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When it comes to the business of being a recruiter, there can be a lot of angst around the idea of working on a cold desk and building your client and candidate list from scratch. It’s daunting, sure – there’ll be a lot of hard work and rejection on the way to success. But what most recruiters don’t realise is how much opportunity comes with the cold build, and how much easier it can actually be!

Our Land Development Consultant, Luke Grakovich, started at Fetch only a few months ago, and started on a desk that was not only new to Fetch but completely new to him. In the short time he’s been here, Luke has had immense success in building our expertise in this area, so we thought we’d chat to him about how he’s gone about growing this space from nothing, and all the positives that come along with it.

Tell us a bit about your background and how you got into recruitment. What do you enjoy about it?

My background is incredibly diverse and somewhat random. Previously I have worked as part of a specialist unit in the Military, a careers adviser for a fitness institute, a wine waiter whilst travelling and living overseas in London, a tour guide, a job coach and a recruitment consultant. As many have said before me, I fell into sales after leaving the military. It wasn’t long before I  discovered that I wasn’t qualified for any civilian job, so I started in sales and fundraising and I loved it. I had heard of recruitment many moons ago and was not sure what it involved or what it was exactly, however it did intrigue me. I enjoy recruitment because it is fast-paced and challenging. I meet and speak with many different people every week, and every day is different so I get the opportunity to shape my experience.

What did you find most appealing about the opportunity at Fetch when it was presented to you?

The company culture and how Fetch operate compared to the other recruiters out there was very appealing to me. Having previously worked for one of the largest global agencies, I had experienced the good, bad and ugly parts of their business model. I wanted to find a company and culture that I believed understood that productivity and results could still come along whilst people have a good time at work. That didn’t come with unnecessary pressure and stress weighing down on the shoulders of their employees. I love the culture here and I feel like I’m part of a wider team. Despite not ever having built a desk from scratch before, I feel completely supported by the leadership team and my colleagues.

Most people talk about how difficult it is to start cold in recruitment, but what about the opportunities it provides? Give us the pros instead of the cons! 

Most of the candidates and clients I speak to have never heard of Fetch Recruitment, or know very little about what we do and how we do it. This sounds bad, but it actually gives me a unique opportunity to shape their experience right from the start. The database that I work with are all relevant candidates to my desk, and client information is all up to date because I am in control of the process.

Also, because it’s a cold desk, there are little to no restrictions as to where I can recruit location-wise, or for what types of roles within my space. A lot of larger “hot” desks are split in an alphabetical (name of the client) or geographical (suburbs or areas) way, leading to considerable restrictions and conflict with colleagues over candidates or clients. I don’t have these challenges on my desk.

You’ve had a lot of success in your role since you started at Fetch. What’s your secret?

I try my best to listen and learn. I have two senior managers who have many years experience recruiting in this area. They have both had a huge amount of success, so when they give me advice and suggestions I try to take it all on board. I try to emulate their techniques whilst shaping them to my own individual recruitment style. I also know activity breeds results, so I try to keep busy!

Where to from here in your career? 

I want to become brilliant at the basics! I want to keep learning and developing my skills and knowledge within my technical market as a recruitment consultant. In the future, I think it would be an interesting challenge to assist in training and helping others. Obviously not for a while, but definitely one day!

So if you’re a recruiter feeling daunted about the idea of starting on a cold desk, hopefully this has given you a new perspective. Instead of feeling scared, take a leaf from Luke’s book and consider the positives and opportunities that come with it. The sky’s the limit – good luck!

Luke Grakovich is a Consultant at Fetch Recruitment specialising in the Land Development space. You can connect with Luke on LinkedIn here.