From sales to recruitment

James Perry joined Robert Walters in early 2015 as an associate consultant while still in his teens. A year later he was promoted to consultant. He now works as a senior consultant in our Manchester office and plans to climb even further up the career ladder.

Before moving to recruitment, James worked in sales. We asked him why he switched to recruitment and how his sales experience has helped him to become one of Robert Walters’ top achievers.

Earning potential & bonuses

“There’s no doubt that the potential to earn a very attractive salary and bonus was one of the main attractions of recruitment for me. Growing up, I’d watched a family friend enjoy a successful career in recruitment, so I knew that this industry offered big rewards to those willing to work for them.

I’m incredibly driven, so it was important for me to find a role that offered excellent progression. When I joined Robert Walters I was lucky enough to work with a very ambitious and supportive team. We have grown rapidly in the past three years, so there’s been plenty of opportunity to progress. As a result, I’ve received two promotions since joining three years ago.

You determine what you earn in recruitment, which, for me, is a real incentive to aim high. My sales experience meant that I came into recruitment with a valuable set of transferrable skills. For example, my experience of pitching to prospective clients meant that I’d established strong communication skills and the ability to quickly build rapport. Through excellent training programmes, Robert Walters helped me to identify how I could utilise and develop these skills to suit a recruitment role. As a result, I have been able to excel in the business development side of my role, successfully building my own candidate and client portfolios.

I really enjoy working at Robert Walters. As one of the top achievers, I get excellent quarterly bonuses as well as incredible incentives. Last year I qualified for the yearly incentive trip to Thailand, all expenses paid. It was incredible and something I strive for every year.”

Training & development

“The development and internal training programmes have helped me to succeed in my role and to achieve my targets. It’s great to have an internal support and training team that I can reach out to whenever I need assistance.

My role isn’t just cold sales, as it was in my previous job, here we are trained to build long-term relationships and actively encouraged to host clients at events and off-sites enabling us to build new business relationships.”

International career opportunities

“The opportunities at Robert Walters are endless. With a global presence in 28 countries and incredible yearly profit growth, there is ample opportunity for national and international development. I am given the freedom to decide which direction my career is going and how I run my daily business activities.

Reaching your targets and achieving new business is highly rewarded at Robert Walters, I am very driven to achieve my targets which ultimately translates into bonuses and other rewards. I am keen to further develop with the company and look forward to what my future at Robert Walters holds.”



Interested in a career with us? Please send an up-to-date CV to joanne.hunter@robertwalters.com or call +44 161 214 7432.