SM Staffing, a team of young, motivated recruiters who connect people to small and mid-sized companies, began with a single goal: to help people however they can.

CEO Shlomo Meisels explained that his company differs from other recruiting agencies because they are willing to do much more in order to service their customers, including working with other recruiting agencies and paying money out of pocket to find the best candidate—even if they have to give away money or sacrifice commission. “Our goal is to improve people’s lives and help them support their families,” Meisels told The Jewish Link. “Recruiting at the end of the day is about building relationships. We even give referrals to people who send us job seekers, and/or companies looking to hire.”

Meisels originally created SM Staffing because his friends were looking for full-time job offers after college, so he started WhatsApp group chats for college students looking for work and posted available jobs. “I started going to local businesses that I saw had ‘help wanted’ signs and I offered my services for close to nothing, just because I wanted to help people,” Meisels told The Jewish Link. “I realized I needed to grow in order to assist more people.”

“There’s a large struggle as of right now in finding really qualified talent to work for a lot of companies,” Meisels continued. “Due to COVID, a lot of new companies have started, and they’re all looking to grow. For each company, we sit down and have a conversation about who they are, what their culture is like, what they’re looking for, what their needs are, what’s the nitty-gritty of what they actually need. Not just, ‘I need a secretary,’ but what is the job that the secretary is doing? That way, when we’re looking for a candidate, we’re looking for skills more than just a title.”

Meisels further pointed out that he doesn’t charge anything from job candidates. “There are no fees for job seekers, so there’s no reason why anybody should be hesitant to reach out to us as recruiters. you never know how we can help,” he elaborated.

SM Staffing goes above and beyond for anyone reaching out to the company; they even network people who are moving between communities, hooking them up with real estate agents and introducing them to people who can show them around the town or become friends down the line, even though this isn’t part of their recruiting service. Although Meisels specified that this isn’t part of their service, he emphasized how seriously SM Staffing takes customer service.

Meisels explained that SM Staffing often keeps in touch with customers even if they decide not to go through with the job SM Staffing is offering. “Sometimes they’ll send us other people, their friends or their family who are also looking for work because we’ve developed that relationship and because we’ve helped them in other ways as well,” Meisels explained. “We want to be known in the community as people you can talk to and here to help.”

Because SM Staffing mostly comprises younger individuals in their 20s and 30s, they easily resonate with younger crowds, specializing in introducing new talent to entry and mid-level jobs in the New York/New Jersey area, and primarily in the service industry. “I saw this massive hole where a lot of my friends who were in college were desperately looking for jobs, and a lot of companies I saw were advertising all over the place looking for people,” Meisels explained. He connected with a recruiter who taught him “the best way to recruit”: “This includes never ghosting people (suddenly withdrawing all communication), being open and honest, educating people on the job-search process and even getting people higher salaries,” said Meisels.

Meisels observed that the recruiter he was working with focused on large companies because the commissions were better; many recruiters don’t see entry-level companies as worth the effort because these companies are very cautious about first hires. “I saw this hole, this niche, that they weren’t being helped, so I decided to start the company and focus on that clientele,” Meisels recalled.

As well as finding candidates for entry- and mid-level enterprises, SM Staffing teaches newer companies how to interview and vet applicants, what qualities to search for during interviews and what types of people they should hire in order to grow their businesses. “A lot of our clients have been growing and they’re now looking to hire, or they’ve only hired a few people before and they’re looking to expand,” said Meisels.

SM Staffing also helps job candidates determine what they’re looking for and assists them in negotiating for higher salaries, as well as being readily available through text, WhatsApp, email and phone calls. “There’s a large complaint that a lot of candidates get ghosted, or people don’t respond to them,” explained Meisels, “but we’re accessible almost 24 hours a day.”

Anyone Interested in SM Staffing’s services should reach out to Meisels at [email protected].

By Brooke Schwartz