By Bharati Jagdish

It was 2002 and Jaime Lim found herself in a quandary.

Her career as a recruiter was soaring in a large and successful recruitment firm when she got a phone call.

She had spoken at an event and personnel from HRnetGroup who happened to be there were impressed with her – enough to ask her if she’d be interested in a job at a smaller firm that was part of the group.

For Jaime, who is Group Business Leader at PeopleSearch Singapore today, meeting Group Managing Director, Lorencz Tay was merely exploratory at the time.

She had no compelling reason to move.

However, she admits that the recent death of her mentor had made her, at least briefly, entertain thoughts of leaving.

“My mentor was the founder of the firm, but she had passed away at the time and the camaraderie at the firm had diminished somewhat. But it was still a good firm and I was doing well there. I really wasn’t sure about moving.”

“I WASN’T CONVINCED”

Nevertheless, she went for the meeting.

“I still remember that it was a Saturday morning. In the first few minutes, I really wasn’t convinced.”

Lorencz was honest with her.

He explained it was a relatively new firm and much needed to be done to make its presence felt in the market.

“It was essentially “brand-less”. I really wasn’t sure I wanted to take on such a challenge.”

SELLING 3-in-1 COFFEE AND GOLF SETS

But Jaime was no stranger to challenges.

Having come from a humble background, she had to hit the ground running from a young age.

As a teenager, she had taken on a slew of part-time jobs to earn pocket money.

“For my polytechnic education, I managed to get a scholarship, but there were many other things to pay for – books, clothes, transport – so I had to work to earn pocket money.”

She worked as a sales promoter, selling everything from 3-in-1 coffee, potato chips, costume jewellery and perfume, to golf sets.

“Selling golf sets was a good job at the time. I could make a few hundred dollars commission from each sale.”

Jaime Lim, who is now Group Business Leader at PeopleSearch Singapore.

At some point, she went to a recruitment agency to explore other job opportunities, hoping they could place her with one of their clients.

But she ended up working for them instead.

“I figured I’m good at sales and it’s a field I like, so why not apply it to something meaningful like helping people find a job, maybe even a calling. I know what it’s like to be searching for a calling and having difficulties finding it. If I can help others in a similar position, it would be fulfilling for me too.”

BUILDING IT TOGETHER

But would moving to PeopleSearch be fulfilling?

This was the question she was struggling with in her first few minutes with Lorencz.

“As the meeting progressed, I became more convinced. Lorencz was clearly ambitious and driven.”

While explaining the realities of being an underdog, he described his vision of propelling a business model that was novel at the time – executive search services on a contingency model.

“He said it was about “building it together” and that really spoke to me. It sounded like we were all in this together and I wanted to make a mark by helping an underdog become one of the more recognised players in the market. I had been exposed to challenges since young and was inspired by them. When he put it that way, I decided I wanted to take this on.”

NOT EASILY FAZED

20 years on, PeopleSearch is no longer an underdog, but there have been challenges throughout the years – the Asian Financial Crisis, the Global Financial Crisis and today, the economic fallout as a result of Covid-19.

Jaime recalls what it was like at the beginning of her time at PeopleSearch.

“We were very aggressive in going out to the market to get meetings. I would talk to clients about my past recruitment experience and ask them to give me an opportunity. I made sure we delivered and that increased the clients’ confidence in us.”

Perhaps this was the genesis of the fighting spirit that is necessary today.

“Today it’s about assessing the clients’ needs – needs that have changed because of the crisis. For example, maybe some can’t commit to a full-time hire because of economic conditions, but they may want contract staff, so we must take a slightly different approach and fulfil those needs.”

Jaime’s dedication is palpable.

“I have been here for the last 18 years of the firm’s existence and I believe we have the spirit of not being easily fazed,” she says decisively.

The impetus for this spirit, no doubt, is the vision she had 20 years ago of “building it together”. It resonates even today.

Hear from other team members who’ve been instrumental in strengthening this ethos in future editions of “20 Years of PeopleSearch”.