Having just completed my sixth year at RGB Recruitment, it seems like an apt time to reflect.
It was Cheltenham 2012, I was selling photography vouchers in supermarket foyers and my long suffering girlfriend, now wife, had given me orders to get myself to Exeter.
The long and the short of it was, I needed to find myself a job. Any job would do, as long as it met my essential criteria of being Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 and didn’t require the sacrifice of any essential body parts. And so it was I set off on my job hunt, armed with an impressive academic record of 6 GCSE’s and a diploma in dog training it was safe to say I wasn’t holding out much hope. Little did I know that the job I would land would define my career.
I met Phillip Dodd and Tanya Loosemore at the RGB office in Southernhay, the recession had not been kind to the construction industry and the business was beginning to grow again. The interview went fairly well with the standard interview questions and it seemed like a decent place to work. I was then asked a question that I had not prepared for, I was asked what I wanted from life. I said I wanted to buy a house, start a family and enjoy my work. A plan was put in place, I was told that if I followed that plan and worked hard then all this would be achievable.
Six years later, one mortgage, one wedding and 1.5 children not to mention a barely tolerated cat, I can safely say enjoy what I do. I‘ve met some amazing people, had some incredible experiences and loved every bit of it. This role has taught much, including such nuggets of information as; what a bending moment diagram is and the benefits of concrete over steel. Crucially though, it has taught me that all you need to progress your career is the right support and the right attitude, recognise your team’s ambitions and do everything in your power to see them realised.