Graduate Recruitment Consultant in Twyford

Some people finish university or their first few months in a job and think, "right, that'll do." You're not one of them. You've been looking around for something where the ceiling is set by you, not by a salary band or a manager's mood — and where the people around you take the work as seriously as you do. This is that.

What the job actually is: Recruitment, done properly, is part sales and part investigation. Your job is to work out things nobody hands you on a plate: which companies in the Automation market are quietly struggling to hire, which engineers might move if the right opportunity landed, and what it would take to bring the two together. You pick up the phone, you ask better questions than the last person who called, and you piece together a market from a hundred small clues. Then you act on it — fast. The best opportunities in this industry don't wait. When you spot an opening, it's yours to run with: your clients, your candidates, your processes, your results on the board. Nobody here passes work up a chain. From early on, what happens on your desk is down to you.

Why Hernshead: Tom Johnson founded Hernshead in 2019 on the belief that partnerships are more powerful than placements. Since then we've grown to a turnover exceeding £3.5m and are recognised as one of the fastest-growing recruitment firms in the UK. Joining now means growing with us — not slotting into someone else's success story.

What that means in practice:

• You'll be trained by people who bill big.
• You'll sit alongside experienced consultants in our Automation team — including £500k billers with more clients than they can service — and learn how to source candidates, run interview processes and win business from people doing it at the highest level.
• Your earnings track your effort from day one. Our commission payout this year averages 25% of billings, on top of your base salary. There's no cap, and no waiting years for your "turn."
• You'll own a piece of what you build. We operate a Share Scheme with a defined exit plan. Every consultant is on track to receive a minimum five-figure sum in six years, on top of commission. We're building something here, and the people who build it share in it.
• People stay. Consultants who've joined us are averaging over three years with the business — because the work rewards them and the environment backs them.

The lifestyle:

Monday to Thursday: 8:00am – 5:30pm
Friday: 8:00am – 3:00pm

Yes, you'll put the hours in — anyone telling you otherwise about a career like this is lying to you. But early Friday finishes, two company holidays a year, high-end dining experiences, funded professional qualifications and structured training are all part of the deal.

What you'll actually do:

• Research the Automation market: map companies, spot hiring patterns, find the angles others miss
• Build and manage client relationships through calls, outreach and meetings
• Develop candidate pipelines and identify top engineering talent
• Take candidates to market and run the full interview process, end to end
• Support clients with onboarding and retention

Who this suits:

• You move quickly. When something needs doing, you do it today — not after the weekend.
• You take things on. Given a target, you treat it as yours. You don't wait to be chased.
• You're naturally curious. You dig into how things work, ask the extra question, and enjoy joining dots other people don't see.
• Setbacks sharpen you. You've had knock-backs — in sport, in study, in work — and come back better for them.
• You keep score with yourself. You know the difference between a day that was busy and a day that moved you forward.

If you read that list and felt something click, we should talk.