You might have herd of someone in Orlando who’s udderly great at building professional relationships. His name is Kevin Cowman and not only is he our Director of Enterprise Accounts but he’s also BlueWave’s original employee!
How it started
In 2015, Kevin was wrapping up his internship at an IT firm and wasn’t sure what the next steps would be in his career. His boss had an idea for him: make friends with the office neighbors.
“My boss said, ‘Hey, there’s these cool guys that moved in. Why don’t you go over and introduce yourself?’ So, I walked over and just started talking to these two guys,” Kevin said. “Next thing I know, I was in an interview, and then we go over the details of how to be a recruiter. And then, next thing I knew, I had the job.”
Kevin was BlueWave’s first employee, starting as a technical recruiter. He’s watched and helped the company grow with clients, employees, and work culture.
“The building process has been super fun. The way that we’ve been able to maintain the culture, the opportunities that have presented themselves for not just me, but for everybody that comes to work here and the relationships that we have with our clients.”
How it’s going
Kevin has since worked his way up the ranks to Senior Recruiter, Client Executive, and now Director of Enterprise Accounts. He works directly with current and prospective clients to understand their work culture, what positions they need to fill, and how BlueWave can help fill those gaps.
“My day-to-day is working with our large accounts, being able to check in with them, making sure they have what they need,” Kevin said. “Going over what the clients need with the team and being able to work with Cassandra to set priorities on what we work on.”
Our Recruiting Manager, Cassandra King, works with Kevin on the daily to brainstorm strategies and delegate tasks.
“Kevin is such a pleasure to work with! He is so dedicated to the success of every client and candidate he works with and always has such a positive ‘get-it-done’ attitude,” Cassandra said.
Working with the BlueWave team
A major part of working at BlueWave and in the recruiting industry is building connections with people. Devan Deratany, our Digital Marketing Manager, manages to squeeze in plenty of SpongeBob references with Kevin and works with him regularly. Fun fact: Devan and Kevin met pre-BlueWave at UCF!
“Honestly, my favorite part about working with Kevin is his energy,” Devan said. “His vibes are unmatched. He is the king of celebrating victories and keeping our spirits up even through tough moments!”
Kevin also works on new business development and building partnerships with initiatives like Recruiting Live and Strategy Sessions on Linkedin Live with Joey Brodsky, our Manager of Business Development.
“We’re creating meaningful conversations with people, understanding what they need from a hiring perspective, or if they’re not hiring… just an understanding of the current temperature of what’s going on with their organization,” Kevin said. “I’m also doing some recruiting. Trying to have conversations with people who are in the market. There are a lot of job seekers right now. So, we’re able to connect them with certain jobs that we have available right now.”
Hosting webinars with Joey has helped keep the sales team on the same page, have fun, and provide free resources to the community.
“Kevin is a powerhouse when it comes to recruitment strategy, candidate identification, and client-candidate matchmaking,” Joey said. “There are few people in the world that have taught me more than Kevin in the last few years.”
An ever-changing market
Since the pandemic, the job market has changed dramatically.
“The supply and demand did a total 180,” Kevin said. “Nine months ago, it was like a buyers’ market – candidates were highly sought after and there were a lot of job openings, but only so many people were looking because of unemployment rates and things like that. Now, you’re looking at the complete opposite of that.”
Some companies froze their budgets or aren’t ready to bring on new employees. This can be tough for companies and eager job seekers.
“It’s about being patient with people’s decision-making, which I know is super hard because everyone’s excited to go back to work and find that new place they call home,” Kevin said. “But I think there’s ways to make yourself better during this time, through self-reflection or cherishing the amount of time you have with family, or other things that make you happy outside of the workplace, and continuing to work on your mental health.”
Helping companies overcome obstacles
Working with enterprise accounts like Disney keeps Kevin on his toes, understanding that companies definitely shifted their original plans for 2020.
“Companies had a lot of initiatives, a lot of goals that they wanted to hit from a resource planning perspective, and company revenue, profit goals,” Kevin said. “You kinda have to put an asterisk on anything that you do this year because a lot of industries were greatly affected. The economy tanked. There’s a lot of factors to that.”
Kevin and the BlueWave team continue to help companies creatively. Asking questions and working collaboratively helps him understand who’s hiring, what those companies need, and to pair job seekers with the best job for their skills.
“It’s a matter of collectively being able to come together,” Kevin said. “Everybody’s gotta wear a lot of hats right now so that once hiring does come back on, your processes are efficient, you’re building your company brand, and you’re a company that people want to work for.”
Want to work with Kevin?
Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn or contact him here. He’s the guy that will help you get your business to the next level and find top talent.
