Employee Spotlight: Dan Henes
Our employees’ individual stories are what makes Kforce fun and unique. This month, Dan Henes is in the spotlight. Read about his Kforce journey as a Technology recruiter and what he finds the most rewarding in his role.
How did you get your start at Kforce?
When I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in communication, I wasn’t quite sure which direction I wanted to take with my career. I had considered going into journalism, but I realized it wasn’t what I really wanted to do. Eventually, I met a friend of a friend who was working at Kforce, and at the time there were a few recruiting positions open in the Milwaukee office. So, I applied, interviewed and got the job! I’ve been here for about five years now.
What do you love about your career?
Being able to provide a direction for people when it comes to their careers is the most rewarding part of my job. Even if I’m helping someone learn more about an industry and our conversation doesn’t lead to a placement or have a monetary attachment to it, it’s still amazing to know I’m making a difference in peoples’ lives.
A lot of the time, recruiters can have a bad rep because of cold calling and template emails, so having a consultant trust me with their career is very rewarding.
What is the number one challenge you face at your job, and how have you learned from it?
Accepting the ambiguity and uncertainty that comes with recruiting is sometimes difficult. Very rarely are things cut and dry. People change on a daily basis, and there’s no way you’ll be able to predict the outcome of a situation, even if you have a good feeling about it. Because of the nature of the job, I’ve learned that communication is key and to always trust your gut, whether you’re working internally with your team or externally with a candidate.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve received from a manager or co-worker?
One of the very first things that I learned from my managers at Kforce is to go out and meet people to get yourself out there. There will always be that awkward first conversation, but it’ll get better from there. Relationship building is huge in this business, and you never know the value that can come from sitting down and talking to people within your network.
A trick that I learned from my co-workers early on is to wait at least 60 seconds before responding to an unfavorable email or voicemail. Those 60 seconds allow you to gather your thoughts, and by the time the minute is up, your response is usually different to how you would have immediately responded.
What do you love to do outside of working hours?
I’ve always been a huge sports guy. I played baseball in high school, and I’ve carried my appreciation for the sport since then. More recently, I’ve gotten into golf. It’s just a fun sport that gives you time to spend with family and friends. It’s also something that I can do long-term and continue to practice.
Do you have a favorite sports team?
My go-to teams are the Green Bay Packers, Wisconsin Badgers and Milwaukee Bucks. Can you tell I’m from Wisconsin?
What is your favorite sports-related movie?
“Field of Dreams” is the sports-related movie that I connect with the most. Growing up, my brother and I played baseball and traveled a lot because of it. One weekend we had a tournament in Iowa, and the field we were playing at was close to the famous field filmed in the movie. We had the opportunity to visit the “Field of Dreams” at the time, which was a great experience.