I Love Recruitment

There are a lot of professions that are divisive amongst the people who utilise the profession’s service and the people who work within the profession.

In the 1980s there wasn’t anything more despised than the double glazing salesman and the estate agent, often demonised as wide boy style salesman nothing short than thieves.

Thankfully the true nature of these professions has been relayed to the public in a way that actually highlights the actual integrity in which the field operates – particularly within real estate and agency. Window sales have kind of died a death considering most homes in the UK are no fully fitted and there isn’t a new build with single pane windows.

The wonderful rollercoaster of the recruitment profession continues unabated after decades! Luckily and rightfully the vilification of the sector has undergone a huge cultural and process shift. Particularly after I started in recruitment after the cooling period of the 1980s sales, greed is good and general exponential growth in capitalism had dissipated somewhat.

There was however a hangover of this era, fat knot ties, closing deals and bashing out sales calls. Strangely this environment was the antithesis of my personality but I loved it! The thrill of chasing business, closing deals – driving sales etc. it really made me feel part of something important and of course getting people jobs is important but making and driving profits was equally important.

The stigma or stereotype of recruiters did linger somewhat. I recall going to a large FMCG company back in 2006 and was told by the Financial Director, who had marched me and my colleague through the large open plan office that if anything recruiters are a “necessary evil”.

Then asking him a standard series of “open questions” – such as “how many people are in your team?”, “how is the department structured?” etc. his blunt and direct answers were “no”.

I can tell you I left that meeting feeling disheartened, confused and questioning how you can forge a business and develop sales when there were client’s that had such a negative view of the industry and the services that can be provided.

However, every win, even the small wins, the placements where there were such a scarcity of candidates it initially felt impossible, the joy of actually getting somebody their perfect assignment, of placing in the face of fierce competition and a market were counter offers were rife defeated this feeling of disheartenment.

Over the next decade and half I truly got to know my clients, and although that in itself is a cliché, plastered over every recruitment company’s website, this was truly my forte. Meeting clients, getting know them, know their business and know what they need helped me and them in ways I had not expected and it was truly successful.

Not only was it successful for client, candidate and agency but I loved it! Really loved it – I loved how the hard work paid off, loved the thrill of the chase, the uncertainty of how things would turn and closing deals. I loved developing relationships with clients who I truly liked, whose businesses and services I admired and respected.

I love recruitment

I hope to carry on recruiting until I retire, which at this rate will be 85.