Character traits that help drive career success

Recruitment can be a hard and fast way to make money…if you’re good at it that is! It’s true. If you are driven, motivated and have the thick skin to get through the tough times, then a career in recruitment can be very rewarding, in many ways beyond a healthy bank account.

So let’s assume you’re considering a career move into recruitment, joining our Ambition Recruitment Bootcamp is the perfect opportunity. What is recruitment really like and what character traits will be integral to your success in this industry?

As someone who has joined Ambition through the Recruitment Bootcamp program a little over two years ago, I can tell you first-hand what I have learnt along the way.

Sometimes you just need an insider perspective and when it comes to recruitment, I think drive and resilience go hand in hand.

When you strip recruitment down to the basics, it is predominantly a sales job. Therefore, it’s not necessarily a straightforward path to success. Like in any sales environment you need to be prepared for a lot of rejection and there’ll be moments where you feel out of your depth.

It’s not easy, especially at the beginning, because you don’t have a personal brand in the market - you’re just another recruiter in a crowded sea of recruiters. All of these things combined mean you have to be extremely driven to want to do the job and want to continually learn to be able to stand out. An unwavering drive will help you carry on through challenging periods.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all doom and gloom!

The inevitable hardships also make you appreciate the wins along the way.

Even when times are tough, you will get little wins along the way as you begin to get a handle on the job and “improve your craft’ so to speak, and that really makes you appreciate the process.

Over time you establish a brand for yourself, build up a solid client and candidate base and then the job becomes less sales focused and more about account management.

Now you can focus on building other skills and grow in other ways in the role.

So many factors come into play when building a successful career in recruitment.

Putting in the work is fundamental but it also comes down to skill-set, which you can expand gradually as you progress. That’s the great thing about the Ambition Recruitment Bootcamp – you don’t need prior recruitment experience. As long as you’ve got the passion and the drive, we will teach you all the basics to set you up for a successful beginning to your recruitment career.

It’s about gaining a fundamental understanding of the ‘sales mix’ and, perhaps more importantly, relationship building. If you’ve got an engaging personality and you’re interested in building relationships with people you are likely to do well.

Personally, I love recruitment.

I am quite competitive by nature. Not to say I have to be the absolute number one in everything I do, but I do want to be one of the best. So, I like doing a good job and being good at what I do and that just feeds in naturally in this industry.

One of the most rewarding aspects of recruitment is that the results are tangible.

It’s something I’ve spoken about in the past when people ask me what I like about recruitment compared to my previous jobs. Generally, the business environment can be quite political and tricky to navigate, whereas in recruitment it’s generally a meritocracy.

You get out what you put in and that’s a great feeling.

If I were to stay late it’s because I’m doing work that will have a direct impact on my success. Chances are, the harder I work and the more I do, the more I’ll succeed.

You need to have passion.

I genuinely believe that if you are passionate about what you’re doing, you are then naturally driven to succeed and persevere through the hurdles.

Don’t just dip your toes in, jump straight in!

To wrap things up, I’d like to offer this piece of advice.

If you are considering recruitment as a career, research it. Understand as much as possible about the industry, what it is and what you’re signing up to. It’s not something you can just dip your toes into - that won’t help you to succeed, you need to make a commitment from the outset.

This is something I explore a lot of with people in interviews. If you are considering joining the Ambition Recruitment Bootcamp ask yourself this; what research have I done about Ambition and recruitment in general? Do I understand what it is? Do I know what it really takes to succeed?

If you’re someone who wants to improve yourself and grow in confidence then it’s perfect for you.

You genuinely learn so much about yourself along the way.

It’s one of my favourite things about recruitment. You learn to build and improve on your strengths. Then, as you start reaping the benefits of your hard work you naturally become more confident, and that’s pretty satisfying.