Updates

My first year in recruitment and what I’ve learnt so far

Posted on 07-11-22 by Admin

As my first year working in recruitment draws to a close, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on the things I’ve learnt throughout the year and my personal thoughts and feelings.

1)    It’s a team game

Initially coming into recruitment, I was told stories of a dog-eat-dog world where everyone would be fighting for the illustrious ‘top biller’ title. As much as the competition for that title is still present, I’ve seen a healthy competition where managers care about their teams success as much as their own. Working within the technology unit at Clear Edge, I’ve found the team that surround me have afforded me the opportunity to thrive from their support.

2)    Relationship building is crucial

Working within the more candidate focused side of recruitment, I’ve found that building relationships and treating candidates like the people they are makes the job so much more enjoyable. Creating a relationship with candidates regardless of whether they choose to progress in an opportunity or not has allowed me to create a great network of professionals with some pretty interesting lives too.

3)    Time blocking is a must

Initially I would allow others to plan my day for me, I’d schedule my day around when other people could speak to me and fit me in, then balance my other tasks around this. Once the work piled on I found (with some advice from my workplace mentors) that time blocking enabled me to be far more productive and ensure all aspects of my role sat at a necessary balance.

4)    It’s quite hard to write a blog

Having studied at university to Master’s level, I thought I was quite good at writing. Moving into blog format as a means for social media engagement taught me there’s a long way to go before I have a journalistic career ahead of me.

5)    A lot about myself

One thing I love about Clear Edge is the training provided, not only internally by managers and colleagues, but also the above and beyond to provide external training such as the Insights training, we recently participated in and some negotiation training we have coming up this month. The training allows me reflect on myself and learn about myself professionally in a way I haven’t done before.

6)    Hard work and resilience will be rewarded

There are good days and bad days in recruitment, everyone knows this. One day you could be on top of the world, spending your commission in your head already and the next day your candidate accepts a counter-offer. It happens, it’s the way of life, people want what is best for themselves and they deserve it. In these moments it’s so easy to sit and wallow in what could have been but it’s usually on the other side of these things that something amazing happens. It’s important to maintain a positive outlook and not get bogged down by these situations.

For anyone considering going into recruitment, I highly recommend it – I’ve had a great year, learnt a lot about myself, met some great people along the way and I’m excited to see what year 2 brings!

Chloe Marshall is a Delivery Consultant in our Technology Division.

Clear Edge is always on the look out for talented, ambitious individuals to join our growing team. We have opportunities for new and experienced Consultants. Previous recruitment or sales experience is beneficial but not essential. Key requirements are a hard work ethic, excellent communication skills, an ability to quickly build rapport and form relationships, and strong organisation skills.  Click here to find out more.