A day in the life of a recruiter
On Wednesday 25th September 2019 Simon Monaghan celebrates two years at Mexa Solutions. Simon joined us not long after moving to Portsmouth from his hometown of Manchester and is now our Lead Software Recruiter, as well as an integral cog in the Mexa machine!
So, to mark his two years and celebrate his many successes in the business, we grabbed him for a quick chat about his life as a leading software recruiter in the south.
What does a typical day look like?
5am
I get up at 5am most mornings because I'm an early riser. I open the curtains, make my morning breakfast shake and spend 15 minutes on a brain training app called Elevate to get my brain into gear.
6am
If it’s a Tuesday I get on the road to go and play my weekly game of badminton against my boss Bob (Currently winning our competition even though I am 8 years older than him!).
Most other days I will go to the gym and lift weights.
I find exercise in the morning really helps me to attack the day because of the sense of achievement it gives on top of the natural endorphins from the exercise.
7am
Back from the gym, music on and get showered / dressed before driving into work.
My commute is around 20-25 mins in the morning, so I use this time to listen to audiobooks around the subjects I am most interested in.
Currently listening to Principles by Ray Dalio but my audiobooks tend to be about investing, self-discipline, motivation and building better habits.
8am
I get stuck into my first tasks of the morning; interviewing any new developers that have applied to my roles or have made themselves available, doing any callbacks from the previous day and prepping any developers for interviews for that day.
9am
I will reply to my emails, LinkedIn messages / comments and chase decisions on any developers in my pipeline in order to move them through the processes.
10am
I will typically have a protein shake around this time and depending on what I need, I’ll do activities that make sense for my desk on that day. (LinkedIn post / creative writing / business development / urgent resourcing / meet a potential new client).
12pm
This is my lunch hour, so I’ll microwave a meal prep meal and eat it while watching 15-20 mins of a Netflix show on my iPad.
From 12.35pm I will spend 25 minutes on an app called Duolingo as I am trying to learn French currently because my girlfriend is French, and it would be nice if I could speak in French sometimes.
1pm
I will do any callbacks from my morning as developers are likely to be on lunch.
Following that, I will look to update my potential client list with any new roles that I have seen come up in the market so I can prioritise my business development efforts towards companies who may be a little more receptive.
Nowadays though my approach is a lot more strategic, so I don’t need to do lots of Business Development as I have 14 clients and now focusing on improving the quality of the clients I have rather than winning lots of new clients.
2pm
I will use the prioritisation system I have designed to choose the role I want to spend time on, and I will do whatever needs doing to find developers for that role. (Hopefully some of the developers will also be good for my other roles too).
5pm
This is where I get my plan in place for the following day and call any developers that needed a later call.
5.30pm
I head home!
What attracted you to recruitment? What inspired you to stay?
I was in cold call sales since the age of 16 to the age of 34 and I did well but I felt the role was a little one dimensional.
Recruitment helped me grow as a person, financially changed my life and I go home knowing I make a real difference in people’s lives.
I am now positioned as the number one recruiter for software in Hampshire and Dorset and I am working towards being nationally known for what I do.
What are the most important attributes for a successful recruiter to have?
I can only talk about what works for me, but I feel that good values, being able to design a process and being obsessed with continuously getting better are the three top attributes.
I also think that being good at influencing, listening and challenging the beliefs of your clients helps massively too.
What are the biggest challenges you face in the job?
Being able to improve by another 30-40% on the billings I do whilst keeping the same quality focus and not using a resourcer to find and qualify my candidates for me.
What does the future look like?
I will be moving to France in around 18 months or when I have saved £30,000 and continuing to work remotely for Mexa from my girlfriend’s office so the future is working towards that.
We have plans to buy land and build our own home in a place called Annecy as she is an Architect.
Lastly, what advice would you give to people hoping to start a career in recruitment?
Recruitment is not just about finding CV’s and sending them. You will learn to be a salesperson, marketer, branding expert, psychologist and have people looking down their nose at you sometimes because of the reputation some recruiters have given the industry.
If you want an easy role then this is not for you. If you want to earn a 6-figure salary (If you are good) and like being a swiss army knife of a person then definitely give recruitment a go!
In quite a short time with Mexa Simon has smashed targets and expectations, earning six figures in the process! How? Well, a mixture of things.
Firstly, Simon is great at what he does. It’s worth going back and checking out how his day looks. His process is a massive factor in how he is consistently successful in his role (and one of the best in the South).
Secondly, our commission structure. It’s easily up there with one of the best in the industry. When we tell you that you can make six figures, we’re not selling you a pipe dream. It is possible – Simon is proof of that!
And thirdly, our culture and ethos. We don’t hit you with a stick to meet KPI’s. You run your desk how you see fit with us there should you ever need guidance or help. We encourage you to find the process that works for you.
Does this sound like an environment you’d thrive in? We’d love to hear from you! Check out our Current Opportunities page and get in touch for a confidential conversation.