My journey with One to One Recruitment to working with Ardent Financial Planning and what I have achieved to date’
In 2015, I left a job that I was not particularly happy in and I planned on taking a couple of months out to re-evaluate what I wanted to do and, more importantly, what type of business I wanted to work for.
Traditionally, jobs that I applied for had been through local newspapers or via high street agencies such as Brooke Street, but it was nearly 13 years since I had looked for another role and things had changed drastically, in particular, the type of agency that was now on offer, and this is where my journey began with Clare from One to One Recruitment.
Clare stood out because she actually got to know me as an individual, it wasn’t just about my CV and the commission she could earn in placing me in ‘any’ role, Clare’s goal was placing me in the ‘right’ role, and this is where we clicked.
We spent time going through what I had done over the years, some of which I had completely forgotten, but to Clare they were relevant. We also spent time understanding what I was looking for in an employer. I had worked for various companies, in my then 30 years’ experience, and got to a stage in life where it was not just about the money and benefits, but I wanted an employer who could value what I had to offer, to give me freedom to do what I was good at without being micro managed, but most of all a boss or bosses who were on my wave length.
Clare sent me over a job spec for a new role that had been created for a ‘Business Manager’ with a company called Ardent, and as soon as I read it, I contacted her to say this job was written specifically for me, I ticked every box and knew I could bring a lot to the role, I wanted to be put forward.
I was confident I would make it through to interview stage, but was concerned that they may feel as I don’t have a Financial Services background, that I was not suitable for the role so it was crucial I delivered at interview. I wanted to make sure I did my preparation thoroughly so prior to the interview, I contacted Ardent as a potential client so I could get a feel for how they worked, I was impressed.
Clare was part of the interview panel along with Mark and Gary, and I knew within the first minute of sitting down with these guys, they were the type of people I could work with. By the end of the day I had the call to say I had been successful and my journey with Ardent began.
From the first day I stepped into Ardent as Business Manager right through to the present day seven and a half years later as Business Director, it has been a fantastic journey, from getting to know the business and staff, dealing with the changes (and there have been a lot!) and working as a team during a pandemic. We have also gone through a huge re-structure based on Employee Engagement feedback (twice we have scored 91%) so it felt good to work with not just an engaged employer, but also an engaged team.
In addition to this, I have used Clare to recruit for us, and she applied the same principals to me as the company looking to recruit, as she had applied to me as the person looking for a company. Because Clare knew Ardent already, she understood the type of person we were looking for and the result was an excellent candidate who has since been promoted to Client Relationship Manager.
Hugest thanks for sharing your journey with us Elain, it is always a pleasure to work with you!