Meet Michelle Lowe, SHRM-CP our Corporate Recruiter and Talent Acquisition extraordinaire. Michelle received her Bachelor of Science in 2003 with a major in Human Resources. She continued her education at the University of Phoenix receiving her Master’s degree in HR Management and Marketing in 2009. While working in Human Resources, Michelle studied for, and became certified by the Society of Human Resource Management in 2018. She joined ADKF in 2021 and has been dedicated to finding and recruiting the best talent in the area to our family.
When not recruiting you can find Michelle driving her tractor and working on the family farm. Tending to their livestock and their love for the country is a tradition handed down from generations. You can find Michelle and her kids making cheeses, soaps, crafts, and even spinning yarn off the fruits of their labors. Most importantly it gives her quality time with her kids allowing her to teach them the importance of hard work and dedication to the land and environment they love so much.
For Michelle, her work has always had a bigger purpose. She has always been driven by a challenge. She loves helping others and seeing a smile on their face once she helps them discover their potential and find happiness. Recruiting helps her attain these goals by meeting and working with new people and connecting the dots to the foundation and values the firm holds. Over the last few years, the landscape of our work culture has changed dramatically which means the work Michelle does and how she does it has shifted as well. Michelle says the two biggest workforce shifts that have come out of the COVID pandemic are flexibility and balancing your work and home life environment. These two demands on employers can be difficult at times depending on the type of work the organization does. Fortunately, Michelle can offer this to her candidates as ADKF puts both items on top of their priority list. While the landscape has changed dramatically, the people applying are also very different than those on-the-job hunt ten plus years ago.
I asked Michelle what advice she had for those looking to land their next dream job, here are her recommendations:
- Complete your resume. Take the time and be specific for the job you are looking for. I do not need to know every single detail of every job you have had if it has nothing to do with what you are doing now.
- Communicate. Be timely and always answer emails and/or phone calls from recruiters or organizations. Never ignore someone during the process.
- Learn and practice your soft skills. This will get you far in not only your career, but also in life in general. Being personable, adaptable, a team player, a good listener, and a problem solver are just a few examples of what employers are really looking for.
- Be honest. To yourself, to your career, and to your employer. Communicate your needs and wants up front. It is ok to be specific on what you are looking for even if it does not align with the recruiters offering. It is better to decline than agree begrudgingly and then be unhappy. A simple “no thank you” is respected more than ghosting the recruiter. Honesty is the best policy.