What You Love (and Why You Should Do It More)

Before a million people on Instagram said it, Billy Joel said it first. “If you’re not doing what you love, you’re wasting your time”. He knew what he was talking about…probably even when he was singing about that girl who could “wound with her eyes” (terrifying…right?)

I’ve been in recruitment for 16 years this year. It took my first career move to prompt me to think about exactly what I want to recruit. I chose Sales because I’ve always been a Sales person. From the long days in retail through to now, every job I’ve done has had that element to it. I identify as one, consequently I understand them and want to help them. That first recruitment move was very much me choosing a market first, employer second.

When joining FJR, it was totally the other way around. I chose a business built on an ethos that was close to me, filled with excellent people who I felt an affinity towards. Running the Finance practice for the last 18 months has taught me a great deal about how that side of a business works and it’s definitely shaped me into a better recruiter. That said, I spent eight years of my life recruiting Sales people. That’s longer than I spent in High School and College put together. Why say goodbye to something you loved so much?

All this is why, with the support of our brilliant team, I’ve decided to launch a Sales and Marketing recruitment business for FJR. There are several things to acknowledge before we start what I’m sure will be a massive adventure.

Firstly, I’m delighted to work for FJR for lots of reasons. You get videos of you nearly dying in the gym shared to millions. Repeatedly. The backing of colleagues, however, to go do something totally different is one thing that stands us apart.

Secondly, the network of candidates and clients who’ve made an effort to keep in touch during my Finance sabbatical has been great to see. The countless phone calls asking for input or advice even though “it’s not really going to make you any money because it isn’t what you do anymore” have been both enjoyable and encouraging. It’s come to a poor state of affairs where everything has to be for something and people can’t just help.

So, without ever being away, I’m back, and rather excited. I want to help those looking to make a career move find something that they’re properly passionate about. To sit down and use the brilliant tools we have at FJR to work out where you might like to take your career and make sensible introductions to great businesses rather than just slinging your CV to hundreds. I want to help businesses make properly vetted Commercial hires, where you can have total faith in the people you’re sitting opposite and never be in danger of having your time wasted.

Thanks to the aforementioned excellent network, I already have some really exciting opportunities to talk to people about, as well as some brilliant people looking to make a career move. Whether it’s been ages or we’ve never spoken before…say hi. I’m confident what we’ve got to talk about looks different to anything else.