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​Sally Cordwell, Principal Consultant in the Front-Line Talent team, has been on her MERJE journey for three years now. Here, we get to know Sally a little more, as well as chatting about her time with the business so far.

April 2021 marks your three-year anniversary of working at MERJE. Most importantly, how are you going to celebrate?

Well, it’s a double celebration as it’s also my birthday around the same time. Usually we celebrate on the ski slopes, but I think a nice bottle of fizz and time with friends and family will be just as nice.

How have you found your time in the business so far?

I can honestly say, I have loved every minute. I almost didn’t join MERJE as I had two offers on the table and kept thinking it sounded too good to be true, but I really clicked with Neil when I met him.

Not only was he a great and funny guy, I could see that he was extremely knowledgeable of the customer contact industry. With his expertise there to bolster my own, I knew I would be able to learn a lot from him and together we would find plenty of new and exciting opportunities in the market. So I thought, let’s give these guys a go, what can go wrong? And I've never looked back!

And what are you excited for in the future of your role at MERJE?

After Q1 2021 being the best quarter of my entire recruitment career, in spite of everything that’s happened in the past year, I am very excited to see what the future holds at MERJE.

Firstly, the Front-Line Talent team has had some great successes recently – a fantastic start to 2021, expansion into Scotland, new team members and more. We have an incredibly strong team in place and we’re extremely busy, so much so that we're looking for another consultant to join us!

As well as this, we’ve seen huge changes in the contact centre world since the pandemic began. It’s been amazing to see how businesses have adapted to these difficult circumstances and how the employment market has completely changed because of it.

I am incredibly excited to continue partnering with clients on volume campaigns, exploring new avenues of the Front-Line Talent arena and further building on our success as a team.

Give us a brief overview of the roles and industries which the Front-Line Talent team specialises in.

We recruit a diverse range of candidates within FLT. Mainly telephony agents and admin based roles, but we also recruit in more niche areas such as quality analysts, resource planners, team managers and PAs/EAs. Our focus is minimum wage up to around £35,000 around the whole of the UK and we cover temporary, permanent and contracting positions.

MERJE Front-Line Talent is doing exceedingly well, with plenty of business activity and a recent new addition to the team, and there are plans to expand even further! What opportunities are available in the FLT team and what qualities are you looking out for when considering applicants?

Yes, we really have had an amazing start to the year and I am looking to bring in another consultant who will fit into our bonkers busy and crazy team. I think the best thing about our team is that we have an honest and thorough approach, not only with each other, but also with our clients and candidates. We work hard and genuinely celebrate each-others’ success.

I am looking for someone who can work autonomously and who is hungry to build their own brand within the Front-Line Talent arena, while focusing on building long lasting client and candidate relationships. They should have a good judge of character, be able to spin many plates at once and not be afraid to pick up the phone. I think we have a brilliant team and our success is down to the fact that we work collaboratively, get on well and are honest with each other.

Now, some quick fire questions:

Favourite MERJE moment so far?

It has to be the Barcelona summer social in 2019. We were truly spoiled from start to finish, it was amazing!

Give a quick piece of advice to candidates in your market.

Ensure your CV reads well, the dates match up and it’s relevant to the job you’re applying for. Also, always check through and update an old CV before submitting it.

If you could go on any TV show, which would you choose?

That’s a really tough question… I used to think I’d make quite a good quiz show host (like a female Ant or Dec), but these days I’d happily settle for being a contestant on Saturday Night Takeaway.

Describe the MERJE culture in three words.

Flexible, honest and happy

How is your house renovation coming along?

We’ve made lots of progress in the past 12 months. We usually spend all of our money on our main addiction - family holidays, so with that out of the question in 2020, we put the money towards the house and garden, including finally adding stairs after five years of climbing up a ladder.

The past five years have been a long, challenging journey, but we have learned so much along the way. Our hard work and determination is beginning to pay off and we can now see a light at the end of the tunnel, living in a house we love and a garden we can (hopefully) soon enjoy with our family and friends. We would never, ever take on a project like this again though!

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To talk to Sally about your Front-Line Talent recruitment requirements, or if you’re interested in joining the MERJE team, please feel free to get in touch: scordwell@merje.com