Dominic is one of those people you want on your team when the stakes are high. As a recruiter at CareerBuddy, he lives at the intersection of people, pressure, and performance, spending his days in back-to-back conversations with clients and candidates while keeping his KPIs firmly in check.
In this edition, Dominic takes us through how a genuine love for the CareerBuddy brand led him through the door, what it really takes to move quality talent in competitive sectors, and why his ideal way to decompress involves a room to himself, a YouTube rabbit hole, and the vast mysteries of the animal kingdom.
1. Let's talk about how you came into your role at CareerBuddy
I have been a really good follower of the IG page and I read each of the newsletter (before it was split into segments). They also use to post some roles on IG page then. I think they've stopped. Anyways, I applied and actually forgot about it before I got a call to schedule an interview and here we are. 🌚
2. What does a typical day at Careerbuddy look like for you?
Omo, talking. Lots of talking. Sometimes you have to mentally prepare yourself before joining the next call because you are tired. A day for me could be talking and documenting as early as 8am till late afternoons. It could range from intro calls of 30 mins to sometimes an hour of joining client calls. There are slower days though, but as a recruiter, you don't want slow days because that usually means your KPI go drag.
3. If CareerBuddy were a person, how would you describe their personality?
An playfully serious house prefect. They can play with you, smile with you but somewhere you know that KPIs no dey follow una do that one. Smile during the day, ask for 'where are we with this client' in the evening.
4. What's the hardest thing about working in recruitment/media
Pursuing quality leads who are very comfortable where they are. Let me tell you, people who are really good at what they do, them no too send you like that. It's even worse when they operate in a sector where people are not much. Let me not call names but cross-border FX guys are among. You MUST move at their pace. They will show you shege but deep down you know that with this person, you are almost as sure as closed the deal.
5. What's your hot take on the future of work in Africa?
People might need to go back to getting actual "hard" technical skills. AI scare is real, however, it cannot replace handwork, those tangible/physical jobs if you please. Otherwise, just become a politician, we still do not know what they do so AI cannot replace them.
6. On unwinding
Whatever will keep me inside my room and alone is unwinding. There I can be any character I want to be, spiderman and a famous speaker without an audience is my favourite acts. I think I spend most part of my spare time on YouTube, I love watching documentaries about snakes, polar bears, underwater animals. I really think we have barely scratched the creatures on this planet.
