Sam Gilmour, our most recent addition to the Manchester team has impressed the whole company by navigating his way to consultant of the month in only his third month in the business... and working in recruitment!

Sam joined us from a career in account management and his natural charisma teamed with his northern work ethic has seen him take to recruitment like a duck to water! We sat down with him for a chat about his first three months with us to understand the challenges and successes that brought him to this achievement.

A new job can be daunting for anybody! How are you setting into this new role? –The honest answer is that I’m loving it so far! It’s allowing me to continue to develop my people skills / build relationships whilst working in an industry that’s familiar with roles that I’ve either been and done or seen in person. I’ve got a great and supportive team around me and feel like I’ve gotten off to a good start. I’m enjoying speaking to a wide variety of people across the UK and learning about new businesses as I go along.

What skills have been interchangeable from your previous job? - Some skills have been very transferable, particularly my people skills. This has allowed me to quickly build rapport with clients & candidates which I think is crucial for me at the start whilst I build my own desk. On top of that, communication, problem solving, adaptability etc have all been key and I’m improving my organizational skills day by day.

Did you think you would find recruitment harder or easier than you have? Why? - I suppose I didn’t really know what to expect but I was mindful about starting a fresh and whether I would settle into the role as quickly as I have. Overall, I feel as though it’s easier than I expected as I’ve been able to bring a lot of industry knowledge to the table so far which has helped build my confidence. I also expected recruitment to be a lot more KPI driven and was mindful I may not have the time to get my processes in place, but I’ve been given the time to understand the role, the business and been given the tools to succeed.

What was your biggest challenge during this month? - My biggest challenge in February was prioritisation. With it still being early stages in my recruitment career, I’m mindful about bringing in my own jobs and building a desk. With a lot of good roles available to fill I put a lot of focus in to speaking with candidates / searching and struggled to maintain my structure when it came to Business Development.

What resources have been important in gaining success?- Our database helps make life easier and the Linkedin Recruiter / Job slots were crucial to me filling the Sales Director Role which rocketed me towards consultant of the month.

Has being consultant of the month encouraged you to push harder this month? – Yes & No. Yes because it has brought me confidence but No because I try to humble myself each month and maintain the same level of commitment / effort. I’m always quite tough on myself as I feel like I can always improve or do more and I like to maintain that mindset with most things I do. I’m more than aware the role comes with good and bad months and so I’m trying to look at the year as opposed to individual months / achievements.

What is the best thing about this early achievement? - It has shown me what I can achieve after such little time in the role. The recognition and little bonuses that come with being consultant of the month are great and I will strive for repeat success!

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