Transitioning to Finance recruitment: three months in

It’s been three months since Inci joined my team at Sewell Wallis – it feels like it's gone really fast, and she’s settled in really well. She's a testament to the fact that whilst changing sectors within recruitment is tough, it's not impossible and can absolutely be on your cards if you want it to be.

Inci moved into finance recruitment after spending over six years recruiting into the medical sector. She wanted a new focus heading into 2024, and finance had always been a draw due to it being a consistent sector – every business needs finance staff after all!

During her first month here, Inci threw herself into intensive training on how we do things at Sewell Wallis. We delved into our style of candidate management (communication is king, and doing what we say we will is queen!) and learning the specifics of our in-house system. We got her on the phone to introduce herself to her region and started advertising roles under her name to get her details flowing through the market. On top of all of this, she had a ton of finance knowledge to learn, and I have to say, she took to it like a duck to water.

One of Inci’s strengths is her initiative. She soaked up everything she could that was related to finance and then went away to research the terminology she’d learned further, making sure that when she started speaking to candidates, she knew what she was talking about and could confidently speak about the fundamentals of the role. She has an excellent phone manner, and she comes over as approachable and friendly, backed up by her knowledge which has given her the confidence to dive straight in.

In month two, we moved onto the client side, training her in the Sewell Wallis approach to client management and business development processes. Obviously, business development isn’t new to her, but she’s taken to talking to clients in senior finance roles and hiring teams brilliantly. This continues to evidence her professionalism and ability to gauge client needs, as well as her natural likeability.

In the final month of the quarter, Inci made her first fee. She was splitting roles with key members of the team, working closely with Lawrie and Hannah to develop her own relationships with key clients that will be under her management going forward. Her first full month of billing has been absolutely amazing, she’s set the bar really high and it’s been an impressive introduction from her to the rest of the business. She wrapped that third month up by solo managing a temporary position from start to finish and successfully placing a candidate into the role. I have absolutely no doubt that her first full quarter will continue on in this impressive fashion, if not be an even better one!

Generally, Inci is an absolute sponge for information, brings a go-getting attitude to work and looks at everything as a positive. She’s got the driest sense of humour, which fortunately complements mine brilliantly; she makes me laugh every day and the whole team in Sheffield and Leeds have enjoyed getting to know her better, as well as seeing her professional potential. She’s been a pleasure to manage so far, and I think we’re all excited to see what she does next.

Of course, we had to ask Inci how she's feeling three months in. We think we're all on the same page! 

"I can’t believe it’s been 3 months since I joined Sewell Wallis, the time really has flown by. I’ve felt nothing but welcomed into the team and it’s been wonderful to have such a supportive group of people around me.

The collaborative way we all work here is what's really stood out to me; compared to your usual recruitment office, everyone here genuinely is out to help you succeed. I’ve had the director, my manager, and my teammates take time out of their days to help me get to grips with processes, suggest candidates for roles I’m working on, or even help with business development, and I can’t thank them enough. It’s really refreshing to see as recruitment typically has the perception that we're all a bit cutthroat and in it for ourselves! I think that's the key to Sewell Wallis' success: it not only creates a fantastic working environment, which fosters excellent team retention, but it gets the most out of everyone and utilizes all of our individual strengths, meaning we can all share in the successes.

The team are a fountain of knowledge, and you can really see that they are experts in their field. It was an entirely new sector for me to get to grips with, with a lot of terminology to learn, but I’ve not struggled, I know I can ask anyone, and they’ll have the answer which has been really reassuring.

I’m looking forward to the next 3 months, building my desk and expanding my reputation across my areas of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Watch this space!"