Lewis Walker: Finance Consultant

When you’re looking for a new role in recruitment, it’s important to find out how the people who work there currently feel about the company. After all, happy employees are the best marketers! So, we asked a few of our team to tell the world about their experience working at Sewell Wallis.

Lewis Walker is one of our Senior Consultants, covering Transactional Finance in Sheffield and South Yorkshire. He joined Sewell Wallis in 2019, has worked his way to Senior and has partnered with some of the biggest names in the Sheffield market. He talks us through his career to date, why he joined our business, and what he wants from the future.

I started my career in 2014, with a sales job. I worked for a company that specialises in selling card machines. I can’t say it was the most interesting job in the world, but it taught me a lot of the sales skills I’ve needed to flourish in my recruitment career. I learned a lot about the kind of company I’d like to work for too; they were a huge, global business and I sometimes felt like a tiny cog in a giant wheel. It lacked an amount of personality, and I struggled to really make my mark there. I wanted a new challenge which led me to look for a new role, and I, like so many other people, fell into the world of recruitment in 2016.

I hadn’t really planned on a career in recruitment, but it seemed like a good fit. It was a steep learning curve after the regimented style of selling I’d learned in my first role, to be in a position where I could sell using my own strengths, set up my own day and really drive my own success, but I loved it. I started out in Engineering recruitment, and made the move to Finance recruitment in 2018.

I was enjoying my job, but I wanted more. I wanted a role in a business that did things a little bit differently, and that felt like a change from that buttoned-up, corporate environment a lot of agencies seem to think enhances their performance – like expecting your staff in a full suit every day, and quietly eyeballing people who left the office on time. I interviewed at a number of companies in Sheffield, but on meeting the team at Sewell Wallis, I really felt like they were the people whose approach most closely aligned with what I was looking for. I already knew Hannah, and when I asked her for her honest opinion on the business, she had nothing but good things to say.

My journey at Sewell Wallis has been absolutely fantastic. My team are super supportive, we celebrate our successes on a daily basis and I’ve made some really good pals during my time here. We’re a really diverse bunch of people, which I feel is pretty rare in this industry. I’ve worked in teams before where I’ve not felt like I fit in well, so to be working in a business where I feel at home in the office and have some solid working relationships with my colleagues is brill.

I joined the team in November 2019 as a Senior Candidate Manager working alongside Kayley, our Director. I remember thoroughly enjoying the new environment and my first few months, and an excellent (if hazy!) Christmas party, but not long after that, in the February, the COVID-19 outbreak started.

Being with the business during lockdown was difficult, same as it was for everyone. That extended period of time being isolated and on your own was a real strain on everyone’s mental health. I was furloughed in March time, which felt really unsettling for me, mainly due to the uncertainty around how the recruitment sector would recover post-COVID, but my manager, Hannah, and the rest of the team were always there for a chat and to reassure us all we’d get through the tough times together.

Towards the back end of the COVID pandemic, I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, and was in hospital for about ten days. Kayley called me a number of times during this period to check in on how I was doing, and ask if there was anything the business could do to support me – this isn’t them ‘checking up’ on anyone, this is just how everyone in the business is. We care about each other. Sewell Wallis have been so supportive of my condition and have allowed me to work from home or take time when I’m not feeling well, or had to attend hospital appointments.

Coming back to work after furlough was another big shift; I was working on a part-time basis at first supporting Hannah with the transactional desk. I’d never worked in this sector before, but I absolutely thrived. It was a faster pace than I was used to, and everything moved really quickly. I continued to prove myself and was promoted to Consultant, then to Senior Consultant in 2023.

I think the constant flywheel of transactional-level recruitment is the things I love the most – I’m never bored. I love hammering the phones to find that perfect candidate, and my colleages will tell you I never stop trying to find the perfect one. We all push each other to continually improve and support each other, there’s no fighting over roles or candidates at Sewell Wallis. I also have to say that I love the reward recruitment brings; I’ve been on numerous holidays, fleshed out my wardrobe a lot more, and recently bought my first house, and I wouldn’t have managed any of these without the support of the Sewell Wallis team.