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You've left university and you're embarking on not just a job, but a career.

What should you expect as a grad? Who will you meet? What do you do? Well, Laura Peatey from our Windsor office has just joined us as a graduate. Find out how she's been getting on in her new career as an Associate Consultant.

I am now in my fourth week working in Morgan McKinley’s Windsor office, having joined almost straight from uni. After three years of working to my own schedule I am pleasantly surprised that I haven’t found it too difficult getting back into a routine that I haven’t had to have since I was at school. 

 

Unfortunately, I have a habit of burning the candle at both ends – I’m good at getting up but not so good at falling asleep. So, these past few weeks I have made a concerted effort to get to bed early to avoid being completely unproductive and zombie-like the following day.

 

My first week felt a little like my first week at school. There were new faces, shed loads of new information and, of course, lots to learn. Since joining Morgan McKinley, I have felt a great sense of responsibility being trusted with the job of assisting my colleagues with building and developing client relationships, some even from scratch! 

 

It’s daunting but equally exciting to think that your desk is your business. In recruitment you have to take charge of your own development and are accountable for your own work output, and it’s this aspect which initially attracted me to Morgan McKinley. But what does it mean to be responsible for your own development and workload? It means that if you work hard you should see the benefits of the work that you put in and equally, if you slack then you have to face the repercussions. While I was never one for leaving essay deadlines until the last minute, I do work well under pressure, be it time pressure or the pressure of someone’s expectations on you. Having studied History, which was a very work heavy but extremely light on lectures, I was always conscious of using my time wisely. Luckily, I have found recruitment consultants are also big fans of meticulous time planning!

 

My biggest challenge, besides taking on board new terminology and getting to grips with the recruitment process itself, has been actually talking to clients, dealing with objections and not taking negatives personally. I feel I am starting to get to grips with this and I feel I’m slowly growing in confidence. Though more often than not I will get off the phone and kick myself as I remember plenty of questions I could and should have asked.

 

My first few weeks have undoubtedly been a steep learning curve. The team in Windsor have been brilliant helping me to settle in, combining a strong work ethic with plenty of banter! I hope that as I grow in confidence and experience knowing what to say and ask my contacts will slowly start to become second nature.