Last year was a crazy year.   I was working at Rosetta Stone and by last summer I knew it was time for a change.  I loved the company and I loved my co-workers, but the fire in my belly to work at that company was just gone.  No fault of Rosetta Stone, there was just something inside me telling me it was time for a change.  Not a recruiting gig at another company, but something BIG.  I didn’t know exactly what that meant but I was ready to try something completely different.

It was during this time when my mind went wild with possibilities.  I was thinking about relocating my family to Seattle, New York, San Francisco and even Australia!  My wife, Laura was always my rock but she had to giggle at some of the crazy things that I was exploring.  We decided if we were going to make a really drastic change (like moving to another country) that the time was NOW while our kids are little.  It would get more difficult to take the plunge with teenagers.  We thought about the experiences and the memories we would make.  It was exciting, but terrifying at the same time.

In September of last year a college fraternity brother whom I had not talked to in 15 years sent me a tweet.  He said he was uprooting his family from Houston to California to take on a role as VP Sales for a networking organization.  He asked me if I could help him recruit for sales people on a national and international basis.  After a long pause he said “that is what you do, right”?  When I answered “yes” I had absolutely no idea what was in store for me.

Well I continued working at Rosetta Stone and in the evenings I would look for candidates for a role my friend needed to fill.  I wasn’t even thinking about launching Bulls Eye Recruiting as a business, I was just looking to help a friend.

In October, a human resources friend wrote me on Facebook “Looking for a change, how about Seattle?”  I told him I was indeed looking for a drastic change and he told me about a major employer in Seattle that was looking to hire a sales recruiter.

Now the recruiter I was speaking to was religious and so am I.  At the end of our conversation he asked me if he could pray for me.  Never in my 20 years of recruiting have I ever had someone ask if they could pray for me.  I was taken aback, but said “absolutely, thank you”.  The prayer went something like this:  “Lord, please watch over Will and let this door open if it is to be opened, and if not, let Will find the right career path for him and his family.”

Then the holidays were here.  Thanksgiving was upon us and Christmas was just around the corner.  I had a series of phone interviews and they all went well.  My recruiting friend said, “Well, are you ready to head to Seattle for an interview?”   This is where it really sank in.  Wait, this is real!  We could be moving to Seattle.  I felt uneasy yet excited at the possibility of the adventure of moving cross country.

After spending Thanksgiving at my in-laws in Iowa, I quickly got on a plane and did a red-eye to Seattle.  Seattle was a cool city and I envisioned what living there would feel like.  After a series of interviews, I knew the opportunity in Seattle wasn’t for me.  While it was a great company, it wasn’t the right company for me and I was actually relieved when they told me they had not chosen me as their candidate.

Well, several months went by and my collegiate friend did end up hiring the person I found.  In fact he had asked me to do several other searches.  Never in my deepest imagination would I have thought this is the plan that God had laid out for me.  I thought doing something big meant moving far away to experience life in another location, albeit at the same type of job.  Starting my own company never crossed my mind as the “something big” I was craving.  My recruiter friend’s prayer was answered, just not the way I thought it was going to play out.

I ended up leaving Rosetta Stone in March to take the leap at working for my own company full-time.  Bulls Eye Recruiting took off like a rocket!  I ended up getting a number of other accounts immediately.  This year I have hired 16 of the most sought after sales people around the United States with Bulls Eye Recruiting.  It has been scary, exciting, frustrating and rewarding .  And it has turned out to have been the best thing that could have ever happened to us as a family.

They say God works in mysterious ways.  I couldn’t agree more.  Things don’t happen in your time frame and often don’t happen the way you envisioned.  I am forever grateful for the recruiter I worked with for the Seattle job that never was and my college friend who helped enable me to launch my own company.

I encourage you if you are wanting to make a change to talk to God, keep an open mind and don’t be surprised when the prayer you want answered DOESN’T happen and something better than you ever expect HAPPENS.

Who knows what the future holds, but my wife and I are excited about the ride.  You should too.  Go after your dreams, but the dreams may find you instead.

@willrecruitsBullsEyeLaura

 

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