I was 18 when I left Scotland for Munich with a small suitcase and 310 pounds in my pocket. I didn’t speak a word of German and in a country like Germany, where academic qualifications are very important (I left school at 16 with absolutely none and I’m dyslexic), people could have been forgiven for giving me, at most, a very slim chance of survival. I worked in restaurants for the first three years and made a real effort to learn the language. On my free days, and there were few of them, I would spend my time applying for job after job to companies that wouldn’t even consider giving someone with my background even a hint of a chance. In 1998, just when I was getting really frustrated waiting tables, a friend of mine, Nicki (by the way she is still in the industry and an excellent recruiter who has built a career in the US), recommended me to an IT recruitment company she had worked for and I went along for an interview. To cut the long story short, going to that interview was one of the best things I ever did. Since then I have forged a fantastic life for my family as a sole earner, helped countless companies and candidates to find each other, seen a bit of the world, crossed paths with, learnt from and been inspired by many brilliant people, made great friends for life, founded my own IT-recruitment business from scratch and ran it successfully for the last 13 years, created jobs and helped to develop, mentor and inspire people (this has been the most rewarding) and overcome many, at times, huge obstacles. On top of this, the recruitment industry has enabled me to achieve constant personal, professional, and financial growth. I can truly say I have learnt an incredible amount about myself, about people and about the industry I work in. I am now an expert who has, in the true sense of the word, had a career and there has never been a dull moment!

I’m not writing this to tell you how great I think I am, but to tell you just how great I think the recruitment industry is and that I owe a huge part of my story to recruitment. There are many recruitment stories out there far more spectacular than mine and I’m sure the people behind these stories would wholeheartedly agree, that the recruitment industry played a massive role in shaping them as people and their journeys in life. I also know plenty of people who took the wealth of skills they gained in recruitment and applied them very successfully in other industries or as entrepreneurs in their own businesses. I genuinely believe that recruitment can give people who are willing to work hard and learn, a foundation for their professional and personal life that you can’t gain in other industries. So regardless whether someone chooses to stay in this business for a lifetime or say 5 years, the recruitment industry really does change lives!

All the opportunities I found 20 years ago, and then some, are still here in this exciting fast-paced vibrant people business, just waiting to be discovered. In fact, with ethics, technology and quality increasingly pushing towards the forefront of our business, I don’t think there has ever been a more promising time to get into recruitment.

The beauty of our business is that you can grow into it. In my opinion, all you need in the beginning is:

• A smart head on your shoulders
• Personality
• Empathy
• Drive
• Willpower
• Stamina

In our world, mindset is key and if you apply yourself, anything is possible!

If you know anyone who is looking for a long-term career path that can really propel them far, even someone who may appear a bit lost who wants to make up for time wasted or past mistakes, do them a favor and point them towards the recruitment industry.

I’m currently looking for fluent German speakers, with or without prior IT-recruitment experience, to join our team in our fantastic new office in the heart of Munich. Together we’ll shift the perception of IT-Recruitment from „the necessary evil“ to „an essential partner“.

To find out more about Citrus, check out our new website under www.citrusstaffing.com.

If you would like to recommend someone, are interested yourself or want to have a chat about IT-recruitment, just get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.