By: Emily Wellborn
Would, should, and could are not in Recruiter Devonta Toles’ vocabulary. During the month of June – marking his one-year anniversary at PGS Worldwide – he is focused on grinding to create better futures for himself and for everyone around him.
Despite proving himself as a strong recruiter throughout his tenure, Devonta doesn’t see himself as a recruiter first. His true passion lies in fitness. When he’s not getting Aerospace Technicians hired, he’s a personal trainer and the gym is his happy place.
“Personal training, that’s my baby,” he said. “That is my place. I can put on my noise canceling headphones and literally just block out the whole world, work out, and just be in my own space. That is where I’m most happy. When I’m exhausted, but I still have a couple more reps, I’ll push through and feel amazing. Anyone that wants to be a part of that, I want to help.”
This is a man who, when asked about his favorite donut flavor during a staff meeting, opted instead to share his favorite fruit: “At the moment, cherries.”
The future is always on Devonta’s mind. He never wants to live with regrets and works on his mindset to earn the best, longest life for himself and his family.
“You’re going to have your ups and downs, but keep going, just keep grinding, and grinding, and grinding. I think that’s what’s made me a decent recruiter, I’ve just kept going,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that I’m blessed and fortunate enough to accomplish, but I don’t think right now, one really trumps the other. I’ll hit one milestone and it’ll be so awesome, and I’ll be so thankful and grateful, but then I’ll hit another one and I’ll feel the same way. There’s nothing yet that I feel like trumps all the accomplishments I have thus far. That one’s to be continued.”
To Devonta, the best way he can use his work ethic is to inspire others to change their lives.
“My biggest thing is helping people and helping them find opportunities. I think that goes far,” he said. “It starts with the fitness thing. I love helping people get healthy, or in any way I can, if they’re willing to help themselves.”
Devonta is a natural salesman, but he’s selling a better life whether that’s through a workout routine or a job opportunity. He’s fully invested in others’ success as well as his own.
“As long as you help me help you, I will literally go to bat for you,” he said. When it comes to getting his candidates hired, he’ll, “… do whatever I need to do to get you a position.”
In an uncharacteristically animated tone for introverted Devonta, he talked about two Data Entry Operators he helped to hire after months of work.
“Their situations are somewhat similar, they were in positions they didn’t want to be in, and now they’re both making over $50K,” Devonta said. “One of them cried on the phone. She said she’s never made this much money before.”
Administrative positions are competitive, and with time being of the essence, Devonta worked tirelessly to clearly communicate the situation to submit these two perfect candidates.
“They were invested the moment they got on the phone. They got their paperwork done so quickly while my job was to get them submitted as soon as possible,” Devonta said. “They both got interview requests on the same day, then they got offers the same day as their interviews. I’m so happy for them.”
These are the people Devonta loves to help. He is at his best when he can connect with them and support them however he can.
“I’m someone who’s here to help. Whatever you ask me, I’ll tell you the truth. I’m not going to sugarcoat anything,” Devonta said. “If I can relate to you somehow, crack jokes, make you smile, something of that nature, that makes me feel good.”