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If you’d have told me just over a year ago I’d be a Marketing Manager in a recruitment agency, I certainly wouldn’t have bought it.

Recruitment had never been an area that had interested me, and my knowledge on the industry was limited to much of the stereotypes that exist around recruitment. I was settled in a job and not on the lookout to move. But one day an email arrived in my inbox from an old contact of mine, ‘take a look and let me know what you think’. This person happened to be a Talent Acquisition Specialist. Three days later I reread the email and met her for a catch-up. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I did…

Just over a year later and I love working in Morgan McKinley, as a team we’ve worked on so many projects and there are so many areas to work on, to cover. I’d never appreciated before just how many elements, how many partners and how many projects a company like Morgan McKinley would work on.

So what are the highlights?

 

Career: I moved for a career. I could have stayed where I was but I had read up and found out about how people progressed within Morgan McKinley, whether that be in a role or transferring to work in another office abroad. It impressed me that a company could facilitate this and had so many examples to highlight. In Marketing alone we’ve had relocations from Dublin to London and from London to Sydney! I came on as a Marketing Executive and following my probation review worked my way up to the manager role. There’s a fair few of us here that have moved on up in the company.

Aine Connellan, Project Manager of Marketing Automation, and I both started as marketing executives. Aine in Dublin and myself in London. Aine transferred over to London and started a new role heading up the roll-out of our new automation system globally.

Aimee Carmichael, Global Communications Manager, is a marketing consultant contracting with us since 2012. Aimee started as an Online Communications Specialist working on our social media before then using her PR background to become our Online PR Manager.

Variety: As I said, previously to working in recruitment I’d never realised the diversity of services and areas that are covered. Working with EMEA, the team based here in the UK, has worked on projects for the UK offices, the UAE. I particularly enjoy this for several reasons: my experience and degree were based on international business and so working here means I still have the opportunity for an outlook beyond the UK. I speak French and so still get to practise it with the team over in Paris. It’s not necessary to do so, but they appreciate it and it pushes me to try!

Projects vary depending on who you’re working with and although you have daily, weekly and monthly activities. Local marketing teams work with each and every specialised central marketing team as well as the recruitment teams of course. Therefore you could spend a couple of months project managing a website update with the Online team, and then the next working on a campaign to regenerate ACA accountant candidates that’ll include email marketing and an event, for which you’ll need to liaise with the accounting and finance recruitment team and the design and data teams too.

Travel: As the name suggests, employees in Global Services tend to work with others across the Morgan McKinley footprint and much more than the recruiters in the same offices would. Depending on your role you can also get the opportunity to travel to see them when needed to. I’ve gotten to meet my colleagues face-to-fact in Dublin and Paris, and while on holiday in Dubai I even popped in for a quick cuppa with some of my contacts there. These are people that I work with on a near day-to-day basis so it’s great for relationship-building.

And what’s not so great?

To give you a balanced view, I’ll be transparent in what it’s really like to work here. 

I think most people in the recruitment world will tell you the hours are long. It’s the same across firms and has been for decades so I understand.

You get what you put in. I love my job but yes there is many a time I’d love a 9-5 job. But we’re rewarded well for the work we put in. Here’s a place your commitment is noticed and rewarded, look how Aimee, Aine and I have progressed. If you’re the kind of transactional person who’s in at 8:30 and jumping up to leave at 17:59:00 then there’ll be other work environments that’ll be more of a fit for you but the recruitment world is probably not one of them!