Name: Thanh Nguyen
Astrological Sign: Pisces
Year Joined Major, Lindsey & Africa: 2021
What attracted you to Major, Lindsey & Africa?
The people. What matters most to me about work is what I get to do and who I get to do it with!
What is the best part of your job?
Using all of my life experiences as a lawyer, business professional, parent, friend, world traveler, etc., to create and bring tremendous value and joy to clients and candidates when a perfect match is made. But I don’t see my work as a job, it feels more like a fulfilling passion that happens to also be financially rewarding!
What is the most surprising part of being a recruiter?
That I love it so much! I don’t feel like a “recovering” lawyer who has retired from the practice of law; I still get to use my legal skills every day. Every day I am researching and writing for a living with the most interesting subject of all: people in all of their complexities.
How would you describe your career in 5 words or less?
Fun, fulfilling, varied, challenging, creative
Describe one of your successes thus far at Major, Lindsey & Africa.
The success that I’m truly most proud of is finding and placing top diverse legal talent for my clients and helping many of these candidates go in-house for the first time. I measure my success by how often my relationship with candidates extends beyond recruiting and into their new roles when they come back for advice on ways to succeed in-house. I love being able to leverage my own in-house experience at PepsiCo to add value to others’ careers.
What advice would you give to someone considering becoming a recruiter?
Talk to a variety of different types of recruiters about not just what they love but also what they don’t love about being a recruiter. If you are pumped up about the “pros” and can live with or don’t mind the “cons,” then it’s worth a pursuit. As lawyers, we are naturally or perhaps later trained into risk aversion—afraid to veer off the well-trodden path—but to me, there is far more risk in not taking enough of a chance on ourselves to discover what could be something incredible.
If you weren’t a lawyer or a recruiter, what career would you have had?
Visual artist—likely a cartoon animator. I have always loved to draw and have had paintings featured in art galleries. During my free time, I can be found making drawings of Kungfu panda, Pokémon and the like for my 5-year-old son.
What is on your bucket list?
Visit the other 12 countries I didn’t make it to due to COVID-19 during my yearlong travel sabbatical with my husband, Alex, and our son, George. And now that I have just had a baby girl, Genevieve, this past November, I think we will have to plan another world travel sabbatical for when she’s past the diaper stage!
