Coming full circle: Hamish Smith’s story

I never set out to build a career in recruitment. When I was at university, I was working a mix of part-time jobs, from working at a supermarket and coaching sport to labouring,  essentially anything that fitted around my studies. Recruitment happened almost by chance, but it quickly became a career I could see myself building.

I started my career at Robert Walters as an Accounting & Finance consultant. Looking back, I was new to recruitment and had a lot to learn, but I was fortunate to be surrounded by people who invested in my development and helped me build a strong foundation. The training, coaching, and leadership I received early on gave me a strong foundation, and the team-based structure suited the way I liked to learn and develop. 

Over the course of my career, I’ve had six promotions, five of them at Robert Walters, and progressed from that first consultant role into a multi-practice business leadership position and I’ve had some amazing opportunities along the way.

A big part of that growth has been the people around me. Whether it was the formal mentoring programme, the core training modules and Masterclasses, or simply the time and energy that leaders invested in me early in my career, I’ve always felt that Robert Walters gives people the tools and support to grow.

After almost six years with the business, I eventually moved on. But Robert Walters remained an important part of my career and my life, and when the opportunity came to return, the decision was actually quite simple.

The reason I came back to Robert Walters was very simple: to make a difference.

Robert Walters gave me a start in my career, allowed me to create a lifestyle for myself and my family that I’m incredibly grateful for, and introduced me to some amazing people who have helped shape me into the leader I am today.

Coming back has also made me appreciate just how much my career here has influenced my life outside of work. I’m now a father to a two-year-old, and over the years I’ve been able to build a life and a career that gives me a lot of opportunity and flexibility.

I think work-life balance always comes down to leadership and trust. You never get the balance exactly right every week, particularly as a leader, but I’ve been fortunate to have leaders who have trusted me to do what I need to do and who have deliberately gone out of their way to make sure I felt supported.

They’ve allowed me to fulfil my duties as a parent and as an employee in the same manner.

That support has made a real difference, and so have the practical benefits the business provides. Things like healthcare, home internet, childcare support, and other benefits might sound like small things individually, but when you’re living in Sydney and raising a family, they genuinely make a difference to your overall lifestyle.

But ultimately, it’s the culture and the people that have kept me connected to Robert Walters.

I’ve had moments over the past 10 years when I questioned whether recruitment would really be my long-term career. I never set out wanting to work in recruitment, and I certainly didn’t know where it would take me. But today, I’m a major advocate for the recruitment industry and for Robert Walters as an employer.

For anyone considering a career at Robert Walters, my advice is simple: keep considering it and follow the process through. The training and support you receive at different stages of your career are a real strength of the business. We have a reputation for developing great consultants and great leaders, and I think you only have to look at the Robert Walters alumni and what they’ve gone on to do across the recruitment industry to see the impact that can have.

I’m now in a position where I can look back at where I started, see how far I’ve come, and understand why coming back felt like the right decision. Robert Walters gave me my start, helped shape the leader I’ve become, and now I have the opportunity to help shape what comes next.

Like Hamish, if you’re ready to take your career to the next level, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to learn more.