I remember my first day working at Miller Leith like it was yesterday!
I was asked to come in my activewear and bring evening wear for later on, with no idea what I was walking into, our planned activities for the day were a
surprise. I arrived, having already met 5 of the 9 staff and was welcomed with open arms. Before I knew it, we were walking to the first destination of our end-of-quarter celebrations! My official start date wasn’t for another couple of weeks, and this was the perfect opportunity to meet my new team. There I was, in my activewear wearing an abseiling harness, looking up a giant indoor rock-climbing wall! We’d been put into 2 teams and my first-ever task in front of my new team was to race up the wall against my new colleagues. I’d done rock climbing and abseiling a few times in my life and I thought to myself, this was my chance to make a great first impression. I have never scurried up a climbing wall so fast – like Spiderwoman after double espresso! I later learned this was the beginning of an Amazing Race! Solving clues in teams around Melbourne city, followed by dinner and drinks. What an incredible first day at my new company Miller Leith, I knew I’d found my new home.
My Journey with and at Miller Leith
August 15th marked 5-years on my journey with Miller Leith, and I wanted to share some thoughts on my experiences. Recruitment is a unique industry – it’s not for everyone. It takes a lot of brainpower, passion for people and their careers, resilience, and positivity, coupled with a supportive, collaborative, learning environment. You run your desk like your own business, it’s forever changing and at times, can be unpredictable. You need to be thinking about what’s next and see things coming around corners, consistently doing this through robust, consultative conversations while managing everyone’s expectations. In this type of role, you want to work with people who align with your values, who lift you up and support you.
From the first time I walked into the Miler Leith office, I fell in love with the business and felt the support, care, passion and business ethics that Miller Leith live and breathe today. I’d only been in recruitment for just over a year and knew I need to find a business that was a match to my values. I just knew I’d found “the one” after that interview. Consultative, supportive, professional and knows how to partner with people and how to do business but have fun at the same time.
The FMCG & Retail Recruitment Industry
For those who don’t know, there is a bit of stigma in our industry about “recruiters” and one of the questions I ask candidates, and clients, is what’s your experience with “recruiters”? 50% have a perception that recruiters will rip you out of a job or fool you into making a “deal”. We don’t make deals. We have people’s careers in our hands – really, we are career consultants not “recruiters” and we consult with our stakeholders, our partners, our networks.
At Miller Leith, we support the entire career lifecycle from following a candidate throughout their career, interim, outplacement to executive coaching. All these steps have an impact on people’s lives, mental health and their families. It can be an emotional time, whether they are ready for their next challenge, have been made redundant, watched a business change direction and their values no longer align, or they just want a fresh start. If candidates don’t have the right support and advice from a consultant and when the client is being consulted at the same time about competitor activity and market conditions, good matches can be missed, processes must be run thoroughly or it can waste time for everyone.
I see silver linings from the recent struggles the pandemic has brought. The recruitment industry is changing and is bringing great consultants into the limelight, impacting the industry. It’s not that hard to be good in recruitment. I mean it’s a high stress, busy role, but the way I look at it is it’s the same as doing business and building relationships in any other industry, you just keep yourself accountable. Do what you say you’re going to do, update, manage expectations, consult and surround yourself with a supportive team that lifts you, and always has your back.
For me, Miller Leith has always done that. Given me the tools, autonomy, understanding, and flexibility to do my role. We have a very open forum for new ideas and innovation (it’s so important), with a focus on developing people. Everyone gets a $2,000 training budget, an extensive induction and tailored in-house training, depending on the experience of the consultant. Having these tools has allowed me to grow over the past 5 years.
Endless Opportunities at Miller Leith
I’ve been lucky enough to have 5 roles in 5 years. I started with limited experience across FMCG Sales recruitment (you learn pretty quickly as a consultant). I was then presented with opportunities to build and lead a team and our networks across Australia. I have also been lucky enough to go on a 10-month holiday when an opportunity for me and my husband came up to fulfil our passion for travel. We travelled to Mexico, Central America and finished up at our native NZ before returning in April 2020. Following my return, I was made Partner and now lead our strategic partnerships, business development and brand whilst maintaining my specialisation in Senior Retail and FMCG Sales search. Having built relationships with so many talented clients and candidates over the years, staying connected further fuels my passion for the FMCG and Food Retail industry. I feel grateful to have met so many amazing people and been a part of growing their businesses and careers. I look forward to continuing this over the next 5 years, with more of a focus on the Sydney market as I move to Sydney in the coming months.
What the Future Holds
I reflect on the company growth over the past 5 years. From 9 people to now 28, adding new functions each year, growing our Sydney team, careers business and now adding a search business is incredible! I’m grateful for everyone I have worked with over the years – my network, our team, our leaders, and my business partners Stephen and Joe. They’ve always supported me, given me endless opportunities and most of all, allowed me to be myself, not read off a script and be a robot but be authentic, innovative and be myself. I can’t thank them enough for this.
I’m excited to see where we will be in the next 5 years and I encourage any Consultants reading this, if you are not feeling supported in your growth and career journey, I would love to chat about how Miller Leith can support you. Additionally, if you are looking for support in your career or support with building your team in FMCG or Retail, please get in touch for a confidential discussion 0421 785 971 or send me an email at katie@millerleith.com.au.