Starting with a purpose – my journey so far with AAB People!

Tyler Stevens joined the AAB People team at the end of last year, and since then has had the opportunity to support a range of our fantastic clients in the Technology, Life Sciences and Engineering sectors. She provides internal HR administration and recruitment support to our team of consultants, as well as helping to directly support some of our innovative, high-growth clients.

Tyler reflects on her first few months in the role of HR Administrator and her experience of joining and onboarding with us during a pandemic.

About me / My journey so far

I graduated from Heriot-Watt University in 2019 with a first-class degree in International Business Management, where I was given the opportunity to study overseas for a semester in Malaysia.

I initially gained experience with an Edinburgh based recruitment firm where my role was focussed on providing dedicated support to contractors, temporary workers and clients within Financial Services. I was looking for my next role where I could begin my career in Human Resources. It was a field that I had always found attractive, and AAB People stood out to me as a very exciting and forward-thinking company to work with. I’ve loved every part of my first four months so far!

My role/What I do

As a HR Administrator, I support both the HR Consultants in my team and some clients directly. I was the first person to join the team in his newly created role and it has really given me a sense of belonging already. I love that every day supporting our consultants and clients is varied, bringing new and exciting challenges and opportunities.

The following list is certainly not exhaustive, but it provides an overview of just some of the areas for which I provide support and have developed my experience:

• HR administration – supporting both our HR Consultants and clients.
• Monitoring client mailboxes – offering responsive assistance, answering queries or escalating as required.
• Recruitment – from salary benchmarking, advertising, managing candidate response, interview arrangements, managing offers and setting up employment contracts.
• Maintaining employee records and reporting in clients HRIS systems.  
• Onboarding, training and offboarding – references, pre-employment checks, supporting employees with systems training, supporting leaver processes and exit interviews.

Starting a new job during a pandemic

This seems daunting… but I promise it doesn’t have to be! Starting a new job is nerve wracking at the best of times but AAB People made this a great experience.

Video Interviewing seems to be the new norm – I didn’t have experience of this previously, but AAB People made the whole process smooth and accessible.

From the beginning, my team have made me feel extremely welcome. I’ve been able to get to know everyone and fit in nicely – despite only having met most of them though video call! I have been doing lots of training and have been able to get up to speed with our clients quickly. Remote training was something I was unsure about, however screen sharing and Teams calls makes it super easy to have discussions and knowledge share remotely. Most importantly, I’ve been made to feel a valued member of the team and it is great to hear positive feedback from clients on my contributions so far.   

My top 3 tips for starting a new job during a pandemic:

1. Connect with your co-workers. Despite physical distance, you can still get to know your team. At Purpose, we make sure to have regular ‘no-work chat’ video calls.
2. Celebrate small successes. It’s important to keep a positive mindset.
3. Don’t be scared to ask for help and feedback! Learning remotely can be tough but your teammates are there to help.

Future studies and learning

AAB People is a great learning environment and there is so much knowledge within the team that I can absorb. I am looking to further develop myself academically and will soon begin studying for my CIPD qualifications, which AAB People will be supporting me through every step of the way. I am very excited about the opportunity to develop my skills to add value to our purpose driven clients!

Contact us to find out more about our flexible and tailored HR solutions for early stage and high growth businesses.

We are still hiring too so please get in touch if you’d like to know more about opportunities to work as part of our purpose-driven team!