Category: Member Spotlights

Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on.

I’ve been in recruitment for 6 years. I’m a Sales Director for NST Recruitment who are focused on Technical and Sales recruitment based in Teddington. Me personally, I head up the perm division with a niche focus on Sales recruitment!

How did your journey lead you to joining the Recruitment Industry?

I honestly fell into recruitment, like a number of other individuals. I was a fresh grad, I wanted to get into Sales in general and recruitment sounded interesting, so I took the plunge. 

What would your advice be for those wanting to join the recruitment industry or are early on in their recruitment career?

Make sure you are willing to build your personal network, this is something that I didn’t focus on from the start. If I did, I would have been in a much better place! Also, continue learning, never stop. I’ve only just started a journey of personal growth over the last couple of years, If I had done this from the beginning I’d be in a different position.

What has been the best piece of advice that you have received so far since working in recruitment?

Don’t take things personally. I started off by taking a lot of setbacks, dropouts, and rejections personally. Control the controllable, and don’t worry too much about the rest.

If you could change the industry what would you improve?

The reputation, there’s a lot of bad press on recruiters. When I tell people that I’m in recruitment, the response usually is “oh right, one of those people”.

Why should other recruitment professionals join Recruitment Mentors?

Personal development isn’t an area that many people like spending their money on. For me, Recruitment Mentors has been a blessing. Networking with like-minded professionals that are all striving for success is outstanding. Sometimes you can’t find the advice in your current recruitment company, this is why it’s great to have a good, strong network of individuals in the same industry.

Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on.

Hello! I’m Wendy and I started Qwerk Recruitment in October right in the midst of the Pandemic. My company works over IT and Tech, and I am niching down to Data Science.

I’m also currently working on a platform to disrupt the Recruitment industry as a whole!

How did your journey lead you to joining the Recruitment Industry?

I was working in the charity sector and got made redundant. I applied for a role through a high street recruiter who saw something in me and hired me as their administrator.

I worked my way up to Billing Manager of a branch and after a few years, I moved to more technical and specialist recruitment.

What would your advice be for those wanting to join the recruitment industry or are early on in their recruitment career?

Don’t let people bully you, take some time out and look after your mental health. It’s all well and good earning £££ but you need to be able to enjoy your life too.

What has been the best piece of advice that you have received so far since working in recruitment?

Go out on your own!

If you could change the industry what would you improve?

Ethics. I want people who lie to candidates and clients to be eradicated. I want everyone to be treated with respect and dignity.

Why should other recruitment professionals join Recruitment Mentors?

I thought I knew everything! Boy was I wrong! RM has taught me so much from the mentor video’s but also from the community and member huddles. It’s also great to share my experiences with those who might need them.

Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on.

I’m Georgia, a Principal Business Development Consultant at Keystream. As an agency, we specialise in supplying Digital, BI & PMO talent into the public sector, predominantly the NHS. 

In my role, I solely focus on winning new business and developing new areas of our existing accounts. Once I pull a job, I pass it over to the most appropriate 360 consultant to resource, and we split the commission. 

I’ve been in recruitment for almost 3 years and have only ever done it this way and I’m sure I don’t want to try 360, and no, I don’t hate myself. BD is fun!

How did your journey lead you to join the Recruitment Industry?

I studied Psychology at Cardiff University and originally wanted to be an Occupational Psychologist. My degree included a placement year, so I went to work for a psychometric consultancy that had developed a tool called Strengthscope which identifies your work-related strengths, i.e. what gives you energy! 

I joined as a researcher but on my first day had to complete the psychometric and all my strengths pointed to one career – sales! I was off the charts for enthusiasm, being results-focused, resilience and relationship building so (to my horror) they put me in their sales team for one day a week to ‘see how I got on’. 

At first, I was furious – I was so confident that sales just wasn’t for me but, the test was right, and I quickly fell in love with the role and transitioned my placement year into a full-time sales job. 

By the time I went back to finish my degree I had my heart set on a career in sales, and when I realised I could focus all of my energy on the business development side of recruitment I was sold! (plus what grad can resist the lure of the free ski holiday…)

What would your advice be for those wanting to join the recruitment industry or are early on in their recruitment career?

Recruitment is hard, if it wasn’t, then everyone would do it. We all have low days when it feels like EVERYTHING is going wrong (I’m often convinced that numerous clients have personal vendettas against me) but it’s important to remind yourself that other successful consultant/top biller you know has felt like this at some point and that they didn’t give up, so you sure as hell shouldn’t! 

