At Spotter Staffing, we’re thrilled to celebrate the incredible team of expert recruiters who specialize in connecting therapists and teachers with exciting, rewarding opportunities in schools across Illinois and Texas. To spotlight their knowledge, experience, and vibrant personalities, we’re introducing you to each of our amazing recruiters. Get ready to learn how they can help you and your school thrive!

Say hello to Chris Majer!

Chris is one of our outstanding Professional Recruiters based in Chicago, IL. With a background in staffing, he brings valuable insights to the table when it comes to navigating the school-based job market—plus, he’s got a few fun facts up his sleeve that you won’t want to miss (and an excellent go-to Karaoke song!).

Check out the video below to meet Chris, hear his top tips, and see why he’s such an essential part of our “herd.”

Transcript

 Mackenzie: Thanks for joining us on another edition of Meet Your Recruiter with Spotter Staffing. Today we have our newest recruiter, Chris Majer. Chris, thanks for joining me today.

Chris: Yeah, thank you so much, Mackenzie. I appreciate it.

Mackenzie: Of course. We’re so glad to get to introduce you to all the people watching at home. So my first question I always start off with is just if you could explain a little bit about what your role is here at Spotter and kind of what you do on a day-to-day.

Chris: Yeah, absolutely. So I’m a senior recruiter here at Spotter. And main goal is just supporting the Chicagoland area and supporting suburbs. So really to connect with the community of social workers, occupational therapists, um, special education teachers, SLPs and help them navigate the job market. It’s definitely, you know, it’s not a lot of fun, uh, all the time as most people know. And also everyone’s looking for something different, so it’s. Almost like being a matchmaker and that’s why I love it. So I get to understand what’s truly important to candidates, past experiences, and then also advocate throughout their career. So just be any like, support, really help ’em out with anything they need, after they’re hired or obviously throughout the process.

Mackenzie: That’s awesome. The “being an advocate” is such a big part of what we do at Spotter and it’s something that I wish I had had when I first started job seeking out of college. Several years ago, I don’t wanna say how many now, but to have someone have your back and be able to do things like salary negotiation or you know, hours or locations, things like that. Just not having to go it alone makes such a big difference when you’re really trying to find that perfect. Whether it’s a first job right out of grad school, or if it’s your, you know, new position after retirement, whatever it is. I think being advocates for the therapists and teachers is a huge part of what you do, and we’re thankful to have you there doing it. If you, if you were gonna give a piece of advice to somebody who might be a new grad or might be looking for a new position in Chicago, do you have any best practice or piece of wisdom that you would share with them?

Chris: Absolutely. So two parts. The first part, I would say is just, just keep an open mind to all the schools that are in this area. There’s definitely schools with less exposure, that are still great schools and that can offer great benefits and great support. Maybe they’re just not as known. So that’s a first part. But then also kind of, you know, tying into the last question is just using all the resources that are available. So. Especially with any like recruitments or recruitment, you know, companies like Spotter. We have a lot of data, we have a lot of knowledge. We can really help guide the process, um, but then also talk to other people in the field, like talk to people that may have worked at a, a school that you’re interested in, like really make sure that it’s gonna be a great fit for you, and ask any questions any way that we could possibly help.

Mackenzie: I think that’s a great point. I think asking questions is the biggest thing you can do because there’s so much in finding a job or starting a new position that you don’t know until you’re in it. But sometimes we find those like little intangible things that could have been found out beforehand or, you know, some strange hours or some kind of duties that people like or, and they’re excited about or they don’t like and they wish they knew beforehand. So I think definitely asking all those questions and getting all that information up front definitely will help people find that. Exact right fit job that they’re looking for.

Chris: Absolutely.

Mackenzie: Well, I have one more kind-of serious question to ask, and then we’ll get to some more fun ones. But, I know you have a great background in recruiting. Have you had one big, like career lesson that you’ve learned in your personal or professional career so far that you would share with people?

