Chip Spice, Pattie Butty, Tenfoot, Croggy, Mafting… some of the wonderful delicacies and local dialect I grew up around. I moved to Manchester from Hull in 2005 and was talking a different language to Mancunian so was met with some blank expressions when I said ‘Ellur’ (Hello).
Pre 2005: I grew up on one of Europes largest council estates, so life wasn’t always easy or straightforward and if you wanted something you had to work for it! And, so that’s what I did. I picked up my first job as a paperboy at 13 and earnt my first weekly wage – £4.30 – yes, that was for the week… as I’m typing this realise, I have turned into my parents! It was £4.30 but wow, I can still remember the feeling of having money in my pocket and I had earnt it. Since my first job as a paperboy I have always had a job and throughout Sixth Form College and University worked evenings and weekend, it gave me the freedom to be able to make my own decisions and have a lot of fun along the way. I worked at the Theatre for around 6 years whilst studying and held down full-time hours; initially starting front of house selling programmes, taking tickets and working security before finally making it to the backstage crew. (I can tell a few stories about some pretty famous individuals but not one for here). I progressed quickly and was offered a permanent job as a stagehand. I had a decision to make as I loved the job but had just finished my Criminology Degree so took a job as a Probation Officer. A period of working with some very high risk offenders and spending a lot of time visiting prisons was grounding and has always provided perspective in whatever I do. It made me really appreciate candidate interviews and client meetings a whole lot more when I moved into the world of recruitment. I am yet to have anyone fall asleep in a meeting opposite me in recruitment!
Post 2005: My wife was offered a great opportunity in Manchester and so we sold up, packed the suitcase and ‘Manchester guide book’ (having never even visiting previously) and moved to the bright lights and big city. Having given my career a lot of thought I reached the conclusion that recruitment was what I wanted to do and where I could see my future. I was fortunate to join a company that had some very talented people who trained and helped to develop people’s futures, Mark Croston being one of them.
Since 2005 the journey has been unbelievable and I have worked with some fantastic individuals and some not… but both helping me along the way to become a better recruiter, manager and person. I 100% believe that you can learn from everything that life throws at you; delivering papers on a freezing cold morning/night (resilience and work hard), working at the theatre (creativity, every day is different so be prepared to adapt and work hard), Probation Service (listen, understand, don’t judge, help and work hard).
Now: Medlock Partners, 4 Co-Founders with the same goal to provide a first class service and experience, but always remaining true to who we are.
Berragerrof (Better get off and do some work now).
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me for a confidential chat, my email is andrew.davison@medlockpartners.com
