I had a few questions to ask Amelia Mercer, a change management consultant in the UK, and she shared her advice for someone just getting into recruitment, the best advice she's ever been given and why she chose to work at Eames.
1. How did you get into recruitment?
Through observing recruiters in the office and feeling inspired by the way my colleagues were able to work effectively at such a high capacity, with maintained excitement each day. I was happy in my role, but I began to feel a hunger for that kind of intensity, pace and reward. So, I raised it and moved internally into recruitment.
2. What is your advice for someone just getting into recruitment?
Putting immense amounts of pressure onto yourself to do lots of deals quickly will not lead to sustainable outcomes and probably won’t make your wins feel as good as they should! Build your foundations, become an expert in your field, research your industry in your early days and have consistently high activity, talk to as many people as you can and get your name known in your field. Whilst doing this, my key tip would be to remain consistent and accountable for your own work; being truly accountable in recruitment is how you maintain consistency with colleagues, clients and candidates alike.
3. What is it about recruitment that has kept you in the industry?
The pace, the feeling you get when you have a successful day, as well as the feeling of wanting to be and do better after a not-so-great day.
4. What is the proudest moment in your career to date?
The proudest moment in my first year in recruitment would be getting into the swing of things quickly and making deals quickly. However, that’s all well and good until you hit a decline. My proudest moment so far is using the less great periods of time to inspire and inform me on how to realise, grow and perform as a recruiter.
5. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career so far and how have you overcome that?
Managing my own expectations. For a while, I was trying to absorb the way everyone around me worked and get frustrated if I didn’t get the outcomes I wanted. The reality is that there was no expectation for me to be a clone of any peers, nor was there any harm in saying ‘I’m working on learning that’. I learnt that establishing yourself in recruitment doesn’t happen overnight it’s about evolving and learning and being committed to that.
6. What is your number 1 secret to success?
Be consistently approachable, be too approachable even. Have the time of day to speak to everyone and make those conversations memorable.
7. What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given?
“Start your day on a 10” – Jamie Card
8. What are you driven by, and how do you stay motivated?
It’s no secret that recruitment is a rewarding profession where commission and incentives are concerned, but there are so many factors that keep you motivated between the wins. I’m driven by the feeling of having a super productive day, the feeling of making my team proud and finding my candidates opportunities which are rewarding for them.
9. How do you keep a work-life balance?
Being organised and flexible. I have the mindset that there will be times where ‘life’ calls to be a priority, so prioritise it. Other times you sometimes need to put in extra work and dip into your own time to excel. It liberates you from feeling pressured to be everywhere and doing everything at once.
10. Why Eames?
Eames has built an environment which is as hard to replicate as it is to describe, whereby from day one, you’re welcomed into a community of high-performing individuals who want you to be equally successful. It’s positive, encouraging and supportive.