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My journey at Forward Role began six months ago, it was scary, it was a new job at a new company, in a whole new sector…

Change? I was petrified of change, if I am honest, I really had found a comfort zone in my previous role, I liked it, I was good at it, and I was COMFORTABLE. One day I sat down and evaluated what my goals were when I got into recruitment, and at no point was being “comfortable” one of them. I soon realised it was time for change, the dreaded change.

Fast forward six months, what have I learned?

Recruitment, is not just recruitment, knowing and embedding yourself in your market is key.

You have to buy in to your candidates, you need to get buy in from candidates, clients and the relevant people and you need to be bought in to the market too.

I had to learn a whole new tech market, a market I really didn’t understand to begin with, and like everything new it was exciting, it was a challenge, and I realised candidates were key, they were teaching me new things everyday… Building a new desk isn’t easy, it never is.

3 months in I started seeing the rewards, my hard work was paying off, candidates were coming back to me, clients started approaching me… I was finally building a name for myself, a brand for myself. I was finally getting the results I wanted, and knew I could achieve, the numbers started coming in, a Director’s lunch incentive was on my radar now and I remember thinking - “I have got this” I have finally started making progress on my new desk!

Probation was coming up, and I needed to find a way to explain the real struggle I had come across, and it wasn’t a new desk, it wasn’t starting over, it wasn’t finding clients, or candidates. It simply wasn’t the day to day struggles you find in recruitment. However, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it…

I had always been a believer of “Recruitment is recruitment” It doesn’t matter what market you are in. I had always stood by that, then the penny dropped, the struggle I was facing was my market, I picked the wrong market for me, although I was doing well, I was successfully starting to really build my desk. I wasn’t ME.

I was leaving “me” at home, but I knew Forward Role was the business for me, I had known for a long time before joining, so why couldn’t I be me?  Forward Role are everything I stand for, everything I could ask for in a business, they were me through and through.( Check them out on Instagram - you'll see what I mean!) However, my market just wasn’t.

I was building our Open Source desk, and my personality just didn’t suit the type of recruiter Developers wanted to be dealing with. I soon realised the market matters, it really does matter!

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Luckily for me Forward Role is a very supportive business, and I knew straight away I need to speak out, and find a market that was me. So I did! I had a chat with my manager and our super approachable MD Brian Johnson,  and I will very soon be transitioning over to the Agency team , specialising in PR and Events. 

I’ll be working alongside Agency Recruitment Lead, Becky Smith, who is highly experienced in the market and works with the UK’s biggest agencies! I already feel me again, I already feel that I can add real value to the market and by being me, I can add real value to candidates and clients in the world of Agency.

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Change can be scary, adapting, transitioning can be scary ( check out why Alistair Collier calls himself Change Terrorist!) and although, I got it wrong in terms of the market I chose, I got it right joining Forward Role, I was able to be me, and express how I feel, I was able to voice how I felt.

If you are at a business where you can’t do that, or feel you can’t do that, it’s time for CHANGE. Get in touch for a confidential chat about your career.

You can check out all of our latest Technology and Agency roles HERE

Emma Hopkins is a Recruitment Consultant at Forward Role, check out her LinkedIn for all of her latest roles

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