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Yolande's career journey

2019 Senior Consultant - 2023 Principal Consultant - 2024 Divisional Lead - Commercial Finance & Accounting

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Yolande's story

1. What career growth (and promotions) have you experienced since joining?

Since joining in Ambition in 2019 I have been fortunate enough to grow from a Senior Consultant to a Principal Consultant in 2023 and then recently promoted to Divisional Lead for the Ambition qualified Finance team.

2. Share a time when you were challenged to grow in your skillset and capabilities.

With over 10 years in recruitment, I've certainly experienced my share of highs and lows. Resilience is crucial in this field, but the real shift for me occurred during COVID. During that period, immediate successes and hiring opportunities became scarce, and the focus shifted to fostering lasting relationships. I learned that recruitment isn’t just about quick wins, it’s about building long-term relationships and being there for candidates and clients through both the good times and the challenges

3. Tell us about a new skill you’ve learned while working here.

Patience is an ongoing area of growth for me. Although I haven’t perfected it yet, I’ve made significant progress. I’ve also learned that not everyone will appreciate your expertise or choose to work with you. It’s important to focus on building relationships with those who genuinely value your skills and are interested in a meaningful partnership, rather than just a transactional interaction. While you might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it's essential to be selective about the people you choose to work with.

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Charlie's career journey

2011 Associate Consultant - 2012 Consultant - 2015 Senior Consultant - 2020 Principal Consultant​

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Charlie's story

1. What career growth (and promotions) have you experienced since joining?

I joined the Ambition Recruitment Academy as a rookie with a few months of recruitment experience. After a 6 week course learning the ropes I, graduated as an Associate Consultant and was given my own desk to manage. 11 years on I’m now a Principal Consultant, have mentored and trained new rookies for my own team, and have made over 100 placements.

2. Share a time when you were challenged to grow in your skillset and capabilities.

In 2013, having freshly signed terms with an international investment bank, I was invited to attend a seminar after a round of cost-cutting had left a number of their staff redundant. Upon arrival at the very large, very packed conference room I was surprised to find out that I was the guest speaker and would be delivering a talk on resume writing and interview tips. Trying to piece together a half-useful presentation on the fly, whilst overcoming nerves and a hundred or so angry stares was probably the most awkward moment of my life. In the end, I did get some decent feedback and even placed one of the candidates into another role. We’re still on this bank's recruitment panel so it can’t have been too bad.

3. Tell us about a new skill you’ve learned while working here.

 The challenge of being able to run my own desk the way that I want. It’s like running your own business. We do get guided by management and given targets, but we’re not micro-managed in how we achieve those. It gives you a lot of flexibility and autonomy.

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Paul's career journey

2016 Associate Consultant - 2018 Consultant - 2018 Senior Consultant - 2019 Team Leader, Business Transformation & Government - 2020 Team Leader, Technology & Business Transformation - 2121 Divisional Lead, Technology & Business Transformation - 2023 Divisional Lead, Business Transformation & Projects

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Paul's story

1. What career growth (and promotions) have you experienced since joining?

 I have received regular promotions since 2016: from Associate Consultant to Consultant, to Senior Consultant, to team leader of a team, to team leader of the broader team, and now to Divisional Lead. I’ve found that Ambition has been the true essence of what a business/company with a “meritocracy” approach should be like – continually supporting me & rewarding me at every step in my growth further to working hard and achieving success. My growth has been exponential during this time – I had no recruitment experience at all when I started! I also had no idea what change management, transformation, or technology really meant in the context of the working world. I’ve grown to understand all of that as well as recruiting – and have success in it. This is before taking over small teams and then growing into larger teams – so I’ve also grown greatly in terms of my leadership and people management skills.

2. Share a time when you were challenged to grow in your skillset and capabilities.

Taking over as manager of effectively two teams (Technology and Transformation) in mid-2020, so smack bang in the middle of the pandemic! Previously, I had managed a small team of people – 2 direct reports. Whereas this was now 6 people, in extremely challenging market conditions. This challenged me to grow in many ways – one of the biggest was learning how to listen to other people and empathise with them in ways I was never used to before.

3. Tell us about a new skill you’ve learned while working here.

In my career to date I largely always focused on myself – as I’d never worked in management roles. Through my promotions and growing into leadership roles, the skills I have learned the most have related to leadership. I’ve learned how to put other people first, how to “practice what you preach” with my behaviour, and to do what I said I was going to do, with no exceptions! Fundamentally I get a kick every time someone in my team does well but stepping back and thinking strategically about how to help them do that better – not just myself – is a complete mental shift, but it’s something that has really come on leaps and bounds in the last few years.

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Katheryn's career journey

2010 Payroll Office/Accounts Receivable Clerk - 2015 Accounts Assistant - 2019 Assistant Accountant - 2020 Senior Accountant - 2022 Finance Business Partner - AU

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​Katheryn's story

1. What career growth (and promotions) have you experienced since joining?

I embarked on my Ambition journey in 2010, a time when I was just stepping out of the academic world, full of youthful energy and a wild spirit. My initial role was a dual one, serving as both a payroll officer and an accounts receivable clerk. As the years rolled by, I explored various areas of the finance team, evolving and growing my knowledge. I eventually realised that my true passion lay in accounting (and Excel). This paved the way for my first promotion to the role of Accounts Assistant. It didn’t stop there though, leading me to further promotions as an Accountant and then a Senior Accountant. Today, I proudly hold the position of Finance Business Partner for Australia, a testament to the immense career growth I’ve experienced since joining.

