Today’s Interview of the month: Hemal Vaghela, Account Manager at Anglo

Which industries do you work in?

I work in the world of information technology (IT) and telecoms, where my day-to-day responsibility is to bring new tech companies to post their current vacancies on Anglo’s new state of the art Job Board and to manage my existing clients. On the other hand, my long term goal is to build up an IT & Digital Technology sector here at Anglo which has predominantly been an engineering based agency for the past 30 years. I intend on developing an efficient database of tech professionals of which Anglo IT Recruiters of the future can use to search for candidates to make placements.

What has been your biggest challenge at work so far?

By far the greatest challenge for me has been to learn and develop effective sales and communication skills which return positive results. My sales and telephone skills were so poor that I couldn’t persuade a single company to post their jobs, even though I was offering a free trial! After a whole month with no success and confidence being at rock bottom, I took the initiative to do some research on sales techniques and found myself analysing clips on YouTube. Also the fact that I may even not even have a job this time next month at this rate was a major motivator. However, within the following week I managed to secure 2 new companies to post their jobs on the Anglo Job Board. Naturally this boosted my confidence and before I knew it I had 20 companies in 2 months, some being major blue chip companies.

What makes you continue your career with Anglo?

I like the fact that the Anglo Job Board is a start up within an existing 30 year company. So I was involved from design stage all the way to the launch of the Job Board and now still heavily involved during growth. Therefore I have developed a genuine concern and care for the job board, and as my manager says “It’s your baby”. The personal touch allows me to continue my career at Anglo because I want to see it succeed and I hate not finishing what I started.

What advice would you give jobseekers in the current market?

My key bit of advice would be to remain persistent in finding your next job especially if you have career path in mind. By persistence I mean to continuously apply to relevant IT jobs on a daily basis and not take rejections to heart. Confidence must be high throughout the process and not just during interviews. Also, do your research! Find out which other routes you can take in order to get where you want in the future rather than keep chasing the perfect role. Stay determined to get what you want and remain persistent with the actions you take to get there.

What sectors are experiencing the most growth amongst your clients?

Obviously the digital industries are booming right now with nearly everything being replaced by an App. The convenience of being able to do things at the ease of your palm (bearing in mind your device has enough battery!) is a superior advantage to the daily life of any person. So Mobile Application sector is growing exponentially with many of my clients now looking to recruit software engineers, app developers and testers etc.

And finally, do you shave or trim your beard? :)

There are two reasons why I trim my beard: firstly, it’s too cold outside this winter and I need the layers for warmth. Secondly, if I shave I will lose around 10 years off my actual age and will look like I should be studying for my GCSEs rather than working in a highly respectable company like Anglo! The only benefit I can think of is that I could get on buses/trains for free!