Welcome to the very first episode of the recruitment people podcast. I'm Adam Bell, and I'm delighted to be the one guiding you through this definitive series, where we are going to explore the ins and outs of the recruitment industry while offering invaluable insights for both employers and candidates.

Our journey begins at the foundation of successful recruitment practices, and there's no better way to kick off our series than spotlighting our recruitment expert and visionary behind the recruitment people, Kelly Charity. Kelly, welcome to the Recruitment People podcast. 

Thank you.  

Now, with over 21 years of experience in the industry and business management, Kelly has not only navigated the recruitment landscape with finesse, but has established an agency that stands out for its commitment to .

To honesty, efficiency and deep seated  belief in placing the right people in the right jobs. Today we're diving deep into Kelly's journey, uncovering the principles  that make the recruitment people a beacon for both businesses and talent and professionals aiming for their next career milestone. Get ready to be inspired by a story of dedication, innovation, and relentless pursuit of excellence in recruitment.

So let's get started. Kelly, can you share with a start? Tell us about your journey into the recruitment industry. Where did it all start and what inspired you to get into this field? 

Okay. Many, many years ago it started. So I finished university and Wanted to get into recruitment. I don't, I don't know why probably studied psychology.

So have a love of people and understanding people, behaviors those sorts of things. Once I'd finished my psychology degree I thought I'm not, can't study anymore to become a psychiatrist or psychologist. It wasn't for you. It wasn't for me any more study. I was done. So I thought, Oh, how can I use this?

And it just, recruitment industry just felt something I should, I should explore. I remember going into one of the local recruitment agencies in my local town.  in Cardiff in Wales back in the UK and walked through the door and said, you know, I'm here. I want to be a recruiter. Great career.

Well confident. You obviously had that. 

Absolutely. And they were like, no. Like you don't have any experience. So my experience of recruiters wasn't the best because I had this attitude of can do, will do, couldn't get anywhere. So so I ended up working in a call center and doing a few different things.

And then I relocated to a different town. So I went to England from Wales and where I met my husband, moved, moved to Wales moved to England and landed a job in a recruitment company. So we're still pursuing that career in recruitment. I have no idea where that passion came from. It just, it was just there all the time.

And the job I actually had was a telesales role. They wouldn't give me a recruitment job. They said, you need to do telesales and just bring in the roles. So I was like, okay, I'll do that. Pick up the phone. So ringing 

up employers, trying to get Them trying to get their jobs.  

And the, the company was a blue collar company.

So they did forklift truck drivers, industrial.  I was a corporate girl. And so I was like, okay, I'll do that. But what about if we try and get some admin roles as well?  And they were like, no, no,  blue collar I was like, okay, so I'm ringing the blue collar companies warehouses and you know, getting the forklift truck jobs and all of those roles for the team to work.

And and then I go, have you got any admin roles and bring on the admin roles too? And so eventually I had this division that was a commercial type division. 

So you built that just by going against what they'd asked you to do. So you're entrepreneurial from the start. 

It would appear that way and I loved it.

So we had that division and then I felt pregnant and went on maternity leave and ended up coming back and going to a commercial and blue collar recruitment company when I ended up going back, I went to a different recruitment company  and that's really where my career, I had a lot of training and, and cause I really did it without knowing what it was.

And was successful but still needed some training. Yeah, 

because there is a lot of training involved. I mean, I think a lot of people out there maybe think recruitment, look, don't you just place an ad, you interview and find the best person, but there's a lot to it. 

Yeah. In my younger days, I made many mistakes and you learn from those mistakes and now that's probably why I'm very thorough.

You know, I know, I know what mistakes can be made and don't make those mistakes anymore. You know, I've sent people to the wrong places. You know, location and just the random, you know, random mistakes. But I suppose it's about then rescuing that with your client and apologizing for your mistake, owning it and saying, I should have, I should have asked which location was it.

It shouldn't have assumed it was this warehouse or, you know, whatever. So yeah, certainly learned lots of things in my time. And then obviously you know, my career. Went through blue collar, white collar roles, managed branches, moved to back to Wales, actually from England and approached the company I was working with at the time.

