Progressive Recruitment welcomes 7 new starters into its new graduate program

It has been an exciting start to the year for us at the Sydney office. In line with this year’s launch of our in-house recruitment program Recruitment Campus and a revamped curriculum, we have welcomed our new cohort of rookies – class of 2019!

Meet the new additions to the team Cynthia, Paulina, Lauren, Lucy, Caila, Chloe and Barbara as they share with us their journey that has led them to SThree and the reasons they chose recruitment as a career. At SThree we value diversity and inclusion and take pride that our new starters are representative of the diverse community we are in – both culturally and professionally. We have been a firm advocate of our principles ‘Build trust, be clear and aim high, care then act’ throughout our internal recruitment process to ensure that we are consistently building a team that can add value to our broader range of clients and candidates in the long run.

 

Our graduates tell us a bit about themselves and recount their journey that has led them to SThree:

Cynthia Imad, Credit Risk and Analytics consultant:

“Upon finishing high school, I moved to Canberra to study International Business at Australian National University. It was there that I discovered my love for travel and went on an exchange program to Canada. What attracted me to SThree is the advantage of working for a global recruitment firm – SThree is the perfect mix of working for a medium boutique firm whilst enjoying the benefits of being part of a larger global family that is spread out across 40 offices worldwide. This gives me the opportunity to work in a smaller team and be seen and heard in my day-to-day job yet still being able to participate in secondments to our offices in other countries later on in my career.”

“I am from Venezuela but came over to Australia since I was 8 years old. As such, I’m fluent in both Spanish and English. Prior to SThree, I was the regional manager at Monpurse for a couple of years and the part that I enjoyed most about my role was recruiting new staff and conducting training. After some thought, I then decided to give recruitment a go and applied for a position with SThree through LinkedIn because I knew that SThree is a reputable recruitment specialist brand.”

Lucy Ham, Engineering consultant (Contracts team):

“I was born in London and completed my university degree at The University of Manchester. Because I love travelling and lived in Spain for a year during my degree, I decided to come to Australia after my graduation. Prior to SThree, I worked in sales positions in IT and the skincare industry. After moving to Australia, I decided to try for a recruitment position as the role allows me to transfer my people skills from my previous work experience in sales.”

Lauren Gagliano, Front end Development consultant:

“I am Italian but am born and raised in Sydney. Prior to SThree, I worked full time as a Beauty Advisor at Chanel whilst completing a Bachelor of Commerce at Macquarie University. I applied for a position with SThree for its award-winning learning and development initiatives.”

Caila Brandt, Health and Safety Engineering consultant:

“I was born and raised in Sydney and come from a fitness and sales background at Fitness First. I was referred to SThree by a friend of mine who spoke really highly of the work culture at SThree. I realised that I wanted to work in a similarly supportive and positive environment and this is when I applied for a role with SThree.”

Chloe Manassa, Engineering consultant (Permanent team):

“I was born and raised in Sydney and come from a very laid-back yet quite traditional Lebanese family. Prior to starting at SThree, I worked in administrative roles but very often received feedback from my recruitment clients that I would be well-suited for a role in recruitment. I have been thinking of a career change and it was not until this year that I decided to try recruitment and came across the SThree advert on SEEK. I researched a lot about SThree and learned about its principles, corporate social responsibility programs and excellent learning and development initiatives. I can easily say that SThree is a company that I want to work and progress with.”

Paulina Daskalopoulos, Data Science Analytics consultant:

“I was born and raised in Sydney although my family is originally from Greece. Prior to starting at SThree, I was a Store Operations Coordinator at Burberry whilst completing my studies part-time online. I graduated last November with a Bachelor degree in Business and Commerce and was drawn to SThree because of the culture of the organisation.”

 

We also asked our new starters to share their thoughts about choosing a career in recruitment.

Cynthia: “Recruitment gives you the ability to run your own desk, meaning that I can take complete ownership and accountability for the work that I do from an early stage in my career. I also enjoy the ability to help people progress in their career and work towards their next role.”

