After studying and working in Canada for eight years, Chloe Wang decided to return to her hometown Suzhou to start a new journey. Joining Robert Walters in 2015, she has grown from a consultant to a team manager quickly and now she specialises in recruiting mid to senior-level sales and marketing roles in industrial sectors in Suzhou office. Chloe finds the fast pace of the recruitment industry full of challenges, which motivates her keep learning and getting better.

Hear Chloe share her career journey and what characteristics she believes will succeed in recruitment.

Q1: What motivated you to switch your career to recruitment and join Robert Walters?

In my eight years working in Canada, I have gained rich work experience in business and marketing. Since I was born and grew up in Suzhou, I have always wanted to go back home after living abroad for a long time. After returning to Suzhou, I found that it was not that easy to find the right platform to grow my career. I joined Robert Walters by coincidence. My former manager helped my husband get a job, and at the same time wanted to help me find the right career in Suzhou. During the communication process, I found that as a person who loves challenges, the prospect of a recruitment consultant is a career path I have been looking for!

Robert Walters has good market reputation, strong client database and a mature management team with years of intensive market cultivation in Suzhou’s industrial sector. I was also attracted by the resources offered to consultant including training opportunities, clear promotion path and the diversified culture. The purpose of Robert Walters - powering people and organisations to fulfil their unique potential — truly inspires and motivates me.

Q2: How did your previous work experience help you start a career as a recruitment consultant?

I have been working in different industries and serving clients from different industries such as healthcare, optics, jewellery, internet, and inspection. I think my previous work experience has something in common with recruitment consultant: you need to understand clients’ needs and expectations, the job requirements, and the difficulties clients are currently encountering - at the end of the day you are solving problems for them!

Industrial candidates are generally very professional and highly segmented and as a recruitment consultant, we need to do thorough research to obtain adequate market information before getting in touch with them. On the other hand, business thinking and negotiation skills are much required as you need to dig not only from the resources from clients but also give advice to them from a professional perspective. My previous work experiences enable me to understand the overall market situation quickly, and to identify clients’ and their companies’ needs in hiring.

Q3: Which is the favourite part of your job as a recruitment consultant? What characteristics do you think are essential in order to become a successful recruitment consultant?

I think it is an exciting journey to grow from a recruitment consultant into a team leader of four people during my five years at Robert Walters. My favourite parts of being a consultant are:

• Achievement. Previously my client shared with me the contribution of two candidates I placed has led to one of the best years of their company. I was very heartened by this win-win situation as I am not only helping the client but also I have helped my candidates found positions which they can truly excel.
• Recognition. As a recruitment consultant, a great sense of accomplishment comes from the recognition of clients. Despite the intense competition in the Suzhou recruitment market, clients reach out to us at first instance and many of them are willing to refer us to others. We have also earned the trust and support from candidates from years of hard working in this field so they are always willing to share the latest market information with me.
• Challenge. We always need to learn and equip ourselves with updated knowledge when communicating with clients from different industries. To me, continuous learning is also a way to improve and innovate work, and an opportunity to breaking-through and prove myself.
• Enriching personal experience. We are in close contact with candidates which many of them are senior and middle-level executives, their in-depth understanding of the industry and insights constantly enrich my experience and exposure.

I think recruitment is a challenging and fast-paced industry, and people with the following traits can adapt to the position quickly:

• Passionate and responsible
• Insightful and be able to understand the requirements from clients and candidates well
• Able to work under pressure with resilience
• Active, optimistic, and progressive

Q4: What experience would you like to share with us as a team leader?

In my opinion, everyone plays an important and unique role in growing a team. As a team manager, I need to cultivate their self-confidence and excel their potential, and most importantly, growth each team member, Besides, I encourage my team members to work hard and play hard - work efficiently and work-life balance!

Q5: What suggestions would you like to give to job hunters that intend to join the recruitment industry?

Recruitment is a challenging and fast-paced industry. There’s a saying that a year of work in recruitment is equivalent to several years in other industries. For those interested in pursuing a career in recruitment, I suggest you to first analyse your strengths and weaknesses and make a long-term career development plan. Once you decide to join, stay courageous and tenacious, and persevere with your goals. Don’t give up easily.