Michael Thorpe, Director, Wallace Hind – Why I chose a career in recruitment

Like many recruitment professionals, my journey into the world of recruitment happened by chance. My background is in finance, procurement and sales and my passion has always been communicating with people. I applied for a job run by Matthew Hogg, MD of Wallace Hind, and he ended up recruiting me to work at Wallace Hind!

To me, recruitment is equal parts sales, account management, psychology, and lots of hard work with a bit of luck thrown in! Recruitment suits my skills, but it can be a challenging business.

I joined Wallace Hind as a Recruitment Consultant over 9 years ago now head up the Commercial team looking after all recruitment in the areas of Procurement, Finance, Sales, Admin, HR and Marketing. In 2021 I was fortunate enough to be invited into an MBO at the business, so my journey has been varied but very rewarding.

I enjoy the core principles of business; in recruitment you get to “look behind the curtain” or “kick the tyres” of many different companies in many different industries… it really is incredibly varied from one day to the next.

Recruitment is a career that demands continuous learning, adaptability, and a genuine passion for understanding people and businesses. The daily grind involves hard work, strategic thinking, and the ability to navigate the unpredictable circumstances that come with dealing with people.

Michael has kindly shared some tips for those considering or already treading the recruitment path:

• Aim Beyond “Good Enough”: In an industry where it is acceptable to race to the bottom, strive for excellence. Whether it’s your recruitment process, seeking out top candidates, or choosing the best clients to partner with, don’t settle for average.
• Embrace the Variety: Recruitment is not a one-size-fits-all endeavour. Each day brings new challenges, new faces, and new opportunities. This is what makes the profession so interesting.
• Know your strengths: Don’t be greedy, walking away from business that doesn’t suit your skills, business model or strategy is sometimes the best option.
• Be Resilient: Success in recruitment requires resilience. The ability to bounce back from disappointments is important to be a successful recruiter. Even if you have done everything you can and done it well, it doesn’t always work out. How you handle this, is what will set you apart.

Thank you to Michael for sharing your insights, we hope that you find them useful! If you’d like to get in touch with Michael to discuss your recruitment requirements, you can contact him on 01604 683 313, or MT@wallacehind.com.

To find out more about working in recruitment, you can read our article here or visit our work for us page, here to find out more!