Brooke Waskewich Joined: July 03, 2011
brookeSearch, LLC specializes in the direct hire placement of mid to senior level professionals in the Commercial Construction, Engineering, and Commercial Property Management/Facilities industries.
I am very much relationship-driven, and work with each of my clients, to develop relationships, and understand their company’s culture, so that I have a clear understanding of the type of person who will do best in the position, and in the company. With my clients, my aim is to become a trusted Business Partner and a resource.
I do not recruit for every GC or Subcontractor and do not wish to. I work only with those General Contractors who have ethics and integrity. Apart from being a small business, I have to be aware of the environment in which I am placing candidates who come to me for assistance.
In Australia, I was given training in Construction Management by several General Contractors; and here in the U.S., I was trained in Estimating by Steve Sowash, the Director of Estimating and Preconstruction for Foulger-Pratt Contracting. My clients, here in the US and in Australia, wanted to ensure that I had enough understanding of the construction industry so that I could recruit effectively for them. The training given to me by the GCs has been invaluable in interviewing and placing construction professionals, and I am extremely grateful for their support and encouragement.
I meet with and get to know every candidate with whom I work, and believe that in order to make a successful placement, it is as important that I fully understand the skills, experience and ambitions of my candidates, as it is that I understand the corporate culture and expectations of my clients. A major component in successfully placing candidates is finding the ‘right fit’ for the team.
For me and for brookeSearch, it’s not about the single order; it’s about the trust and the long-term relationships I have with my clients. In Australia I used to say to my clients that at the end of the day, all we have is our integrity. Here, in the USA, I still firmly believe in that premise. My reputation and my relationship with my clients and my candidates is paramount. To that end, I am working with my clients in these challenging economic times, so that the financial impact of new hires is less stressful on their hiring budgets.
What sets brookeSearch apart from mainstream recruitment is, I feel, my background in the hotel industry and the relationship building skills that industry gave me. I get to know the teams for whom I recruit, so that I can ensure that the candidates I present are going to be a good fit for the culture of the team and the company; and if candidates are in this region, I meet personally with every candidate prior to presenting them to my clients. If a candidate is out of state, I conduct extensive telephone conversations, so that I can get to know them and where they may be a good fit.
I am proud to say that many of my clients and my candidates I now classify as friends, and in fact, many candidates who I have been unable to help and who have secured positions in the construction, engineering, and property management industries outside my client base, are bringing me in to their companies.
I can be contacted by email at: brooke@brookesearch.com and look forward to hearing from you.