I have made the (GIANT) leap from working within a Managed Service to a full 360 recruitment role in the PIE FMCG team.
For anyone who doesn’t know, a Managed Service is where you are the sole recruitment company used by a business for all their roles. We covered all their sales roles across the UK, it was fast paced and we were experts in that business. We knew everything about the roles - we had spent time with the top performers in the sales team, got to know the hiring managers both at work and at social functions (you get to know people quite well after 1 or 2 shandy's!), we also did a “day in the life” so that ultimately we could give candidates that 'warts and all' account that other recruiters cannot.
Sounds brilliant, doesn’t it? Loving what you're selling and knowing (nearly) everything about it. So moving from that to 360 role in a different industry has been a real eye opener.
I am now learning about a different industry, a few different businesses within it and the different roles within that - and it's not for the faint hearted, however it's REALLY interesting.
The consumer industry is great because we are working with products you see, touch, smell and taste every day. It’s a complex industry that needs great understanding and I am certainly no expert (yet) but the candidates that I have been speaking to have been a massive help. Their experience is invaluable as they have educated me in their fields, different roles and channels and have helped develop my knowledge in a very short space of time. I have not been let completely loose and am being steered and supported by my team who certainly are experts! It still shocks me quite how much they know!
A personal highlight was going to the supermarket on day one and my manager showing me that items in the supermarket aren’t just put on the shelf. It’s all a cunning plan to target consumers like me into buying the well-known brands that pay the most for the best shelf space. I will also be off to a factory in a couple of weeks to see where it all starts. Fingers crossed it’s a Gin factory or Cadburys world!
According to the Institute of Grocery Distribution, revenue from the UK grocery sector will grow to £184bn per year by 2016 (up 17% from 2012) Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrison have all been expanding recently The Food and Drink Federation forecast that it will need 45,000 new management and professional workers by 2017 According to Mintel research, chocolate has been largely recession-proof in the UK. Other growth areas have been cosmetics and nail care
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