Case Study: Louise’s Story

I worked with Louise Robinson to help her secure her new role as a HR Assistant. Here’s what she had to say about the experience.

Can you tell us about your background?

I spent a good 7 years in the third sector supporting financial initiatives from the DWP New Enterprise Allowance for new start-up businesses, to Welfare Reform Emergency provisions with Local Authorities; and onto Affordable Lending programmes in partnership with Credit Unions, Treasury, Barclays, Asda & Experian following Treasury Select Committee Reforms for the sector.

I then faced redundancy following maternity leave and wanted a career change. I enjoyed managing the teams I had worked with in the past and chose to pursue HR. I joined a global engineering company DeepOcean based in Darlington, and alongside employment I embarked upon my Level 5 CIPD which I completed in 2020 whilst on maternity leave with my second child.

Unfortunately, whilst on maternity leave; the company closed it’s Cable Lay & Trenching division in the UK and thus all employees were made redundant.

Which job did you secure and what does your role involve?

I secured a role as a HR Assistant, which includes supporting the HR department in all aspects of employee-related activities. Day to day, my job involves onboarding new starters, promoting benefits, absence management, graduate recruitment, supporting managers and providing training etc.

What are the main benefits Sarah brought to your job search?

Sarah was able to tell me about positions that were not always available online. She also provided an insight into the market as it changed and evolved, and also gave thorough information on the companies that were hiring, with extra details she knew from relationships she’d built up in the past.

Generally, it was good to get a view on how my skills could be used from a different perspective. Sarah took into account the information I’d given about the type of role I was looking for and was able to advise on opportunities for my skills to be used in other areas that I may not have thought of before.

How did you find the interview process?

The interview process was very straight forward compared to a couple of interviews I’d previously attended from direct applications.

Sarah was able to set up a call and liaised with both parties which sped up the process. There was no ‘hanging around’ or waiting for days on end for an update, which kept the whole thing fast paced and current.

Other interviews that I’d done before were direct applications and I was just sent a link to join the meeting. So this time it was nice to email Sarah for 1-2-1 advice, and have a practice interview. It helped with the nerves, and also with making sure I had the basics right like my camera and microphone being set up properly.

Is there anything else you’d like to say about your experience working with Sarah?

Sarah was great to have as a supporting ear; especially venturing into the world of online interviewing. Having been on maternity leave during most of the pandemic – anything like this was a particularly daunting prospect (even speaking to another human!); however, Sarah took time out and we had a 1-2-1 video call prior to the second interview to just go through a few things and if anything put my mind at ease so that when it was interview time I was relaxed and it was second nature again.

She was realistic about my job search, really proactive, and knows what she’s talking about when it comes to the wider HR sector, as well as her expertise in HR recruitment!

Looking for your next career challenge?

Head over to my vacancies page to view any live jobs. Just get in touch if you have any questions.