At the end of last year, Harriet Potter started in Precision’s Academy. Harriet has gone from strength to strength and has made a flying start to her career in recruitment.

In this feature, she offers her perspective on her first few months with the company, as well as giving an insight into what she wished she knew before applying for a job at Precision People.

About me 

"Since I was young I’ve always been very sporty. I love football and I used to play for Leicester City Ladies team which was an amazing experience. Because of this, I’d consider myself quite a competitive person - something that I believe is really important in recruitment. Initially, I wanted to work in the sports industry but realised that there were so few jobs and none of them seemed like they were a good fit for me.

In the end, I started working in retail. I really enjoyed it at first as I’ve always considered myself a people person. I was promoted quite soon after starting there and was recognised as manager of the month which is something that I’m very proud of. After a couple of years working there, I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t very challenging and my competitive edge wasn’t being utilised enough. I’d heard about recruitment from a few friends and  decided to apply for a job with Precision People.

My Initial Impressions about Recruitment

I had reservations about working in such a professional environment as I didn’t go to university and I know that recruitment is a popular graduate job, but those worries melted away pretty quickly.

 As soon as I started working in   recruitment, I quickly realised that   I’d  love it. I wanted a fast-paced   and fun environment but also one   that was rewarding and challenging   and recruitment is just that. I can be   myself and love to speak with   clients as I am definitely a people-   oriented person.

 I was also surprised by how much   responsibility I was given early on.   Effectively I’m in charge of my own   ‘desk’, which in some ways is   comparable to running my own   business! I’ve learned so much about my specialist area (Fire Engineers) and my geography skills have improved so much since starting here! 

I’m highly money motivated and I love that in recruitment money is a reflection of work. In other office jobs, you have to work extra hours and aren’t necessarily rewarded for it. In recruitment the more you put in the more you get out, both in terms of money and results as the two are directly linked.

Something that is just as rewarding as the commission, if not more, is the feeling you get when you place someone. Getting someone a job makes all your hard work worth it. The feeling is something that I can only compare winning a cup in football, not even just a regular game! I made my first placement a couple of weeks ago and had a massive adrenaline rush afterwards.

My Initial Impressions about Precision People 

I chose Precision for a few reasons but the main one is the academy. A lot of companies offer just 4 weeks of training and I didn’t feel like this was enough for me to learn my trade, especially given a background in sports and retail. Precision’s academy is 6 months long and the support they have given me throughout has been just what I needed. I’m now nearly 4 months in and I feel like I’ll be ready to take the next step soon.

Another great feature of working at Precision is their values. They live and operate by five values: passion, listen, encourage, integrity and support. These are all so important in day to day life at Precision, something that really makes them stand out from other recruitment companies just focussed on getting as much money as possible.

Horror stories do exist in recruitment, but I haven’t heard about any of these about Precision. People love working here. I think that a lot of the horror stories are from people that aren’t really a good fit for that job or company, it’s important to consider this when applying to any job.

Something else that we do at Precision that other companies don’t do is specialise. Other companies tend to take on any job and ask a consultant that doesn’t know that industry to try and fill it, often resulting in pretty poor quality candidates. Although it might seem like a small thing from the outside looking in, it means that you can build much better quality relationships with candidates and companies.

Advice to Applicants 

As I said before, it’s important to consider if you are the right person to work in recruitment. It is a demanding job and very fast paced so it isn’t for everyone. It doesn’t tend to be a normal 9-5, but working those extra hours really makes it worth it. The highs are absolutely exhilarating!

If you’re upbeat and people-oriented then you should definitely think about a career in recruitment. Although it can be tough, finding someone their perfect job is a great thing to do day-to-day and something very meaningful. I’d also recommend looking around at some other recruitment companies as you’ll see how different Precision is and how accommodating we are as a company. Of course, you need to be resilient as not every day is a high. Ultimately the tough days make the good days even better!" 

If you’re considering a career in recruitment and have any questions about my experiences, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

If you would like to know more about the Precision Academy click here or if you fancy a conversation to see if the Precision Academy might be the right move for you, call Natasha for an initial chat on 0116 254 5411, email natashab@precision-people.uk or connect with Natasha on LinkedIn here or you can apply by clicking here.