Diary of a Recruitment Consultant (2020)


Monday

The start of the week is traditionally crazy busy but WHAT is going on at the moment?! It’s amazing what can happen when the headlines take a new positive turn.

After briefly checking a couple of property related articles and confirming today’s meetings, off I go to see a Client in Shoreditch. It’s always fun shooting off to other parts of the City, especially getting out of the Prime Central property bubble, and even better when you’re growing your business at the same time. This particular Client is an ex-colleague, so the hard work is hopefully already done this time. The afternoon starts with a thud; a Candidate rejects an offer that I thought was an absolute slam dunk but turns out his wife isn’t keen on relocating out of London after all. This one hurts more than most because this process has been ongoing for almost 3 months, needless to say, I’ve dropped the ball on understanding the true decision maker on this one – OUCH!!

After a 4th coffee of the day, I’m at least able to finish on a high; we’re at final stage to discuss a retainer with one of our biggest Clients, time to brush off my best suit!

Tuesday

Following a solid meeting yesterday, a brief negotiation on our terms concludes with a new Client and a chunky position to work on which I excitedly share with our team. Luckily their current recruiter has delivered some pretty catastrophic options so far so it’s up to me to convince them there is a whole different experience available to them. Rather than just being an introducer of terrible talent, I have a bit more insight into this one as a previous placement of mine now works in the company (always handy to have an internal mole, so you can really pinpoint the right people, rather than a try and fail approach.) My brain is already ticking over with potential people I can reach out to!

A very senior figure in the industry pops up with a meeting proposal and wants to ‘catch up’, seeing as they are a Client of mine already, it’s quite clear they may want to chew my ear off on other options…

Wednesday

Last night’s meeting was longer than anticipated and I’m into the office with a fuzzy head this morning; I don’t mind admitting that I inhaled a McDonald’s breakfast, I’m not proud but today is going to be an interesting day. I’ve secured two interviews in the diary for my new Shoreditch Client and I’m already calculating the fee in my head, dangerous game to play in Recruitment, I know, but confidence is key, right?

I overhear my colleague agreeing a placement for one of the most random hires we have ever been involved in. Who’d have thought we’d be placing a Nuclear Engineer via our Commercial team in 2020; almost as left field as the time we placed a Family Office Property Manager to live in a Croatian monastery! #Diversity

Thursday

It’s retainer time!!! After months of ongoing conversations, we are officially instructed to fill a HUGE Residential position with one of biggest and most long-standing Clients. It makes it all the more exciting that it’s totally under wraps and we are the chosen firm to represent our Client. Time to refresh my headhunting chat I think, six figure basic salaries require a slightly more specific approach than a LinkedIn post and a handful of #hashtags

We’ve also been tasked with working on another top-level hire for another huge Client of ours, this is where the fun begins. No two days are the same at the moment and there is a definitely a new found confidence across the board – our FD will be rubbing his hands at the prospect of these fees coming in, but we’re a long way off – perhaps I should invite the wives and husbands into the first interviews?...

Friday

After almost 5 years at GKR Towers, it’s time to move on (no, I’m not leaving), we have decided to relocate two stops down the Circle line to Victoria. I won’t lie, having an office in the middle of Chelsea has been VERY handy for business, being right in the middle of 10 of our Clients has given us huge market presence, plus, those summer beers down Kings Road weren’t too shabby either. However, we’ve moved into a nice shiny office space with a gym in the basement… watch this space, I’m going to be SHREDDED BY THE SUMMER. Plus, I hear the building is dog friendly, might accidentally bring my dog to work one day…

We are looking for two immediate, experienced hires to join our team, if you like the sound of our new crib, are passionate about property and you know the difference between an average and a fantastic recruitment consultant, we want to hear from you! Get in touch with us or submit your CV in application today to Molly Shoesmith, Operations Manager.

Written by Lee Riley, Director at GKR London Property Recruitment.

Tel: 0207 048 3304

Email: jobs@gkrlondon.com

Web: www.gkrlondon.com