We recently connected with Angela Buccellato and have shared our conversation below.

Angela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear you experience with and lessons learned from recruiting and team building.

After getting unexpectedly fired from my recruiting job, I decided to take my business, The Resume Rescue, full-time. On day one, it was me trying to navigate the waters of entrepreneurship and figuring out how to make a business successful. Due to increased demand, I found myself needing to hire employees. I was absolutely terrified of paying someone else’s paycheck. I posted the job and waited for applicants. One day as I was conducting a free consultation, I was going over a resume with a potential client and thought she was the perfect fit. After identifying her needs for her next job, she sounded perfect for my role. I cultivated an easier interview process. Having been on the other side of the table, it was important to me to make it seamless. I was very clear to this interviewee that I was a start-up and it would be just her and I. I showed her the potential of the business and where our opportunities are. Two weeks later, my first employee, Destiny, was hired.

I remember sitting there thinking about how I wanted to do training and feeling like a deer in the headlights. I didn’t have my processes and procedures written down, I didn’t know what the future held, and I certainly didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing. We learned from each other and grew accordingly. As Destiny took on half of my workload, I was able to focus on client fulfillment and getting the business back on track. Six months later, we found ourselves busy again. Destiny posted the job on an alumni page for her university for a Resume Writer. That’s where we found Allison. When we interviewed her, she had the least amount of experience on paper than our other candidates, but her personality is what shined through. Destiny and I agreed Allison was the perfect hire for us.

What’s unique about our recruiting process is that we prefer people with food/beverage, hospitality, and retail experience to work for us. We have found that their unique experience in those industries has given them the ability to solve problems quickly. We pride ourselves on our communication. Running a small business isn’t easy and we learn together. It’s imperative to have patience and understanding when we need to fix processes or conduct implementations and improvements.

As we continued to grow, we found ourselves in need again. We had a few sales people that didn’t work out, but found ourselves needing someone to help with client fulfillment and free consultations. After we posted our role for a Client Relations Coordinator on LinkedIn, we interviewed a number of candidates. Two struck out to me – one was a stronger writer, the other was stronger in sales. I made the decision to hire both Alaina and Al part time and start them on the same day. It was a bit insane as it was our busiest time of year (January) and we were onboarding two new employees.

I wouldn’t change my hiring process, but I would change trusting my gut feeling more and getting our policies and procedures in place sooner. I have the best employees in the world and I cannot wait to continue to grow together.

Angela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

After working with transitioning military veterans out of college, I identified a need in the market for real advice on how to write a resume. I started The Resume Rescue as a side business I worked on nights and weekends. A few years ago, I found myself in a toxic recruiting job that left me feeling miserable. When I returned home from a beautiful two-week vacation to Italy, I found myself fired. Unsure of what to do, I decided to pursue The Resume Rescue full-time.

Today, my team and I help thousands of job seekers from every walk of life “have their cake and eat it too” when it comes to their careers. I don’t want anyone to ever feel miserable in their career as I did. The Resume Rescue offers a variety of services, including Resume Writing, Career Coaching, Interview Preparation, LinkedIn Workshops, and more! I have been featured on a number of podcasts/articles and have hosted numerous workshops to help clients achieve their goals.

I have my Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Penn State University and a Master’s Degree in Military Psychology from Adler University.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

As someone who has been discriminated against for being a woman in a male-dominated environment making $18,000 less than my male counterparts AND getting fired from a job unexpectedly, I truly understand how difficult it can be. When I started my business, I focused on what I would want to hear or needed to hear if the roles were reversed. I pride myself on my honesty and ensure all my employees do the same. We offer a ton of free resources and are the biggest cheerleaders for our clients. Because of this raw honesty, it has helped build our reputation and get buy in from clients that often turn into repeat clients or referrals.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

As a former social media hater, I NEVER posted on any platforms (personally or professionally) until I took my business full-time. Analyzing market trends, I identified that social media wasn’t going anywhere and was due to an increase in popularity. Because of this, I started testing out socials and learning as I went along. I wanted to be authentic and create a community that people can relate to. I started first with LinkedIn and posted both personal and professional topics. I started telling stories, adding pictures, and humanizing who I am as an individual. This has led to substantial buy-in from clients and a place for resources.

When you’re starting off with social media, first identify where your clients are – what platforms are they using – what do they need to see/hear from you to want to buy, etc. Don’t overwhelm yourself and try to do it all at once, you WILL burn out (take from someone who made that mistake). Post what you want to post and be who you are. If you’re worried about someone not liking your post, I always say – you don’t like everyone and not everyone is going to like you, so who cares? I could go on and on about social media, but to stay relevant and continue to scale your business in today’s day and age, you have to utilize it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theresumerescue.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theresumerescue/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theresumerescue
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-resume-rescue/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNPmUfBbEZoxugMR4VQYXNg

Image Credits
Shelby Dubin Photography