Mabatho Takalo

I joined Michael Page South Africa in November 2012 as part of a 12 month learnership programme. We were advised that there would be an opportunity to be with the business long term beyond the learnership programme. Your determination and willing ness to work hard will determine which position you are placed into after the 12 months.

It was at that point that I made the decision to give this opportunity all I had and hopefully in the end I would be rewarded with a post in one of the biggest white collar recruitment agencies in the world. Indeed after completion of the learnership, I was asked to stay on as a Researcher. This role entailed assisting managers and directors with the vacancies they were working on. Part of my responsibilities included sourcing candidates for senior roles, submitting a shortlist of candidates to managers and directors for roles I was assisting with, reference checks for candidates who receive offers from client etc.

After 12 months in the researcher position, our MD decided to launch a temp and contract division and approached me to join the team. A few months into the temp/contract division, I was promoted to Consultant – fully responsible for my own portfolio.

A few months later, I was promoted to Senior Consultant responsible for all temp and contract recruitment for the South Africa business. The role has challenges however I would not trade it for anything. Since then, I have received two further promotions, to Managing Consultant, and most recently, to Manager.

I finished my studies in 2012 and whilst looking for employment , I received a call from Michael Page about an opportunity to join a multinational recruitment agencies on a 12 month learnership. This, for me looked like an opportunity I couldn’t ignore. The fact that I would gain working experience in a global business was very attractive. I attended interviews and was fortunate enough to be one of the 7 candidates selected to participate in the learnership.

At the moment , I am working with the Finance & Banking division at Michael Page South Africa. My goal is to drive this division to be one of the most profitable in the business with a number of staff reporting into me.

Working in the temp and contract space, you deal a lot with people who are in dire situation and looking for work desperately. From the moment I contact a candidate to discuss a vacancy, up until the moment I give them a call to tell them they are the successful candidate and have secured the role, the gratitude that is displayed is the most rewarding aspect of my job. It is an indescribable feeling knowing that you have lifted weight off someone’s shoulders and have essentially made their life a bit better.

Recruitment, for me at least is not a job , it’s a career which I thoroughly enjoy – even with its challenges. This job requires an individual to be resilient (coincidently one of our core values) and be willing to work hard and succeed.  I’d encourage anyone wanting to join PageGroup to really do research into what a recruitment consultant does – the pro and cons – and have a “student mentality” (willingness to learn) – then Michael Page is definitely the right place to start or further your career in recruitment.