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Can you tell me about your education and
training?
I left higher education with A levels in law, English
language/literature, physical education and general studies
and due to family circumstances was unable to attend
university so found a job in my first sales role. Sales was
my passion, from there on I worked in mainly telesales and
direct sales until I stumbled across a job in recruitment
with Talent Recruitment. This is where my first 'real'
sales training commenced which set me up for what I
consider to be my new career within Randstad Education.
Since joining Randstad Education in April 2007 I have
found the in-house training to be second to none, I was
immediately given my introductory training on what was then
the adapt system and joined a team where in-office training
and development has always been consistent. Over the next
year I attended various sales training courses and other
courses were always made available.
In 2008 I was given the option to apply for the Advanced
Sales (ASP) or the Management Development Programme (MDP).
I decided to apply for the MDP and attended a rigorous and
quite daunting 2 day selection process of which I was
luckily successful. This has been the spine of my training
since joining Randstad Education where I have completed
many modules including; Introduction to Management,
Coaching for Performance, Effective People Management and
such like and am now in my final year.
I have also been a certified member of the REC since
2006 prior to joining Randstad Education which gave a
valuable insight into to correct practices in
recruitment.
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Can you tell me about your role?
My role as consultant is about recruiting the best
teachers and support staff from across the North East and
supplying them into mainstream schools for daily, short and
long term cover, whether this be for general sickness
cover, maternity cover or to replace someone leaving the
school. Our aim is to continually grow our business levels
by forging and developing strong working relationships and
partnerships with as many schools as we are able, and to
offer a second to none 'one stop shop' service.
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What are the main challenges about your
role?
I am constantly kept on my toes by new smaller agencies
opening up in the area. Everyone talks about delivering
quality service, but we always have to exceed expectations
to remain the schools' firm favourite.
Another challenge which we all thrive on are the amount
of agencies operating in the market place now registering
the same teachers.
It can also be a challenge managing my time to ensure
all administration is completed.
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What do you most enjoy about your job?
I enjoy my job most now as I have managed to forge some
fantastic relationships across schools in the North East
and enjoy bringing on new business and watching our
business and office as a whole grow year on year. I love
our office, we have a fantastic team with the highest
retention of staff I have ever known in recruitment as
no-one has left since I joined. Everyone works brilliantly
together with very little friction and confrontation, we
all just got on with the job in hand!
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What is a typical day at work for you?
The morning consists of filling bookings which schools
have rung in with for the same day which is mostly
extremely manic and can at times be a bit of a juggling
act, but we always seem to deliver. When it quietens down
we tend to call around schools (we call it 'speccing out')
with remaining teachers looking for work, to try and pick
up any further business and keep our teachers busy. Through
the middle of the day we generally call around schools who
don't use us to try and fact-find, advise and arrange
visits. We register on average three candidates per week,
arrange mailers and e-shots to schools to sell our teachers
and support staff, advertise jobs to attract new people to
register, have lunch. Then later in the day we contact the
schools which have had teachers from us that day to see if
they require the person back the following day or require
anything else. In addition we constantly strive to audit
our files in line with DCSF guidelines so administration is
a huge task which must be attended to daily.
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What are the requirements and skills you need to do
your job?
I would say the most suitable consultants can either
come from an education or recruitment background based on
the in-depth knowledge required in both areas to fulfil the
job requirements to the fullest. It entirely depends on the
person as many different personalities can work within our
business. Whether it be a sales focused consultant with
recruitment experience who knows sales techniques and has a
great ability to sell a product or service, or an ex
teacher with a passion for education, who is able to relate
to the schools and would have a sound knowledge of school
procedures, have an admin background and is able to work to
deadlines.
Additional attributes required would include the
willingness to work well within a team and network within
the company, not being afraid to utilise the resources to
hand and the ability to build relationships both within the
company and with schools and organisations. A motivated
attitude, ability to sight clear and achievable goals, good
organisational/admin skills, coupled with a tenacious ('can
do') attitude, are a must.
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Do you travel often?
Once a week on school visits and the long trip south to
the lovely Luton for training every now and again. I have
attended various other offices for training also.
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Why did you join Randstad Education?
Unfortunately the agency I worked for previously had
closed down but they gave me flexibility on job searching
which gave me the option to take my time in ensuring I was
moving onto the right job. I joined Randstad Education as
the nature of the job role was so different from your
average high street recruitment agency; I liked the idea of
'specialising' in education.
A huge deciding factor was the fact that I was not only
introduced to the manager and regional manager at interview
but was introduced to the whole team individually and they
all seemed so happy in their jobs, having only good things
to say about Randstad Education and a team I could work
with.
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What would you say to someone thinking about
joining Randstad Education?
I would say of any recruitment role I have a knowledge
and experience of, Randstad Education is second to none in
the ongoing development of consultants and in-house
training. The job itself is both exciting and rewarding and
has some superb role models within the company, all willing
to help you out where ever they can. The structure of the
organisation means that managers, senior managers and other
consultants are all as approachable and helpful as the
next. Things like the Management Programme give you the
sense that you are a valued employee and the progression
opportunity are there for people who have the drive and
passion to succeed. The yearly conferences are great too
bringing the whole company together to celebrate successes
of the year.