 Caila: “I wanted a career with a clear career progression and one where I could apply my transferable skills from my previous sales job. This is when recruitment found me – it aligned perfectly with my set of skills as well as the fulfilment that I strive to find in a job.”

 Paulina: “I chose recruitment because I enjoy being social and having a different schedule every day. I also enjoy meeting new people and building positive working relationships. It is almost like building your own little business and being individually rewarded for your hard work.”

 

What do you enjoy most about working at SThree?

Lauren: “My favourite thing about working at SThree is being part of such a reputable and trusted organisation. The warm, genuine culture and the potential for growth – not only in Australia but overseas as well, is second to none. The culture within the organisation is something quite unique, everyone really does help and support each other and I don’t feel any tension nor negativity within the workplace at all. SThree has definitely provided great training and support throughout my transition and has provided so many learning tools and support.”

Cynthia: “Coming into SThree I knew that their training program was one of the best in the industry. Even still, I was surprised by just how much everyone is willing to help and how I can easily go to anyone for support. Every Friday, all new starters who are part of the Recruitment Campus programme have a full day of training and this provides us with a safe space to have a go and make mistakes. We are assigned a mentor who is there to address all our questions and also a direct manager and a buddy we can go to for any extra support. This makes it a very enjoyable place to learn. SThree’s culture makes it incredibly easy to fit in. People want the best for each other. We work hard and are always up for a laugh!”

Paulina: “I definitely enjoy the culture at SThree – everyone is so open to help. I look forward to the incentives and team-bonding trips. I believe that’s what makes the office culture so positive.  I also feel well-supported with the training received and even had the confidence to speak to candidates and clients within my first week.”

Barbara: “SThree has a work environment where everyone is very open about the development of skills in your career. It is definitely a fun and dedicated culture for growth. The management team invests their time and support their team through training, development programmes, whilst rewarding the team accordingly with club lunches at fine dining restaurants as well as team activity events. We currently have two exciting travel incentives to the sunny coast of Byron Bay and an all-expenses paid trip to Denver in The United States to look forward to!”

 

What skills and attributes do you think are important to become a great recruiter?  

 Lucy: “Be confident and explore your ability to understand people’s needs. It is also very important to be friendly and communicate well.”

 Barbara: “Perseverance is key. You also need to be confident in your ability to help people and maintain your relationships with clients and candidates alike. You will need to have a passion for sales too.”

 Caila: “It is important to be mindful and versatile to the people you speak to daily.”

 Chloe: “Be approachable and understand where people are coming from. Demonstrate care and show that you know what is best for your candidates and clients.”

 

For those looking to break into the recruitment market, we also recommend five top tips from our rookies:

• Absorb as much information as you can from your training and implement those learnings into your calls and meetings with both clients and candidates
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions and learn to be more confident
• Keep an open mind on any specialisation that could be offered to you
• Be as organised as possible and have a plan of action every morning
• Be ready to work hard as recruitment has a steep learning curve

 

Fun fact: Growing up, our new starters had very different career aspirations. Both Cynthia’s and Caila’s dream job was to become a veterinarian and both Lucy and Barbara wanted to follow the steps of their family members and become a lawyer. One does not necessarily need to have specific recruitment qualifications or have vast experience in sales to venture into recruitment.

 

Recruitment is a flexible industry that is open to people from various backgrounds and as a fresh graduate, considering a career in recruitment may not be the typical career pathway due to the limited exposure and awareness of the profession itself. For example, Lauren only discovered recruitment when she completed her Human Resources studies at university. Prior to that, she wanted to become a real estate agent but she has since not looked back.

 

Are you interested in a career in recruitment?

We are always looking for new talent to join our business. If you think you’ll be a great fit, contact us at +61 02 9285 1000 for a confidential discussion. To learn more about what we do, watch this video to find out why our people love working for us.

 

Progressive Recruitment is part of the larger SThree Group.