What Covid-19 taught us about a career in recruitment

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Covid-19 changed so many aspects of people’s lives, from limiting the people we see to affecting our day-to-day jobs. For many of us, Covid-19 offered the opportunity to re-evaluate our priorities and consider what we want out of our careers and lives, and here at Edward Mann, so did we! We’ve used this time to reflect on the opportunities to innovate the recruitment industry, bring additional value to companies who are having to rethink their hiring and onboarding practices and help candidates advance their careers in this new world of work.

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Versatility and adaptability

As businesses shifted from office working to home working during the lockdown, recruitment proved to be a flexible and versatile industry able to adapt quickly to remote working whilst also adapting to support video interviewing, remote job offers and virtual onboarding. There is a common misconception that as the communications side of recruitment is an incredibly intense discipline, which when brought into one’s home could make it difficult to maintain a work-life balance and leave people feeling stressed and hounded. This proved not to be the case! 

Although there is a sales element to recruitment, it is a versatile and adaptable process that can fit around a recruitment consultant’s unique talents and lifestyle. Even when your office is in your living room, when the day is done and you’ve hit your numbers, it’s easy to switch off and relax! 

Many recruiters will know that the industry as a whole was once reticent about offering flexible working. Many recruitment leaders felt that the need to collaborate as a team and meet targets meant that they needed to be present in the office; others didn’t trust their consultants to be diligent when working from home. What the lockdown has showed recruitment leaders, however, is that highly motivated recruiters are driven no matter their environment. This has led to a new era for the industry: one where consultants are targeted on results, not inputs regardless of location.

Many recruiters will continue to support flexible working going forward, others will not. At Edward Mann we believe in our staff and know that our team can achieve great things both in and out of the office. We will continue to offer a flexible working scheme, tailoring the programme to individuals’ needs and offering the chance to come together as a team whilst striking balance with home and personal commitments.

It’s worth also mentioning the versatility of the industry itself. When Covid-19 began to affect the economy and many businesses paused their recruiting processes and even made the difficult decision to furlough staff, recruiters were able to step in and offer wider consultancy services, advise on strategy and even provide administrative support to clients in need. You’d probably never imagined that recruiters could step in and offer support for other business functions – but that’s what happened!

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The importance of helping people

Covid-19 gave many recruiters the opportunity to remember that a career in recruitment is a career with purpose: every day we are helping people advance their careers and earn a living whilst also supporting businesses grow and thrive. And what’s more important than that?

When we had new recently unemployed candidates come to us, we were able to offer tailored advice and suggest appropriate roles for them. We were also able to help some people progress in their careers at a time when many employers were freezing promotions.

With businesses adapting to the ‘new normal’, we are beginning to see an increase in new roles coming in from employers, this means we can continue to offer an exceptional service that benefits individual candidates and organisations, and also contribute at the ground level to rebuilding the economy.

Choosing Edward Mann to grow your career means being a part of the post-Covid effort to put the world back together. You will also get quantifiable rewards as you progress and receive effective ongoing training to achieve your goals. You’re not just a cog in a corporate wheel but a leader in a community of dedicated recruitment professionals.

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