How your uni experience can help when starting a career in recruitment – part 2
5th August 2021
During the Covid pandemic, a large proportion of the UK public lost their jobs due to businesses having to cut costs and save wherever they could. In addition to that, many young people graduate from university each year and it can be challenging to find a job.
We are a rapidly growing recruitment business always looking for motivated individuals to join our team! In this two-part blog series, we have spoken to some of our colleagues about how they got into recruitment and whether they felt that their experience of having gone to university helped them in their job.
In this week’s post, we find out more from Water & Infrastructure Director Rob and his colleague Alex, Principal Consultant on the Advance TRS water team.
If you haven’t read part 1, you can find it here.
What is your degree?
Rob: I studied Environmental Science at the University of Southampton.
Alex: I went to the University of Portsmouth and have got a BA (Hons) in Architecture.
How did you get into recruitment?
Rob: At the time, I went to a careers fair where I met a graduate recruiter. He was working at the business I later joined, so it all went from there.
Alex: My first child was born the day before I started my third year at University. Whilst this focused my mind to complete the third year I decided that I needed to start earning good money to provide for my family. Staying in architecture would have meant a further one to two years in a work placement, followed by another year to complete a Masters Degree which would have meant struggling financially. My best friend’s mum was the HR Director at a big recruitment firm at the time and I had heard that there was good money to be made in recruitment. Whilst having a fairly quiet disposition and not being a typical ‘salesperson’, I did have bucket loads of drive and determination so I thought I’d give it a shot.
How has your degree and going to uni helped you in your career?
Rob: My degree included units on key water and environmental management and engineering sectors so I have a good understanding of lots of the key components which I recruit for. Having a broad understanding of the technical aspects allowed me to focus on learning the nuts and bolts of recruitment and was definitely an advantage.
Alex: The experience of university helped in my overall maturity and built my confidence in communicating with a variety of people. It also helped to instil and build various characteristics including drive, commitment, persistence, determination, work ethic, listening skills, initiative and innovation. Having good knowledge of architecture and the built environment helped me to adapt to recruiting within the civil engineering design sector as I already had an understanding of various aspects of the design & build process.
Why Advance TRS?
As a rapidly growing recruitment business, we have fantastic opportunities for career development. We pride ourselves on rewarding success and promoting from within. However, we are always looking for new talent to further strengthen and expand our teams.
As recruiters, we really understand that talented and motivated staff is the key to any successful business. To help us develop our team into the best they can be, all staff receive invaluable mentorship from our experienced senior leaders and are able to shape a clear career path bespoke to them, mapping out potential routes of progression within the company.
Our dedication to creating a fantastic working environment was recognised at the 2018 Toast of Surrey Business Awards when we were announced as Employer of the Year and Leadership Team of the Year.
As well as a competitive salary, you’ll also be able to take advantage of our fantastic benefits package including; Discounts and Perks, Private Pension Plan, Team Building & Incentives (Climb the O2, powerboat down the Thames or enjoy a night out on the company. We ensure hard work and dedication is rightly rewarded), Break Out Room, Private Health Insurance, Uncapped Commission, Life Assurance, and Workplace Wellbeing program.
Check out our website to find out more and contact us today!