Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

Responsible for handling vacancies and recruiting candidates with a science background

We often handle multiple vacancies at a time, which means the work is always varied and within the course of a day we might discuss a lab technician job, then an R&D manager role, then an HSE position – lots to keep me interested!

A typical day consists of lots of work on the telephone and via email! We make calls to prospective candidates that may be suitable for vacancies we’re handling, and also to prospective clients to see if we can assist them with any vacancies they’re recruiting for. We write the advertisement for the job, handle incoming queries, arrange interviews and make offers of employment. We also tend to have face to face meetings with either candidates or clients from week to week.

The variety in the different roles I work on, as well as the variety in the different people I talk to every day. It’s a good feeling when you hit your target and it’s also nice to know that you’ve made a difference to someone, having found them a job!

There are good days and bad days – sometimes you’ll have a day when you can’t get through to anyone, or they’ll all say ‘no’. It can be a little demoralising, but the next day will always be better. And the good days are very good indeed!

I’m quite outgoing and I liked the prospect of chatting to lots of different people every day.

I studied Chemistry at university and while I enjoyed the learning aspect, I wasn’t so enamoured by the actual lab work involved. I had decided that I wanted to continue in a career somewhat related to chemistry, but not actually doing chemistry itself. I therefore looked for a job which would make use of my people skills and saw the advert for a recruitment consultant with a scientific background.

Personable and outgoing! You can’t be shy in a recruitment role. You also need motivation and drive as it’s a very target-driven industry. Resilience is handy as well, it helps you bounce back after a bad day!

I’ve mostly held reception jobs so am quite happy with organising and conversing both face to face and on the phone.

I also worked at PGL (children’s adventure holidays) for a short time. After university I worked in a dental surgery on a temporary contract then got this job.

Continuing

If you can get some experience in a sales role it will put you in good stead – something involving making sales calls or face to face meetings (e.g. rather than a retail sales position). Because we’re a scientific recruitment agency, we look for our own staff to have gained a scientific degree and scientific work experience also helps, we can relate to the candidate and / or client.

Students are welcome to visit our website where we have material on job searching, CV writing, interview tips, etc.