What do you think of when you hear the word 'Recruitment'?
Maybe you picture yourself living in a big city, making big commission. Perhaps you imagine the role to be really competitive and sales-oriented. There's a lot more to it than that. GradTouch spoke to graduates working in Recruitment at five different companies to find out what landing a job in Recruitment is really like.
Many of the grads we talked to hadn't really considered Recruitment at uni, or just did not know what to expect going into it. But of all the people we spoke to, they have one thing in common: they now absolutely love what they do.
Here are 7 reasons why Recruitment could be the career for you.
1. You'll be surrounded by social people and have fun in the office.
Sophie, who works at Harvey Nash, says she thinks she got her job in Recruitment because: "I'm bubbly, outgoing and I showed personality in my interview."
This seemed to be something a lot of the grads we spoke to had in common - their workplaces aren't corporate, silent zones. In Recruitment, you're likely to be surrounded by people who end up being great friends, because being chatty and personable is essential.
Angie, who works at Nicoll Curtin, told us about how her team all go on nights out together. She certainly doesn't seem like someone who dreads a Monday morning either, saying she "feel[s] really enthusiastic coming into work" because "the team's really great and motivating... the environment is always really buzzing".
Amy said she "wasn't 100% sure what to expect" when she joined the team at Harvey Nash, as she'd never worked in Recruitment before. But now she loves it, because "it's a really fun and lively office to work in, everybody has a laugh".
2. You get a lot of support from your team and your colleagues.
Some of the grads we spoke to imagined working in Recruitment would be pretty cut-throat, but have found their colleagues are really supportive. It's about the team succeeding, not just the individuals within it.
Chris, who works at Cranberry Panda, said he'd "always had perceptions from other people about how Recruitment is very serious, very Sales-driven and very big suit culture as well."
But, he quickly found, "it was nothing like that. It’s very relaxed with our candidates, the clients and the team as well – everyone was out to help each other.”
Rahul from Harvey Nash agreed, saying he gets "support on a daily basis" from his colleagues. He added, “I love my team and the people that I work with".
3. You'll be going out to meet clients - it's not strictly an office job.
Does sitting at a desk making calls appeal to you, or are you someone who finds speaking to people face-to-face and travelling to meet clients appealing? Well, you can have both.
Aubrey, who works at Harvey Nash, said he expected Recruitment to be "pretty mundane, spending a lot of time talking on the phone, not actually meeting people."
In fact, for Aubrey, it was "completely the opposite." He explained that he gets to "spend a lot of time meeting people... you do spend a lot of time building new relationships and that's something I didn't expect coming into Recruitment.
“My favourite thing about working at Harvey Nash is the comradery that I have with a lot of my colleagues. We spend a lot of time bouncing ideas off each other on how we can develop our different markets”.
4. There are loads of opportunities for progression.
Because Recruitment is largely results-oriented, you can really expect to be rewarded for the work you put in. Tom, who works at McGinley Support Services is a prime example of this. He's now in his third role at the company since starting there three years ago. He enjoys his work, because he's "really had the chance to progress and move upward”.
But this experience is not unique to Tom. Josie at Harvey Nash always feels motivated by the promise of progression, explaining that "when I come to work, I've got something to aim towards".
And Sophie, who is also at Harvey Nash, said being "really money-motivated" has been key to her success in the Industry.
In Recruitment, if you're consistently delivering and performing, you can carve out an incredible career path to the top for yourself.
5. And to have the money and independence you didn't have at uni.
"Being a student is fantastic," said Holly at McGinley Support Services. But, she continued, "having the money and the resources to be able to afford to do what you want, when you want, is so much more rewarding".
Going into Recruitment, you will, most likely, earn commission on top of your basic salary, as well as incentives and perks like trips abroad or meals out to reward your hard work. So, if that's something that appeals to you, it is certainly a career path to consider.
Josie from Harvey Nash has found that working in Recruitment has freed her to experience things she's long dreamed of: "I now have the money to travel and see places I always wanted to go to."
6. It's challenging and exciting on a daily basis.
To succeed in Recruitment, it helps to be someone who embraces change and variety in life and work. In Recruitment, according to the grads we spoke to, no two days are the same. Holly, who works at McGinley Support Services, said she loves "the diversity of the role and the people that I get to meet doing Recruitment".
Meanwhile, Amy at Harvey Nash said she imagined the role would be "a little bit repetitive.
"But it actually isn't - you deal with different roles every day, different people - so it keeps it really interesting."
Rahul at Harvey Nash also finds Recruitment really exciting. He loves "going out to meet clients and winning new business".
7. And, finally, you get to help grads like you find the right job for them.
We also spoke to two grads working in Recruitment in Central London at Maxxima. They both talked about how important it was to them to feel like they're making a positive difference to people in their work.
Lucy told us, "It's not just about the money," as you might expect. She loves her role because, "it's a really great feeling when you place someone into a job."
Her colleague, Hope, feels the same way. After university, Hope worked for a while as a carer, before deciding it wasn't for her. Interestingly, much of what she enjoyed about being a carer carries over into her Recruitment work.
She explained, "On graduation day I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do specifically, other than that I wanted to work with people and help people… these days I’m always on the phone to people, chatting to people and hopefully helping them from a different angle.”