In the Spotlight—Featuring John Evans
To many of us, April 1st is a day marked by hoaxes and practical jokes of varying sophistication. For Global Employment Solutions, April 1st is a day of notable achievement. Exactly 38 years ago on that date, John Evans, Executive Vice President of GES, was hired by Global’s predecessor, Main Line Personnel. During the nearly four decades that have followed, John has achieved marked success highlighted by top sales volumes, numerous awards and recognition for outstanding leadership. He personally billed a record $525K in sales one year, and broke monthly sales volume of $100K on six separate occasions. He also led the first sales team to $1 million in production more than 30 years ago and has been a President’s Club honoree the past three consecutive years.
During his tenure, John rose above the tides of change. When asked where he has seen the search business evolve, he replied without hesitation, “The impact of technology.” He continued, “When I started this line of work, the only hi-tech mechanism was the telephone. There were no Internet, LANs, WANs, or fax machines. We didn’t even have a copier. Instead we used a mimeograph machine. Every transaction was recorded on paper and hand-delivered. We spent a lot of time developing relationships with customers and candidates. As a result, 70% of my time was spent on the phone. The remaining 30% was spent meeting candidates or clients. Then, as now, for the long haul, it’s all about relational selling.”
Although the recruiting industry has benefited greatly from technological advancements, John is also wise to point out its adverse affects. “Back in the day, it was a better training ground for developing recruitment skills. We had to be armed with information and learn to be inherently good at making correct matches. Clients came to rely on the recruiter’s opinion and credibility. Nowadays, recruiters have more of an ability to FIND information, with less reliance on having information. It’s also much easier to present candidates to clients (via email, fax, video, etc.) but client relationships are more difficult to forge.”
When asked what other significant changes are worth noting, John replied, “Clients have gotten more sophisticated. Their needs are more specialized and more challenging to fill.” Other notable changes - Nearly 40 years ago, only 17% of hires were filled on a fee paid basis. Today, it’s almost half. Our industry stayed ahead of inflation. In the early 70’s average recent grads salaries were $8,000-$10,000 and our average fee was under $1,000. Now the average starting salaries are higher, with our average fee (based on a percentage of that salary) keeping pace with current compensation levels.
So, what has made John Evans a master of his craft? Some would say his motivation and ethical business practices. Others might say his straight-forward nature and salesmanship. According to John, it’s a combination of both. “Success is a function of two major factors,” he explained. “Motivation is 60%; persistence in the face of adversity is the rest. There are two polarities in our industry; the pure sales type who tries to sell the client or candidate on who or what’s readily available and the pure recruiter who will try and find exactly what the client or candidate thinks or says they want. Success is usually found in a blend of the two.”
Motivation was the reason John Evans became a recruiter in the first place. He saw the potential to be better than his peers. Determined to stay in the position until he excelled at it, John exclaimed, “I didn’t want to quit until I was great at it.” When asked if he’s reached greatness, he said, “It’s balanced. I’m good, not great but I’ll never be as good as I want to be.”
Sounds like something you would hear from a strong competitor – someone who knows what it takes to persevere and has what it takes to go after something he wants badly enough. Now, he’s gone and made a career out of it. We’re thankful that career is with Global.