Jessie Fortin loves a new challenge and helping people. She began her career in a placement agency in 2004 and spent eleven years gaining industry experience. However, it didn’t take long for her to launch her own company Défis RH to challenge herself to help change people’s lives.
She knew that she would need strategic business collaborators who shared her strong belief in a human-focused approach when she started her business. She met Recruit Action Partner Domenic Calcara while working as the Director of Business Development for Strategic Accounts at Randstad Canada. Domenic worked in Human Resources in Montreal when they connected at a conference. Even though they never worked together, they quickly became good friends who shared a passion for helping others. When she started her company, Domenic became Jessie’s go-to person to discuss business and strategy, and soon after, their two companies were helping each other fill positions.
Shared values, integrity, and trust built a connection between the two before Jessie and Domenic focused on business. These characteristics are vital for any healthy relationship with candidates, clients, and co-workers. Jessie feels this “human-first” approach has made their businesses grow. “We have the same vision that our work is not only focused on making money. It is about the people we help”, states Jessie. This vision also extends to how they treat their employees. Recently Jessie followed Recruit Action’s lead of celebrating its employees with an R-Club trip to a beach destination. She surprised her team by gifting an all-expenses-paid trip to Cancun, Mexico. The experience helped her express her appreciation for her team’s hard work and strengthened their relationship.
Jessie’s bond with Domenic helped her learn much about Recruit Action’s business approach. She feels the company’s ability to consistently take quality time to listen, create an authentic connection, and have fun makes it stand out from other recruitment firms. “When I talk with a client about Recruit Action, all the clients say they love them,” states Jessie. “Their team loves to work together, which makes their clients, including me, love working with Recruit Action.”
This year marks twelve years since Recruit Action began doing business and six years since Jessie launched Défis RH. She is grateful for the relationship she and Domenic built and is looking forward to finding more ways to collaborate to make recruiting more human together.