From Industry Specialist to Recruitment Consultant - Melanie Dallat's Journey
We are always looking for people from any industry and level, whether experienced recruiters or not, to join our growing team in the North of England. But it is a common misconception that people believe they need to have experience in recruitment to join our team. Managing Consultant Melanie Dallat's career story will prove that you don't have to have any prior recruitment experience to have a successful career in recruitment.
Melanie Dallat, Managing Consultant at Nigel Wright GroupPreviously Head of Supply Chain at Lidl UK
What was your role?
I worked for Lidl UK for 15 years before moving into recruitment, I was Head of Supply Chain for the Newton Aycliffe depot with a team of 15 and responsibility for 100 stores across the North of England. My team ensured that the right volumes of stock were on hand to ensure stores received what they needed to serve our customers, from demand planning, supplier liaison, availability, inventory management and store support.
What was their culture like?
Food retail is extremely fast paced and hard work! Especially around seasonal peaks such as Christmas and Easter, it was all hands to the pump to get the stock into stores.
What were your frustrations?
I loved the supply chain side of my role, especially the pace but long hours coupled with travel time was not sustainable for me. I also wanted to get more into people development and that wasn’t the focus of the role. I was and still am keen to keep growing as a person both personally and professionally and I felt I was ready for my next challenge
What ultimately led you to change jobs/leave?
I decided I wanted a better work life balance and to spend more time with my daughter. I wanted the flexibility to do the school run and work from home occasionally. That coupled being ready to do something different prompted me to get in touch with Nigel Wright.
Why Nigel Wright?
I had been in touch as a candidate and was impressed by their approach having dealt with other more transactional agencies as a hiring manager and a candidate. The consultants I met had time to talk and get to know me as a person instead of trying to make fit me into a role. Their knowledge and ability to get me thinking about what really mattered to me enabled me to assess where my skills may fit - ultimately in a role I never would have considered.
What is the culture like here?
Very open and honest which I love, everyone works together as a team, we all work as one to provide the best service to both clients and candidates.
Integrity is very important to me and doing things in the right way is encouraged, building relationships for the future. Ultimately it is a high pressures role, balancing many different projects and ensuring I provide a great service so having fun within my team and the wider NW community is fantastic. I have now qualified for my first ‘High Flyers’ so am very much looking forward to that! Commitments outside of work are also valued, I now have 2 children and as long as I am managing my workload effectively , my working day can be flexed to suit family commitments.
How important are the company values?
For me, the two values which resonate the most are integrity and collaboration, it is my preferred way of working, I feel I don’t have to change my approach to ‘fit’. I am also naturally competitive and a people pleaser so providing a great service is very satisfying. During my interview with Paul he asked me why I wanted to move into recruitment; for me it’s about finding people their niche, where they can be happy and thrive, making their dreams come true in a way.
How has your prior experience benefited your recruitment role?
The knowledge I have brought from my years in industry has been invaluable to my transition. Whilst it was challenging starting from scratch in a new career I was comfortable talking to candidates and clients doing similar roles to the one I had come from, I was able to empathise and understand their challenges and frustrations. Building trust is important in my role and I feel my sector expertise means that both candidates and clients are better able to trust my opinion and advice.
Interested in joining our team?
If you’re interested in becoming a Recruitment Consultant, we’d love to speak to you. Nigel Wright Group is the number one regional recruiter for professionals across the North of England and we are currently looking for Recruitment Consultants to join our team. Visit our careers microsite to find out more and to apply to join our team as a Recruitment Consultant.