Spotlight on - Q&A with Holly Horton, Senior Consultant at Vertus Partners

By Laura Cooke, Marketing Executive at Vertus Partners

As we move into Q2 and on from a record quarter, we caught up with one of our Senior Consultants, Holly Horton, to discuss career progression within the recruitment industry, what life is like at Vertus and her advice on what it takes to be successful.

Holly has been at Vertus since 2017 and in the space of 5 years has excelled; from having no recruitment experience to becoming one of the company’s top performers.

Holly, can you briefly explain your career journey at Vertus? 

I started Vertus in 2017, making a career change from the marketing industry to an entry level recruitment position. My main motivation for a career move was the desire to earn money quickly in order to achieve my personal goals of buying a house, gaining financial freedom and other more materialistic items that were unattainable as quickly within marketing. 

It was important for me to be in an environment that nurtured its staff and offered the best possible training and experiences. Our Founders Russell and Nicola are both highly experienced in the sector and have achieved great things in their careers through both a passion for their job and a detailed understanding of the market. I knew that if I had them leading me on the journey, my career progression would hopefully match theirs. 

As mentioned, you’ve progressed to Senior Consultant during your time at Vertus; can you provide some more information as to how you progressed? 

My first 6 months at Vertus weren’t plain sailing. I spent that time understanding the market and learning the foundations of how to be a good recruiter. Once I made my first placement, it snowballed from there. The first one is often the hardest and once I gained the confidence and the skills to manage someone through the process it became easier. Building a network and maintaining relationships is a crucial aspect of the job. From this, I have secured 4 promotions over the past 4-5 years, working my way up to Senior Consultant. 

It's key in recruitment to be consistent, resilient, organised and to maintain strong relationships. These are all things I have worked on during my journey, which have led me to be successful. The next step I am working towards is Principal Consultant, which I'm on track to achieve this year.  

Your journey sounds very inspiring and aspirational; what advice would you give someone starting in the industry? 

To succeed in this industry, you have to remain resilient and overcome the fear of rejection, it is part and parcel of being a recruiter. With the nature of the job there will be highs and lows, but the highs by far outweigh the lows. It’s very important to remain positive and keep focused. Having personal and professional goals is always a good way to maintain perspective. 

You always need to have a strong pipeline. It can be easy to become complacent when you are making money but always keep a pipeline in the background to stay busy and keep a good workflow.  

As you have described the journey and how to make it as a successful recruiter, what are some core aspects of the job you really enjoy? 

The main motivator for myself and most people that enter the industry is the concept of high earning potential. The ability to earn a lot of money and the financial freedom to achieve my goals motivates me. Also, no two days are the same, the flexibility of the job and relationship management aspect offers a more personable feel and makes the job more interesting. 

At Vertus, we aren’t micromanaged, we have the freedom to manage our own workload and flexibility to focus on our own daily tasks. The managers are very supportive and encouraging, helping us along the way to achieve our personal and professional goals. 

Sounds like Vertus offer great learning and growth potential to its employees. Can you provide some more information on what life is like there? 

As a small firm, we have a family feel within the company, are supportive of one another and have a laugh together. We work well as a team and are there to help and motivate one another. We're trusted by our managers which makes us strive to succeed individually and as a team. We are treated like adults and effectively run our own workload and mini businesses within Vertus, each having a different specialist area. 

An outsider’s perspective of recruitment can sometimes be negative. What makes Vertus stand out from this stereotype and are they different to other recruitment firms? 

We are truly customer centric, genuinely caring about our clients & candidates, working hard to help them secure their dream role. We have a great reputation in our market and pride ourselves on providing quality instead of being purely numbers driven. The company and all our consultants are values driven, ensuring we maintain our core principles of Understanding, Accountability and Fulfilment.

From an employee’s perspective, what are the benefits of working at Vertus? 

There are numerous professional benefits working at Vertus. Being treated as an individual with your own goals, flexibility and ability to manage your own day provides a mature and supportive environment which is rare within recruitment.  

From a social perspective, we have weekly team drinks, a quarterly night out for all and high achievers' lunches. Also, once a year we have an epic Ibiza trip for those who meet their targets! Everyone's personal targets and incentives are tailored to them and are achievable. There's lots of motivation and a strong social aspect to working at Vertus which adds extra enjoyment to the job. 

What advice would you give to someone interviewing for a job as a recruiter with Vertus? 

The main way to stand out in an interview for Vertus is knowing our market and researching beyond just the company. Our values are at the foundation of everything we do, so knowing them from day one is a great way to show you understand what makes us tick. Again, being positive, driven and having a willingness to learn and grow is vital; qualities that all of our team possess. In a customer focused industry, being friendly, sociable and approachable are also very important attributes to show. 

To summarise, in just 3 words how would you describe Vertus? 

I think the best 3 words would be: Opportunities, Inspirational, Rewarding – They best incorporate our values, company objectives and daily life at Vertus. 

If you are interested in a career in recruitment or are thinking about a move, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch via:

The 'Join Us' section on our website

Follow us on social media here: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook

Or reach out to Russell Rose on 020 3141 6456 / [email protected]