Working at a top sales recruitment agency- Recruiter profile

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Dan Ford, more commonly known as “Fordy”, is the newest member of the Saleslogic team. Having joined us less than 6 months ago, from a very different line of work, I was keen to find out how he was finding his feet in the world of sales recruitment

Working at a top sales recruitment agency

How did you get into sales recruitment?

I graduated university with a degree in Sports Therapy and started out working for myself in a number of clinics and sports clubs. After 3 years I decided I needed a change of pace and started looking at recruitment and sales jobs.

Why did you choose recruitment?

Both sales and recruitment roles appealed to me in pretty equal measure and so when I came across the opportunity to work at a top sales recruitment agency like Saleslogic, I knew I had to apply. Fast paced and the ability to interact with both candidates and clients at all levels put it right up my street.

What was your idea of recruitment before you got into it?

If I’m being completely honest my perceptions of recruitment were based on the pretty bad image. Over-inflated promises and failure to deliver on said promises were common themes.

What is your idea of it now?

That your stereotypical “bad recruiter” is really the exception to the rule and those recruiters are the ones that don’t succeed in recruitment.

Recruitment is also essential. No way around it. A workforce is the lifeblood of a company and without recruiters, internal or external, filling those positions with quality candidates then you’re not going to get far. Specifically without salespeople selling the products then how will you be making your money? With the ever-changing landscape of SaaS sales, working with an IT sales recruitment agency like Saleslogic can provide an invaluable resource of knowledge, experience and of course candidates!

What’s something about recruitment that might surprise people?

We work collaboratively. We are not out to climb over our colleagues, looking after only number 1. We are client and customer focused and if that means splitting the fee with a colleague to ensure we place the best-suited candidate then that’s how we will do it.

Favourite type of sales recruitment?

A lot of SaaS sales jobs will be new business focused, and that is the element of sales recruitment I enjoy most. Placing a new business hunter in an up and coming start-up and watching them absolutely smash target to help the company reach even greater heights, is a great feeling.

Strangest client/candidate interaction so far

In my first month, we were working with a candidate who had interviews set up with a couple of different clients. We had set him up for telephone interviews, and then none of the clients called … Each client had a valid excuse and was still keen to speak to him, so we rebooked the calls. Second time around and none of them called him again! Triple checked we were giving the right phone numbers etc., just turns out to be an entirely and unlucky coincidence that this all happened to the same candidate! You’ll be pleased to know that he eventually had the calls in the end, just took a bit longer than we were expecting.

One thing that candidates do that drives you crazy?

Sending in a rubbish CV.

I am all for thinking outside the box on the CV, it keeps it interesting for me! However, sometimes it is taken too far; I have seen a CV that consisted of literally a name and one line, right through to a CV with a fluorescent text colour for every previous role (hurt my eyes to look at). I would like to say I’ve seen it all but I’m almost certain I haven’t! If you’re applying for SaaS sales jobs I find a concise CV with targets and achievements usually goes down best with clients.

Best advice for a candidate looking for a role?

I can understand the appeal of a scattergun approach to job applications; however, my advice would be to read the job advert in question properly to ensure that you are applying for a role that suits your profile and skills. If you come across an IT sales recruitment company like Saleslogic, and you maybe can’t see a Sales role that suits you then there is no reason why you can’t give us a ring and run us through what you’re looking for, there may well be some roles coming up in the future that are a fit.

Favourite moment working at Saleslogic so far?

It has to be my first deal where I ran the full process. From approaching the client and sourcing a candidate who is now doing very well in the SaaS sales role. Immensely satisfying!

A big thank you to Dan ‘Fordy’ Ford for your time!

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Saleslogic is a leading sales recruitment agency in London. We specialise in digital sales jobsSaaS sales jobssoftware sales jobs and more. Click here to view sales jobs we are currently recruiting for.