Kickstart Becomes New Start

Kickstart becomes New Start

When I decided to take on a Kickstart person, I was a little apprehensive, although I knew I wanted to give something back to the community, and especially give a young person a chance. After all, the young people are our future.

The Kickstart process wasn’t easy, as not only was there more than one option to apply for it, but also the quality and communication process of arranging interviews wasn’t great. For example, I had one interviewee who wanted to work in hospitality, when we work in IT. However, I soldiered on through it, as the deadline was approaching.

Nat’s interview went very well, and she really impressed me with her maturity, drive, ambition and potential. The role I was offering was mainly admin, but Nat completed this task in just a few weeks. At the back of my mind, I had hoped to get someone who might find the recruitment consultancy business interesting and attractive, but I knew that there was no guarantee of this.

I decided to give Nat an opportunity to work on a vacancy, where she would find the candidates, connect with them, interview them, and make sure they fitted both the role and the client. She couldn’t have possibly done better, as all her candidates were interviewed and one of them was offered the job. That’s pretty incredible for a recruitment consultant at her first opportunity of trying.

She was then given another role with one of our biggest clients. This was quite a challenge, as it was a very technical role with lots of IT jargon. Some people may have quite rightfully have been a bit phased by it, but Nat just wasn’t. She worked extremely hard in trying to find the right people. She quickly grasped which ones weren’t suitable. All the candidates she submitted to the client were interviewed, and once again one of them was offered the role, and for the highest fee we’ve ever had.

So, when Natalie’s 6 months placement was up (last week), I was just hoping she had gained a passion for what we do, because it was very clear she was good at it. Luckily for us, she agreed to join and has become a permanent member of staff.

In addition, Nat will be specialising in a very niche and growing market, Cyber Security. Already she has started to build a large network of contacts within this sector. I envisage that Nat’s services will be very sought after, but of course as a Cyber Security Recruitment Specialist for us, and nobody else.

It’s clear to see that this Kickstart candidate has provided clear proof that it is an excellent programme that reduces the risk to the employer, but gives a young person an opportunity they almost certainly wouldn’t have had. I just wish I could have taken on more young people, but I look forward to working with Nat and watching her grow and develop into being a successful recruitment consultant with McNally Recruitment Ltd.