When I began my career at Robert Walters two years ago, I didn’t realise how well the skills I learned on the rugby field would translate to a role as a recruitment consultant. Having played professionally for the Wellington Lions, Manu Samoa at the 2007 Rugby World Cup and abroad in the Pro League in France, it’s safe to say that I picked up a few lessons or two around discipline, teamwork and the value of hard work which is why, after I moved back from France in 2016, it surprised me as to how transferable those skills would be to apply to a career in recruitment.

Having made the most of my rugby playing days, I decided to hang up my boots after the season in 2016 and move back to my native Wellington to settle down with my family. I managed to get a job with one of New Zealand’s largest telecommunications companies in corporate sales. I loved the competitive environment and the nature of working as a team to become the best. After two and a half years there, I finished as one of the top consultants in the country, but I felt like I needed more.

Through a mutual contact at the company, I was able to land the position of Senior Consultant within the tech team at Robert Walters and I’ve found this to be the perfect fit for me. While we all strive to become better individually on a daily basis, it’s the collaborative feel throughout the company that resonates with me. It genuinely feels like you’re part of a high-performing team where you're working together to go above and beyond. It reminds me of being in that rugby environment where you’re always working to be better, beat your opponent and training hard for the person beside you.

Something that I think is unique about Robert Walters is how accessible the team is no matter what their job title is or how senior they are. For instance, I know that if I come up against certain challenges, that I can lean on the years of experience at a Director level to help me find solutions. And this all goes back to being a high performing team because if one person wins then we all do.

We’re also embarking on our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion journey at Robert Walters to enhance our knowledge on best practices when it comes to sourcing Māori and Pasifika talent. Every employee has access to training and services like Cultural Competency courses, licensed Te Reo translators and Māori and Pasifika focused job boards to further promote opportunities to indigenous people which further positions Robert Walters a well-rounded recruitment agency. We know we’re not perfect in this space, but the drive to be better is authentic and that is something that is personally important to me.

My advice to anyone considering recruitment as a career is that similar to sport, you get out what you put in. You can’t expect success overnight as it takes time to build networks. Personal brand also goes a long way in recruitment and the job is heavily people-orientated. To that end, everyone at Robert Walters has access to the best resources, support and tools to help them achieve their goals and set them up for success.