Turning 21 today!

By GSR2R Admin | 30th June 2022

Turning 21 got me thinking about where it all started for GSR2R in 2001. It was a happy trip down memory lane. One that I wanted to share and will likely bring a smile to the faces of many who remember these.

21 is a big deal. It’s a huge milestone and one that I am very proud of.

When GSR2R started:

1. The cost for print ads

You basically had to re-mortgage your house to afford an ad the size of a postage stamp in the ‘broadsheets’ aka newspapers i.e. The Times. And, if you weren’t a global brand with deep pockets, you we seriously outgunned in the ad space department.

2. Recruiters applied to adverts

Online job ads appeared in the mid 90’s and it was love at first site. Your audience immediately and significantly expanded because people could now see thousands of jobs at any time, in real time. The best part for me? Recruiters actually applied to adverts. Good times.

3. Success meant hangovers

Celebrating success and alcohol were largely linked. The closest pub to the recruitment office became the local and was heavily supported, pretty much daily. Our social scene was within a minute walk of our office, regardless of the pub’s rating (Trip Advisor had not yet taken off). And what better place to celebrate our successes than our second home.

4. All recruiters ‘fell’ into the industry

Ask anyone in recruitment with decades of experience, and I mean ANYONE, how they got into their career. The first thing they will say is that they fell into recruitment. Fact. I find myself still saying it. And I still hear it today. Because it’s true. Recruitment wasn’t a career path that people chose, recruitment chose them.

What’s made recruitment even better today?

Things have certainly changed, and for the better. I doubt that number one could be beaten as THE best improvement for recruiters.

1. Technology

All hail technology. If you’ve been in recruitment a long time, here are two words to bring the pre-tech memories flooding back. Fax and rolodex. Two lifelines for any recruiter to achieve success. The fax machine – ultra-slow, not overly reliable, and queues to use it. The rolodex – our paper card database of 5* candidates that were etched into our memory.

2. Flexible working

This would have been regarded as a swear word 15 years ago and I wouldn’t have been brave enough to ask!

3. Recruitment is a first-choice career

This is such a positive change. Recruitment has had a reputation over the years, which has been steadily chipped away by the great job that people do, and promoting the career opportunities our industry offers. Recruiters no longer fall into recruitment, they choose recruitment.

4. Partnering with clients and candidates

Years ago, recruitment was seen as the ‘Foxtons’ of recruitment. You got a deal, made the cash moved on.

I have loved my 21 years

Watching and embracing the changes to the recruitment marketplace.

For me, recruitment is shared celebrations, seeing game-changing results, and giving people life-changing careers. It’s an exhilarating job made even better by the people around you who genuinely enjoy working together.

Recruitment is rewarding. That’s why I’ve been in our industry for two decades. Yes, it’s tough, but the good days far outweigh the bad ones. And, I have made lifelong connections with incredible people.

Final thought

Thank you to everyone for being a part of my personal journey over the last 21 years.

What a privilege it has been to build a career in recruitment. Making incredible friends, changing people’s lives and helping businesses grow. It is unbelievably rewarding and making these valuable connections is the absolute best part of my job.

Cheers to recruitment and the amazing professionals in our industry.

Cheryl