Up Close with Erica Cain: Recruiting with Heart and Hope

When Erica Cain was a recruiter for the tech industry, she helped connect a young woman to a job training program that led to an exciting new career. 

“She showed up one day to thank me, with popcorn and candy,” Erica recalls. “She said, ‘You helped change the course of my entire life.’ That was the most fulfilling moment for me.”

She was hooked on recruiting.

Now Erica is the talent acquisition specialist at Level Green Landscaping, recruiting new team members so their lives can change for the better, too. 

“I love listening to people’s stories and then helping them along to where they need to be,” Erica says. “I want to bring people in who can learn and grow.”

“I’m On a Crusade to Recruit More Women”

Erica works to boost the number of talented Level Green team members, including women. While there are more than 40 women at Level Green, in a wide array of jobs, from crew members to chief financial officer, the landscaping industry still consists of mostly men. 

“I’m on a crusade to recruit more women,” Erica says.

She visits colleges and conferences to recruit new team members and discovers talent in the surrounding area, too, reaching out to area workforce development programs. 

“We want to give people opportunities to grow,” she says. 

Erica loves hearing about career hopes and dreams.'

“What are they looking for and how does that align with what we’re looking for?” she says. 

“People are starting to recognize Level Green when we go to college career fairs,” Erica says. “More people are coming to our table. People are circling back to us.” She loves that. 

Three of the four last Level Green college interns were hired full time, she says. Other interns have landed jobs at Level Green over the years, too. 

“They’re all doing so well,” she says. “I said, ‘Look at you — you came back!’ We must be doing something right.”

“I Have a Heart for Customer Service”

Before she attended Howard University, Erica started her career in retail, getting a crash course in human nature.

“I tell people to get a retail job once in your life,” she says. “It helps you understand people and their habits. It teaches you how to listen. How to be organized. How to problem solve in a limited amount of time. How to speak professionally. All of that helps you in any other job. 

“I have a heart for customer service,” she says. “I’ve always really enjoyed helping people, even as a kid.”

She was a Girl Scout and church usher. Her grandparents were big influences on her. She watched her grandmother help others as a nurse, and saw how customers responded to her grandfather, a car salesman. 

“He had a heart for helping,” she says. “He genuinely wanted to help people find a good car. People wanted to talk to him, because they knew it wasn’t just about the sale.

“My past has prepared me for now.”

How Do You Say Cheesecake in Eight Languages? Ask Erica

Erica lives with her twin sister, Brianna, and a mini Australian labradoodle named Jack Sparrow. 

Her partner, Tracey, a tech business analyst, lives in Dallas and they often visit each other across the miles.

“He’s constantly in my corner,” she says. “He cheers me on.” She laughs. “He’s now my mother’s favorite child.”

A language wiz, Erica has studied Latin, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, French, Arabic and Korean.

“You could drop me off in quite a few countries and I’d be all right,” she says. 

She makes a mean strawberry cheesecake; enjoys drawing and sketching; and is a lover of books and reading. 

“I love cracking open a new book,” Erica says. “There will always be hardcover print books, because there’s no better feeling than opening them.”

Doing the Right Thing

What’s fulfilling about her work?

“Being able to follow our company motto, ‘Do the Right Thing,’” Erica says. “At the end of the day I want to do the right thing for the people coming in and for the wonderful people already here.

“People are out there just trying to make it,” she says. “I want to be a bit of a beacon for them. 

“When they tell me, that’s the best feeling.”

Want to Join The Team?

Erica is just one of the dedicated team members we have here at Level Green Landscaping. And we’re always looking for hard-working, talented people to join our team.

Are you ready to work for a strong, supportive company that wants to help you learn and grow?