A Recruiter/Client Relationship Built on Trust Spans Careers
As Founder & Chief Creative of AD&Co., a creative agency specializing in retail, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and wellness brands, Amy Demas doesn't have time to source and hire creative staff to fill emerging needs. Instead, she relies on Keva Dine.
According to Amy, "Search and hiring can be incredibly overwhelming and time-consuming."
Having a trusted advisor in her corner who understands the market and her specific needs has enabled Amy to hire the right person the first time, saving time and avoiding unqualified candidates.
For Amy, the trust she has built with Keva started when Keva found her working in print media at the beginning of the digital revolution in the early 2000s and continues today.
Here's how a #BFFRecruiter relationship spans the length of a career:
Recruited by Keva to move from print to video and digital media
Partnered with Keva to grow teams quickly to meet agency goals
As a Co-Founder and Founder, Amy relied on Keva to create teams that drive success
In every role, Amy has looked to Keva to make the right connections and provide the advice and specialized recruiting services she needs to meet her goals.
Proactive, intelligent talent scouting
As part of her search for a Senior Art Director for an agency that had just landed a major retail account, Keva looked for award-winning talent. By searching through the recipients of related creative awards, Keva found Amy and identified her as a qualified candidate.
Amy knew the print era was ending; she just didn't know she would be entering the digital advertising world so early. Keva was instrumental in helping her decide to not only pivot her career but also move across the country to join an ad agency.
"I'd worked with other recruiters before talking to Keva. I was immediately impressed by Keva. She never left me hanging. She was highly communicative and respected my time as well as her client's. Her level of personalized service was very unusual," Amy said.
As soon as she started working at PMH, an independently owned retail ad agency, Amy got busy meeting the new requirements of the job. The agency had acquired the Target Retail brand as a client. As their job partnership grew, the owners continued to work with Keva to quickly add the necessary staff to support the account. In her role, Amy worked with Keva to find temporary contract and freelance talent to fill immediate needs.
Every new venture requires a #BFFRecruiter
After a successful stint at PMH, Amy worked on the client side in retail fashion. Soon, her love of retail agency creative work led her to help form a new agency, Standard Time (Now Standard Black). Amy and her co-founder, Michael Sharp, knew that the foundation of a great advertising agency is its creative talent. Before they could start building the agency, they needed Keva to help them assemble their dream team.
"Keva gets under the hood in a way other recruiters do not to get the right fit for your culture and your business goals," Amy said.
Instantly growing the team at Standard Time was different from the pace of hiring at most agencies. Instead of slowly adding staff to fill incremental needs, Amy and her team needed to get up and running quickly. The recruiting process to meet their goals required speed, efficiency, and the ability to hire the right talent the first time. They couldn't afford to go through the hiring process multiple times.
Amy was confident when she called in Keva to help with the hiring process. She already knew Keva to be highly efficient, assertive, and quick to respond. She also trusted her to understand that the new hires must work well together for the agency to succeed.
According to Amy, "Keva is a successful recruiter and talent scout because she and her team have already vetted the candidates she sends. When she sends a candidate, they are just more aligned with our needs than candidates sent by other recruiters."
Taking the time to make the right connections
After another stint in retail fashion, Amy returned to agency life to start her current agency, AD&Co, where she has successfully developed multi-channel campaigns for emerging fashion, beauty, lifestyle, health, and wellness brands and retailers for the last 9 years.
Any time she needs more talent, Amy turns to her trusted resource for recruiting, hiring, and advising, Keva Dine. Amy likens her relationship with Keva to that of a boxer and their corner person.
"I'm continually impressed by Keva, and I trust her. Regardless of where I am in my career, she's always in my corner, cheering me on and offering support of all types," Amy said.
Although Keva is not the only recruiter Amy has worked with to fill her staffing requirements, she is the one who consistently delivers.
"Keva asks the right questions to get you to the heart of what you really need. She takes the time to understand the culture of where she is placing talent and looks beyond the job description to align candidates to company goals," stated Amy.
A 24-hour turnaround takes trust to a new level
Recently, Amy needed a contractor to fill an open role. Although Amy knew that Keva was the Recruiter who could get the job done quickly and efficiently, even she was surprised when Keva delivered the perfect fit contractor within hours.
Because they were already in Keva's Hot List, Keva knew more about them than what their LinkedIn profile revealed. And since Keva has worked with Amy for many years, she immediately knew the type of candidate who would be a good fit for the role.
By the next day, Amy had hired the contractor and was already moving on with the other tasks and deadlines before her.
Looking toward the future, Amy is sure that Keva will always be on speed dial as the trusted advisor and #BFFRecruiter who can help her with all her hiring and job search needs.
