From TV presenter to recruitment manager

Sindy Ward was working as a TV presenter when she decided to move into a more commercial role. She came to Robert Walters as a candidate in 2011 but made the move into recruitment instead, after finding out about a vacancy in our Auckland office.

Six years on she is now manager of our sales and marketing team. She talks about how her skills were transferable into recruitment and what she loves about her new role.
 

How did you move from TV into recruitment?

“I first came to Robert Walters as a candidate as I was looking to move into more of a corporate role. I was interested in moving into event management at first and was looking to get advice around that. However, when I met with my consultant I found out about a vacancy at Robert Walters which sounded like a great opportunity. A friend of mine was also working here at the time and confirmed that it was a great company with a strong culture, so I went for it.

How were your skills transferable?

I used to work as a presenter on a TV Show called ‘Flipside’ on TVNZ. As part of that role, I conducted lots of market research and interviews. This involved working to tight deadlines and dealing with all kinds of people and personalities daily - all skills that are really valuable in recruitment. Many professionals fear losing their expertise when making a career change, but being a recruitment consultant allows you to use your industry knowledge and build on your expertise, to become a specialist in your field.

How did Robert Walters help you transition into your new role?

Robert Walters facilitated my career change by giving me fantastic training and self-development guidance. This really helped me to achieve my goal of becoming a manager. Having such solid training in place allowed me to be successful in my role and led to me to receiving four promotions in five and a half years.

What’s an average week like for you?

My typical week consists of meeting internal and external stakeholders and building strong relationships with consultants, candidates and clients, while managing multiple recruitment projects. I am also involved in the training and development of new employees and host a lot of Robert Walters’ networking events.

What’s been your greatest achievement so far?

Managing the sales and marketing team in the Auckland office has been an exciting and rewarding journey. I’m proud of the strong team culture we’ve built which led to us winning an outstanding achievement award, and this year we also managed to reach the highest target since the office opened a decade ago.

What do you enjoy about living in Auckland?

Auckland has been voted the eighth most liveable city in the world by the Economist and I could not agree more. What I like most about Auckland, besides the fact that it’s a beautiful city, is its accessibility to the outdoors and beaches, and the emphasis given to work-life balance.

What sort of skills does a recruiter need to have?

Recruitment suits someone who’s highly personable, organised, inquisitive and well-networked. It’s all about forming strong, long-term relationships, particularly at Robert Walters.

Why should someone choose Robert Walters over a competitor?

The most important thing to me when considering a career change was to be in a company with a great reputation and a strong position in the market. The fact that it’s a global company was also very attractive to me for my future development. At Robert Walters, we work cohesively and it’s a very social environment - this harbours a spirit of team work and allows us to build quality relationships in the market.”

Many professionals fear losing their expertise when making a career change, but being a recruitment consultant allows you to use your industry knowledge and to build on your expertise.

Interested in a career in recruitment? Please send us an updated CV and a member of our team will be in touch shortly.