Marketing Director
Alex, our Recruitment Consultant, joined Intelligent People in June 2022. After graduating from University of Hertfordshire with a BA honours in Business Administration, Alex started his career within retail, trading, hospitality before moving towards product management recruitment.
Let’s get to know Alex
You’ve been at Intelligent People for coming up to 6 months now. Tell us a bit more about your role and what you do day-to-day?
I’ve joined Intelligent People in June 2022 as a Recruitment Consultant, which in essence is very much a 360-role comprising of business development and resourcing. As a result, I get to work very closely with great clients and equally great candidates on a daily basis. I assist employers to identify, select and recruit their ideal candidates, and help individuals find their next exciting opportunity. I solely focus within our Product Management specialism, looking for ways to grow this department and cementing our position further as product recruitment leaders.
What do you love most about your job?
Coming from an account management and sales background, I love working with clients helping fulfil their business recruitment needs. A lot of the industries we operate within are heavily tech & SaaS focussed, so, I get the opportunity to work on some great roles, whilst joining the client on their journey to growing their teams. I also love the drive of pitching and winning new business and helping provide answers to ease our clients’ hiring troubles. The candidates we work with are very bright, driven and inspiring to listen to, so finding them their next career progression is very rewarding.
If you had to describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be?
Resilient, self-motivated & genuine.
What is the biggest mistake that candidates make during the recruitment process?
Candidates not showing their enthusiasm and interest throughout the recruitment process, especially if they are genuinely excited by the opportunity! Candidates have great things to say and are very articulate in the way they present their skills and experience, but on the occasion, the hiring manager is left not knowing whether the candidate wants the position – a huge problem. We advise our candidates to turn up to the interview engaged and adding a couple of sentences at the end of the interview, expressing what they like about the role/company.
What do you look for when reviewing a CV? How can a candidate stand out to you and potential employers?
Metrics, metrics, metrics. Myself, my colleagues and the clients we work with absolutely love it when we see tangible data and figures to support their key contributions throughout their careers i.e., the product function I built increased sales from £1.5m to £4m in 15 months and reduced cost of sales by 15%. It clearly defines your achievements succinctly.
The recruitment sector often has a bad reputation – long hours, cold calling, competitive sales environment etc. How would you describe working within recruitment? Do you think it’s really as bad as people say?
There are probably recruitment companies out there where they value long working hours over employee’s welfare. However, recruitment companies cannot be generalised like this, especially working for Intelligent People where we’re poles apart from this stigma. Intelligent People installs an environment where people work autonomously and with flexible working to support you hitting your KPI’s which is the key factor measuring output. Working within recruitment at times can be challenging, but that’s what I thrive on, and a bit of mental stimulation and competitiveness isn’t a bad thing and makes me strive to perform better within my role.
It’s currently a candidate driven market. What can employers do to make themselves attractive to candidates?
We’re seeing a transition in the market at the moment – it isn’t so much of a candidate driven market anymore. There are very important factors employers need to adopt if they want to attract the best talent which include having a first-class benefits package (not just salary), clear opportunities for learning/development/progression, flexible working options, a compelling company vision, and importantly, providing a healthy work life balance for its employees.
What advice would you give someone who was considering a career as a consultant in recruitment?
If you are driven, resilient, confident, self-motivated, with a competitive edge then you’d do great within recruitment – and be rewarded for your efforts too.
What is your favourite quote?
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it” – Einstein
