Recruitment Consultant - FMCG Sales Review

At the beginning of my placement, it was difficult to get my head around the whole recruitment process as there are so many different elements to ensure success, but when you learn them, you are able to work autonomously and succeed.

Highly valued, I made my first placement within three weeks of joining and the team were really proud of me. Also, the culture across Hays is excellent, there is great recognition and there is a bell that you have to ring when you make a placement, then everyone in the office gets up and claps - very embarrassing, but in a good way!!

There is initial training which teaches you the basics of recruitment, but generally on the job training with your managers and your peers is the most valuable. At times training and being able to absorb all the information can be intensive and slightly off-putting, however, the greater benefit is when you are actually applying what you've learned and you can fill the jobs!

Very busy, there's always something to do. You are constantly learning and developing new skills and by the end of the day you are tired, but happy to go to work the next day. You really feel that sense of achievement.

Much much more than I had imagined. From the beginning, my manager said 'you're not a placement student, you're a 360 degree Recruitment Consultant' which was nice as I felt part of the team and I felt that they could trust me with something so commercial. I was also given the responsibility of developing a whole new FMCG market and establishing a set of key clients who would do repeat business with us, then account managing them. The greatest skill I developed was the ability to communicate with C-Level employees in an organisation, it really improved my self-confidence and reflected Hays as a business in a professional manner. Finally, when Hays was undergoing a recruitment drive, I was given the responsibility for decision-making on which candidates I thought were strong and then engaging in a little training session when they joined the team.

The skills I have developed over the year have been incredible. I am much more confident (still very friendly!) and I'd say I'm a bit more assertive. All of the experiences I have picked up from my placement, I can now say that I would like to pursue a career in sales, perhaps in the FMCG market, I had no clue what I wanted to do before I joined Hays. Also, my placement has complimented my degree as I am basing my dissertation on a particular element of something that I had experienced, so I have a foundation and first hand experience for my research project.

Always buzzing! There is a great, fun, happy and young culture across Hays. Everyone is very sociable and there are lots of events that management put on monthly for everyone to get involved in... and lots of great prizes!

It was well organised, however it was only until February 2013 that I had actually understood the process of recruitment, and then I was able to bill more frequently and more billings within each period. Had I been taught earlier, I think I could have given more.

I always looked at ways that I could increase new business prospects i.e. trade shows or FMCG exhibitions etc and they always supported me if I thought it would be commercial. It was really helpful as I'd brought in numerous new clients, mainly SME's that were rapidly growing.

They are interested in having me back once I graduate. Hays also offer international transfer if you work for them for a minimum of 2 years.

Yes it was quite good, I met most of the placement students there and we all had different experiences which was interesting. My team was fun, sometimes intensive, but it was great overall.

I lived at my sister's house in South London which was lucky, but travelling was very expensive and sometimes very time-consuming! My base was the Cheapside office in Bank, so we had some really nice bars around and we'd socialise quite often.

It was fairly good, there were a few nice bars like Madison, Kanola and Ping Pong.

There was a fitness club, but I didn't go as it clashed with another activity I was involved in. Then there's Hays football which lots of the guys on my team were involved in.