Lewis Haldane — Recruitment Consultant (Legal)

Lewis explains what a typical day working in recruitment involves and why interacting with people is his favourite part of the job

Why did you choose James Andrews?

I came across the advert for a recruitment consultant at James Andrews online and decided to apply, as I felt it matched my skillset. Having had a detailed conversation with the talent acquisition team, I quickly realised this was a role I was keen to progress with and could be a good fit for me moving forward.

What's a typical day like as a recruitment consultant?

My day starts by checking any emails received overnight to ensure I am up to speed. We then have a team job meeting where we discuss what vacancies and candidates we have and put together a plan of action for the day to ensure we have a streamlined focus. As a team, we work through our assigned tasks for the day, interacting with numerous clients and candidates in the hope to fulfill their recruitment needs.

We always re-group at lunchtime for our second jobs meeting of the day, where we assess how many of the tasks have been completed, and look at what areas we need to focus on for the afternoon.

In the afternoon, we try to ensure any outstanding tasks are completed within the team, whether that be booking in interviews, putting together job advertisements, updating candidates CV’s or marketing new clients.

We re-group for our final jobs meeting at the end of the day to see how much progress we have made and to discuss where our focus will be for the following day. Before we wrap up for the day, we always ensure all admin and compliance is kept on top of,which involves completing any outstanding checks required before a candidate can start their new role.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I really enjoy the interaction with clients and candidates, and building rapport with individuals. The satisfaction of securing a candidate a new role is an extremely rewarding feeling. I also love the social environment created both inside and outside the office, and feel this is what always drew me to James Andrews specifically. This upbeat atmosphere helps to keep me motivated on the tasks at hand, and aiming to achieve the best results possible.

What are the challenges?

Challenges in this role come in different shapes and sizes, from a difficult niche role to fill for a client to a candidate declining a job offer. This ability to overcome challenges and create solutions is a constant of the role.

Is your degree relevant?

I studied business and management at university and feel my degree is highly relevant for this role. Studying modules involving human resources, economics and sales have helped to transfer the skills learned at university into the workplace as a recruitment consultant.

How has your role developed and what are your ambitions?

As my skills and ability as a recruitment consultant have progressed, my manager and senior members have trusted me to take on more tasks.

My ambitions moving forward at James Andrews are to take the next step to become a senior consultant within my team.

Longer term I have ambitions to become a managing consultant, as I am keen to apply the managerial skills obtained during my studies and from my sporting background.

How do I get into recruitment?

• Speak to recruiters directly. There is no better insight than speaking to people within the industry. Networking with individuals in recruitment via LinkedIn is an easy way to gain this information.
• Do plenty of research online. Look into potential companies and specifically look into online reviews. Researching the industry or company you are looking to go into is extremely important.

Find out more

• Read all about James Andrews Recruitment Solutions.
• Take a look at the recruitment and HR sector.