It’s time to introduce a new member of our team! This week we shine the DS spotlight on our newest colleague and People Ops Recruiter – Craig Norris. Jump into our conversation below, as he shares with us his biggest professional influences, the one secret talent no one knows about and a travel story straight out of an episode of Survivor. Read ahead!
Where are you from?
I am originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, California. My wife is Dutch, so that is how I settled here in Amsterdam.
How did you come across DS?
I came across DS while researching various roles within recruitment in Amsterdam. Digital Source’s vibe and culture really stood out to me when I was researching the company.
What inspired you to pursue a career as a PeopleOps recruiter?
I used to work on cruise ships as a professional ice skater, where I was managing the ice cast onboard. I really enjoyed making connections and helping my cast-mates succeed, so when I was looking into a career transition I thought I would enjoy something within People Operations. Being from San Francisco and the Silicon Valley, I have a few friends that work as recruiters within the tech industry, and a few of them suggested looking at the path of recruitment. It lined up with what I wanted to get into as a career.
Who or what influences you the most, when it comes to how you approach your work?
I worked with a Hotel Director onboard one of my ships named Darren. He was incredibly passionate, kind, helpful, engaging and dynamic while running a huge hotel operation onboard one of the world’s largest cruise ships. How he approached this enormous task inspires me to approach my own work with the same degree of passion and professionalism.
What would you say is the most rewarding aspect when working with people?
The opportunity to positively impact people’s lives everyday, no matter how big or small that impact is.
Do you have a secret talent that no one knows about?
I write ambidextrously. When I was 10 I broke my right arm. During this time I taught myself how to write with my left hand since I was in a cast for a while, and ended up switching my dominant writing hand for about 6 years. It was great in school because when one hand would get tired from writing, I would just switch to the other hand and there wouldn’t be a difference!
If you could add one thing to the DS office, what would it be?
We have many awesome office doggos, but I would love an office cat.
Tell us your craziest travel story in 5 lines or less
Our ship was in Freeport, Bahamas undergoing a drydock (when the ship is pulled out of the water and maintenance is done underneath) and a crane collapsed onto our ship. All 2000 crew were evacuated and shuttled between a resort and passenger ferries to sleep on. There are little to no services in Freeport, so it was a bit like Survivor or Fyre Fest. However, our company did a great job at doing the best they could to take care of us.
If you had a yacht, what would you name it?
Chungus McGee
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