Rutherford Cross consultant Mollie Rogerson shares her experiences of making a move into recruitment from retail, and what it feels like three months in.
After leaving University I began working in retail for a luxury footwear brand which I absolutely loved. I discovered not only was I really good at sales, but I also had strong people management skills and over my three years with the company progressed to Branch Manager and Area Support. While I enjoyed my role, I wanted to pursue a career with more opportunities for progression where I could build on the skills developed throughout my retail career.
Making the Move into Recruitment
I had always been interested in recruitment and the role of a recruitment consultant. However, despite this, when starting to consider this as my next career move, I realised that I knew little about the different sectors or what area I wanted to specialise in.
I reached out to one of the Directors at Rutherford Cross, Hazel Wynn, who discussed the work that Rutherford Cross does in Accountancy and Finance and more specifically the Interim market. The more I researched and learnt the more I felt this would be a good fit for me.
The Appeal of the Interim Finance Market
In theory the Interim and Temporary market is fast paced with a lot of client and candidate interaction, and potentially a fast turnaround on the assignments you work on. To an extent this is true, with clients expecting speedy results. However, a very strong job market means a lot of my focus has been on building candidate relationships and creating the right networks that will help me in the long term. This takes a little more time, but when I have had a positive interaction and a good result it has been very rewarding.
A key parallel that can be noted between working in retail and starting my journey with Rutherford Cross is acting as an advisor to your clients. Helping manage expectations and working together to find creative solutions to overcome any obstacles is key. This can also be seen with candidates, as the interim market is constantly changing with a high demand for talent. This has given me the opportunity to speak to established contractors increasing my understanding of the market.
Why Rutherford Cross
I am now coming up to completing my third month with Rutherford Cross and I have had some amazing moments, with many highlights including filling my first role in my third week. I enjoy having the opportunity to build strong relationships with clients and candidates and am excited to see how this develops.
The support from the Rutherford Cross team and the wider Livingston James Group has been great and I really feel that I am expanding and developing my skills including commercial awareness, and communication skills with clients, candidates, and colleagues.
The business is focused on growth, and they invest a huge amount of time and resource into staff development in order to achieve this. This has made it a great time to join the business. I have learnt through a really good mix of formal training and supported on-the-job coaching.
Everyone I work with embraces the company values and have been very supportive. One minute I can be taking advice from Directors and the next, chatting with other new colleagues who like me are in their first six months of their recruitment career. We discuss our daily challenges and share our wins – everyone has the time to offer support, advice and share their experience.
I am really looking forward to the rest of 2022 and where my journey with Rutherford Cross will lead.
To find out more about careers at Rutherford Cross contact [email protected] for a confidential discussion.
