From Support Specialist to Recruiter
Martin's journey
2019
Customer Support Specialist
2022
Recruiter
"Even though you don’t mean for it to happen, some things are always changing around you and you need to adapt, and I think Concentrix + Webhelp is a good place to be to learn handling change."
Martin started working in Concentrix + Webhelp as a part-timer while studying in university. After graduating, he manager to successfully transfer to a role that's related to his degree. Read on to find out how his experience as a support specialist helps him be a better recruiter.
Q. When and how did you start working at Concentrix + Webhelp?
I started working here in April of 2019, so about four and a half years ago. I began working part-time at the Kalmar office while I was still studying for my bachelor’s degree. I applied for jobs that I could do full-time in the summer, and hopefully continue part-time in autumn. I had no previous knowledge of Concentrix + Webhelp when I applied, but I liked the job ad and it offered the flexibility to fit my schedule, so I applied, had a phone interview and a video interview. I didn’t even meet anyone in person before I started at the company, which to me was quite unusual before the pandemic.
Q. How do you remember your time as an Customer Support Specialist?
It developed me a lot because I hadn’t worked in an office environment before. I had no experience in sales or with working towards goals. I started when I was 21 and I had moved to a new city the year before to study, so in this job I met people I could learn from and make new friends. During the start, I didn’t have much technical knowledge, so it was a lot of learning from people in an informal capacity by just being in the office.
We had a formal training too, of course, but it was nice to see more experienced people than me work and listen to them, ask them questions – it made me develop a lot.
Q. What has been your career journey since then?
I didn’t really know too much about the other parts of Concentrix + Webhelp. I worked for a very specific client in a small team, so you have a very narrow focus when you are an advisor. You know there are other clients and other offices, but nothing more than the fact that they exist somewhere. It was actually my Team Manager who informed me about us having HR and Recruitment positions within the company, where I had my degree, and suggested I apply for them. It seems obvious now, but it really wasn’t at the time, because it was so far away from our daily work. So, my Team Manager really opened my eyes for the bigger part of the organization.
When I applied for a position the first time, I didn’t get it, but the recruiter told me about another position in her team. It was originally posted for another city, but the recruiter said it didn’t matter because they work with bigger clients across cities, which made me realize the company was much bigger than I had imagined. I applied for the recruiter position, had two or three interviews, and started in February 2022, so it’s soon to be two years as a full-time recruiter.
Q. Can you describe what you do as a recruiter?
As a recruiter for Concentrix + Webhelp, I work with the entire recruitment process, starting from an ordered headcount. I talk to management to make sure I understand which role they want to be filled, I publish an ad, I collect applicants, guide the applicants through the recruitment process and then hire the best candidate for the job. I then guide them to the first day and am available to answer any questions and offer support throughout the recruitment process. A lot of people ask about the culture and the values, so I’m kind of like the keeper of information, which is available for anyone in the recruitment process.
Q. What has been the biggest challenge in your career?
Starting as a support specialist, you get a lot of varied goals. In my early days I had some trouble working with different KPIs – I worked with sales, average handling time, customer satisfaction and some admin tasks. It was difficult to understand which I should focus on – is being fast more important or is it the customer being satisfied or is it something in between? It took some time to find the best approach, but when you figure out how to reach goals on a certain level, you can raise the bar.
I think working with those goals as an advisor really helps me now as a recruiter, because now I make my own schedule, I get a deadline a few weeks ahead of time, and I need to make sure everything gets done by that date.
I don’t think I could successfully complete that task if I hadn’t first learned the basics of setting a reachable goal, setting mini-steps, which you learn to do as an advisor with the help of your manager. I learned a lot from my time at the university that prepared me for working within recruitment, but the practical experience as an advisor has really helped me succeed in my current role.
Q. What keeps you working in Concentrix + Webhelp?
It’s the continuous learning. For the first 1.5 years I worked part-time before I got a full-time position, then I had some changes in my team when we shifted from working with only Swedish customers to also supporting Norway and Denmark. And, moving to working part time from home during the pandemic. Then a year or so later, I started as a recruiter, and during the first year I learned so much, and in the second year now I am building on top of that, and there are still new challenges ahead.
Even though you don’t mean for it to happen, some things are always changing around you and you need to adapt, and I think Concentrix + Webhelp is a good place to be to learn handling change.
And it has never been boring, there are always new challenges, new opportunities, and new changes we have to adjust to.
Q. What has helped you advance your career?
The colleagues are a great help. I still keep in contact with my old team. Currently I work primarily from home, so whenever I am at the office they greet me with little inside jokes. Even though it’s soon going to be two years since I stopped working with them daily, we still have fun together.
The colleagues and culture are something you can rely on - there are a lot of people who have worked at Concentrix + Webhelp for a long time and carry the culture forward.
And the virtual colleagues you meet expand your horizons a lot, I have colleagues in my team from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Baltics and Finland. Even though I have worked here for almost 5 years, I still meet people who have worked here for as long or even longer that I have never met.
Q. Do you have any advice to the newcomers in Concentrix + Webhelp?
Working as a recruiter, I talk to a lot of advisors and colleagues who apply for higher roles in the company. The things that we are looking for in those people are - if they are reaching their goals in their current role, if they are showing their best side in their job and have a good reference from their manager. These are the things that matter from the recruiter’s perspective.
So, my advice is to talk to your team manager and ask – how can I be the best version of myself in this position?
And to understand the goals you have to meet that will prove to everyone that you’re ready for higher tasks.
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