Yes, filling a search is about satisfying a client and getting paid. But sometimes, filling a search can still hit you straight in the feels...

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Hi, this is Stephanie Maas.

Let's talk about playing the long game.

There was a candidate that I've called on for 10 years, and the joke was he would literally return my call every five years.

So here I am calling him four times a year for five years, and one of those calls gets returned and the first time he called me back he said, Hey, I think about moving to California.

Can you help me?

And I really couldn't, and they didn't end up making the move.

That was fine.

But hey, at least he called me and asked, right?

And then five years later he called me again and said, Hey, um, I'm not gonna relocate, but I am thinking about making a job change.

He was putting in just unbelievable hours.

He couldn't work from home ever.

He had an hour commute each way with, you know, without traffic.

He said basically, I don't need more money.

I don't need a better title, advancement, any of those things.

But I have hardly seen my kids in the last two years because I'm, I get up, I leave to go to work before they air up and I come home usually after they're in bed and.

I've only got a few years left of him.

I don't wanna be an absentee father, so can you find me something better?

Ironically enough, the timing was called, was perfect.

I had just launched the search that he was an exact fit for, and it was a little bit more money.

It was a little bit more advancement.

Those things just happened to be that way.

But the absolute best part was the organization that he joined completely believes in work-life balance.

He can work from home as much as he wants.

And it is literally a seven minute commute for him each way.

It.

It's so fun for me.

I mean, it's served my client.

He's already been promoted.

He's doing an incredibly good job there, but it's so fun for me when he calls me on his way home and says, Hey, I only got five minutes.

I'm almost home.

And he literally just left the office.

Or he'll call and say, Hey, I'm on.

I got to leave early today.

I'm on my way to see my son play a game, or whatever it is he's doing.

I mean, let me be clear.

We don't do this for the feel good.

I've got a family support.

I've got bills to pay.

I am not a nonprofit.

I'm in it for the money, no doubt.

But when you have the opportunity to serve people like that, it's just a huge difference maker.