Fantastic company in the UK. Great. They, they taught me a lot and and I said to them, I'm moving back to Wales, you know, do you want to open a branch there? And they're like, no, it's not on our radar.  And I said, well, maybe she should think about this.  You know me, I've worked for you now for many years.

And they were like, okay, you know, write us a business plan. What, what are you going to do? And I was like, okay. And so they said, yeah. So I went to Wales and I set up the branch in Wales for them. And had ended up with about four or five people working for me. We did blue collar and white collar, temporary and permanent recruitment.

Look, just on this, I mean, you've basically just gone and created a business. Yeah. Yeah. 

For them. For them. Yeah. 

But this would have held you in great stead for what was to come. 

Yes, yeah, it really did. I mean, I literally started from my bedroom working for them and then we went into an office and, you know, all those sorts of things.

So it, it, it did give me good grounding for, for where I am now. But they did, they taught me so much, like they were a great company and, you know, Great. Thanks guys. You know who you are. And and then when I emigrated to Australia,  still in recruitment, loved it. Said, I'm going to set up on my own.

This is my time. I've done it many times now. This is my time. And got here and somebody said, Oh, do you want Do you know about the awards and I'm like, what's an award?  

You probably went, what the awards nights already. I haven't even started yet. 

Yeah. Oh,  I'm so successful. The awards? Yeah. 

Have I won something?

Correct. 

And so when they explained to me, There's this whole Fair Work and all these awards. What, they didn't have that in 

the UK? 

No, it's very different in the UK. There's no yeah, it's very different. So, I thought, I don't know the Australia way. You need to learn. Yep. So I ended up working for a national company.

Went completely back to basics, had to do a sales role again, improve myself again. And so did a sales role and then ended up managing a branch and did probably two and a half years there and thought, okay, now I know. Now I 

know.  

And yeah, so set up a business. with a business partner and had that for six years and have ventured out on my own in the last two years.

And that's how the recruitment people were born. 

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.

so you've, you've, you've done it all. You've, you've been through  started at the bottom and, and. built your way up through in two countries. And so you know it all. So what principles did you want to sort of bring to the recruitment people?

And you know, once you've, you've got your own agency now, what are they built on?  

Look, having made many mistakes over the years, I now don't want to make those mistakes again. And, and the mistakes are costly in recruitment because if you get it wrong, You have to rework the role. So we have a replacement guarantee.

Most recruiters have a replacement guarantee. And so the founding principles of the recruitment people is get it right the first time. So, you know, we're not working jobs the second time. That's a waste of client's time and it's a waste of our time and effort, I suppose. So for me, It's get it right the first time.

And that's not about throwing resumes at the client, getting five interviews or five candidates in front of them for five interviews and let them take their pick. We're being paid by the client to find the right candidate. So take the time. Get the brief, make sure you've got it right. Don't, and it's better to give no one and say to client, I've interviewed five people, but I'm not happy with where we're at.

So for me, it's get it right first time, every time. 

Fantastic. I love that because look, this brings up a topic that maybe we can do a full episode on it at some point, but I will bring it up now. Having been involved in the recruitment industry my, myself, there are a lot of, let's just call them very average, now let's use the word bad, because that's what they are, recruiters and agencies out there, which, and the term is just throw resumes at, and hopefully one will stick.

And there is a big difference between agencies that do that and do what, what, what you do. Yes. How does a client take it when you, you say, I can't find you the right candidate and how do you explain to them, I'm not just going to throw a resume at you so that you think I've done something?

Yeah. Look, when, when I meet with the clients originally, it's about educating them as to, do you want quantity or quantity? or quality. You know, if you're wanting quantity, it's going to be rushed. It's going to be, let's just get as many resumes as we can. Let's interview those candidates and give you the best of that bunch.

We'll just, we'll just review the resumes and give you the best ones. And 

even, even if you, even if you did the interview, you're still choosing the best of that bunch and they might not be quite right, but well, you need somebody fast. So here's what we've got. If, if you've got the luxury of time and you've educated your client, say, if you can give me the time to wait for the right person, we're going to go through the process and we're going to find you that, that right person.

