If life imitates art, Dawn Apajee can offer proof in something she read: think like an immigrant. “It resonates with me and sums up who I am and how I run my business,” she said.
“When you’re an immigrant, you have to think and behave differently. Be brave, bet on yourself, learn new skills, embrace new ideas, be humble and always work harder,” she added. “It applies to practically any profession.”
That wisdom is in her DNA. Apajee immigrated to Chicago from London in 1995, when her husband, Deven, got a job as a manager at a youth soccer academy. “[Soccer] has been responsible for a lot of our relationships,” she said. They moved to Rhode Island when his job relocated here. That gave Dawn Apajee the impetus to launch City Personnel Inc., a staff recruiting agency in Providence, with one other employee in 2006.
“I wanted to make my own hours because I had little kids. The reality is I’ve worked 24/7 since day one,” she said.
Apajee hadn’t envisioned a career in recruiting early on. Her parents migrated from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean to England and worked in a factory. They instilled in their four children the importance of education and working hard. “We were poor,” Apajee said, “but every one of us has done well because of that emphasis.”
She graduated from the London School of Economics, an elite institution whose alumni include George Soros and David Rockefeller. “I wanted to be a social worker,” she said in her South London accent. “But after the first semester, I realized no way. I liked being in front of people in more of a sales environment.”
She stumbled on an ad for a London staffing agency. “I fell in love with this industry,” Apajee said. “It’s a people business. Hearing their stories, finding them jobs. Building relationships is what kept me in this career.”
Today, City Personnel has a staff of nine with a client list of more than 500 companies in small and midsize industries, ranging from finance and marketing to legal and medical. Apajee sometimes starts her day as early as 5:30 a.m. doing bookkeeping and administrative work, or Zoom interviews with temporary and permanent job candidates. She says working in a small state where there are roughly three degrees of separation is a huge advantage. “You get to know everyone,” she said. “You have a relationship with staff who’ve moved on. The disadvantage is you can’t fail to deliver. It could come back to haunt you.”
Like so many businesses, City Personnel was hit hard by the pandemic in March 2020, when companies laid off staff during the near economic shutdown and temps were let go. About half the business of City Personnel disappeared nearly overnight, but the rebound came quickly. Within six months, the orders for temporary workers were exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
If the economy is good and companies want to hire, they turn to staffing services. In a recession, it may be for temporary positions. “Having a good foundation and establishing yourself with companies is key,” she noted.
As the job market has become unpredictable, it’s affected how the company does business. Apajee says demand has been especially high in the medical field, the result of burnout and an unwillingness by some to comply with vaccine mandates.
And in a tight labor market with unemployment hovering just above 3%, finding the right person for the job takes creativity. Baby boomers are retiring, but younger workers don’t have the same skill sets, Apajee acknowledges. It’s a trend that COVID-19 accelerated.
There’s also fallout from the Big Quit, with reasons ranging from, “I want to go out on my own,” to “Do I want to work 50 hours a week for not much money?”
Focusing on the talent it’s recruiting sets City Personnel apart from other staffing agencies, Apajee says.
Cue Zach Gagnon, the marketing manager who was hired in 2020 to overhaul the website. Once updated every two to three weeks, the site is now updated daily.
Aiming squarely at digital natives, Gagnon blogs about subjects that range from serious (“The ultimate guide to sourcing candidates online”) to playful (“Can the color of your tie help you get a job?”). The company also prospects using LinkedIn, social networks and previous clients to get the word out.
“We’ve gone from 100 monthly views to 100 a day,” he said. “We’re probably ahead of the pack in our candidate-driven approach. Sourcing is a big thing, and staying in contact once we start a relationship.”
Apajee says she’s had a couple of clients who’ve recently left jobs because the office culture made them uncomfortable. As a woman of color, she emphasizes the importance of an inclusive and diverse workplace, a goal she sets for her own company.
Has she experienced pushback herself as a woman of color in business? The answer’s nuanced. “I’m in a privileged situation,” she said. “There haven’t been times where I’m told you’re Black or female, so I’m not going to give you a job,” she said.
“I’m from London. There may be instances, but I think people look past that because of my accent, and they should. I’m providing a good service, I’m good at what I do.
There are others who don’t have that advantage.”
