At Spotter Staffing, we’re thrilled to celebrate the incredible team of expert recruiters who specialize in connecting therapists and teachers with exciting, rewarding opportunities in schools across Illinois and Texas. To spotlight their knowledge, experience, and vibrant personalities, we’re introducing you to each of our amazing recruiters. Get ready to learn how they can help you and your school thrive!

Say hello to Derek Carroll!

Derek is one of our superstar Professional Recruiters based in Chicago, IL. He’s got some fantastic insights to share about navigating the job market, plus a few fun tidbits you won’t want to miss (do you know anybody else with three pet goats?!).

Check out the video below to meet Derek, learn his top tips, and see why he’s such an invaluable part of our “herd.”

Transcription:

 Mackenzie: Thanks for joining us for another episode of Meet Your Recruiter. Today we have Spotter’s newest recruiter here with us. This is Derek Carroll. Derek, thanks for joining us today.

Derek: Thank you.

Mackenzie: I always kind of like to start these out the same way, just by asking everybody what it is that you do for Spotter, kind of if you could take us through what your role is and what you do kind of on a day-to-day basis for Spotter.

Derek: Yeah, absolutely. Um, newer to this spotter team, obviously here. And I am a senior professional recruiter for the Chicago land area. So, Chicago proper and the outskirts we, um, help a lot of the school districts that we work with, uh, find the top talent, uh, in the school setting as far as social workers, special ed, uh, teachers, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists. And on the other side, uh, uh, the equation. We, um, look for the best talent and help them find the best opportunities that they’re looking for within the school system.

Mackenzie: Yeah, that’s awesome. I know you’ve already been making a ton of great connections with therapists and special education teachers. So we’re glad you came over to the Spotter Staffing side. We’re glad to have you on our team. If you were, you know, having a conversation with the therapist or a special education teacher today, And they were looking for a brand new position in their field. Do you have one piece of advice maybe that you’d give them or something that you’ve seen really help people looking?

Derek: Yeah, I think a lot of people are always looking. There’s a lot of noise out in the industry. So I think, you know, whether you’re starting your career just out of college or if you’ve been in the industry for some time is really figuring out what your “must-haves” are and what you’re really looking for in that role. There’s always the” would like to have” type things in your roles and really kind of defining what you’re really looking for. Um, obviously we’re a great resource and want to help you as best as we can, but, uh, um, you don’t want to be, you know, throwing a dart at the board and hoping for the best.

Mackenzie: Yeah, I think that’s really great advice. I know for me, now one of my must-haves is llamas. So, you know, it’s gonna be really hard if I ever have to find a new career to have some place have as many llamas as Spotters does, but, I think that’s really good advice. I know, you know, working in a school setting, there’s so many variables and so many things change. So whether it’s, you know, your caseload or your severity or your location, really knowing those things can make a big difference in your job search. So I think that that’s great advice. In your personal, you know, professional career as a recruiter, have you taken one really big piece of advice or one really valuable lesson that you would share with people who are watching this?

Derek: I would say, be curious. Ask as many questions as possible. Um, you know, we don’t know what we don’t know. So the really the only way to, um, understand those parameters that you’re looking for is to ask those questions. Find out from peers, supervisors that may have been down that trail a little bit more. If you’re looking at switch careers into a certain aspect, uh, really ask those questions. Uh, you know, let the rabbit take you down the trail to find out what you’re really looking for. Yeah. I think that’s great advice.

Mackenzie: I like that. Be curious. It reminds me of that Ted Lasso, be curious, not judgmental. But yeah, that’s great. That’s really good advice. Um, so thank you for that. I appreciate letting us get to know a little bit more about your professional life and your role here at Spotter, but so that people can get to know you a little bit better when they’re working with you, we have a few just kind of fun questions to ask you. So, if you were to pick one favorite movie of all time, what would your favorite movie be?

Derek: My favorite movie, if I had to boil it down to one, is Tommy Boy. It’s a little bit older movie, but it’s a lot of laughs and a lot of life lessons, I feel, in that movie.

Mackenzie: Yep, I love that one. That’s, my brothers often quote, “brothers don’t shake hands, brothers gotta hug.” So, that’s definitely a good one. Um, okay, what about if you were getting into some late-night snacking? What would you pick there?

Derek: Late-night snacking, probably pizza, and I don’t discriminate any kind of pizza, multiple toppings is always a win.

Mackenzie: Is there a specific Wisconsin-style pizza?

Derek: Um, we definitely, so I grew up in Wisconsin, so um, probably cheese curds on pizza, so anything cheese curds. I’m one that does put pineapple on pizza, I know that can be a taboo topic.

Mackenzie: I am too.

Derek: I like, uh, anything that’s got a little bit of sweet and some, some heat to it. So I’m always putting, you know, like a sweet buffalo sauce or something like that on the two.

Mackenzie: That sounds good. I’m going to have to try curds on pizza. I’ve never thought of that. That’s, I’ve learned something today, but, um, all right, I have one more question and then I will let you get back to your job here. But I, I know part of the answer here, but do you have any unique hobbies or interests that you do on a day to day?

Derek: Yeah, obviously grew up in the Wisconsin area. So I do a lot of outdoor activities, the, you know, the mountain biking, skiing, things like that recently, in the last year I bought a hobby farm. So, quickly it’s kind of spiraled out and I have, uh, three goats now and, uh, we’ve. We had, uh, 20 meat chickens here this last year that we butchered. Probably going to be picking up a bunch more animals here coming in the future.

Mackenzie: Yeah. I know Ryan Cleveland is pushing for you to get a llama for us. So we’ll keep an eye out for any new llamas added to your farm, but thank you for sitting down with me and letting everybody get to know you a little bit better. I’m sure you’re looking forward to meeting even more therapists and, Derek’s a great resource here if you’re looking for a job in the Chicagoland area. So thank you, Derek, for being here with us. Thanks everybody at home for watching. We’ll see you the next time on our meet your recruiter series.

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