From product marketing to recruitment

Ruby Lin is a principal consultant recruiting IT roles in our Taiwan business. Starting her career as a professional recruitment consultant in 2012, she talks about transferring her skills into her new career, what she loves about the role and the culture in our Taipei office.

Why did you make the move into recruitment?

Before I decided to change my career, I had been working for over seven years as a product marketer in the electronics industry. Without an academic engineering background, I faced a bottleneck in my career progression and wanted to try something different but feared I might lose my expertise when making a career change. So, I discussed it with my mentor and he suggested that recruitment would be a good option as I’d be able to leverage my connections and industry knowledge and add value to the role. Robert Walters is a well-established brand globally and they had just opened a new office in Taiwan. I decided it would be a great opportunity for me to grow and make a difference to the company – it’s a decision that I have never regretted!

How did you successfully transfer your skills?

As a product marketer, I interacted with manufacturers, sales people, engineers and customers on a day-to-day basis, so I’d developed strong communication and stakeholder management skills. These soft skills were highly transferable into recruitment. Additionally, my familiarity with the industry meant I could easily understand what my candidates wanted to pursue and what clients were looking for in their hires. This helped raise my credibility, allowing me to quickly build trust with both clients and candidates.

What do you love most about your role?

From the start, I could see plenty of opportunities to challenge myself and progress my career. When I joined Robert Walters in 2012, my first goal was to expand the candidate database in the technology sector. It’s not always easy to start from scratch, but I received great support from my colleagues and our team is still rapidly growing. I’ve also moved up the career ladder quite quickly, going from senior consultant to principal consultant within five years. On top of that I get a lot of satisfaction out of my job as I help candidates grow their careers and see them enjoying their new roles.

How would you describe the culture in the Taipei office?

The Taipei office is a fun and positive atmosphere to work in and the team also enjoy regular gatherings and team building activities outside of office hours. The supportive management and strong team bonding is one of the things that makes our culture so unique.

Why work for Robert Walters in Taiwan?

The consultants at Robert Walters Taiwan come from various professional backgrounds. Our company offers excellent training and support to help you identify how your skills can be transferred to a recruitment role. If you are someone who possesses excellent communication skills, enjoys teamwork and are eager to make a breakthrough in your career working for a global brand then Robert Walters Taiwan is a great choice for you.

Interested in a job in recruitment? Send your up to date CV to serena.pook@robertwalters.com