A Journey Into Recruitment: Meet Lily Chappin

Lily joined us as part of our Digital and Data team based in St. Albans, Hertfordshire that specialises in placing tech talent in the Charity Sector. She has made a fantastic impression on the business so far, breaking the Understanding Recruitment record by placing three candidates within her first two months. She also recently won our ‘UR of the month’ award at the monthly stand-up that acknowledges team members who live and breathe our values.  In this blog she shares her experience of working in recruitment so far…

I joined Understanding Recruitment just over two months ago now and it has been the best decision I have made in my career so far! I can quite easily say I’ve enjoyed every part of the journey. I started as a Data Recruiter with absolutely no prior experience within the Recruitment sector, in fact no sales experience at all. At first, I was a little apprehensive about starting my new job and I really didn’t know what to expect.

Prior to joining Understanding Recruitment, I went to Sandringham School and studied Geography, Sociology and Psychology at A Levels. I really enjoyed my time in sixth form and found my subjects fascinating however I wasn’t passionate enough about any of them for me to think that going to University would be beneficial. I was more passionate about starting to make money straight away and getting a head start in my career, so I became the Manager of a local café.

Although I had a rough idea of what I thought recruitment would be like, I imagined it was going to be a very simple process and that there wouldn’t be much to it. I soon realised that there is a lot more to recruitment than most would think. There are so many different factors that contribute to being a successful Recruitment Consultant but fortunately I can confidently say that I’m learning from some of the best in the industry!

My experience so far in recruitment has overall been very successful but I’m aware that not all days are good days. Due to the nature of the role every day is very different, and I have experienced very good days but also not so positive days. It’s normal and I have realised already that those not so good days just motivate me to work even harder the following week.

"I’d say the most important thing to remember is not to take things personally when things don’t always go the way you’d hope as there are always highs just around the corner."

A typical day for me as a Resourcer consists of checking emails and adverts, speaking to candidates, searching for CVs on job boards and LinkedIn, prepping candidates for upcoming interviews and much more.

"My favourite part of my day would be getting on the phone and building good relationships with my candidates and helping people find the perfect job for them. Of course, the best part is placing candidates and I was extremely happy when I placed my first candidate last month, it was the best feeling!"

My advice to anyone thinking about starting a career in recruitment who is in the same position I was two months ago is that if you’re financially driven, hardworking and passionate about being successful then definitely give it a go. I was provided with excellent training which has set me up for what I’m hoping will be a very successful career ahead and I can’t wait to progress further within the industry.