Role: Senior Nursing Recruitment Consultant
Company: Reactive Recruitment
Track Record:
What does your job entail?
I help nurses find new jobs. It’s an incredibly rewarding job that is very diverse, people wouldn’t believe how diverse my day can be. I can be caught up making dozens of phone calls that can last all day; I can be interviewing or negotiating the best salary on the nurse’s behalf or the best part meeting up with people who are kind want to help others.
Is it 9-5?
Not really. You can do it 9 to 5 but you quickly get swallowed up in the process, I always try to get in earlier to get a head start but I always end up making and taking phone calls up to about 8pm. However I don’t really mind as I need to be able to speak to my candidates at any time.
How did you get into this line of work?
Nobody actively decides to move into recruitment from Uni, so like many others I came across it by chance, that said I do regard myself very lucky as I get paid quite well and love my job, which I know is rare.
Outline your career to date?
I started into Recruitment straight after Uni in a Recruitment support role with a local agency and was quickly promoted to Recruitment Consultant.
As time went on, I realised I wanted to work in a company where my hard work was recognised and I would be financially rewarded too. I applied for a role in the Nursing team at Reactive Recruitment, and upon meeting with the Director, and Business Manager, I knew straight away it was an environment I would enjoy working in, and where I would prosper.
I’ve been at Reactive Recruitment just over a year now, and was recently promoted to the role of ‘Senior Consultant’. The year has flown in and the business is booming. Since I have started, we have actually brought on an additional 4 employees to keep up with demand.
Tell us about your qualifications/training.
I studied Human Resource Management and graduated in 2013 from the University of Ulster with a Diploma in Professional Practice (International) in 2013.
Since then I have completed a further course in Employment Law and am currently looking at becoming CIPD qualified so that as Reactive Recruitment continues to grow, I can make further use of my HR qualification across the company.
What qualities are required for your job – personal and professional?
The main thing is a good work ethic. The job is very much what you make of it. I like that I have my own sector, and am left to my own devices. Yes, there are targets to be met, but if you are able to manage your time effectively they are very achievable.
You have to be willing to change your methods and approaches to see what works for you, but people from all sorts of backgrounds can be a success at recruitment. It is important that you show a real interest in your candidates and clients as you need to ensure you are placing candidates who will be a good fit for the client, and vice-versa.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards of your work?
The biggest challenge is persisting when things aren’t going your way. It is important how you react to those bad months, and pick yourself up and go again. Obviously the money is fantastic when the commission is coming in but it’s really great when candidates are so appreciative and happy in their new job. Recently I had a candidate who had a few problems in their Nursing career and her confidence was low. When she was offered a job through myself she had to pull over the car and just cried with relief. She was so thankful that both the client and I had faith in her, where others had given up. Moments like that make the job really worthwhile for me.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love sport and play for my local football team, Comber Young Men. I train twice per week and play a match on a Saturday. I try to get away on city breaks regularly, and holidays a couple of times a year at least. My girlfriend is just about to relocate to Philadelphia for work, so no doubt I will take a couple of trips out there.
Who has inspired you most in your life?
I don’t think I have really looked up to anyone in particular for inspiration, but at home, my father laid a solid foundation to follow. He was a plasterer by trade and he made sure that a real work ethic was instilled in me from a young age. Looking at inspiration in the business world I would have to go for a predictable choice in Richard Branson. My favourite story about him was how he started Virgin airlines after his own flight to the Virgin Islands was cancelled, and he made the snap decision to charter a plane himself and walked around with a blackboard with Virgin Airlines written at the top and $39 one way to BVI. Needless to say he sold out the flight and made a nice profit in the process, and from that Virgin Airlines was born.