Vol.15 – Balancing Family and Career: Walking the Path to Success with the Team
Continuing our Meet the Team series, today we met with Yuko Comotto, Senior Recruitment Consultant with 3 years under her belt at Centre People, and 4 years previously in recruitment. We discussed the balance of work life between raising a family and developing her career, and her growth into a company leader for IT recruitment.
Briefly, how did you get started in recruitment?
“I had sales experience in Japan, and when I moved to the UK, I gained about 4 years’ experience at another recruitment company, before taking maternity leave and focusing on raising a family. When I was ready to work again, I wanted to return to recruitment as I really enjoyed it. This industry is all about the people, internally and externally, our connection with the people and how we communicate is really important. If we can place the position, everyone is happy – I really like this fact.”
What’s something your clients and candidates might be surprised to learn about you?
“I think it would be interesting to talk about my experience in Japan; I was a Sales Representative for 3 and a half years, working for a company in industrial waste management! Which doesn’t sound very pretty or glamorous at all. I went to the recycling factories, and my company would collect the waste from these factories – I actually really enjoyed it! The company itself was very modern, we had company trips to the beach, and the office used laptops and no desks, and we could listen to music while we worked. It was a great experience!”
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
“Well before having children, I used to go yearly to music festivals, like Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, and I went surfing and diving, I was very active. Now, I spend my free time chasing my two kids! We recently started camping, which is new for us – so my life is all about my family, and I love it.”
You’ve developed a particular focus on IT positions and have been very successful in this – how did you develop this speciality?
“It’s funny, I’m not great with IT but I’ve been successful placing these roles in IT companies! I think it’s because I’m quite logical, and I like connecting with people – it’s about identifying people’s needs. IT is more about looking for hard skillsets, so I need to understand how to connect to these people, and what I’m looking for. I think I’m quite strong in this, so it’s helped me grow a lot.”
Is there a moment from your career that you’re proud of?
“I think this is the first time I’ve stepped into doing something as part of a team – I’ve always been more of an individual player, so I like hitting targets, and I’m very focussed. I couldn’t see if I’d be able to step in and properly help others, so this is the first time I’ve had to help the team.”
“So I can say that building the IT team from scratch, and supporting the junior members, giving them practical advice – I’m very proud of this in my career, and proud of myself for doing it.”
What motivates you to do well in your daily work?
“I really like our company philosophy, “making everyone involved happy”. I enjoy achieving targets and improving sales figures, but my true motivation comes from understanding people, their strengths, and connecting them to companies. These elements, I really enjoy.”
We’re lucky to have Yuko on our team, and we’re so excited to see how the contact improvements to teamwork at CPA! Feel free to connect with her here on LinkedIn, and follow us to meet more of our fantastic consultants!
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