As a sociology major on track to earn her degree this May, senior swimmer Valerie Hull figured her first job out of Cal would be in sales or another similar field. But a casual conversation a couple of years ago with the older sister of an incoming recruit completely changed her direction. Now, Hull enters the last weeks of her final semester with a full-time position already waiting for her.
 
Sometimes, career paths appear when least expected. For Hull, that moment came when she was chatting with Audrey Light, a fellow Cal student who thought Hull had the personality and skillset to make a good recruiter for a search firm. Hull explored the idea and liked what she found.
 
In a way, Hull had been practicing many of the requirements for the field all along.
 
"I found a lot of parallels between what we do with the swim team and what search firms are based off of," Hull said. "A lot of it is relationship-based. I really like it when we do this for the swim team. I love recruiting weekends. I love being able to facilitate those and bring girls in. So, being able to say I really like that and I can do that as my job would be really fun."
 
Last summer, Hull found out just how good a fit recruiting could be. She interned for the Toft Group, an executive search firm with an office in her hometown of San Diego. It didn't take long for Hull to realize she'd found a perfect match.
 
"That got me in the door of the industry to see what that looked like and if I wanted to do search," Hull said. "And I loved it. I went to work every day just juiced to be there. I think it was nice to find something that I get just as excited about as I do about swimming."
 
Head coach Teri McKeever agreed that executive search makes perfect sense for Hull's career.
 
"Val is really clear about what type of person we want in our program and what type of person will be successful at Cal," McKeever said. "I think she's good at reading people and then helping me with information – is this person a good fit or if they're not, why not? It's not superficial; it's more insightful perspective."
 
An outgoing personality with an inquisitive mind, Hull is active in and around Berkeley. During her college career, she has been involved with several campus organizations, including Athletes in Action, led a class on female student-athlete leadership, and volunteered as a Sunday school leader for kindergarteners and first graders in San Francisco. In addition, she's shadowed various athletic department staff to get a better sense of what goes into running an athletic department. She even has one of the more active LinkedIn pages among Cal's student-athletes.
 
"I think a lot of it is being interested in other people," Hull said. "I've always been fascinated by people's behavior and why people do the things that they do. I like to connect with people and spend the time to get to know them, find out what's important to them and why it's important to them. In recruiting, they talk about keeping your network warm, always keep in touch with people."
 
Hull began interviewing for post-grad positions last semester and landed a full-time opportunity with the executive search firm, Heidrick & Struggles. She'll begin work this coming fall in Santa Monica as part of a two-year Associate Development Program where she'll rotate through different practice areas before deciding on her specialized field.
 
Once she starts, Hull will likely rely heavily on what she learned helping bring swimmers to Cal, including Audrey Light's little sister, Aislinn, now a freshman on the squad. What makes a good teammate, according to Hull, is more than fast times. Culture fit, potential, leadership and willingness to be a team player are among the many elements to consider.
 
"Everyone has a resume," Hull said. "Everyone can articulate what's on their resume. That's not the point. I can look at resumes all day long and tell you who has enough experience to do the job. But I think a lot of it is about the soft skills. Are you the right personality type? Can you have the tough conversations? Can you lead in a certain way? We do that with swimmers, too. Teri's always said we recruit the person, not the swimmer."
 
The same can be said for finding the right person for a company. And Valerie Hull already has a head start.