Recruitment Matters: Julia Robertson
Your recruitment career
Julia Robertson is the chief executive of Impellam Group. She spoke with Recruitment Matters about what it takes to be a a successful recruiter.
Value hard work
Hard work is the key to success in this industry. Obviously you need some skills and abilities. The reason I am able to do the job I’m doing now is because I have the experience , I understand recruiters, I know all the tricks - I invented some of them - and my judgement is pretty good.
Caring is key
You have to care about customers, you have to care about candidates, and you have to care about getting that mix right. I’ve never lost that. If I go on a client pitch, I care about winning it. If I’ve got a staff member in a difficult situation, I care about the outcome and how they're feeling. I think in a people business, you need to care.
Add value
The way forward is to provide fulfilling work for people. Fulfilled people, with a sense of purpose, are more productive and are better temporary workers for our customers, and our customers will be prepared to pay a decent margin and help us make an honest profit.
Taking the High Road:
We know our cost base very well, we're very efficient, but we know where we can deliver a good service and where we can't. It’s very important to us that we work with customers who treat their workers well. It’s important from an ethical perspective, but also from an economic one as well. If a customer treats our candidates well, they stay there longer and we don't get the churn and level of replacement.
Take digital seriously:
Getting it right in a digital age is important, because the candidate's voice can be heard. In blogs and in chatrooms that talk about brands, we do know that the majority of candidates get a poor experience from the recruitment industry. We've got to think about all those people who the recruitment industry doesn't touch or place and examine how we're dealing with that.
To hear the full interview with Julia Robertson, subscribe to the REC’s Scale Up podcast in iTunes.
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