Rachel R.

From Biologist to HR and recruitment professional...

I was working in a Forensic Science organisation in a temp job as I wanted to use my Biology degree longer term, However ,my boss at the time advised me against applying for a course to lead me to become a forensic scientist as he thought I would be better staying in HR and working with People. He also advised me to do my professional qualifications as early as I could in my career - and importantly while the company was willing to sponsor me to do them! A coach or mentor or a trusted friend or colleague will always give you an honest perspective so ask them for their thoughts where you can. I moved from a smaller company to a larger FTSE100 company to get a broader scope and more opportunities to learn a more complex organisation which also had more career opportunities for me longer term. I love recruitment and have recruited all sorts of roles from forensic scientist to sewerage workers (yep that's right) as well as train drivers and finance directors. If I can learn a different sector to broaden my experience, I find this gives me an opportunity to learn new skills, broaden my business knowledge and learn different perspectives and challenges. If you can I would advise you to gain as much experience as you can with each career move and broaden your skills and experience each time. It also helps you learn a lot about yourself, what you enjoy, what you don't, where you thrive and how you solve problems.

I manage the team and recruitment for all roles within a business area

I have a team of 5 recruiters or Talent Acquisition Partners. We work closely with our colleagues in HR, Reward and the individual managers to successfully fill any vacancies within a department. My team work with the business to help write an enticing advert, ensure it's advertised appropriately internally, externally and on appropriate job boards and other means. We look for referrals and internal talent where we can as well as attract external talent using tools such as LinkedIn. We then support the managers and candidates through the selection process providing advice and support on interviews and other selection methodology. We are then involved in managing the decisions and offering the role to the successful candidate and supporting feedback for any unsuccessful candidates.

Every day is different

Although my day is often very structured with regular calls and meetings it can all change very quickly. With all the communication methods available I can find myself involved in a variety of different tasks, asks or conversations each day which I didn't plan. It keeps it really interesting. I'm also really lucky as we work in a hybrid role so I have a huge amount of flexibility about where I work. For me I enjoy the social interaction that the office provides a couple of days a week although I'm more productive on the days I work from home so like the balance of both worlds.

Don't be afraid to move sideways

A sideways or lateral career move can help give you a different perspective and broader experience. It helps you consolidate your knowledge. Always look around an organisation if you're happy before deciding to look outside. There are opportunities often such as secondments which might give you that breadth with an option to return to your 'home role' afterwards.

I set up a new recruitment function to support 43 countries

It was actually a job that I was recruiting for but I got one well with the hiring manager and upon reading the job spec and interviewing candidates I realised I had the skills and experience to give it a go. No regrets it was incredibly tough, and I had just come back from maternity leave and so made the difficult decision to come back full-time to take the job but I learnt so much in the first two years that it was definitely a career highlight. I was lucky in that not only was I able to build something successful from scratch, but as we supported a number of countries across Europe and required fluent native speakers we ended up building a really diverse and multicultural team which meant I learnt so much from those around me about the different cultures, traditions and approaches - for example did you know that in Germany it's unlucky to give someone a birthday present or wish them a Happy Birthday before their actual birthday?