About 9 months ago, I decided to take the plunge and try my hand at recruitment. If I had tried to write this maybe 4/ 5 or 6 months in, I think it would be completely different from my perspective now.
Given the nature of recruitment; in another 9 months, I’m certain my opinions will have shifted again.
Trying to unpack the world of recruitment to those who aren’t in it fully is, in itself, incredibly difficult. The toughest time for this is when the family asks me in the evening, “what are you doing at work tomorrow” or “how was work today”?
Questions like these are generally followed with either “I won't know until the morning rears its head” or “Where do I even begin”.
Neither answer is because I don't know what I did today or what I'm doing tomorrow. It's because for those 10 or so hours at work, there's every chance that what you plan for doesn't happen, and what you didn't expect to happen happens anyway.
Typically, you’d expect the day would follow a simple equation: Vacancy + Candidate = my job. But to do what I do successfully, there is a tremendous amount of diversity and accountability. You can spend half a morning catching up with your network of candidates, half the evening sitting around a fairly impending dinner table networking event and keeping pace with the people who are in the driver's seat of our clients' companies.
There can be days where you get to celebrate the good news, and days where you have to be the bearer of the not-so-good news.
Days can be long and others can be short. I think of a recent time where a client had a huge challenge on their hand. They had lost a vital part of their management team, and production had come to a halt. The call came in, and they needed someone as of 5 minutes ago. What followed was a Friday evening that went well into the night. I must have interviewed 20/ 25 people in the space of roughly 5 hours. At around quarter to nine, I decided that I'm not getting anywhere and I'm going to be letting someone I was invested in down.
I said I'll try one more before it becomes a Monday morning problem…. Bingo, I found the right candidate. From our first call, to their interview prep and to the interview, we did this in around a day and a half. That candidate starts in a week, and my client could wipe their brow.
We all work for money, and recruitment is an industry which can be financially rewarding. However, in moments like this, it isn't the money or the deal you're thinking about. It's the rush that comes with being a goal behind in the 90th and finding some way to lock in and bring it back. Knowing that your credibility and your persistence are on the line, you're under the spotlight, and you throw the kitchen sink at it.
Sometimes, when I'm taking two calls, setting up a team’s meeting, sending a text and writing an interview prep all in one go (slight exaggeration but you get the point!), I can't think of anywhere else that feels like a trading floor from The Wolf of Wall Street as my job does in those moments.
Here’s to the next 9 months, and many more learnings to come!
If you’re interested in a career in recruitment, we’re always open for a chat. Find out more here
