Meet the Team: Tarv, Our Senior Account Manager

We spoke to Senior Account Manager, Tarv from YourConstruction.

What is a Senior Account Manager?

A Senior Account Manager is responsible for attracting candidates for jobs and matching them to temporary or permanent positions with client companies. At YourConstruction we match for construction roles.

How did you come to be Senior Account Manager at YourConstruction?

I was working in hospitality recruitment when, last April, Liz (our Manageing Director) reached out to offer me a position at YourConstruction. It was perfect timing; I was already looking for new opportunities because after the pandemic lots of my colleagues had left and the workload had increased to almost unmanageable levels without commensurate support. Liz offered flexibility with remote working at YourConstruction and there were bonuses to recognise results. Career development is important to me and it’s important at YourConstruction.

What advice would you give someone interested in a career in recruitment?

If you feel that you are a people-person then this is definitely the role for you! It’s not just about possessing customer service skills, you need to enjoy interacting with people on a daily basis. If you do, you will enjoy this job and perform well in it. I come from a financial background, which wasn’t serving my desire to interact with people but this is something I found in recruitment. 

I would advise someone starting out in recruitment to be prepared but also flexible. No day is the same so you have to be ready to meet that, but that’s also what makes it such an interesting job.

How have you developed in the role?

There’re many things I’ve been able to pick up in the relatively short time I’ve been in the role. I’ve been able to bring on a great portfolio of clients, more so than I thought I would, which has reaffirmed my belief that this is the career path for me. Just speaking to clients and candidates on a daily basis has also given me a new level of confidence.

What key skills are essential in your position?

A key skill in this position I would say is leadership. You’ve got to be confident in your role, use your initiative and take a firm approach. If you can do this while simultaneously being approachable and down to earth you will gain the trust and confidence of your clients and candidates. 

Another essential skill is the ability to work at a fast pace; the day is constantly changing and you’ve got to be able to respond to things immediately. You can be proactive about these changes to an extent, sometimes you just get a gut feeling that opportunities are about to present themselves and if you can prep candidates to be ready to send to clients then you will be ahead of the game. For example, today a client required candidates at a short notice and within half an hour I had sent over five candidates for interviews and there’s already been a job offer.

What makes YourConstruction a great place to work? Why is it different?

The culture at YourConstruction and YourConsultancy Group is fair and open. If you have anything on your mind you can just speak it and it’s taken on board. Having the opportunity to speak openly without having it shut down is really important and I’ve already seen action taking place in the last 10 months since joining. The guys at YCG may be younger than me but we work really well together; they’re amazing, humble guys who always encourage you.

Can you describe a typical day in the office?

As soon as I walk in, I check up on my priority list – who will need the most attention for the day? I look to see where I can be most productive and make the most gains. 

Liz and I tend to divide the work between us. Either I will oversee the permanent side of recruitment and Liz will handle temporary or vice versa.

You need to be organised: I allocate each hour in the day to devote to a client’s needs.

It’s exciting to be in the office. It’s not an intense “businessy” environment. I feel like I’m working with one of my closest friends, we motivate each other and get a LOT done.

What projects are you most proud of?

For me, it’s the portfolio of clients that I’ve built up in such a short space of time that makes me proudest.

We’re a small branch and we’re still building ourselves and trying to find our base but in December I achieved my highest billing (just under £20K). Permanent recruitment is a slow process as the interview process can take weeks so the results achieved in December was a real culmination of my efforts.

What does the future hold for the world of construction recruitment?

The sector is evolving rapidly, a lot is happening. It’s expanding fast after the pandemic where it became evident that the construction sector was not effective in that there was a shortage of workers. Everything is in demand at the moment and YourConstruction is looking to expand alongside the construction job market. 

What exciting things are on the horizon for YourConstruction?

In the next year if things continue to go well we will look to expand to a four-person team and with that comes further avenues of construction recruitment to explore. It’s very exciting to see!