So it's about that educational piece at the front end. And if the client needs to rush you, Then maybe you're not aligned to work together, you know, because it is better to have you know, quality over quantity because they're not, they're not going to work out in there. Most companies will wait for the right person.

And just talking on time, then how long, I guess, how long is a piece of string? But how long, Would you normally talk averages want to be given to, to find that right candidate? 

Look, I would say within a week or two, you should have candidates in the pipeline. No, no. I mean, it can be quicker. It just, it just depends.

It can depend on the role, you know, if it's, you know, a rocket scientist, we don't do rocket scientists, by the way but yeah, it's, it's about you know, getting, getting the, getting the client educated to make sure. That the time you're working in line with their brief, but it's better to go back to the client and say, we haven't got anyone that meets your brief at this stage. 

You know, let's continue working. 

Sure. Cause look, I guess, especially in this technological age that we live in. finding the right candidate. There'd be many rabbit holes you can go down. You know, it's not just any more about placing a seek ad, is it? 

No, absolutely not. Particularly at the moment, what we're seeing is that there's less ad response coming through.

So a lot of the time is spent on manual sourcing. Technology is amazing to help with that. We're using technology to do that, but it is still manual because you still need somebody feeding The machine as to what you want and your requirements. But what we can pay for helps us maybe get people's phone numbers.

And so you can contact people more quickly. But also what it gives us access to is the hidden talent pool. So, you know, if you put an advert out there, you're going to get the responses of the people that are looking in the next two weeks, because within another two weeks, your adverts like onto page 10.

So there's no one coming through then. So the first two weeks are crucial in your ad response. Okay. But outside of ad response, we're headhunting and we're searching for that passive pool of candidates. Ad response isn't enough to give me enough of candidates to compare from. 

And I'm writing notes here.

This is the first episode, but there will be another one on the hidden talent pool because I love that. It's not something you think about as an employee. You just made the point that If we go and you need someone in the next two weeks yeah, look, we might get lucky that they're looking right now, but that we literally, if we go through all the main channels, we're getting the people who are looking right now.

However,  very perfect person  could very well be open to your opportunity, but not be actively looking. 

Absolutely. And some of the candidates we approach are not actively looking, but also the technology that we tap into and we pay for. Gives us the insights into who may be just starting to look, you know, how it works, you know, everything's tracked.

So we know when people are starting to show the signs of, I've, I'm thinking about looking now, they're doing certain things on their computer. And obviously we have the technology. tools and technology to give us that information. So we dive straight in and say, we've got the job for you. And we know they're hot at that point.

So you know, the client wouldn't have 

that. Yeah. Another major benefit to, to using an agency. So look, it is a competitive environment, the, the, the recruitment industry you've put together the recruitment people. What sets you guys apart? What makes you so good at what you do? 

Our team I suppose our drive and, and that, you know, sort of ethos of get it right the first time.

You know, we work closely with clients to make sure we understand their brief and without an understanding of the brief, you're not going to get it right. So if a client's going to send you a job description.  You can't just work off a job description like that. You're just going to fail on every level.

So if the client, the client needs to be on board with the process to invest in the process, to make it work, you know, and that's what we're about. We're about getting close to the clients and the company, understanding their process, understanding the job and the company and the culture. You know, through and through.

We had a client previously, actually, who we worked with the hiring manager, but not the actual manager of the candidate that we were putting into the role. So, there was a breakdown in the, the the connection between the manager of the person and, you know, the people we were putting in there. So, we had to realign the client's expectations.

So, we need to work with you as the hiring manager. But also the manager that's going to be working directly above this person because it's their personality that is going to align. Absolutely. It's like dating. You've got to get a match, right?  

I guess, I guess it is a bit like that now. And we all know, we all hear the horror stories about Tinder, et 

cetera.

How many 

of the wrong ones you go through. So I love that analogy. Yeah, fantastic. So I can obviously tell you're passionate and, and you, you, you love what you do. So tell me a bit more about how you maybe help your candidates. 

Okay. So with the candidates, we work with candidates to understand where they're going, what they're wanting.

