Why I chose recruitment by Conrad Johnson

Instead I took a slightly different path into being a sales professional & after 4 years of working in telesales at Swift Insolvency & Rates & Rentals, I finally made the leap. For me, there are plenty of things that are attractive about working in recruitment. The variety of different day-to-day challenges and conversations with clients & candidates for a start, while another thing is the fantastic earning potential which gives me the platform to provide my daughter with everything she needs & more. It will also enable me to achieve both my short & long-term goals, as well as being a successful career. However, the biggest attraction is simply the satisfaction of helping people find a new position and the next step on their career ladder, helping people overcome situations that I have found myself in previously. Transferable Skills Over the years in sales I had gained a lot experience & began to see which the skills I had already could be easily transferred into the recruitment sector. Here are a few of the skills that I learned working in sales that I think are most relevant in recruitment;

• Communication: Arguably the most transferable skill, virtually any profession requires communication to some degree, so as a confident communicator looking to break away from sales, this was by far the most important skill I have brought with me into recruitment.
• Negotiation: I’m on the phone, I’ve made my pitch, and all my client requires is a gentle nudge in the right direction but too much & they will be pushed off course completely. Lots of people would hesitate in this scenario but as an ex-salesperson, I feel I can confidently handle these types of situations.
• Ability to stay calm under pressure: While not everyone is lucky enough to have this skill, as a salesperson I had to remain calm to convince people to commit to large sums of money!
• Teamwork: Unless you’re James Bond & prefer to work alone, recruitment requires teamwork. Knowing when to step in and offer advice, or when to ask for help or how to pull together as a team to close a big PSL deal are part of my role on a daily basis.
• Ability to think fast: You can argue that this is a skill that can’t be taught, but in my previous career it was an essential part of the job, honed over time. I like to think that my razor-sharp ability to think fast will take me far.

Why Cast UK? What attracted me to working here is everyone’s professionalism, which was evident all the way through my interview process with everyone I met. People’s enthusiasm to succeed is tangible and feels achievable, which is really encouraging for someone like me who is relatively new to the sector. The working environment is great, if a little orange (!) with our Manchester office being centrally located for access to all the great things the city centre has to offer. Another draw is how keen the senior management team are to help everyone progress in their roles based on individual performance rather than simply time served. All in all, I feel I’ve had a very positive start to life in recruitment with Cast UK. There was a lot to take on board initially with extensive training & new systems to learn but now, after 2 months, I feel like I am really getting to grips with everything, starting to feel like I am making good progress and gaining good traction in my marketplace. Bring on 2018!

Find out more about working for Cast UK