Harriet's Blog - Life as a Recruitment Consultant at Nigel Wright
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. Recently promoted Senior Consultant, Harriet Alderson's career story with us will prove that you don't have to have any prior recruitment experience to have a successful career in recruitment.
What did you do before joining Nigel Wright? If you came from an industry background, how has your experience improved the way you serve clients?
Whilst studying for my degree in Business Management, I worked part time in banking as a Cashier and then as a Customer Advisor. After finishing my degree, I joined one of the Big 4 Accounting firms on their graduate scheme in Audit. Ultimately, Audit wasn’t really for me so I went on to work for a firm of niche tax advisers based in Newcastle and London, where I stayed for the best part of a decade.
I always fancied a career in recruitment but was unsure about changing course after so long. What I’ve realised since is that the skills and experience I gained before starting a career in recruitment were mostly transferrable and gave me an advantage, namely: a sound understanding of the roles I was recruiting; establishing long-term relationships with a range of clients; a commercial mindset; teamworking; and a strong work ethic.
How do you balance your career at Nigel Wright with life away from work?
Like many, I have a really busy family life - we have two children aged 10 and 5, and I love that I’m able to manage my time so that I don’t miss out on the important things. Working from home part of the week also enables me to do half of the school runs, which I’m so grateful for. There is genuine trust and respect and if anything, it motivates me to work harder.
Just 8 months after starting my career at Nigel Wright, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In the 2 months prior to receiving a diagnosis and subsequent treatment plan, it was quite a worrying time – I was unable to drive, had various symptoms that impacted my life and work, and had to undergo various scans and tests. Nigel Wright was so supportive, I attended every hospital appointment and various available rehabilitation appointments with the full support of my manager and the company. Life can and will throw its curveballs and challenges and it’s in these times that an employer is really put to the test, and I genuinely could not have asked for better support.
How is Nigel Wright different to other companies?
From the moment the (very long and thorough!) recruitment process started, I realised that Nigel Wright does things differently. If I’m honest, whilst I knew that my love of meeting new people, learning about different businesses and my commercial mindset would be suited to recruitment, one of the things that put me off initially was the negative reputation that some recruiters have. Nigel Wright could not have exceeded my expectations any more. The business is genuinely built on its values of passion for winning, teamwork, integrity and customer service. I am so grateful to work in a business that has so much transparency, where investment in its people is of the utmost priority and where there is so much opportunity.
Interested in joining our team?
If you’re interested in becoming a Recruitment Consultant, we’d love to speak to you. Nigel Wright has been the preferred talent partner across the North of England for the last 30 years and we are currently looking for Recruitment Consultants to join our team. Find out more about us by visiting our careers microsite and visiting our internal vacancies page to apply for one of our roles.