Are you working too hard to become successful in your job?

I worked with a recruiter who earned $200,000 – $500,000 a year for over twenty years.  The person would sit down at her desk at 8:00 AM.  She would take a thirty-minute walk at noon. She left the office every day at 3:00 PM to arrive home when her children came home from school.

Most recruiters start their day by 8:00 or 8:30 PM. They eat at their desk and work until 5:30 PM or later. Many of those recruiters make phone calls after dinner.

The recruiter who worked from 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM never had any intention of working long hours.  She never intended to impress her boss. She had a simple paper filing system. She stuck with that system until she converted her files to a computer. She had a secretary enter the files onto a computer.  Once the files were on file on a computer, she had a secretary keep the files current.  The recruiter continued to work from 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM.  She continued to earn over $200,000 a year.

The fees that this recruiter billed were smaller than the fees many of her peers billed.  Recruiters bill hiring companies based on the amount of the starting salary. This recruiter specialized in staffing medical sales positions.  The salaries for these positions were less than the salaries for sales positions in most other business sectors. Medical sales positions have lower salaries and higher commissions than the sales positions in other sectors.  This recruiters billed fees that were one-fourth the fees of her peers in other sectors.

The recruiter was simply more productive than her peers were.  She stayed focused on her job during the day.  She did not make social calls or take social lunches. She was personable and to the point during her phone calls.

Are you working too hard?

This recruiter did her job every day. She never tried to work harder than other recruiters did.  She did not have long, hard days to impress her boss or her peers.  It was never her intention to work harder than other recruiters were. It was her intention to do what she could do during the time she allotted for her work every day.