Faisal Alam, Senior Recruitment Consultant at Faststream Recruitment in Singapore, shares his insights into what life is really like as a recruiter.

8:15 am: I jump on my 1972 Vespa (I love classic bikes – this is the latest one in my collection) and head to the office, which is ideally located centrally at Raffles place. My route is via the KPE highway and I’m at my location within 25 minutes.

8:40 am: I ditch the Starbucks and grab my coffee from the office. We have a great Nespresso selection to choose from but I always opt for an Americano.

8:45 am: It’s now time to check my emails.  This part of my day is dedicated to checking emails that have come in overnight. A new job will be my number one priority. I work through my emails based on time-zones. As a business that operates globally, I’ll speak with customers in the US first and then Europe later in the day.

9:15 am: Meeting with the team (we do this every Monday) to recap on the week before and discuss the roles we are working on. This is a great way to collaborate with the team, set your goals and get motivated for the week ahead. From then on its, go, go, go.

10:00 am: This part of my day is always dedicated to speaking with candidates- it’s the best time to catch them. If I have someone out for an interview that day I need to ensure they are briefed and ready to go. Otherwise, I need to get hold of the candidates I know would be a great fit for the roles I am recruiting for.

10:45 am: I’ve just got hold of a great candidate and the even better news is that they are close by. I grab my things and I head out to meet them for a coffee.

11:45 am: The candidate was great and I know my client will love them. So, on route back to the office I call the client on the way to get the ball rolling.

12:00 pm: Result – I have an interview confirmed for next week. The perfect time to bump into my Director, Jason Nangle, who is heading out for lunch. I tell him the good news, which he’s more than happy to hear.

12:30 pm: The boys in the team are grabbing lunch from Waa Cow Sushi Bar in Raffles place. Great news - I really fancy sushi today. Most days we go for lunch as a team or if it’s not too hot I will sit out by the water. Our office is right on the waterfront, which is a great lunch spot.

1:30 pm: I’m back at my desk. It’s now time to catch up with clients. As a recruiter, you need to know the best times to catch people. I know most of my clients would have been very busy in the morning and I definitely don’t want to get in the way of that. Besides, everyone is a little chirpier after a lunch break, aren’t they?

3:00 pm: I have another meeting but this time it’s with a new client and at our office. I like to invite new clients into our office so that they can get a feel for who we are and how we work. Most of my meetings are face to face and if they are abroad, I’ll always do a Skype. I find this the best way to build rapport with people.

4:00 pm: The meeting went well but now it’s time to get back to working on the rest of my objectives before the day ends.

6:00 pm: Hometime. Unless it’s a Friday… We like to celebrate success at Faststream. If it’s been a successful week, we’ll get together as a team at 5 pm for a few drinks in the office. Or some of us will pop to the bar downstairs to break the week off, grab a drink, chill out and catch up.

To find out more about working at Faststream Recruitment, visit our work for us page or why not follow our careers page on LinkedIn for all the latest news and vacancies. 

If you're interested in a career with Faststream, please contact our Internal Recruitment and Talent Acquisition Executive Emma Homann for more details.