This month’s “All-In At Acara” employee spotlight features Nicole Conklin, who works out of our headquarters in Buffalo, New York. Nicole started with the team in 2021 as a Staffing Coordinator and today serves as a Regional Operations Lead. Learn more about Nicole’s day-to-day at Acara, what she loves most about the job, and what keeps her busy outside of the office. 

Journey to Acara 

I was born and raised in Springville, New York—a small town about 35-40 minutes south of the City of Buffalo. I went to school at Daemen College in Buffalo and majored in marketing and minored in entrepreneurship and public relations. 

I graduated college at a tough time (2020) and ended up taking a job in marketing. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but at the time I was just grateful to be employed and enjoyed the atmosphere. After about a year, I received a call about the position with Acara.  

Life at Acara 

I began at Acara as a Staffing Coordinator and am currently a Regional Operations Lead for the Northeast and Midwest. I assist candidates with the onboarding process so they can be cleared to start working for our clients. In addition to being responsible for my own work and success, I help others on the team and help answer any questions. “Managing chaos” is how we lovingly describe our day-to-day. My teammates make this job very easy, as they are all so self-driven and diligent. 

I love that no workdays are ever the same. Because we work with so many different candidates and clients, I am always coming into new challenges or learning opportunities. I also really like the culture and office space in downtown Buffalo. 

The most interesting part of my job is that I get to speak to people from all walks of life—engineers, accounting professionals, laborers, administrative assistants, and so many more! Helping people makes this job interesting and meaningful. 

Industry Evolution 

When I first started at Acara, we were still coming off the heels of COVID. Many people were remote, we were still wearing masks, and we tried to limit candidates coming into the office. Acara did everything they could to navigate these difficult times both internally for our staff and externally for our candidates and customers. 

Ten years from now, I believe the staffing industry will look a little bit different—especially as AI begins to become more prevalent. Even so, I feel that the “people helping people” part of the industry will remain the same. Operations staff and recruiters will still need to build relationships with the candidates they are working with, and sales folks will still need that face-to-face time with the customers they support. You lose a lot of what makes this industry great when you take people out of the mix.   

Life Outside of Acara 

Outside of Acara, I teach dance a few nights a week at a studio in Hamburg, New York! This is so much more than just a part-time job as it helps fuel my creative side and keeps me busy most weeks/weekends. It also is an incredible feeling to teach at the studio I danced at for 16 years of my childhood. 

I am also a huge New York Yankees fan. My dad is an even bigger fan than I am, and we would always spend time together watching games when I was a kid.  Now we watch games together on TV when we can, but we also try to travel to different ball parks to see them play.