About you
You're ambitious. You want early responsibility. You want management prospects, sooner rather than later - you don't want to wait until you've 'served time'. If this sounds like your idea of career progression, Hays could be for you.
Strength of character
Recruitment is an incredibly demanding environment. The people who succeed are exceptionally motivated - by the buzz, the speed - and their own success.
Strength of character is what will ensure you achieve your goals. You'll need to be able to work under pressure and handle the most challenging workloads, as well as a massive flow of information that will come your way - facts, figures, sales leads, emails, all of which will need to be filtered and interpreted to help you focus on only those tasks which will yield results.
As you'll be managing a number of different client and candidate issues simultaneously, the ability to prioritise your time is essential. And in a world of change, you'll need to adapt quickly. Today, over fifty per cent of job-seekers use the internet to find new careers - it's a phenomenon to which we have been swift to respond; you'll need to demonstrate the same sensitivity to your client's changing needs.
We're seeking the sort of person who responds positively and proactively to targets and is competitive by nature - there's no room for complacency, and when you succeed, we want you to be setting yourself even higher goals. We'll expect you to demonstrate self-discipline in initiating your own ideas and constantly challenging the norm. It's also your mission to ensure Hays is the first consultancy to every new client job and to make each new candidate exclusively your own.
People skills
Working in Hays is all about teamwork. You could be working as an integral part of a team in your own office or working with colleagues from other divisions.
It's vital you work in harmony with your colleagues, listening to team members and if necessary, taking the lead (your listening skills are also vital when working with clients and candidates - taking in information and making judgements, often in short timescales).
However, the ability to work under your own steam is also critical. Often, you'll be spearheading a particular initiative, developing an interest and expertise in specialist sectors. You must be prepared to take responsibility for handling projects from start to finish, often co-ordinating the activities of people and teams from other divisions.
Establishing business credibility is imperative. Gaining all-round knowledge of your business sector and your clients' business is important if your clients and candidates are to have confidence in your market knowledge.
An eye for opportunities
The skill needed to identify and capitalise on sales opportunities is part of the commercial flair we expect all our consultants to demonstrate. And your ability to negotiate and convince is crucial. Not only do you need to be able to persuade clients to use our services, but when delivering that service, they'll rely on you to tell it like it is.
You need to be bold enough to assert yourself when advising on how to approach recruitment assignments. In addition, you'll need to know your market - an acute awareness of your competitors, their presence and activity, is vital to being able to seize opportunities when they arise.
