My coworker said it plain and simple, “Some recruiters just don’t like to do their jobs!” A recruiter had snapped back at my colleague after finding out that she couldn’t put “Local Applicants Only” in a job posting. Her aggravation came from the fact that she’d actually have to weed through applications to find the most appropriate candidate. In other words…stop being a crybaby and do your job.

But is that really what recruiting is - weeding through applications? I needed some answers.

This week, I had the opportunity to speak with Emi Flaherty, a Yoh recruiter, who proved to me that you don’t need many tools to be a success. As she put it, “You just have to get up and keep doing it.” “It,” being recruiting.

The accidental recruiter, Emi Flaherty, has been in the recruiting biz for 17 years. I say “accidental” because when Emi applied for her first staffing job, she thought she was interviewing for separate healthcare job all together! Despite realizing this, Emi accepted the position later that day and embarked on a life changing career. When Emi started as a healthcare recruiter, her boss left her with “a book of candidates (10 RN’s, and 11 Nursing Assistants), a book of clients, a desk, and a phone” and told her to grow the business. No LinkedIn! No Career Builder or Monster.com! No computer! (The horror!) Yeah, no pressure at all.

What Emi did next was something few have the courage to muster up….she rose to the occasion. Emi got to work, getting in touch with the people in her books, learning from her clients and from the people in her community. She didn’t just sift through resumes, she networked! Emi was Facebook before it went online, the real deal recruiter. So in just three months, her book of RN’s increased from 10 to 100+. Her Nursing Assistants from 11 to 75+. Emi became the highest grossing recruiter in her region and in 6 months’ time, she became a GM in her office, overseeing two more recruiters! So by that part of the story, I was pretty impressed.

I wondered what made Emi different. And the answer to that was simple….She didn’t have anything except a great attitude and people to talk to. These days, recruiters or not, we’re spoiled with so many apps, gadgets, and information that we lose some of the most basic insight. We forget that the most valuable assets we have are each other, the relationships we build. You can spend every day waiting for the right resumes to fall into your lap or you can seek out to build those relationships. That’s what makes the difference between a good recruiter and a great recruiter.

So if you’re one of the many that is super reliant on technology, (the type who has a mini stroke if they can’t find their phone) remember that there’s more out there. There are people. That’s how Emi became successful, how I got my job (believe it or not), and where true success is found.

Thanks for inspiring me Emi!

This post was written by Mark Baron. Mark is a passionate media and marketing professional at Yoh focused on making a genuine and valuable connection with his audience. His biggest passions are in building relationships, creating art, entrepreneurship, new technology, and storytelling. He’s lived in Philadelphia for almost five years building his career and enjoying all the opportunities Philly has to offer. Connect with Mark on LinkedIn to learn more!