“It’s not you, it’s me”

It’s the classic fob-off that we all dread to hear, and if we do, we dismiss it as a feeble attempt to sugar-coat the truth. Really, how often is this NOT the case?

Well, today it really isn’t.

The old it’s-not-you-it’s-me line was pretty much the essence of my decision to leave BLT. But I don’t do so running away manically, blinded by the horrors I witnessed within the recruitment world. As a fresh graduate, dragging my feet into full-time employment, I found BLT exciting, nurturing and fun to be a part of, and though I have decided recruitment is not what I currently want to pursue in the long-term, all of these qualities still stand true for BLT. The team are friendly, supportive, committed and kind – everything I could have asked for in my first exposure to a professional environment. More importantly, Don and the other directors didn’t scare me away by frantically waving blank invoices and unmet sales targets in my face, wondering why I hadn’t raked in big money within my first month. They understood that it would take time, training and patience to develop good and solid skills for recruitment.

Next week I’ll be starting an internship with Amnesty International. Short of denouncing secular life for a religious calling, my next move is pretty far removed from Management Consultancy recruitment as one might imagine. But it’s a chance for me to channel what interests me academically and personally in a constructive and productive way. My want to be active and mobile, campaigning for causes I believe in, trying to deliver change in places that are long over-due would have always left me with a sense of restlessness – whether I’d been in recruitment, accounting, marketing or any other solid career path that doesn’t bemusedly ask what on earth you expected to do with a history degree. Not even a year out of university, I’ve no idea what career path I’ll carve for myself, but I’ll always know BLT is where I started to chip into my potential. As the team celebrates BLT’s 25th birthday and remain the preferred recruiter in their specialist areas, I can leave with the pride of having been part of such a successful organisation. And what with ‘BLT Deli’ and ‘BLT Snacks’ being a stones throw from my new office building, they’ll never be far from my thoughts.