An Introduction to Recruitment
Tim Carling
When I joined Matchtech 8 years ago I was a newcomer to the recruitment industry. The organisation offered an excellent platform for developing the methods, skills and techniques which form the essential ingredients for a successful consultant and in turn provided me the opportunity for career progression within the company.
Whilst on a fairly steep learning curve in my early years, I found it important to be in the office no later than 8.00am. This gave me some vital planning and preparation time before the phones started ringing and enough time to empty my email inbox of both candidate job applications and general client communications. As a consultant you learn very quickly that time management and general organisation is vital - I've never known a job where my day seemed to be gone before I knew it.
The bottom line and most satisfying part of being a consultant was placing people in jobs and this was the only area that my preconceptions of the job focused on. Yet it's the client development and relationship building which can took up the majority of the day in order for the former to happen... This meant getting on the phone and making sales calls, whether it was keeping in touch with existing clients or searching for new opportunities.
Like in any other sales job you need to be a strong communicator, a quick thinker and extremely persistent, skills that are transferable from any sales environment - but this is a sales job with a difference. You don't have a physical visual product at the point of sale; instead it's all about selling and promoting skills, services and opportunities to both clients and candidates. I wasn’t restricted to just doing this on the phone, in fact the company actively encourages client visits and from a very early stage, gives each consultant a very free reign to implement their own style of client development. The company visits not only strengthen relationships but also bring an additional dimension to the job.
The team ethos is further strengthened by the many activities co-ordinated outside of office hours. This was particularly helpful to someone like myself who was new to the area, prior to joining the company - whether it's football, cricket, tennis, squash or a night on the town, there's always something going on.
I had no recruitment experience prior to working for Matchtech and it certainly wasn't an industry that I'd ever given much consideration to joining, but with such a forward thinking and dynamic company and with the opportunities that exist, it's a decision that I have had no regrets making.