After transitioning from law to the travel industry, and finally to a fulfilling role in recruitment, Valentina found her true passion in connecting people and organisations.
After graduating with a law degree from the Bocconi University in Milan, I worked as a trainee lawyer for two years at two prestigious law firms in Italy. Having always been inspired to work in an international environment with the opportunity to travel, I decided to shift to the travel industry, which then took me to Switzerland and into a procurement manager role. However, in the back of my mind, I’d always had a genuine interest in recruitment.
To pique my interest, I spontaneously asked the Robert Walters Switzerland office whether I could be a potential fit as a recruitment consultant and after a few interviews, I was given the chance to follow my true passion. Now, having been with the business for four years, I believe that my positivity, empathy and authenticity, coupled with truly understanding real business needs, gives me a natural ability to perform my job well.
Every time I work on a new recruitment process, a new adventure starts. I have the chance to either deal with people I’ve known for a long time, developing and nurturing existing relationships or, when we receive mandates from new clients that decide to work with us for the first time, I have the chance to meet new businesses and people.
In both scenarios I feel incredibly excited and feel a sense of reward. It brings a subtle mix of working with both line managers and HR professionals to help drive their human capital strategies and meeting new candidates, learning about their backgrounds and stories. On top of all of this, I am lucky enough to liaise with people from all across the globe which, to me, is a fascinating opportunity to experience positive cultural exchange too.
People are definitely one of the biggest motivators in my day-to-day work. Firstly, the people in my team – I am blessed to work with highly accomplished individuals that are kind and extremely fun to be around every day, but also the clients and candidates I am lucky enough to speak with – I love dealing with so many different people every day! It feels good to put the right people into the right job for them and help companies to hire the best talent.
I’d recommend recruitment as a career to anyone who loves to socialise, likes the idea of a people-related career, has a passion for wanting to understand business strategies and that has pinch of drive to meet annual targets. I would advise to ask yourself this fundamental question – “when it comes to what I do every day, what do I really feel passionate about?” If you your answer lies with ‘people and personal development’ then the recruitment path might just be a very good one for you to consider!
Would you like to be part of the team?
Have a look at our internal vacancies.
Charlotte loves the dynamic of a job where no two days are the same and in which you have the chance to work with so many different people and organisations.
Having lived and worked in countries like France and China, Olivier loves working with our multicultural and vibrant team of recruitment consultants in Geneva.
Come join our global team of creative thinkers, problem solvers and game changers. We offer accelerated career progression, a dynamic culture and expert training.