Our consultants work extremely hard, and we always want them to know that we recognise and appreciate all that they do. That’s why we’re overjoyed to announce that Aidan Ryce has been promoted from Consultant to Senior Consultant after just under a year with the business.

Considering that Aidan joined Deltra Group straight out of university, we’ve been so impressed by the progress he’s made here, on both a personal and professional level.

We sat down and talked to him about what drew him to recruitment, his opinions on the training process and what he likes most about his sector of media.

Hi Aidan, can you tell us what your background was prior to joining Deltra?

Being a recruitment consultant at Deltra was actually my first job out of university, and it was the first time I had delved into recruitment. I studied Tourism and Economics at University, and I wanted to go down the hotel management route, but I’m really happy with the path I ended up taking.

I’m enjoying my time at Deltra because it’s quite personalised, with a lot of one-on-one time with Minesh and Julian. In terms of my colleagues, it’s a very small and supportive office where everyone is willing to lend time to help you out, no matter the issue.

What drew you to Deltra? 

I love the idea of mixing people with business, and I found Deltra to be quite hospitable in that way, through how they put people at the centre of what they do. I think it’s great that they promote going the extra step to make people feel valued too, like taking clients and candidates out to dinner, so they’re unique in that aspect.

It’s also an excellent place to flex your relationship-building skills, and I really appreciate the culture too. Meeting candidates was quite new to me, so it helped when I’d talk to other team members and watch how they did things.

What new responsibilities have you taken on as you’ve been promoted?

Thanks to the 360° nature of my new senior consultant role, I’ve needed to become better at time management and multi-tasking. It’s not just about finding the right candidates, but now I have to manage client relationships too. I’ve also got to take a more active role in promoting myself and my skills.

The delivery team was just a small team of 4, but it was nice to be able to bounce off each other’s ideas as we were all in the same boat. Now, I have to have more agency in my decisions.

The variety of my day has changed too, now that I’m involved in the media space specifically.

When I was involved in cross-sector recruiting, I wasn’t as engaged with industry news, but now I’m really enjoying getting a keener understanding of current affairs in the media space. I think it is critical to know what’s going on in the industry that you’re recruiting for, to forecast and anticipate what transformation journey our clients may be undertaking. It also leads to more interesting conversations between candidates and clients.

What do you like about media so far?

I’ve always been interested in the media industry – even when I was a delivery consultant, I leaned towards the media roles. I find the people to be very interesting, which naturally makes the job easier and more enjoyable, when you’re working with people that are passionate about what they’re doing.

Because of this, the conversations tend to flow quite well. In particular, I have a lot of fun working with broadcast clients as it’s interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes, in terms of how they transform and upgrade their systems. As a consumer myself, it is an interesting sector to be involved in and the passion from candidates and clients is truly palpable.

How has your time at Deltra been so far?

It was definitely a steep learning curve coming into recruitment for the first time. I found that training was the key aspect to my transition going so smoothly, though. Having the autonomy to get on with things was also very helpful as it allowed me to build relationships.

Initially, I found it a little bit nerve-racking to speak to people, especially over the phone. Thankfully it got easier every time, and it eventually became second nature to me, though I still do prefer face-to-face interactions because it’s easier to build connections and be more relational, which is the centre of our business. It was the support and trust I received from my colleagues that was crucial in this transition.

The flexibility that came from being in the delivery team meant that I had access to all sectors and could see the nuances of transformation from many different perspectives. This exposure to the life-cycle of transformation journeys has been instrumental in my understanding of our candidates and what they do. This makes it easy to build relationships with people, because they’re excited about what they’re doing and the change they’re bringing about in their organisations.

What was the training process like?

The training process, although structured, was quite informal, which made it more comfortable for me. I was able to ask questions in an approachable environment, and I had more power to do things, like posting my own job adverts, which not every candidate focused job will allow. This is how I learned to efficiently use certain tools and software – all on the job.

The follow-ups consisted of everyone being open and receptive to the questions that I asked, as and when needed, as opposed to being confined to set sessions.

I’ve been training other people now, which is a very full-circle experience and a testament to how far I’ve come. I’m honoured to be able to do this, and I think it’s important to remember that different perspectives help. Everybody interprets ‘the Deltra way’ slightly differently, so it’s helpful to hear alternative experiences.

My favourite part of the training period was sitting in on candidate meetings to see how other consultants organise their questions. Relationships are really the heart of the company and meeting people is definitely our unique selling point.

What are your hopes for the future here?

I’m very appreciative of the fact that Deltra has such warm relationships within the media space. I’d love to continue to improve existing partnerships, but also build new ones.

On top of this, my aim is to progress within the company, and having realised the benefits of how successful the media sector has been, I believe Deltra has equipped me with the right tools to continue progressing and building out a successful desk.  

Do you have any advice for people who are looking to go into recruitment?

Always seek and gather feedback from different people – whether they’re senior or junior. You’ll get the opportunity to pick up on things that work well for one person and having candid conversations at the start of your development is very useful to honing your own recruitment style.

You can find out more about Aidan on his Deltra page or by connecting with him on LinkedIn.

 If you’d like to work in a supportive recruitment environment where you’ll get continuous support, get in touch with us to find out about our latest opportunities.