Meet Tech recruiting expert - Ellie Smith

How long have you worked at Digital Gurus and what is your role?

I've been part of Digital Gurus for just over 2 and a half years now. I joined as a graduate and my role is Senior Recruitment Consultant for Product.

Why did you decide to join Digital Gurus?

So our MD, Toni Phoenix-Coles did a talk at my university, and at the time I had no idea what I wanted to do after university and I didn't even know what recruitment was. I just saw Digital Gurus were doing a talk over lunchtime in my building so I thought I'd go check it out and everything Toni was saying about the industry just sounded really up my street! Then I came in for an assessment day and just got a really good vibe from the business. I think when you're searching for a job, it's a case of when you know, you know... I just got that feeling straight away.

What do you find the most rewarding part of your role?

For me it's all about helping people. I come from a psychology background and so helping people has always been a huge thing for me. It's something that I've always wanted to do with my career and I think that's missed a lot of the time in recruitment - we get tarnished as selfish and doing it for ourselves, when actually you know the most important thing is helping candidates or clients - which is really rewarding and ultimately the reason we all come to work with a smile on our faces.

How do you manage the pace and work life balance in Tech recruitment?

There's definitely ups and downs and I think if you enjoy what you do it's more manageable. That pressure can actually be enjoyable, but it's important to have lots of fun as well and we definitely do. It's also hugely important to celebrate when things are going well - that always keeps me going.

What does a great candidate experience look like for you?

I think what I really love about recruitment is building relationships and making friendships with candidates. A great experience usually boils down to the little things, like just dropping each other a text, even if it's not even related to the process or work, you're just really getting on that personal level.

What are the must-have qualities you look for when hiring for Product?

Within Product the big thing is communication and interpersonal skills, so I'm looking for confident, chatty candidates where people skills come naturally.

Something I like to ask my candidates is what value they feel they could add to an organisation, so asking a specific USP about them or yeah how they have previously added value to projects or teams they've worked with.

If you were any animal in the world, what would you be and why?

Someone once told me my spirit animal should be a meerkat, so I've just always gone with that and I like the idea of it, they're quite cute!

How would you describe the team culture at Digital Gurus?

The team culture here is really good, especially where we're at now. I’ve got a really good friendship with everyone and I would quite happily go singularly out for lunch or a drink with any person in the team and have a genuine good time - I think that definitely says a lot about the culture here.

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If you want to join the DG team, just get in touch. We are looking for experienced recruiters and we can’t wait to hear from you!

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