Building a business one job at a time
Long-winded economists should take notice of Sheila Musgrove. She knows a hot job market when she sees it and 2012 has already been tagged as off to a “raving” start.
Musgrove is the founder — “seeker” as she describes it — of Calgary’s TAG recruitment group based in the city’s northeast.
After the economic roller-coaster of the last half-dozen years she likes what she sees so far of 2012.
“Things are going very, very well. With the recession in 2009 it was a very interesting year for everyone. We certainly saw a nice recovery in 2010, an even stronger one in 2011 and so far 2012 is off to a raving start,” she said.
TAG has been in business almost seven years. It started as a one-woman agency in April 2005 when Musgrove finally did what colleagues and friends had been urging her to do, and set out on her own.
With less than $10,000 to spend on her dream, she opened a single office in a business centre near the airport with no clients and in an industry with more than 200 competitors in Calgary alone.
“I bought office furniture at IKEA, spent $1,500 on a website, had some business cards designed and then I was off and running.
“It was terrifying, absolutely. But it’s been very rewarding,” added Musgrove.
Within weeks she got the big break needed — a national client looking to recruit 20 sales people urgently.
“It was a big challenge. I had a very short time frame to do it. It was a huge project and by luck I found an old client who had a very strong background in recruiting so she came on board part time to help me because it was such a tight time frame.”
She came through and soon more business was coming in the door and within five years TAG had joined the ranks of Alberta’s 50 fastest growing companies.
Now Musgrove is ready to expand out of the city for the first time — setting up an office in Edmonton in the next few months.
Expansion was the last thing on her mind three years ago — recruitment agencies tend not to do well when no one is hiring.
“Very early on in 2009 it was clear that companies were not hiring at all. What saved us that year was a consistent flow of temporary contracts.
“I always knew we were going to make it. My philosophy is to make sure in a very good year that there’s cash tucked away for a rainy day or year and 2009 certainly was that.
“I made a commitment to my team that they didn’t have anything to worry about. We focused on training so that when the recession was over we would be ready. And that’s what happened,” she added.
TAG’S team consists of four staff and they take on a wide variety of recruitment requests from traditional sales and administration positions to accounting and senior engineering roles.
“Our job is to really try to pull out the best of the person, find their highlights and help them to really present themselves in the best light so when they go into an interview they know how to package that.”
Musgrove is currently working on a book on how to write an effective resume and she also plans workshops along the same theme.
“A list of bullets on everything you’ve ever done is absolutely the worst way to write a resume. I’ve been working with some formulas that really work to help people showcase their talents.
“Even though we are moving into a candidate shortage right now, having a resume that speaks to someone’s skill and showcases their talent is so important.”
Born in Shoal Lake, Man., Musgrove’s parents moved to Hinton when she was seven and, after high school, she enrolled in a clerk typist program at a local college.
“In Hinton all the girls went to school to become admin. assistants and all boys went to work in the mill,” she said.
After what she describes as a “long foray through post-secondary education,” Musgrove finished her liberal arts degree at the University of Calgary.
While at university she worked part time for the Bank of Montreal selling mortgages by telephone in the evenings.
After getting her degree she managed a call centre before joining Telus in the marketing department.
Soon afterwards she joined the Kelly Services employment agency and rose to become vice-president of sales for Calgary before leaving in 2004 to do consulting work with local recruitment agencies.
“The question kept coming up, ‘Why aren’t you opening your own staffing firm?’
“The mindset is you should have a million in cash to start your own company but I did some research and, of course, you didn’t need that sort of cash to start a company.”
Single, with no children “but two cats” Musgrove has just moved back into the city where she is building her own home after living 11 years on an acreage.
She says she does “a crazy amount of working out” to keep fit.
“When you are in business for yourself I think fit- ness is a great way to keep your head clear and to help keep focused.”
She’ll need such focus, as the city and TAG look poised for a banner year.
“Our business is one of the leading indicators of the economy, especially in post recovery staffing.
“We are now starting to get requirements in for five or 10-plus positions. Not just companies saying we need one of this or two of this. That’s reflective of the economy being off to a very strong start this year.”
The jobs may be more plentiful this year but many people who come through her doors still need help.
“Job interviews are an interesting time for people and lots of people can walk into an interview and think they can just wing it.
“But walking into an interview not prepared is probably the worst thing that you can do,” she added.