Careers In Recruitment For The Over 40's

Soon after I started in my recruitment career in the early 1990’s, straight out of uni, fresh faced and brimming with enthusiasm, my father highlighted a concern.

“There’s something wrong at your company”, he said, “there’s no-one there over 40 – the staff, the managers, the directors – they’re all under 40 – where are all the over 40’s?”.

This was a remarkably prescient comment. He was a wise old soul, my dear dad, particularly for somebody who’d left school at 14 and had limited interest in standard career paths and corporate heirarchy.

So the next day I asked my (28 year old) manager the same question. “Well, that’s easy”, he said, “By 40 you’ve either burnt out and gone to do an easier job or you’ve made your money and retired rich!”. I liked that response. A lot.

Well, I’m 45 today and still in recruitment. I don’t think I’m burnt out (well, I hope not) and I’m not rich enough to retire (but with 5 kids I’m not sure I ever will be) and I’m still going strong. So maybe there’s a 3rd option – you keep doing it if you genuinely love it. Which I do. In fact, I’m one of those sad people who, if I won the £162m EuroMillions lottery, would probably spend a month at Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados and then come straight back to work because I’d miss it.

And we have quite a few ‘over 40’s’ recruiters at MRL, too – committed, happy, dedicated successful, career recruiters. Turns out there are quite a few of us around.  Which is good. Good for the industry, good for clients, good for candidates, good for MRL and good for the depth of knowledge and experience they bring to younger colleagues.

Burnt out or retired rich by 40? You’re having a laugh! It’s a vocation, a passion and a life long journey.

(MRL has offices in the UK, France and Germany and we’re are hiring in all locations. Over 40’s very welcome to apply!)