If you’ve ever wondered about a career in recruitment, now is a great time to explore it as your next career move. US job postings are up nearly 40% compared to the pre-pandemic baseline, yet, for a variety of reasons, people aren’t returning back to work.
This has led to rising demand for recruiter talent. In fact, according to a report by LinkedIn, job postings for recruiter roles have exceeded pre-pandemic level. So if you’ve ever thought about making the career move to recruitment, now is a great time.
To give you an inside look into what life is like as a recruiter, we turned to Allison Roadknight, the Vice President of the Engineering division here at ML6.
Allison got into the recruiting field 14 years ago, and quickly started to learn the process and loved seeing the real impact of helping clients find the best candidates for the job. She now specializes in recruiting for engineering and manufacturing divisions at ML6.
She explained her favourite aspects of being a recruiter, how to succeed as a recruiter in today’s job market, and her experience working at ML6. Hopefully, you can read her story to help decide if a career in recruitment, or a partnership with ML6, sounds right for you.
Here’s what she had to say:
1. What’s motivating about your work in recruitment?
It’s mainly the opportunity to be an extension of so many different companies — to know so many different clients and candidates, as well as the inner workings of organizations. Being focused on manufacturing, I’m tasked with understanding how something is actually made, how these organizations work, and what they need to operate. Figuring out what makes every client tick is fascinating, and often makes me feel like I’m on the set of “How It’s Made!”
2. What kind of impact do you see in your work?
It feels like you’re helping improve an organization by finding them the best possible person. But on a more individual basis, you’re changing people’s lives and helping them through a life-altering decision. Having made these types of decisions myself, I can relate to them and their potential quality of life improvements. For example, helping someone find a job that allows for a better work-life might allow them to finally make it to their kid’s hockey practice. Knowing that my work can have this type of positive impact is what keeps me going.
3. How have you seen recruiting change since the pandemic?
It’s become such a competitive market for good candidates. I now tell clients they have to act fast, even when they think they have candidates locked in. Flexibility has also emerged as something candidates really desire — to the point where many candidates are willing to take a pay cut for not having to commute, or at least having the option of remote/hybrid work.
4. What drew you to join the ML6 team?
Leaving the position I was in before ML6 was the hardest decision I have ever made. It was a big jump from a global company to a small recruiting firm. What ultimately made me do it was the feeling I got being among ML6’s team of passionate people and the opportunity to make an imprint at a smaller organization. I also love how quickly decisions are made here. We’ll talk about something at a leadership team meeting on a Tuesday morning, and by the next week’s meeting the task has already been done and we’re starting to talk about feedback.
5. How would you describe the culture here to someone who was considering ML6 for their career?
We are a passionate group of people operating in a high-performance culture. Everybody is on the same page: we’re here to make a difference and drive the organization forward toward the same vision: helping people and organizations meet their talent needs. Because of this, the ML6 team is growing and how we’ve grown over the past few years is something to be really proud of.
To learn more about how we connect with today’s candidates and help them find work they love, check out this article. You can also learn more about joining ML6’s team of hiring professionals by getting in touch with us today!
About ML6
ML6 is a recruitment and talent advisory firm located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). We provide customized solutions to support our clients throughout the employee lifecycle. We help our clients attract and retain talent by advising on people programs, processes, and best practices.