I truly believe that if you do the basics well every day and remain consistent in your approach, success is bound to follow. You need to be prepared to ride the waves of highs and lows, but if you can see that through, then the possibilities for success really are endless.

What has been the best piece of advice that you have received so far since working in recruitment?

When you’re feeling stressed/something isn’t going well, and it’s starting to affect your mood and concentration, then take yourself off into a private space (I favoured the meeting room) and force yourself to SMILE. Trust me on this!

You’ll feel like a complete weirdo at first, but when you smile, your brain releases tiny molecules to help fight off stress, so you are literally tricking your mind into feeling better. 

The first manager I had in recruitment swore by doing this and as strange as it sounds it never fails to improve my mood, helps to perk me up and if nothing else gives me a few minutes to step away from the problem and realise it really isn’t THAT bad – give it a go! 

What did you spend your first commission pay check on?

I got my first big commission slip the month after my first promotion, so I took my mum out for a fancy dinner and to the theatre in Covent Garden to celebrate (and to say thank you for handling all my previous deal-related meltdowns).

Why should other recruitment professionals join Recruitment Mentors?

Recruitment Mentors has so much to offer, and I truly believe that every recruitment professional at any stage of their career has something to learn from joining the community. 

The beauty about recruitment is that you never know what the day will bring, so having a community to lean on for guidance on things you are struggling with or aren’t sure how to handle is invaluable, especially in the somewhat disconnected world we currently live in. 

Recruitment can be so competitive and it’s incredibly refreshing to be part of something which puts this aside and focuses on making us ALL the best we can be, and in turn, the whole sector will benefit.

Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on.

I’m the MD at Transition Partners, focussed on forging new relationships with clients across the UK & Europe currently leading a team of 360 Consultants. I’m passionate about leaving a positive impact on the Tech community and helping individuals reach their career goals. 

How did your journey lead you to join the Recruitment Industry?

After a successful career in Sales within the beauty industry, I wanted to find an industry with long-term career prospects. A lot of people said that I would make an awesome Recruiter so voilà …  here I am today! Seven years, and still going strong.

What would your advice be for those wanting to join the recruitment industry or are early on in their recruitment career?

Go for it! If you want to join an industry where you can create your own career path, make your own opportunities and reach your financial goals – Recruitment is the role for you. There are no limits, you just have to be accountable for your output. Approaching every day with enthusiasm is so important, too.

What has been the best piece of advice that you have received so far since working in recruitment?

“We never give up until the role is filled!” It gave me a relentless approach to resourcing from day one. 

If you could change the industry what would you improve?

Eliminate some of the archaic practices in recruitment which still seem to be commonly used today. We’re in the 21st Century, so let’s use tools and approaches to match the ever-changing market. 

Why should other recruitment professionals join Recruitment Mentors?

Recruitment Mentors allows access to hidden resources that aren’t available to recruiters on a day-to-day basis. It is a network that is forward-thinking and innovative. 

Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on?

I’m Matt, a global technology headhunter for Finlay James. I’m a 360 consultant, completely focussed on driving new business in uncharted territories, whilst finding candidates their perfect role at awesome tech companies. 

How did your journey lead you to join the Recruitment Industry? 

Like most people, I fell into it. The position with Finlay James stood out to me, and I was extremely interested in the tech industry. Recruitment was attractive to me, I loved the idea of the incentives and recruiting within an industry I already was passionate about.  

What would your advice be for those wanting to join the recruitment industry or are early on in their recruitment career?

Throw yourself into it, ask questions, learn, don’t give up. There will be days when it’s tough, and it feels like everything is crumbling around you. However, you’ve got to keep going! Think outside the box and ask for advice from senior leaders in the business. Make the right relationships internally and externally, and you will have a support network that will genuinely care.

What has been the best piece of advice that you have received so far since working in recruitment? 

“Things aren’t sh*t forever, if you reflect, own it and learn from what could’ve been done better.”

If you could change the industry what would you improve? 

Although I’ve only worked in one company, I’ve heard that micro-management is still around in the industry. I’d like that to improve. 

Why should other recruitment professionals join Recruitment Mentors? 

It’s a like-minded space where everyone is looking to better their careers. The mentors and industry leaders are all in one place, and have the capacity to see your questions and give solid advice.