Sep 4, 2017
When I took the plunge into the world of recruitment, I developed this impression of an industry driven by sales and ego. The word team was not in my dictionary. Naturally being young and naïve I fell into this trap and thought that to be successful I needed to go it alone and block out everyone around me.
So how did this hold me back?
When touching down in Australia after what I believed were two years of success recruiting in the .Net marked in the UK, I assumed that I would walk into my role with Precision and fly. In my mind, I was going to change the world as long as I adopted the same techniques and processes that I’d used in my last role.
During my initial induction and training, my MD (Simon Hair) made it clear to me that Australia was a different market and to see the success I would have to change my tactics and processes. Did I listen? Did I f*$k and this ego that I brought with me across the globe ended up holding me back.
So, what was the impact?
I’m not afraid to hold my hands up and admit that this left me up s!*t creek without a paddle. I spent 6 months grafting away adamant that I was going to see success and it was just a matter of time. I wanted to take on the world and not take advice or support as for some reason in my head that was a sign of failure.
I was failing and I was failing hard!
Change and support are your friend!
I had my back against the wall, I had been failing for 6 months and had got myself into a massive rut. I saw nothing else to do but listen and make a change. In hindsight, this was the best thing that happened to me.
I started to let the ego go and realised that the people that have been in this market for the last 10 years probably know what they’re talking about. This shift in mindset and the support I received is what ended up providing me with the platform for success.
In the last six months of the financial year, I ended up billing 157% of my financial target and have just come back from an all-expenses paid week in Queenstown with Precision. Which is a holiday that I had no hope of qualifying for this time last December. If only I’d listened sooner!
Recruitment can be a team sport!
A lot of you may laugh at this statement, but one thing that I’ve discovered is that recruitment can be a team sport. These “boiler room” offices that adopt the every man for himself culture, are losing out in the long run.
Every A-list success in the business world has had a team behind them. Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Elon Musk & The Rest; have all been supported by teams that have been willing to go the extra mile for the organisation and the vision! One man did not build the iPod. If anyone can highlight to me someone that has been a huge success of their own back with no support then I’ll be happy to back down and retract this statement.
Through working at Precision, I’ve been exposed to an environment where as a team we share and collaborate when it comes to the craft and industry knowledge and that’s been the reason for my success. I wish I could sit here and say I am the best salesman in the world and I adopt techniques and practices that make me superior to the rest. We all know that would be a massive lie!
I’m lucky that I shifted my mindset before it was too late and want to say that I do appreciate the people that have supported me and added value to me as they are the sole reason for my success.
