H2 Recruits: finding candidates, filling jobs

After working in the recruiting business for two decades, Heather Healy knows the business well. She spent time working at large staffing companies, as a district and regional manager at a global company. But over time, she got burned out on corporate America and the staffing industry.

“We didn’t know when we were going to be able to adopt, but I went from not being a mom to having a five-day-old baby,” Healy said. “I was a workaholic before and it was not a good fit for being a mom.”

Healy, a Highland Lakes resident, knew there had to be an easier way to do the job. She decided to leave her position and went out on her own with a partner. When that didn’t work out, she sold that business to him after two years and went solo in 2019, creating H2 Recruits (the H’s standing for her initials).

She knew she wanted a partner and knew exactly who it was. Healy had known Mia Abrams from a previous job, and the two have been working together for the past four years.

“She is one of the few people I wanted to be in business with,” Healy said.

Abrams, a Chelsea Park resident, was on board and embraced the change.

“Once you detox from wearing a suit and driving two hours in the car every day, it’s like wow,” Abrams said.

They did have an office space in Cahaba Heights, but since the pandemic, they have enjoyed working from home. Healy said at some point they may get a shared office space somewhere on the CR-41 corridor.

Working for themselves, the job isn’t as stressful or demanding as it was in the past. No longer having to meet a quota of calling 50 people a day, Healy and Abrams spend time getting to know their candidates and have their best interest in mind.

Even despite the economy over the last year, business has been steady for H2 Recruits. The company has been profitable since their first quarter.

“We’ve been fortunate to have business,” Healy said. “They’re calling us, we’re not calling them, and because of that, we’ve grown. Last year we had a good year and even had a higher revenue than the year before.”

Abrams said they are very honest about challenges their clients are going to face.

“We really lay out the good and the bad and work as equally for our clients as we do our candidates,” she said.

What’s different about H2 Recruits is it only does permanent placement and direct hiring.

They fill over 90% of their openings when the industry average is close to 30%.

“When talking to candidates, our first goal is not really about the opening we’re recruiting for, but talking and figuring out what’s a good fit for them,” Healy said. “So many of our clients were candidates first and know how they were treated.”

Splitting duties of the business, Abrams works more as the director of talent acquisition and director of recruiting, and Healy handles more of the sales side and client management

“We complement each other,” Healy said. “I’m not really scared of anything. I’ll talk to anyone, but Mia is the one everyone loves to talk to.”

With the business continuing to grow, Healy said she has plans to hire two additional recruiters in the future and could see there being as many as 10 down the road.

H2 has clients throughout the Birmingham area and also the Southeast.

“Hopefully we exist to help other businesses thrive and add talent, but our goal is also to exist to help people enjoy their lives more and be in the right career and be happy,” Healy said.

For more information about H2 Recruits, visit their website at h2recruits.com.