Sameer, a Pune-native, faced a tough decision before entering the workforce.

“I studied electronics but after graduating I wanted to try something completely different. Well, my family wasn’t happy with my plans. They made very clear that I should stay in a related field. Eventually, I decided to fulfill my obligations as a son (laughs) and took a job in data entry.

After 2 years, I thought I should try working in a smaller company and joined a US-based startup in the hospitality industry. At the beginning we were only 10 employees. I was one of the founding members. Within 3 years we had grown the company to 100 people and I was leading a team of 50 people in my shift creating operational documents and coordinating software developers. It was a great opportunity to see a company develop from a tiny startup into a bigger organization.

However, after 4 years I felt that I had reached my full potential and that I needed to change my environment in order to grow myself even further.”

That was the time when a friend introduced Sameer to a small recruitment company called Cyrca Systems (later Boyd & Moore Intelligence Center, BMIC).

“One of my friends had been working for a small agency and knew the HR Manager of Cyrca Systems. When I asked him for recommendations for my next career step he suggested the company.

Back then Cyrca Systems supported several international recruitment agencies with its research services. But to be honest, that wasn’t the impression I got when I applied. The office was located in an apartment building and less than 50 people were working in 2 shifts. Frankly speaking, I couldn’t believe that they would actually work on an international level (laughs).

Anyways, the compensation was good and the commute short, so I thought I’d give it a try and if I didn’t like it I could always leave.”

That was more than 11 years ago.

“During the recession I saw a lot of people lose their jobs or take deep salary cuts despite being highly qualified specialists. But not here. Of course, we were all very concerned about the future, but the Management assured us that we had nothing to be worried about.

Throughout my years here at the BMIC I always experienced it as a stable and save environment – very different from the first questionable impression I had (laughs). Of course, the company itself has changed a lot including the building and office we’re working in.”

Not only the working environment underwent drastic changes since Sameer joined. He himself can look back at an eventful career at Boyd & Moore.

“I started as a researcher being responsible for collecting phone numbers and company information. It wasn’t my dream job but gave me the opportunity to get insight into the company and its approach to talent research. Short training sessions before each shift brought me together with the voice research team and taught me some basic Japanese. The more I talked with senior members the more I became interested in the job and in international recruiting in general.

Since we were working for many different clients I supported a variety of roles and industries. It was a busy time, but I could gain a lot of experience which helped me become more confident about my skills.

Gradually I took over additional responsibilities. First, I moved into data quality management, then into back office projects. Finally, I was leading the team in my shift and handled most of the back-office tasks including formatting resumes, data quality and internal reporting.

However, my title didn’t change until the company got acquired in 2012 by Boyd & Moore Executive Search who had been one of our major clients so far. After the acquisition I got officially promoted to team leader. In addition, the tasks my team had been responsible for got segregated.

Now, my team is 15 people strong and we’re one of the 4 back office teams that support the BMIC’s operations. We’re working mainly with LinkedIn and manage resumes as well as the company’s database.”

The company’s database has been one of the biggest challenges but also most important achievements in Sameer’s career at the BMIC.

“In 2011 I was granted the right to import candidate data to the database. This was a huge responsibility since there were only 2 other people in the company who had the same access rights.

My first task was to import APAC candidates into our database. That might not sound exciting, but it was a massive assignment since we hadn’t uploaded non-Japanese candidates for 4 years. The backlog was immense, and it took us 6 months to clean it up. The work required a lot of effort, but we pushed through and finally made it. I am very proud of this achievement.”

Having a background in data entry helped Sameer successfully complete this ambitious project.

“In many companies you don’t get exposure to projects where you can demonstrate your skills. The BMIC is very different. You can not only gain a variety of hands-on skills but also contribute with ideas and suggestion if you see room for improvement.

It’s a very open environment where everybody is encouraged to learn and change things for the better as long as you’re willing to put in the work it takes.”

Even after 11 years Sameer is still looking to further grow himself and take on new challenges.

“I’ve experienced all back-office functions existing in the company. From now on, I want to start generating direct revenue for the company. I strive to move into a business development function focusing on the domestic market and then eventually become a Consultant. I know that this might take time, but I am confident that the BMIC is the right place to make this dream come true.”

Sameer and the other back office team leaders are always looking for committed and resourceful people who are excited about supporting talent searches across industries around the globe. If that sounds like you, check out our openings.