Similar to with the client work, I suppose, is that if you don't understand your candidate and what they're wanting, you're going to put them into a job that they don't want. So, you know, for example.  Candidate might say to me, I'm working for this company at the moment. I'm looking for a company that can offer me training and development and somewhere I can grow in the future.

So if my client is, you know, a small enterprise there's no opportunity for growth, they don't have much of a training plan.  The people just go in there and work and go home. That's kind of the people that they want. That person, whether they've got the right skill set for the particular job we're recruiting for, won't fit into that environment because ultimately what they want for their future, my client isn't going to be able to give them.

So the match isn't there. So it's about working with the candidate to understand what do you want? And then I can go, well, you're not right for this client or you are right for this client, you know, and aligning exactly what, where they want to go in their career with our clients. 

Sure. This brings up a question that I've got having been in the recruitment industry many moons ago and I, I still have people ask me this today, so I'd love to know the answer from you. 

Candidates back in the day used to register with a recruitment agency and sit on their database waiting to be called for jobs and sort of. Who do I go to? Who would look after me best? But does it happen like that anymore? Or literally it's all about the jobs coming and then going to the, to the market to, to find them?

Yeah, look, it's a bit of both. You know, we're, we're quite specialists in certain areas. So, you know, sales recruitment, sales management admin, corporate services, those sorts of roles are the ones that we work on, you know, more often than not. So if we have somebody come through, we're more than likely going to get a role for them.

Sometime in the near future. So we would work with those candidates closely, get them registered, get them, you know, ready job, job ready, I suppose. But then there's other candidates that come through that want to register that we're not going to have a job for, it's just not our sector.  So we would, you know, we would say to them, look, we'll You know, I'll, I'll recommend you to another recruiter.

I mean, even though the recruitment industry is very, very competitive, very cut-throat, there are some lovely recruiters out there that we work alongside. And we're actually part of a global network called NPA, which brings together lots of smaller recruitment companies. And we then would refer,  a candidate to another recruitment company that's maybe a bit more specialist if it's an IT person.

I don't, I don't register IT people. I'm never going to be able to help them. So it's wasting their time. Sure, 

sure. Yeah. Fantastic. Well, look, if there are any candidates or potential clients out there listening to this, you know, wondering whether to, you know, to come on board and and use your services.

What's your, what's your message to them?  

Oh gosh, where do I start? Look, like I've already said, you know, we're, we're about making that match. So if you're in the market to look for a job, then we're happy to help you. And we've got resources on our website about, you know, helping, helping candidates in terms of their job search.

And this 

series is going to be about that as well. Absolutely. 

Absolutely. You know, so it's about identifying Are you getting the right opportunities? Are you applying for the right opportunities? If you're not getting an interview, maybe it's your resume. There's an issue with your resume, etc. So, we can help you with those things.

We can help identify, are you failing at the interview? Are you failing to get the interview? And talking about those things. And then with the, with the client side of things, you know why, why use a recruitment agency? Why use us? Because we're here to save you time and money. You know, give it to the expert.

You're good at what you do, which is whatever your businesses, logistics, you know, supply chain, manufacturing legal,  you know, you're good at what you do. We're good at recruitment. We are the experts at people and matching people with companies. So we're here to support you. Yeah, we, we we get it right first time, every time.

Fantastic. And I know you've got a, a one candidate strategy that we're going to talk about in a lot more detail in another episode, which I, which I absolutely love. Well, look, I think that's probably about the amount of time we've got for this first episode. So thank you, Kelly for. sharing, you know, your remarkable journey on how you got here and the insights behind the recruitment people, your dedication and innovative approach, you know, truly sets a standard in the recruitment industry.

Now, remember, if you're seeking to advance your career or looking to enhance your team, the right approach and partnerships can and will make all the difference and save you money. So, so look at the team at the recruitment people. They are absolutely first class. So for more insights and stories from the forefront of recruitment, stay tuned to the Recruitment People podcast.

Don't forget to subscribe on your favourite podcast platform and join us next time. Please like, share and even leave a comment. Ask us a question, tell us an episode that you'd like to you'd like us to do so that we're here to help. Both candidates and and employers to get the, get the right match and everyone live happy alive and have successful businesses.

Thanks so much for joining us. 

Thank you.