What we think

We were thrilled in December to receive the bronze award for Best On-site RPO team at the In-house Recruitment Awards 2019. We are so proud of our Hovis RPO team, their amazing results and the brilliant work they do with our clients at Hovis Ltd.

You can read the details of our Hovis RPO in our case study here, and to give a bit more personal insight, we interviewed Chloe Kay, Talent Acquisition Manager on our Hovis RPO team since 2017, to ask her to share a bit of detail on her career so far and success with Hovis.

What led you to recruitment, Chloe?

I did Business Studies at University as I thought it would give me a good overview of the working world – which it did. I hated the Law components but I enjoyed the Marketing and HR modules which led me to think Recruitment might be something I’d enjoy – it’s really a mix of the two disciplines.

I don’t think many people grow up thinking “I want to work in recruitment”. But now I’m doing it I really can’t imagine doing anything else. I absolutely love my job. I found new business tough – especially the sales calls -but I persevered and I was always on the phone making those challenging calls. You’ve got to persevere in this job!

I started as a Resourcer and developed into a Consultant role, recruiting within Procurement. I really liked the relationship-building aspect of the role; winning repeat business and helping people to find their dream job.

What do you like about working as part of an RPO team?

I was invited to join our Hovis RPO team in 2017 when the RPO started. We work as a fully integrated Talent Acquisition team as part of the Hovis brand, so there’s no divide between Seven and Hovis, and no sense of ‘us and them’. It helps having lovely people to work with at Hovis.

When you place a candidate and give them a call a few months later and they are still there and loving it – that gives me a good feeling. Better still is when they post about a promotion on LinkedIn, or call me to brief a vacancy to grow their own team – that gives me a lot of job satisfaction too.

I like getting out and about and selling the brand, so a business like Hovis with all their heritage and background is ideal for me. It’s a great brand story and I love telling candidates where they’ve come from, where they’re going and what the ambition is.

I’ve enjoyed representing the brand at Assessment Centres for our Apprenticeship recruitment. I get to various sites and bakeries as often as I can to maintain my close client relationships. I’ve even kneaded dough at one site, and I’ve sat on the Hovis bike! Everyone has a favourite Hovis product and I definitely enjoy a slice of toasted Seed Sensations with butter! It’s always good visiting the Belfast bakery as the Ormo products they make there are just delicious.

I love recruiting in the food industry as you get to see the journey of the product from NPD right through to shelf – it gives me a broad view of the industry and plenty of variety.

What makes you good at what you do?

I make sure I thoroughly understand what a hiring manager wants before I go to market to find the right people. You do need a thick skin, and to be prepared for some rejection but the feeling I get when we find the right person is something I absolutely love. I stick to my word, keep my promises and I make sure I do what I say I will do.

The most satisfying processes can be the ones that take a while to recruit, because there’s a real sense of completion when you answer a challenging or complicated brief, or create a completely new team. Although we are always urging clients to keep to a speedy process, sometimes those that take longer that are more satisfying to work on!

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing this?!

I’d possibly enjoy a marketing role but I’m a very process-driven person so this suits me much better. I’d like to be more creative – but you’ve got to play to your strengths! Talent Acquisition is an ideal mix of marketing and recruitment for me and I feel I get a bit of everything.