Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiffany Becerra.
Tiffany, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started my career in recruiting at a large physician staffing firm in Dallas in 2012. I had no idea what I was getting into, but some friends of mine worked at the company and told me they really liked it so I thought “hey, why not!” I started in a very entry-level position where I was making 100 cold calls a day, working 12 hours sometimes, calling various types of physicians such as family practice, cardiothoracic, orthopedic surgery, vascular, etc. I was fresh out of college and didn’t’ have a clue what was I talking about, but I read from my script, worked hard at getting better, and with the help of an amazing boss, who I still sing his praise to this day, I fell in love with recruiting.
About a year into that position, the Vice President of the company approached me and asked if I would be interested in interviewing for an opening in the Corporate Talent Acquisition department. At that time, I had been through a few interviews but never really thought much about HR/TA. I was flattered and obliged him and ended up being offered the position within a couple of weeks which I happily accepted.
I really loved that position and liked my boss in that position too. She was tough and scared me half the time, but it only made me work harder and respect the position more. I realized after two years of being there, as much as I loved it, I was ready for a bigger challenge and wanted my chance at being “the boss”.
In 2014, a friend of mine introduced me to a guy who was looking for someone to help him build his recruiting department from the ground up. For anyone who knows me well knows I’m very much the type of person who will jump out of the airplane and figure out how to build the parachute along the way.
I was trained really well at the large recruiting firm, knew I had a fierce work ethic and how to be resourceful, and told him that I could help him do it. Don’t think I didn’t wonder to myself “what the heck did I just promise” after he offered me the position, but I knew one thing – I couldn’t back out now.
In less than two years, we built an amazing recruiting department, hired 300+ commission-only sales reps, trained 14 recruiters, and were in a really great spot. I had three weeks of vacation and decided it was time to take advantage of it during Christmas 2015. I traveled to Thailand and Cambodia where we sailed the Thai seas, ate copious amounts of pad thai and spring rolls, rang in the new year on Koh Phi Phi, saw the most amazing Buddhist temples, explored Angkor Wat in Siem Reap – the list goes on.
I came back from that trip having caught the travel bug while also realizing that I truly wanted to be my own boss. I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to start my own company or even what the first step was, but again – I decided to jump out of the airplane without a parachute. I told my boss, who’s actually one of my closest friends to this day, that I was ready to be an entrepreneur like him, and I’ll never forget what he told me. He said, “what kind of entrepreneur would I be if I didn’t encourage you to do the same.” Four years later, it’s safe to say I built my parachute and have had a blast along the way.
Has it been a smooth road?
Any entrepreneur will tell you that the journey of being your own boss is never an easy one. It doesn’t mean it’s bad or it’s not exciting, it just means that it looks more like a winding, rocky road versus a smooth one. The company I co-founded, Net Gold, was my first taste at being a true entrepreneur. It was very much an “eat what you kill” position, and there were more times than not that I wondered again, “what the heck have I committed to?” But that’s the beauty of it. When you’re in positions like that, you’re forced to challenge yourself and constantly push yourself out of your comfort zone. You learn to work smarter, you meet interesting and much smarter people than yourself, and there’s never a dull moment.
The biggest struggle for me was wondering if I was good enough. If I actually knew what I was even talking about or doing. I wasn’t sure if CEO’s of $1B corporations would give me the time of day since Net Gold was a very small, boutique recruiting firm. I knew we were competing with the Robert Half and Korn Ferry’s of the world, but I knew we had something special and that the right people would see it.
Your confidence goes up and down when you’re an entrepreneur, but sometimes you have to stop and remind yourself that you don’t have to be everyone’s cup of tea and that it’s ok if one company doesn’t want to work with you. It just means there are different, maybe better opportunities that God has in store for you, and you have to learn to trust your gut and to keep fighting through the tears.
Tell us more about the business.
I’ve been recruiting for the last four years in industries such as healthcare, finance/banking, hospitality, oil & gas, manufacturing, technology, real estate, and more. The positions I’ve placed the most are core corporate positions such as Senior Vice President, Vice President, Director, Manager in Finance/Accounting, Marketing/Social Media, Sales/Business Development, IT/Software Development, Human Resources/Talent Acquisition, Operations, and Project Management as well as C-Suite – CEO, COO, CFO/CAO, CTO/CIO and CHRO.
I also write/rewrite resumes, cover letters, bios, LinkedIn profiles, and even offer the option to build/design them from scratch. Also, not many people are aware of how applicant tracking systems (ATS) work but they work a lot like Google in terms of algorithms. Each resume client has different needs/wants, and I ensure each resume I do has the right verbiage/keywords so they have a higher chance of getting through the algorithms and being seen by recruiters/hiring leaders.
What sets me apart from other recruiters/resume writers/career coaches is the time I spend with each client. Whether they’re a CEO of a large corporation or an entry-level sales associate, I treat everyone equally and give them the time and attention I would expect someone to give me.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
This is an interesting question – especially in the times of Covid-19. If you had asked me this question four months ago, I would’ve said that I feel our industry will be more technologically advanced and people probably wouldn’t go into offices for initial interviews anymore. Tech companies would grow and figure out how to automate the process for faster recruiting.
Asking me this question today, that answer still stands, but now I feel more justified. Amidst the global tragedy, everyone has had to figure out how to be virtual in all aspects of the business which includes hiring to already being an employee and learning to work from home.
As technology advances, so will our world which will only make things go much faster and make hiring more aggressive. No computer can truly tell you if a person is the best fit for your position or not as they don’t have “gut instincts”. And I feel there will always be a need for recruiters, it just might shift from being people-oriented to learning how to operate the technology running it all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tiffanybecerracareercoach.com/
- Phone: 214.263.1058
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roundtripgypsy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tiffany.becerra.54
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoundtripG?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanybecerra/
Suggest a story: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