2. Share a time when you were challenged to grow in your skillset and capabilities.

The journey to my current role as Finance Business Partner was not without its challenges. While I possessed many of the necessary skills, I found my confidence wavering, particularly when it came to presenting and explaining my analysis. I was well-versed in the details and could talk about numbers endlessly, but the task of presenting this information in a concise and engaging manner was a skill I had yet to master. Public speaking, especially to my peers, was another hurdle that often left me feeling nervous. However, Ambition provided me with the support I needed to overcome these challenges. I received coaching from other leaders within Ambition, which helped me grow and develop these skills. It’s been a few years since I took on the role of Finance Business Partner, and I can confidently say that I’ve grown comfortable in this role and thoroughly enjoy every minute of it.

3. Tell us about a new skill you’ve learned while working here.

Who would have thought there was something more enchanting than the trusty old Excel spreadsheet? But just like Harry discovering the wizarding world, I found Power BI. Thanks to the external training provided by Ambition, and my colleagues in the Asia office who are well-versed in Power BI, I’ve been able to explore this magical realm of data analysis. It’s like I’ve been handed my very own wand and spellbook!

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​Linda's career journey

2012 Contractor Care - 2014 Human Resources - 2016 Human Resources Advisor - 2017 Senior Human Resources - 2019 HR & Operations Manager - 2021 People & Culture Manager - 2023 Head of People & Culture - Australia

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Linda's story

1. What career growth have you experienced since joining?

I started my career at Ambition in 2012 as an Admin/Contractor Care Consultant. I already had previous experience within the recruitment world, so the concepts of my daily job weren’t foreign to me. I very much enjoyed the varied interaction on the people's side. As our contractor numbers swelled so did the importance of the Contractor Care function and as a result of my experience and existing relationships in this space, I was promoted to lead this area, which included managing our high-volume payroll-only accounts. As this role began to attract more HR-related functionality to it, I began to realise that was a direction in which I wanted my career to head. When the opportunity arose, I put my hand up to be considered for an HR advisor role and was very happy to be promoted to that area. There was a lot to learn (and there always is as it’s constantly evolving) in the HR space and I was fortunate that I started off learning all of the fundamentals from the ground up, whilst being in a company and an industry that I already knew. I spent a number of years in this role building up my knowledge, skills, experience, and confidence and as I became ready for new challenges and responsibilities, they were given to me. Some years later I was promoted to the HR Manager role for the Australian operation and since then I’ve continued to hone my skills to try to ensure that from an HR/people perspective that Ambition is the most engaging, inclusive, supportive, and empowering workplace that it can be. The challenges and the learning continue however the levels of professional and personal growth are intensely rewarding.

2. Share a time when you were challenged to grow in your skillset and capabilities.

I’ve been challenged in this regard all the way through my journey at Ambition and I hope that will continue. Learning and growing is a key to engagement, not just for me but for most of our employees regardless of their role. The standout time when I really had to step up and meet a new challenge was when I was promoted to the HR Manager role. I’d built up a lot of the required everyday operational skills whilst performing as an HR Advisor however this was a whole new level of responsibility. The buck now stopped with me and there wasn’t anyone else to defer to. It’s the challenge I wanted and asked for, but it was one that I knew I’d have to go the extra mile for in order to be successful. My approach to all aspects of the role had to be refined and my knowledge across all relevant areas of HR had to become more granular. I couldn’t have asked for more support from Ambition and the Senior Leadership team, and I’ll forever be grateful to them for their input and guidance. I’ve always had a learning mindset and have never shied away from hard work and this has allowed me to learn and grow at the right tempo throughout my journey.

3. Tell us about a new skill you’ve learned while working here.

It may not fall into a traditional “Skills List” by name, but it’s one that’s fundamental to my role and I believe is something that should be at the core of every role in an organisation and without question in our industry….. and that’s “People.” It’s an all-encompassing term and it focuses both internally and externally. Yes, learning about the administrative/legal/operational sides of HR are all important and necessary for that function to run cohesively within an organisation, however, at the core of all of that and what everything traces back to in relevance/subject matter…. is people. My levels of communication have improved and become more effective as I’ve grown throughout my time at Ambition: listening, disseminating information, creating a psychologically safe environment for people to talk without judgement, empathising, investing in and getting to know people, and what makes them tick/their motivations, guiding people to come to the answer rather than telling them, learning to navigate the Exec and Board landscape and how to communicate effectively at those levels – all of these people focused communication areas have been areas of learning and I hope improvement over time.

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"I feel very lucky to be working for a company that understands valuing their people is an action based pursuit. I've consistantly been encouraged to express my thoughts on where I'd like my career to take me, and subsequently been given the opportunity to learn and grow in those areas." - Linda McEvilly, discussing flexibility and parental leave with Jenny McDonald.

​> Watch the Flexibility and Parental Leave video with Linda McEvilly and Jenny McDonald

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