Stefan’s First Year at AKA Recruitment

Senior Recruitment Consultant Stefan has been with us for a whole year! We caught up with him to find out how his first year has been:

1. How have you found your first year at AKA Recruitment?

It’s honestly been really good, I really genuinely enjoy working here. The team is awesome and so is the work. 

2. What was the highlight of your year?

I hit certain milestones I had in my head fairly early on. It’s a great feeling to get your first placement but then I think it’s important to keep looking forward and challenge the way you approach things rather than sticking to the same old way of doing things because that’s what’s worked before.

The best bit about the job is that every day is different and although there are setbacks, the wins outweigh them.

3. What was your biggest challenge?

Building a desk from the ground up in a new sector for the company was a challenge.

But also, after the pandemic, people’s mindsets changed about what they wanted from work and I think people are more selective now about the work they’d like to do and rightly so. The challenge for the whole recruitment sector is meeting those requirements for candidates.

4. What are you excited to develop/learn?

I have more milestones in my head but really I just want to keep pushing to develop the business. At the same time, as the volume of work increases, I want our 5* service to remain intact because that’s really what sets us apart from other agencies out there.

5. Is it how you expected it to be, working at AKA? 

No, not at all. I’ve been in recruitment for a number of years now and when I first interviewed at AKA I thought the team seemed really nice but I expected a run-of-the-mill recruitment agency. It’s not. The culture is felt by recruiters and candidates – you’re valued here. Candidates come back to us because of how well they’re treated, they’re not forgotten about after they’ve made us a placement. Even if a candidate isn’t the best fit for a role, they’re still spoken to about what they’re looking for, what their skills are and what they could bring to a company; then we look for a role that would suit them better. I think that’s why we have such as good reputation.

6. What advice would you give someone in their first year at a new job?

Be honest. Be yourself. Push yourself – don’t rest on the fact that you’ve got the job. If you can do a task in an hour with your eyes closed try doing it in half the time and ask what else you can do that will contribute to the company. If you’re in the right company you’ll be valued for that.