Ivy Recruitment Partners is a for boutique to medium sized financial planning firms across Melbourne and Kim Eveleigh is the powerhouse behind it all.
How did Ivy Recruitment Partners come to life?
I owned another recruitment agency for nine years and after returning from maternity leave with my third child, my then business partner and I decided it was time to go our separate ways. This is when I met Mandy from Canny Group who assisted through the sales process (she was amazing!). When we settled I sold my shares, established Ivy Recruitment Partners and I haven’t looked back!
How long has Ivy Recruitment Partners been up and running for?
Seven amazing months! As part of the sale I was able to take my clients with me and I anticipated just working on those roles. However it has absolutely taken off and completely surpassed any of my expectations that I previously had.
What do you love about your job?
The relationships most of all! I have amazing relationships with my clients and due to this they always give me repeat business which is incredible. Some of my clients are like friends now. Because of the relationships I have built, I get many referrals which means I regularly get new financial planning businesses contacting me off the back of my existing relationships.
I love dealing with candidates. There are some candidates that I placed many years ago in junior roles who have worked their way up and are now my clients!
I also wouldn’t be a recruiter if I didn’t enjoy the satisfaction of making placements – it’s not only the thrill of placing a great candidate (particularly the junior candidates when you hear them squeal with delight that they’ve been offered their dream role), but also the praise the client gives when you’ve secured them their ideal candidate and how pleased they are that they’re been provided a great service.
It’s a pretty lucrative career as well. If you love it… you do it well.
Is your job exciting or do you just look at peoples resumes all day?
It has its highs and lows. One day you have multiple roles on with candidates going out to interviews and making placements and it’s so motivating! Then the next day, you might have a candidate withdraw or another agency fills the role you are working on (as there are a few businesses that use several agencies for one role), or it could be that something else happens and the placement you thought you were to to make just simply doesn’t happen. That’s when you turn it up a notch and go into overdrive to fill the roles for your clients.
You certainly do look at a lot of resumes, but having been in recruitment for 13 years now, it’s second nature and I can easily pick a top candidate out of 50 applications through quick screening.
What’s planned for the future of Ivy Recruitment Partners?
At the moment, I absolutely love having the flexibility and freedom of working for myself around the kids as life is busy with three! However, I have so much business coming through, much more so than I had anticipated, that I might need to look at bringing on another consultant sooner rather than later. Ideally, I’d like to continue as I am until my littlest reaches kinder and hopefully I am able to do that. At that point, I’ll be back talk to Mandy about how to build the business and put a plan into place.
How do I get into contact or find our more about Ivy Recruitment Partners?
You can e-mail me directly at kim@ivyrecruitmentpartners.com.au.
I am always on LinkedIn as well so that’s another good way to make contact!
Kim Eveleigh – Director
Ivy Recruitment Partners