At Athona we have a number of incredible recruitment success stories – from being crowned our recruitment consultant of the year to changing sectors and going from strength-to-strength and everything else in between. Here we’re highlighting just a few of our stand out stories, starting with Alex. Alex has been with Athona since 2015, starting as a Sales Consultant before constantly progressing to Senior Executive Recruitment Consultant and the 2021 winner of recruitment consultant of the year. Find out more about Alex’s journey into recruitment below.
What were you doing before joining Athona?
I was working for a direct sales company within the renewable energy sector. My role was to recruit tele sales and on the road sales representatives who would go out and pitch the product to potential customers. The desk was completely cold and all of the work I did was cold calling trying to sell the business and get candidates to come and work for us, which was tricky as all roles were commission only!
What attracted you to recruitment?
If I am honest I completely fell into my previous role as it was recommended to me through a friend, back then I never would have thought I’d end up with a phone based role. However, as soon as I started I just loved the sales atmosphere and the buzz I got out of placing candidates. When I moved onto my career at Athona it was a completely new world, this was a full 360 role and I fell in love with recruitment even more. I loved how busy I was, loved getting to know my candidates and clients and how every placement gave me a sense of achievement, I still get the same buzz now! The career path recruitment gave me was also a huge factor, I knew exactly what I needed to do to get to where I wanted to as the structure at Athona was very clear cut.
What transferable skills do you have to make a great recruiter?
I’m a good listener and very well organised which is imperative for recruitment as a lot of the time you are juggling multiple things at once. I am also very driven and resilient – I think resilience especially is a big one for recruitment as it doesn’t always go your way, so you need to be able to bounce back and keep going.
What has been your biggest achievement since joining Athona?
Getting recruitment consultant or the year 2021. From the very first day I started this was my goal from day one.
If you’re looking to follow in Alex’s footsteps and become another recruitment success story and find your successful career with Athona, get in touch with the team today or apply to our latest vacancies.