Chris: This applies to like all different industries, but, I think really just taking time to build internal relationships. Like if you join a company and the team’s not exactly, you know, doesn’t have the culture that you exactly want, like you can create that. You spending that 10 minutes when you get to work to understand about someone’s weekend, talk about, you know, kids really get to know people. A, it will pay itself or pay for itself, I should say. But it also, it builds that trust. You have that rapport, it makes going to work like, okay, hey, I want to go tell Mackenzie about my weekend. Or you know, Hey, like, what, what did you do? And just that it makes the job just so much better. And then when you have bad days, you can talk to each other and. So yeah, just really making sure you build that team, um, and you have control over it.

Mackenzie: Yeah, I think that’s great too with people who work in the schools as part of Spotter. You know, you have an awesome school community that you can talk to, but you also have teams of experts who are in your field. You know, the SLPs who are career mentors who work for us and their social workers, like there’s all these people who you can turn to if you don’t wanna talk to somebody in school or you don’t feel like you have a great relationship with somebody in your school. There’s a bunch of people on the Spotter team who are resources or other people working at other schools who can lend an ear and really help you work through your issues. So, um, I think having that is a great asset, and being part of “the herd” really offers a lot of benefits to people, so that’s awesome. I think that’s a great piece of advice. Well, I’ll, uh, I’ll let people learn a little bit more about, um, some fun questions that we have here for you. My first one is whether you have like a quote or kind of a motto that you really live by or means a lot to you.

Chris: Yeah. I would say it, it’s probably a little corny, but um, I just say “good things happen.” I think it’s, you know, during either like stressful weeks or just stressful, you know, industry, every industry has a little bit of different stress times or whatever that may be. Um, and also within just like personal life, like a lot going on, um, just for, keep that in mind that good things do happen. And then also, look for the good things that are happening. So two parts of it. ’cause yeah, there, there may be things that are, that are happening that if you’re focused on, you know, the stressors and work and all of that that you may miss.

Mackenzie: I think that’s great. Definitely accentuate the positive, right?

Chris: Yeah.

Mackenzie: Yeah. It’s always good happening somewhere. I like that. Okay. If you had anything on your bucket list, is there any vacation you really wanna take or anything you really want to accomplish on your bucket list?

Chris: Yeah, it wouldn’t be a necessary, like a specific location, but I do want to go skydiving. So, and I hope to do that this year. I am it, I’m scared of it. I feel like when it’s over I’ll be happy I did it. I don’t know if it’s gonna be something I do more than once, but. Yeah. At least, at least once.

Mackenzie: Yeah, that is, um, that’s a brave item on your bucket list. I was not expecting that one. That’s, um, you gotta really not be afraid of heights or, or consequences with that one.

Chris: I guess the consequences part, definitely afraid of heights. So, um, I think that’s what I wanna do though.

Mackenzie: Yeah, that’s really cool. Well, definitely share with us if you do love to see that I get the video. Absolutely good.

Chris: I’m getting all the pictures, the package, the whole thing. If I’m doing it, I’m, I’m spending the money for that.

Mackenzie: Good. So, alright, well I have one last question for you and then I’ll let you get back to your day. I know you have a lot going on, but, this is a question that I love when people pick to ask, but what is your go-to karaoke song?

Chris: Firework by Katy Perry. Hands down.

Mackenzie: That’s awesome. It’s a good, it’s a good song.

Chris: It’s, um, you know, I think most people know the lyrics and if you don’t, it’s just like an uplifting song and, uh, it’s always been a hit. Um. But yeah.

Mackenzie: That’s awesome. That’s a great choice. I love when people do fun songs at karaoke and not just, you know, Celine Dion Classics.

Chris: Yep. Yeah. I, and I would, I would, I would do a disservice to that song Katie Perry. She’s fine if I, if I’m not on the, the right notes. So.

Mackenzie: Perfect. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for letting us learn a little bit more about you and what you do at Spotter and we can’t wait to see all the awesome things you accomplish.

Chris: Oh, thanks so much. Goodbye.

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