From estate agency to recruitment: Jessi Pabla becomes Sellick Partnership’s ‘Newcomer of the Year'

You often hear contrasting accounts when discussing the world of recruitment. Sometimes these come from people that have had negative experiences, or those that have taken onboard the misconceptions surrounding the role of a Recruitment Consultant. This is something we are eager to change at Sellick Partnership.

Taking on a career in this ever-changing industry requires the ability to build and maintain strong relationships, possess an abundance of resilience and adapt to situations efficiently.

Recruitment isn’t easy, but the highs you experience more than outweigh the lows. We recently caught up with Senior Consultant, Jessi Pabla, who was named Sellick Partnership’s ‘Newcomer of the Year’ at the End of Financial Year Awards 2023. 

Tell us about your employment history prior to working at Sellick Partnership.

I graduated with a degree in Law and Criminology from Sheffield Hallam University and started my career within property law. After a few years, I realised that my job wasn't allowing me to shine and utilise the skills that came naturally to me; being personable and using my communication skills to help others.

I narrowed down my career options to recruitment and estate agency, purely because I felt the two were extremely transferable. Estate agency and recruitment are very similar, but you are swapping the property for a job, you still have to source tenants, following the process of referencing, and provide move-in aftercare. Equally, you end up being involved in negotiations between buyers and sellers or renewing tenancies, which is similar to renewing candidates’ contracts.

I fell into lettings, purely because a role presented itself to me and I thrived there for a number of years, starting as a Negotiator and finishing as a Lister/Business Development Manager.

Ready for my next challenge, I decided to take a punt with recruitment in 2021. Now I am over a year into my role and I have well and truly embraced this industry. My personality style is working well under pressure and thriving under stress, meaning that in a demanding environment, like recruitment, I am able to showcase my skills.

I was delighted to exceed my target last year and this year at Sellick Partnership’s annual End of Financial Year Awards, I was proud to receive the ‘Newcomer of the Year’ award.

When you saw the role at Sellick Partnership on LinkedIn, what attracted you to the company?

When I was researching the company, I recognised immediately that they seemed to look after their staff and this has proven to be the case. Upon accepting the role, all the documents I was sent centred around employee benefits. These included a company health plan which allows you claim money back for optical appointments and dental treatments (you can even claim back on massages), volunteer days, and generous holidays, as well as an annual teambuilding event.

Every person I spoke to was extremely friendly and wasn’t stereotypically ‘salesy’, compared to other recruiters I’d come across during my search. The recruitment process was reassuring as I was provided with regular updates by the Head of Talent Acquisition & Wellbeing, Simon Briffa.

Sellick Partnership just came across as a team-orientated company where employees come first. This became apparent after I joined and was given half a day off for the World Cup and then an early finish for the hottest day of the year!

The business is happy to accommodate hybrid working and I was attracted to the extensive training opportunities. Training at Sellick Partnership is offered at all levels, and not just to new recruits, which is a great way of nurturing and giving back to staff.

Alongside everything else, it was obvious to me from the offset that Corporate Social Responsibility was something high on the agenda – giving back seemed incredibly important to the company and it has remained that way.

What do you enjoy about your job?

First and foremost, I am the CEO of my own desk. The success of your desk is because of YOU and only you – this means you are given the recognition that you’ve worked hard for and deserve. Here I can be recognised, and I am part of a team still.

However, the element of my job I love the most; the part no one tires of, is understanding my clients’ requirements and finding a perfect candidate who has same expectations - it's a great feeling finding someone their dream job or their dream employee.

I make the recruitment experience as refreshing and as seamless as possible. Finding a new addition to a team or searching for a new job is stressful, therefore my aim is to make the process as straightforward as possible, so that everyone is happy!

You’re in charge of your own day; you can book visits, team meetings, spend a day client mapping, spend a day on candidates. This means that you reap what you sow and the rewards are real! The commission can be incredible if you’re able to make your desk a success.

I love the teamwork aspect; although you have your own desk, you do have a real sense of alliance and belonging. Everyone is in the same boat and support each other immensely – we’re currently making plans on how to celebrate reaching our milestone (paint-balling, white water rafting, theme parks are current suggestions!)

The opportunities offered at Sellick Partnership are second-to-none. I am able to attend events including conferences, meaning that I get the chance to meet clients as opposed to relying on relationships to be built over email/phone.

Finally, I feel supported. I am extremely grateful that my Managers, Directors and team support me both personally and professionally.

What about some of the cons?

As recruiters, our job is HARD! It’s the resilience that is difficult at times. The emotions during the day can be a real rollercoaster. You can go from securing a placement with a great fee, to having placements fall through, candidates failing to attend interviews or finishing their assignments early.

There can be a battle between expectations and delivering results within tight deadlines. However, a lot of it is down to controlling the process – if you build honest and trustworthy relationships you can really manage expectations properly and the rest will follow.

Then when you stick to it, you see the results and rewards. The team around you are there to understand the negatives and support you to bring you back to yourself and celebrate with you when you have success.

My thoughts on what you need to succeed in recruitment:

Key skills:

• Communication
• Active listening
• Time management

Traits:

• Empathy
• Trustworthiness
• Tenacity

If you are considering a career move or would like to take advantage of the ever-changing world of recruitment, get in touch today on 0161 834 1642 or visit Careers page which provides details of all our available roles.

Alternatively, you can check out the other career case studies or contact our internal recruitment team on the details below:

Simon Briffa – 07715 416009 – LinkedIn

Ella Mason – 0113 243 9775 – LinkedIn