Whether you’re looking for your first job after finishing school or debating having a late career change, finding a job can be a daunting process at any age and at any stage in your career. There appear to be so many people out there who are offering to help you with this process but how do you know which ones to trust? After all, deciding on a job role is often one of the biggest decisions you will make throughout your life... and so it should be! On average, a person will spend 900,000 hours of their life at work and so choosing the right job can massively affect an individual’s quality of life.
When I began applying for a new role following University, I was overwhelmed by the vast number of recruitment agencies available, each claiming to specialise in different sectors and to help specific groups of people, in my case ‘graduates’. I was also in the difficult position of not being 100% certain of what job role I was searching for; a position I know is shared by many graduates. I knew I wanted to focus on ‘Communications’, but with there being so many different roles I could focus on within this industry, I was struggling to decide where to start when it came to actively applying for jobs.
Luckily, my job search was saved when I had my first meeting with Marmion. The opportunity to speak face-to-face with Janet, the Managing Director, and Matt, one of the Recruitment Consultants, gave me the vital education I needed to enable me to pinpoint exactly what I wanted to do. The informal chat consisted of discussing what I studied at University, what modules I liked and disliked, my past work experience and hopes for the future. It’s hard to believe that something so simple could make such a big difference! I came out of the meeting with a clear vision in my head of what I wanted to do and what my next steps should be. I knew from then on that I was in safe hands...
Having now secured a job working for Marmion (they must have made a good impression...), there are several things which I wish I had known when beginning my job search:
When I met Matt, he not only made some great suggestions on potential roles I could look to pursue within the ‘Communications’ industry, but he was also very friendly and helpful throughout the whole process. He kept in constant contact so I was up-to-date on the progress I was making with various applications and he helped me prepare for any upcoming interviews I had. Small details such as sending a‘good luck’text before an interview is just one of the ways you could tell Matt and his colleagues at Marmion really cared.
I know it can be very hard to tell one recruitment company apart from another, based solely on viewing their websites. It’s also very easy for a company to sell themselves, sometimes falsely, on their websites so being able to identify whether a company genuinely possesses some of the criteria mentioned above is often quite a challenge. I would recommend spending some time reading a company’s testimonials. These should be listed on their website and can also be found on other sites, such as Facebook reviews and google reviews. This will give you a more accurate representation of how the company operates and how other candidates have rated their experience.
Looking back over the last 6 months, I would never have thought that I would end up working in ‘Communications’ in the Recruitment Industry, but I am now in a job I love, working for a company I love and that’s all due to finding the right recruitment company for me. My advice to anyone actively searching for a new role as a graduate or considering a career change, is to make sure you invest some time into finding an agency that will invest time in you... (you never know, you might end up working for that company!)
If you need any help with your job search or would like some career guidance, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team on 0113 332 0678.
I will now be posting weekly blogs and articles; it will be starting with a 4 week ‘guide for graduates’, which will explore the points covered in this article in more detail, whilst looking into other areas relating to graduate recruitment and the job application process. There will be a graduate guidebook available to download following these articles which will incorporate and summarise all the information discussed.
At Marmion, we deliver ethical, personalised recruitment services, investing the time to understand each business and individual, and working hard to ensure every introduction is thoughtful and well considered. Our process goes beyond CVs, using tools like i3 profiling to uncover instinctive strengths and align them with the right opportunities.
Every member of our team is a qualified recruitment consultant, committed to their craft and to continuous professional development. This ensures you receive advice grounded in expertise, insight, and current best practice. Whilst we use AI to support parts of our process, every decision about candidate suitability is made through human insight and emotional intelligence. This ensures we recognise great talent that technology alone might overlook whilst avoiding the bias that can come from over-reliance on algorithms.
We endeavour to do what’s right for all parties, through diligence, transparency, and genuine care, offering a clear service guarantee so you always know where you stand.
With Marmion, you gain a dedicated partner who blends skill, integrity, and commitment to deliver recruitment that works for you, today and for the future.
