CORPORATE LIFE VS BOUTIQUE LIFE

Having worked in large corporate recruitment environments for many years it has been an interesting and exciting journey into the world of boutique agency.

There are definitely some things that I do and don’t miss for sure such as:

Miss
·        Having an internal IT department to holler to when things aren’t working quite right and leaving it with them until it is sorted
·        Having a Girl/Man Friday to do my CV formatting – You guys who make your CVs look pretty with text boxes really test my knowledge of Word for sure when they are put into our standard format!

Don’t miss
·        Slow decision making and waiting on someone from HQ/Legal to sign off on PSA agreements. The worst case I had was 6 weeks whilst the US said “okay” when I had multiple temps lined up ready to start. SIX weeks!
·        Internal meetings that seemed to consume my week
·        KPI’s for KPI’s sake, e.g. you have been on the phone 1 hour less this week than you should be. Could that be because I was busy filling the jobs that were ready to give me money? Or that my client patch went from Carlisle to North Wales and travel time impacted the volume of activity that could be done whilst driving?
·        That “discretional bonus” conversation. Who knew that you could make the “wrong” type of money and therefore your bonus was half of what you expected? I really wondered if the shareholders actually minded when it came to their dividends?
·        “Crazy themed BD days”. Really, does dressing up and not sitting down make that much difference to the volume and quality of your calls?
·        Every other team across the office believing that the job you have just placed should have really belonged to them from the Transactional team to the Exec function.

Boutique recruitment is not for the faint hearted but I can tell you it certainly feels more rewarding for sure.

Boutique recruitment teaches you:

·        Self reliance
·        You need to be relationship driven 80% of your business will come from 20% of your client base
·        PSA’s are not a barrier to entry
·        Referrals are your life blood
·        Linked-in isn’t the only answer you must get creative. When you have got 30 years of local knowledge between you, you can tap into the hidden network of candidates – priceless
·        Good old fashion headhunting can be just effective as a large corporate advertising budget
·        Work collaboratively with your colleagues to get the best result
·        To be proactive on your candidates’ behalf by taking them to market not just reviewing what jobs you have on your desk currently to submit them to and feedback responses to them
·        Agility – be quick to adapt to what the client needs and how to approach the exercise
·        Work life balance and flexibility are one thing but we are all in to achieve financial rewards so you absolutely go the extra mile to deliver
·        That YOU are the only factor that could hold you back from being a success

The pro’s for me certainly outweigh the con’s of Boutique life and I don’t believe that I will ever look back. If you are interested in working with a progressive and forward thinking recruitment agency in the Accountancy & Finance, Change & Transformation market then get in touch.

Allison Hodgkinson - Director & Co-Founder
0151 345 9394
allison.hodgkinson@resourcerygroup.com
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@ResourceryGroup