So next week is my last at Ellwood Atfield as I’m relocating to Vancouver next month on a two year Visa with my Partner. It’s been a hugely tough decision to leave EA, but Jules and the rest of the team have been really supportive and understanding – which is such a great reflection of my experience at EA all round.
I’ve been at EA for almost two years. My previous job was with a big generalist recruitment firm. It was great for the learning process and working at a pace, which is still hugely important as an interim specialist. But after my first few months, I found some methods of ‘quantity over quality’ were just not aligned to my own values as a person – I could tell the KPIs and ‘call sessions’ made clients somewhat fed up with the textbook high-street recruiter I had become. I wanted to be more consultative and genuinely add value to the clients and candidates I worked with. I got chatting to my old colleague Felicity at a BBQ, who had recently moved to Ellwood Atfield and couldn’t have recommended them more. I decided to go in for an interview and to find out for myself. I was immediately blown away by Ben and Jules’ depth of knowledge and experience in the industry of communications and public affairs – admittedly it made me realise how much I was actually fudging it (unintentionally) as a recruiter so far!
Being surrounded by such immense support and knowledge at EA has really helped me to learn how to add genuine value to people in the communications industry. The focus is always on delivering the best service possible. I’ve never been told to ‘get on the phone’ or been compared to a colleague who spent more time on the phone than me. Yes, as a recruiter you need to demonstrate results and want to make money, but our mission has always been to do a great job and really listen to our customers’ needs.
The thing that has been most interesting about my time at EA is recruiting roles with genuine impact and purpose – I’ve helped organisations hire people who have helped to change the public perception of an entire industry, which could even influence the outcome of general elections… and that’s pretty incredible. We so often see the impact of the work the people we place do – whether that’s reading a press release in the FT or seeing them interviewing live on the BBC.
I’m going to miss the team and quality of work at Ellwood Atfield a lot, and will be knocking on their door if/when I return to London! Thanks to the team for a brilliant couple of years.
