My final year studying English Literature at Kent University was mainly spent pondering what to do next. I considered the glamorous and fashionable merits of travelling the globe however soon realised that I didn't have the money and it would have been taking the easy option – ultimately the prospect of earning money and looking to pay off my debts proved too alluring. To me, the option of joining NonStop and still getting exposure to a new country and culture seemed to be the perfect choice.

 

I joined at the start of 2010 and things have gone well since then, I was promoted to consultant level fairly quickly and am starting to realise the real financial benefits of a career within recruitment. I cannot express enough how the training and experience has contributed to my professional development, whether its learning to handle candidates with confidence issues or developing relationships with new clients. Since completing the training scheme I have moved across to the NonStop Pharma and am responsible for placing candidates within Medical Affairs across Europe.

 

I have decided to stay in the Czech Republic in the medium to long term simply because I like the way of life and have developed a great network of friends and with the number of new starters joining the training scheme it's looking like its going to be a great summer!

After finishing my A-Levels I decided against going to University and ultimately ended up working in the UK and abroad in various jobs, from Club Rep to Chef! After deciding that I really needed to move into something longer term I considered a few different types of position and ultimately decided that recruitment would be the most worthwhile, I had worked hard in previous positions but never anywhere where my hard-work and success would be rewarded so well financially.

 

I started my career within NonStop Recruitment in February 2010, as a researcher on the training scheme I was trained in all aspects of recruitment from Candidate selection and Screening; Advertising and Marketing; Head-Hunting; and as I progressed, Business Development. I managed to gain ground very quickly and was promoted in July 2010. I was then offered an exciting opportunity to move across to a new Brand: NonStop Engineering. This for me was the perfect opportunity as I had the prospect of building my own market from scratch, whilst working with senior and experienced consultants from the Engineering sector. It also worked out perfectly as it allowed me to move back to my native Portsmouth as a new office was opened in the summer of 2010.

 

At the present time things are progressing brilliantly, I had a very strong finish to 2010 results-wise which has seen me hit my target to join the company ski-trip, and my market, which is Automotive, is starting to take shape really well. It's also great to be able to tell people that my main clients include Aston Martin, Honda, Toyota and even Tesla. With further hardwork, and the right people joining, I believe that we can grow NonStop Engineering to become the leading and most recognised name within the industry, something I am very much looking forward to.

I studied Law at University and worked for a year as a paralegal. I ultimately decided that Law wasn't for me and I really wanted to experience living somewhere other than the UK! I found that most positions abroad are relatively unskilled, or for people with specific industry experience, and most of the graduate volunteering programmes seemed to cost money which at the time I really didn't have. When I saw NonStop advertising for Trainee Recruitment Consultants to live and work abroad, with a defined training scheme and good remuneration I jumped at the opportunity.

 

I am pleased to say that I haven't looked back since coming out to the Czech Republic, I progressed through the training scheme and although it was really hard work, I did learn a lot. I actually joined NonStop Medical Devices and focused on the commercial roles within the Industry, I have my own network of clients and candidates and take pride in building my own reputation as well as helping to develop NonStop Medical Devices client base.

 

Right now I am still in the Czech Republic, I love the lifestyle whether its the BBQ's by the lakes in the summer, or skiing in the winter. The night life is great too. Being centrally located in Europe has allowed me to travel to places that I would never have visited otherwise. I don't know where I will be living and working in the future, but I can see that I will have choices when and if I do decide to move to another office.

I graduated with an Economics Degree from the University of Leicester back in 2004 and I joined NonStop at the beginning of 2005. Although I am not quite a recent graduate I believe I am a good example of what can be achieved if you work hard and look to learn from the people around you at every opportunity.

 

My 6 years here so far have been a great ride; I have gone from being someone with a basic understanding of the recruitment industry to an established leader within the Pharmaceutical Sector as a Director of NonStop Pharma. As a consultant I was earning well into the six-figures annually and within the past couple of years I have also established myself as a stakeholder in the NonStop Group, which should see me financially secure for life, a position I had never even considered being in when I left University.

 

NonStop Recruitment is far from the only place to start your career within recruitment, however I can personally say that there is very few places that can rival the potential career diversity, potential earnings and also leading training that we can. Combine that with the unique location of the training scheme and you have something that can really add value to your life experience so far.

 

It's going to be an exciting ride over the next few years; we have substantial growth plans and will be heavily relying on attracting, training and retaining top talent. If you have strong interpersonal skills, and a real desire to succeed, combined with humility and a willingness to listen and learn then I look forward to you being a part of our ongoing success story.