What is recruitment and why is it a fulfilling and exciting career choice? We spoke to Brad Macfarlane, Executive Search & Contract Recruitment Specialist at Progressive Recruitment, part of the larger SThree Group, about his journey into recruitment and his key learnings from the past year.
What made Brad join recruitment?
Brad shared with us "Recruitment was never something I considered as a career choice for myself and a choice that never crossed my mind when I was growing up. After speaking to a few colleagues, it seems that this was the case for most recruiter’s as well. My original background was media and film, therefore, interacting with people is something that comes naturally to me and what I had to do on the regular basis; whether it would be my direct team or other departments on set. Building strong relationships in a short period is something that came very easy to me too. Both of these elements of teamwork and relationship building, were essential once I started working in sales and made it a lot easier for me to develop in the role.
I was approached by SThree and asked to come in for an interview and speak to some of the senior consultants in the office. After hearing and learning about their experiences within the recruitment world, I was immediately hooked and keen to learn more, regardless of the fact I had never worked in recruitment before. The fact that an individual has so much potential to grow left me wanting to pursue this as a career. Since there, I joined SThree, working under Progressive Recruitment and I have learnt an amundance of things along the way that I implement in my day-to-day basis at work"
His top 5 essential tips to success
- Building a strong Rapport
"The moment you first dial a number and the individual answers is the moment you build a relationship and it is important to continue building and nurturing that relationship. I ensure that my interactions with candidates and clients are not 100% based around work, I like to know things about their personal life, plans for the weekend, family etc. I ensure I differ myself to the average recruiter. This greatly helps me with building and sustain real relationships and is essential to me when I am dealing with people daily."
- Know your Market
"Being a master in the market will benefit you in so many different ways. Not only will you come off as a professional but it will also open many new doors for opportunities and leads. Candidates are full of useful information and are be able to provide this if you have the ability and knowledge to ask the right technical questions. Speaking to your clients daily and taking job specs for your market will help grow your knowledge of knowing the key skills a candidate must possess. Therefore, we must focus on what every client or candidate is saying in order to learn and deliver the results they are looking for."
- Professional Identify
"There is a variety of ways you can portray yourself to the market, whether that is online, on the phone or face-to-face. Each come with their benefits. I believe they are all very important however, in my opinion, some people tend to neglect the power that LinkedIn can give you. I have found some incredible candidates on LinkedIn and have even had clients approach me with jobs just from posting on LinkedIn. SThree also gives you the freedom and ability to meet and engage with senior clients and be someone they turn to for any requirements. This is essential as it allows senior clients to trust you and see the real value that you bring them and their organisations."
- Setting Goals and Aiming High
"Recruitment is not easy, it’s competitive and unpredictable at times. Like any job, you will have the highs and lows. However, a key skill in these ‘low’ moments is to always remain resilient. Try new tactics, engage with new companies, speak with new clients. “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill
- Time management
"Dealing with multiple candidates and clients while maintaining a high level of business development may be overwhelming at times. It is important to plan your day and split the tasks accordingly. Learning how to prioritise in your jobs will be a huge time saver later down the line.
My market is constantly going through development & challenges, which is why I need to adapt to it. Keeping up to date knowledge every week to ensure I am at the top of my game when I start each week. Recruitment as a career is impossible to master. Anyone can be a recruiter however only a handful will be able to stand out from the rest."
We are proud of Brad's achievements thus far despite being in the business for just a year! If you are inspired by what his journey and if you are interested in a career in recruitment or hearing more about what SThree has to offer? Please visit our SThree Careers page for more information on our current opportunities.