Graduates – The Reality of Your First Year in Recruitment
So, there we have it, my first year in recruitment is complete. What a rollercoaster it has been…but a rollercoaster I would get back on again and again and again.
Like a lot of graduates, I was unsure what career path I was going to go down. Straight out of uni I decided travelling and working seasons was for me, so off I went. I’d originally applied for an Easter placement at Highfield, however, with the decision to go off travelling, it wasn’t the right time…but I was told to stay in contact all the same. On my return, I got back in touch with Highfield because I liked how they had sold the business – the opportunity to progress quickly and the earning potential stuck in my mind and I knew that if I put the work and hours in I could quite quickly reap the rewards.
How did I find my first year?
Now my first year in recruitment is done and dusted, I can say that it has been a great career decision. In the last year, I have progressed from Trainee Consultant to a Recruitment Consultant, made friends, won incentives and my hard work has been constantly recognised. And yes, I still get that “warm, fuzzy feeling” of getting someone a job. One of my favourite memories is securing a candidate a role with a £5k pay rise plus generous bonuses, all because he didn’t realise what his skills were worth.
I’d be lying if I said it was all fun and games. I am a self-confessed ‘work-a-holic’ and it can sometimes feel that work is never finished, there is always something you could be doing. Recruitment is a constant learning curve, perseverance and self-motivation become your best friend – bounce back from the no’s because all you need is one yes. So, don’t be afraid to fail! It will make you better, embrace it, but never ever let it beat you!
Coming out of university with lots of academic experience and not so much working world experience was daunting. But, I have found recruitment to compliment my university degree perfectly by teaching me a host of new skills from general office work, sales language and objection handling and of course, how to multi-task. Don’t be fooled, recruitment is not just sales, its marketing, business, relationship management and problem solving to name a few.
My advice!
If you’re thinking about a career in recruitment, my advice to you is be creative and get stuck in. Think of being a recruitment consultant as running your own mini business, the more you put in the more you get out. With the right training, you have the power to be very successful.
So, for any graduates thinking about a career in recruitment, but not sure if it’s for them, why don’t you answer the following questions:
Are you ambitious and determined to succeed?
Do you want to be successful?
Are you looking for a career where the work you put in will always be rewarded?
Do you want to be part of a team that works hard but knows how to party?
If you’ve answered yes to those questions then I think you need to email your CV to lauren.davison@highfield.searchstack.co.uk, and apply for a Graduate Recruitment job with Highfield.
If I haven’t quite convinced you and you have any questions about my year in recruitment, then I am more than happy to help. Drop me an email, sam.eslinger@highfield.searchstack.co.uk