The Importance of Working Relationships

After undertaking a two month placement at Alium Partners Ltd, recent Exeter University graduate Rosie Archer shares her observations of recruiting in the Financial Services industry.

Working Relationships In The Recruitment Industry

As a recent University Drama graduate, the importance of working relationships was a concept that was heavily weighted whilst undertaking my studies at Exeter. Having observed a London based recruitment consultancy for the past two months, the same concept of healthy working relationships seems inherently applicable to functioning of good business in the recruitment industry.

Social Media

To start, we live in a society where technology and social media have become our primary means of socialising with friends, family and acquaintances. 2014 has brought with it a computerized lifestyle where some recruitment companies are able to hide behind a veneer of technology, using cold-calling and mass emailing to contact candidates. However, the most successful recruitment in the Financial Services sector extends beyond this. It is when business connections are based upon face-to-face encounters, elongated exchanges and mutual understanding between recruiter and candidate that the most fruitful outcomes are produced for recruiters, employers and prospective employees. With websites like Reed and LinkedIn at our fingertips, it’s very easy to make instant and sometimes meaningless online connections. However, the recruiters I’ve met stay in regular contact with their candidates, so their cycle of work allows them to continually develop upon previous partnerships they’ve established throughout their career.

Onwards and Upwards

Moving forward, it’s a no brainer that the recruitment industry is firmly rooted within patterns that establish candidate suitability, career development and potential for fruition in employment. Recruiters understand the importance of healthy working relationships from the off, as it is their duty to anticipate the potential success levels of a newly formed partnership between candidate and company. Quite fittingly, my favourite observation of recruiting is that every action that a good recruiter carries out is geared towards the wellbeing of the candidate and client. If you find the right recruiter, you can learn from them the art of knowing when to stay put in nurturing working relationships and when to move on to greener pastures. Experienced recruiters will always aid employees find the right career path for them, whether it means discovering that their day-to-day grass is actually a little greener than they might of anticipated or finding something a little further a field.

Future Investments

Finally, although many financial corporations and businesses have strong graduate outreach schemes targeted at universities across the UK; what I’ve seen so far that there is still great capacity within the Financial Services sector for increased investment in recent university graduates. The annual summer crop of fresh faced university alumni presents a multitude of possibilities for potential graduate-employee career partnerships. Admittedly, many businesses do have graduate schemes that are marketed at students to kick-start their career development and nurture their skill expansion. However, we forget that these collaborations are equally invaluable for employers wishing to invest in the future of their company. In truth, training the young and keen might not be an immediate solution to fixing the pecking order within an office or business. However, investing in recent graduates can lay the groundwork for strong business partnerships with potential for great success and longevity.

Teaching technology-savvy graduates good old fashioned working relationship skills would seem like a perfect arrangement for both parties. Has your business a graduate scheme? If you would like to build a relationship with Alium find out more about our client services, and interim services here.

Tags: career advice, hr, networking