Agency Recruiter, Auckland, NZ

Please introduce yourself and describe your career. What do you do for a living?
I am a Professional Matchmaker (Agency Recruiter)  based in Tāmaki Makaurau, I work nationwide as a generalist recruiter, with keen interests on purposeful, sustainable and technical/engineering based roles - although I recruit it all! Before this I worked on Super Yachts for 5 years finishing as a Senior Stewardess - Below deck is somewhat factual! I was lucky enough for 3 of those years to be on a world cruising Sail Yacht that went to some very off the beaten track places… so I have spent time in places like Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, Colombia and more. It was truly the best thing I have ever done! My earlier careers were in hospitality, bars, restaurants and wineries and nannying kids from 6-weeks to school age. 

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I probably wanted to be a firewoman or hairdresser.. but I did like the idea of ‘working’ from a very young age. Offering to do more chores for money, mowing lawns round my neighborhood for $50 per lawn, front and back - which at the time was a lot of work and for me at 10 years, a lot of money haha. 

What did you study? How much schooling do you think is required to get into your role? What could you have skipped?

I studied Early Childhood Education for 1 year, and completed the minimum essential certs for Super Yachts - which are your ENG1 (Seafarers Medical), STCW (1 week course, entails First Aid, Firefighting, Health & Water safety) and Food & Hygiene level 2. I do think studying gave me the leverage to get into my role early as I was 17 years old when I started as the full-time nanny for two boys of  2 and 3 years old and freshly 21 when I started on yachts. Other than the two qualifications above for Super Yachts, a background in hospitality, and any extra skills like beauty therapy, yoga teaching, hairdressing do pose as an advantage these days! 

When I am looking at candidate’s profiles from this perspective, a qualification/degree is more of a nice to have in (most) corporate roles,  I would rather someone have concrete experience in what they are applying for and a keen interest. 

Was your path hard or smooth getting to where you are in your career? (Can you briefly describe what it was like on your journey so far?)  

There have been ups and downs for sure, but that’s part of the journey - it’s not linear. For me it’s always been about the learnings, the people I work with, taking the opportunities and keeping perspective of what’s truly important!

What are some questions someone should really ask themselves if they want to get into your industry / career path?
There are two parts of my role now - one is the actual recruitment - matchmaking candidates with opportunities, and the other is the business development side, as agency recruitment is sales. I would ask, are you a good listener? Do you care about people, because they will look for support, words of encouragement for more than job hunting, I have advised people through breakups, miscarriages, passing of loved ones - You have to give your energy to others all day. 

And are you ok with hearing no a lot? On the sales side, you are going to get a lot of push back, and you have to be ok with persisting and keeping your own and sometimes others morale up. This can be quite monotonous if you genuinely don’t find what others or companies do very interesting!

What do you enjoy most about your career? (What do you enjoy least?)
In this chapter of my career, I am very grateful that people allow me to be part of such a huge and sometimes pivotal life decision. A new job can really change your whole world, the people that surround you on a daily basis, people may need to move houses, gyms, change their children’s daycare/school, change transport routes.I really don’t take placing someone in a company lightly - these are all factors I think about when professionally matchmaking someone with my clients roles.

What tools/resources do you frequently use? (Books, podcasts, mentors, wellness habits, software, etc.). 

I love learning and have a diverse range of interests that I flitter between, my pillars that keep me sane are definitely financial wellness and Exercise, making sure I am across all my incomings and outgoings. This gives me peace of mind to do all the things I want to do, with no stress. 

Investing in property and the stock market is important to me, and was one of the first things me and my partner spoke about! I enjoy sharing what I know with the people around me, especially the women! There's podcasts like The Curve, and It’s no Secret that are kiwi founded by women, and She’s on the Money from over the ditch is also a good one to start with too. It’s not scary at all and actually really easy - I promise!

I like all types of exercise and do get bored. so I use the ClassPass app which is amazing - allows me to do whatever I feel like doing each week: Hot Pilates, Boxing, a Hiit Class, a Sauna sesh. 

What is something you do when things get difficult? How do you handle stress/ challenges? 

I need nature and to be in the Ocean specifically, taking time away from my phone/online connection. So camping, walking, reading, swimming is where I recharge. I have also got better at setting boundaries for myself & my team do keep perspective by reminding each other ‘no one is dying’ which is true for our roles! (but may not be for others)

What advice would you give to someone who is trying to figure out what they want to do (for work) in general?

Some jobs are just for money, some are for connection, purpose & generally the enjoyment of what you are doing. In our life you have to make sacrifices, so work out what you are happy sacrificing to get where you want to go and what your true motivators are. Through different stages of our lives, these are also going to change - and that’s ok! 

What excites you about the future OR what's up next for you in the near future? (Could be career-related, life-related, or even a future career pivot / path)

In my day to day life I am not a planner, still decisive but always spontaneous - I am excited by change, and am a serial opportunist. You do still have to put yourself in the pathway of opportunity, so I will continue to meet interesting people, explore the world and hope my next adventure is better than the last!

Where can readers find/connect with you if they have questions? OR How can we support you? 

I am always up for meeting interesting people, Best reached on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamla-waverley-a39517110/ or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tamlawaverley/?hl=en