After one year within the business, our first cohort of Associate Consultants post-pandemic are now celebrating their first anniversary with Heat.
To mark the occasion, and to find out what’s changed since they started, we sat down to ask them a few questions about their first year at Heat and the advice they would give to anyone considering moving into a career in recruitment.
Our contributors: Ella Rayson, Hadden Smith, Jacob McNally, and Jemma Smith.
What’s the biggest change you’ve noticed since you started at Heat?
“The training has gone from strength to strength. It was great when I first joined but it has now been finely tuned to give new recruits the best platform to succeed from. We have also recently invested in a system called Daxtra, which means that we save time whilst searching for candidates and we are able to approach them ahead of other agencies.” – Jemma
“The number of team dos and incentives have increased, and they have got much better. I feel closer to a lot more people in the office because of this.” – Jacob
“The training is miles better than when I first started. The appointment of Nathan Garland as our L&D specialist was a great hire and miles more informative and practical than what we had in place previously. Now I’m much more equipped to tackle recruitment in a manner I understand and know.” – Hadden
“Company goals are a lot clearer and the hirings of more senior members into the team probably has something to do with this. The company itself has also expanded a lot and moved into a new Manchester office as well which is good.” – Ella
How has your view of recruitment changed since you started?
“It’s tough, but enjoyable. It’s definitely made me more resilient, and I’ve learned to not take things for granted before they happen, for sure!” – Jacob
“Recruitment is a lot harder than I initially thought, and I didn’t think it was going to be easy to begin with.” – Hadden
“I have realised that recruitment isn’t always about the instant wins – in fact sometimes acting irrationally can hinder you down the line. Sometimes it’s about perseverance and resilience. After all these years I’ve finally realised the moral behind ‘the race between the hare and the tortoise!’” – Jemma
“I wouldn’t say my views have changed too much, although I thought the environment would be more competitive which it isn’t, and I was expecting more client visits- but post-covid these aren’t as common.” – Ella
What aspect of the recruitment process did you find the most challenging at first, and how did you eventually master it?
“Business Development and acquiring clients within Engineering was seriously difficult to begin with. It took trust and time and relationship-building touch points over months.” – Hadden
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow but you just have to remember their application to the job you’re recruiting for may not be that important up against other things that could be going on in their life – you never know what is going on in someone else’s world. You have to pick yourself up and go again.” – Jemma
“Negotiating terms of business with clients. I had training on it with Alex and Bobby on my team and being persistent paid off.” – Jacob
“I found Business Development most challenging. With BD you just have to persevere and remember to spec candidates to relevant people.” – Ella
What’s your top piece of advice for anyone thinking of starting a career in recruitment?
“Take everything in your stride – you aren’t going to get everything right straight away.” – Jemma
“Consider if you’re mentally resilient enough to cope with the highs and lows of recruitment, it’s definitely a testing work environment at times.” – Hadden
“You get back what you put in. Work hard and keep going the rewards will come. And enjoy it!” – Jacob
“Work smart, stay focussed and don’t be afraid to say things as they are, even when it might be awkward to question things.” – Ella
How would you sum up your first year at Heat in 3 words?
“Fun, challenging and engaging.” – Jemma
“Eyeopener, consistency, accountability.” – Hadden
“Fun, challenging, sociable.” – Jacob
“Collaborative, Positive, Perseverance.” – Ella
Find out more about our progression opportunities, culture and values by visiting our Work for Us page here.