Spotlight on Olivia Kelly - Principal Consultant for Legal

In the seven years since joining Ambition, Olivia has been able to progress her career from starting out as a Recruitment Consultant to becoming one of our highest performing Principal Consultants for the Legal Finance team.

Here Olivia talks about the culture in our London office, what she enjoys most about her job and the opportunities in recruitment for someone considering a career move.

Tell us about your background?

I started working in recruitment in 2010 after deciding against going to university.

I didn’t know too much about recruitment at first so I started as a Resourcer in another London based firm and I quickly realised what a great career I could make for myself, so long as I worked hard.

What first attracted you to Ambition?

In 2012 when I was ready to make a move, training was very important to me, as well as being in a firm that would help me develop my skills further and enable me to become a true specialist.

Ambition ticked all of these boxes and throughout the interview process, I could clearly see what a supportive environment it would be, coupled with a personal and friendly approach from management.

Can you describe a typical day at Ambition for you?

There is no such thing as a typical day for me as I can never predict what is going to happen! Of course, I try to plan what I want to achieve each day/week/month but in recruitment, things can change at the drop of a hat so you have to think on your feet a lot.

Generally speaking, my day is spent liaising with candidates and clients, catching up with the team and offering guidance and advice to them when needed. The team is fantastic and we all get on very well so a typical day is also filled with lots of laughs.

How does working at Ambition help you develop as a professional?

Ambition really focuses on providing clear career paths for Consultants and my career is proof of that!

Within 5 years I was able to progress from starting out as a Consultant to becoming Divisional Manager of my team. Then, when I later decided to focus purely on billing rather than management, the team at Ambition were supportive in enabling me to transition into a Principal Consultant role.

It just goes to show that with hard work and dedication, it is possible to progress your career quickly at Ambition.

What is something you know about Ambition that you didn’t know before you joined?

Before joining, I didn’t know that Ambition had been around for a long as it has been and I didn’t realise they have such an international presence.

Granted, Ambition isn’t the largest recruitment agency out there (and nor do we want to be) but there is such a large international reach with offices all over Australia and Asia.

Something that Ambition does really well is to encourage people to move internally across the international offices and they make opportunities available to people who are looking to relocate. This makes that process so much easier and far less nerve-wracking for someone who may be moving abroad to be joining their current firm in another country.

What is your favourite perk?

Ambition believes in celebrating and rewarding success so once every two months our Managing Director, Nicky, hosts an exclusive lunch at a top London restaurant for the top-performing Consultants.

We finish work at 1pm and head off for the rest of the afternoon to enjoy a no expense spared lunch.

What life goals have you been able to achieve thanks to a career in recruitment?

Getting on the property ladderwas a huge goal for me and something that I thought wouldn’t happen until I much was older. Having had a successful career in recruitment, I was able to buy my dream home in August 2015 and I couldn’t be happier.

My friends and colleagues know that I love my holidays and working in recruitment has given me the opportunity to go on the most incredible holidays I didn’t think I would get the chance to go on.

Hard work pays off in this industry so I know that the personal goals I set for myself are always achievable as long as I remember to always give 110% from Monday to Friday.

Who would you recommend Ambition to?

I would recommend Ambition to anybody who is hard-working, driven, fun to be around and down to earth.

We have a fantastic culture so if someone wants to build a career for themselves in a supportive, inclusive, fun company then they should get in touch with us.

Are you interested in developing your recruitment career with Ambition? We're currently hiring! Find out more >