week, I interviewed anywhere between one to nine candidates. And if I average that out over the year, it comes out to be about three candidates per week that I interviewed, which sounds extremely low, but it goes back to being just really laser focused on the quality that I'm submitting. And I did all of that billing not with a mass of clients. It really only consisted of 20 clients, and those clients could have been anywhere between one role up to four roles. So I say that to kind of help people understand. It doesn't have to be this mass production of clients and candidates that you're interviewing to reach that goal. It just has to be very targeted and sustainable.

Benjamin [00:38:23]:

I feel like that's a breath of fresh air for many people listening.

Krystal Parker [00:38:26]:

I hope so.

Benjamin [00:38:28]:

Which that's one of the reasons why I really wanted you to come on this podcast and share this stuff. Just because every person's route for success is different. And with that, not everybody. The way they operate is the same as some of these other people. So awesome.

Krystal Parker [00:38:48]:

Excellent. Yeah, I hope people there's going to be some naysayers, I think, who are really stick to their guns on the things that they do to achieve success. And I think, as I told you before the podcast, I'm not here to challenge any of that. I think those are fantastic and I've never actually put them into play to see if they work, but I totally believe it with the majority of people. It's just that I found a different way that works for me.

Benjamin [00:39:13]:

Before we move on to the quickfire questions, make sure to sign up for the Elite Recruiter podcast newsletter. Finally putting that together after I think we're almost on 80 episodes or so, but really just want to start sharing some of my thoughts on amazing interviews from what Crystal Parker is sharing. So excited. To, one, share this podcast, and two, just share some additional thoughts. All right, quick fire questions and they don't have to be super quick answers.

Krystal Parker [00:39:41]:

Okay.

Benjamin [00:39:42]:

What advice would you give to a brand new recruiter that's actually just starting off in this industry in 2023?

Krystal Parker [00:39:49]:

Feel free to give yourself a pay increase. You are now in a position where you are in the driver's seat of your paycheck and that paycheck is unlimited. So the only thing standing between you and a big payday is hustle and grit. So you need to lose the mindset of waiting around for people to acknowledge your accomplishments and giving you an increase and understand that you are now driving that. And the faster you really latch on to that mindset and work your business like it's your own business, the better off you're going to be.

Benjamin [00:40:28]:

Awesome. And same question, but for recruiters that have been around the block, they've been recruiting for a while, is there things that an advice that you would give to them to either continue to have success or see success?

Krystal Parker [00:40:40]:

I would say what some others have said. As far as going back to the basics, if you're finding that you're hitting kind of a pinch where you're not seeing the success you normally do, just don't forget the things that you learned along the way. The simplest of things can be what turns your business around. And sometimes it takes hearing things five or six times before we actually accept it and act on it. And a lot of times those are the things that stretch you that you don't want to do, but you find out that yield some of the biggest fruit.

Benjamin [00:41:17]:

Awesome. Has there been a book that has had a huge impact on your personal career?

Krystal Parker [00:41:22]:

I won't say that I've read a ton of books, but I will give shout out to Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount. I think it is just very to the point, transparent. There's no fluff, really quick read and sets yourself up for the mindset of prospecting to the point. I actually used it as a book club for my team and they loved it, and then it got pushed over to the Biz Dev guys as well. So yeah, I think it's a phenomenal fast read and something that really hits home.

Benjamin [00:41:58]:

Do you think that there's been something that has really impacted your success over time?

Krystal Parker [00:42:03]:

Being resourceful number one, if I don't know how to do something, I'm going to figure it out. And I having a self healthy self competition with myself. I'm always pushing the limits. I always want to outdo myself. I'm not competing against other people, but I'm just always trying to do better than what I've done in the past. And I would also say I'm not emotional, so I feel like I'm more than a guy, than a girl, and I don't want to be sexist by saying that. But I do not let anything affect me, I do not let anything offend me. Very confident in who I am and what I bring to the table. And a lot of that really helps when you're going out to the market to have a thick skin and to know what you bring as value and that it's their loss. If they don't have a pain point, they want to talk to you, keep moving on. Too many people get caught up in the emotional currency of that and it really hinders their game.

Benjamin [00:43:06]:

If you could go back to the very beginning of your career, and let's give this two barts if you can go back to the very beginning of your career, when you started off with that PE firm, with everything you know now recruiting and not recruiting, what advice would you give yourself?

Krystal Parker [00:43:22]:

I would say don't be afraid to ask. In business, especially now, if there are things you want from a candidates or a client, don't be afraid to ask. The worst they can say is no. And if you do not play in the game, you cannot win the game. So put yourself out there. I think you'll surprise yourself. A lot of people don't want to be combative, and so don't be afraid to ask. I think you'll get a lot more yeses than you do no's.

Benjamin [00:43:56]:

Same question with everything that you know now, the success that you've experienced. If you can go back and talk to yourself, the very beginning of your recruiting career, what advice would you give yourself?

Krystal Parker [00:44:08]:

Things become really fun when you allow it to be real. So be authentic, be yourself. Don't put up pretentious, don't be rigid. Just allow people to be their authentic self. When you're authentic with them, they'll feel comfortable being authentic with you and that's where things really get interesting and you can really start building some great relationships.

Benjamin [00:44:38]:

Well, Crystal, I'm so excited when this podcast goes live for the listeners that are listening because there are so many different ways to success. And I always say, we always hear about the big biller and it's this, this and this. Would you say three interviews a week, right?

Krystal Parker [00:44:56]:

Average. On average.

Benjamin [00:44:58]:

On average. And build a million dollars. Don't laugh, it's a breath of fresh air. Before I let you go, is there anything else that you would love to share with the listeners?

Krystal Parker [00:45:13]:

Yeah, I just want to give you kudos because I'm addicted to your podcast and I just think it is such a great forum to allow people to benefit from hearing other stories. And I always say that there's awakening and awareness. So being able to really vibe in and hear how other people operate and achieve success and think about things that are maybe a little uncommon to the mainstream are really fantastic. So thank you so much for entertaining us all and educating us.

Benjamin [00:45:46]:

Honestly, this is like my fun project. I love sharing stories. I might have mentioned this before in some other podcasts, but in my first recruiting job, they almost got rid of me. And if it wasn't for some top billers that I just cold called this is back before everybody was on social media, I was just like, luckily they gave me some tips, I tried emulating those things and I ended up not getting fired.

Krystal Parker [00:46:13]:

Would have been their lust.

Benjamin [00:46:15]:

Yeah, but those conversations that I had shaped my almost two decades into recruiting, and I'm grateful for those, but every now and then I'm like, what if I didn't have those conversations? And I know there's a lot of podcasts out, I know there's a lot of stuff out there, great places to learn, other things to listen to, but I love sharing the stories to help someone else. That was me at that point in time.

Krystal Parker [00:46:40]:

Yeah. Well, thank you for investing the time. It serves us.

Benjamin [00:46:43]:

So and for the listeners, until next time, thank you, Crystal, for joining us.

Krystal Parker [00:46:48]:

Thank you.

Intro [00:46:49]:

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Elite Recruiter podcast with Benjamin MENA. If you enjoyed, hit subscribe and leave a rating.