From a fancy office building to a simple phone call, the world of recruitment brings new experiences every day. Thanks to our internship, we were able to experience an industry that we were unaware of, but so glad we did!

The recruitment industry is a niche yet important field, running to help organisations find the right person for the right job or vice versa. Specialist recruitment companies bridge the gap between client and candidate, building meaningful relationships to make sure everyone benefits. As interns, we had the privilege of experiencing this unique industry and understanding its ins and outs, which are built upon human connections.

Recently, both of us were placed as interns at Project Resource Partners (PRP) and this was an interesting and eye-opening experience that allowed us both to learn and expand our understanding of the real workforce. Working almost behind the scenes, PRP are specialists in the recruitment industry focusing on business and technology transformation as well as change management. Putting the big words aside, PRP displayed their ability to act as the middleman between client and candidate and develop relations to ensure the right role finds the right person. The process of recruitment changes a business for the better, across various fields.

Even though we had many preconceptions and initially felt anxious, these thoughts disappeared on our first day as we were welcomed with open arms. Being treated as real employees, we completed many of the same daily tasks our colleagues were carrying out, from candidate calling, meeting candidates and sorting through resumes!

Speaking with candidates for certain active roles really allowed us to develop our communication skills in a professional setting, to build caring relationships. To add on, our technological skills improved by using certain software, and then assisting in the transfer of data to improved software which was a really exciting process. We applied our intern tasks into our own lives, by fixing up our CVs to be more eye-catching and straight to the point, and better understanding LinkedIn and Seek to use to our advantage. These responsibilities and tasks gave us tertiary students insight into what careers after our studies may entail.

From this internship, our hands-on experience broadened our employability skills to make ourselves better employees for our own careers. Our placement was definitely a positive highlight, all thanks to the amazing team at PRP. They gave us the opportunity to learn and grow in a positive working environment, pushing us to improve and obtain skills which are more foreign to university students. However, we can definitely walk away feeling more accomplished and ready for the real working world. Thanks to PRP, we discovered that there is more to recruitment than meets the eye!

By Sara Matar and Austin Swamy (Biomedical Science Students at Monash University)