The call I almost ignored

Indri came from hospitality, beauty, and logistics. Recruitment was never the plan, until a single LinkedIn message rerouted everything. When Robert Walters first reached out to her on LinkedIn, she was already deep into interviews for another logistics role. She almost did not reply. Nearly four years later, she is a Senior Consultant in Sales & Marketing, and the person candidates in her market call first, even when they are not actively looking for a job. This is her story, in her own words. 

Recruitment was never part of the plan. I was in the middle of another job process, a logistics role, when Robert Walters' Regional Talent Acquisition team found me on LinkedIn. I remembered a friend of mine worked in the industry, and I thought, why not. So, I agreed to a conversation. I did not expect that one chat to redefine the next four years of my life.

What surprised me most was not the job itself. It was how much it opened my eyes to a world bigger than my own. I had spent years in hospitality, beauty, and logistics, industries where I thought I understood people fairly well. But recruitment put me in conversations with businesses I had never encountered, leadership styles I had never seen up close. More than that, I started to notice something I had not expected: most people are not just looking for a job. They are looking for work that genuinely means something to them. Realising how many people carry that quietly is what pulled me in.

I will not pretend the transition was seamless. Coming from a non-traditional background, you are suddenly expected to hold real conversations with senior stakeholders, learn entire industries from scratch, and build credibility fast. There were months I had to find my footing on my own.

What got me through it was realising my background had already prepared me, just not in the way I expected. Hospitality and beauty teach you a specific kind of attentiveness. You learn to read a room. You pick up on what someone needs before they have finished saying it. That instinct carried straight into recruitment. It helps me see the opportunity in what a client or candidate is not saying, not just what they are.

One of my first placements is the one I still think about. A candidate came to me wanting to stay in her field, but she was looking for work with real purpose behind it, not just the next available role. I took the time to properly understand what she actually wanted, beyond what was on her CV. I placed her at a mining company. Four years later, she is still there, still growing, and still doing work she is proud of.

That was the moment recruitment clicked for me.

It is not a transaction. Done properly, it is understanding someone well enough that you genuinely change the direction of their life.

Over the years, I have built relationships with a lot of candidates across the logistics, energy and industrial space. What I am proudest of is not a number on a placement board, it is the fact that many of them still come back. Not always because they are job hunting, but because they want to talk to someone who understands their world. That kind of trust takes years to build, and you cannot manufacture it. You either invest in people, or you do not.

People sometimes ask if recruitment is a cutthroat, sales-driven environment. At Robert Walters, it has never felt that way to me. It is competitive, yes, but it is genuinely collaborative. The friendships I have made here, the ones still around and the ones who have moved on, are honestly a big part of why I stayed.

If you are in hospitality, beauty, operations, or any non-traditional background, wondering whether your skills translate, they do. If you genuinely enjoy connecting with people, if you are curious about how different businesses work, and if you can push through the slower months knowing a good one is coming, this career can take you somewhere you did not expect.

And it all started with a message I almost ignored.

Indri's story started with a message she almost ignored. Yours could start with exploring our internal opportunities today.