This year we are delighted to say that we have three nominees shortlisted for the REC Awards. We have been shortlisted in three categories, Newcomer of the Year, Recruitment Team of the Year, and Temp Recruiter of the Year. To get to know our nominees a little better, we interviewed Karen Kangley who is nominated as Newcomer of the Year. Karen is a relative newcomer to recruitment having worked in another sector for 16 years however since taking on her role at CK, she has been fantastic, making over one hundred placements in a year!

Tell us a little bit about your background before recruitment and how you have gravitated to this role?

My background is largely in catering and hospitality. I gravitated towards ‘back of house’ and have been everything from a pot washer to a sous chef of a 3 AA rosette restaurant and, later in life, a catering manager. I was a bit late to the game embarking on my degree and did this part-time over six years (while getting married and having a baby in between, resulting in many grey hairs!)

After this I dipped my toes very briefly in sales, I realized that enjoyed it but wanted something more rewarding which led me to pursue a career in recruitment.

Tell us a bit about your role.

I work in a team of five here at CK Group which handles temporary and contract clinical recruitment. We handle a variety of roles within the clinical space (Clinical Project Managers, Research Nurses, Pharmacovigilance professionals, and Medical Writers to name a few) which keeps things fresh and interesting. I love working as part of a supportive team at CK Group – I feel really lucky to enjoy coming to work every day.

What have been your challenges in the past year?

A massive career change from around 16 years in a different industry was definitely daunting, there was a lot to learn- at times it could feel a little overwhelming and I’d naturally doubt myself but I’m really glad I stuck with it.

What has been your proudest moment at CK this past year?

My proudest moment has been working on the GRAIL project which involved recruiting over 120 clinical research professionals nationwide to roll out a pioneering early-cancer detection study. It was definitely a big challenge but feels great to know our team played a small part in such important clinical research which hopefully one day may become commonplace in the way the healthcare system detects early cancer development.

What has been your career highlight so far?

Being nominated for the Best Newcomer of the Year and as part of the Team of the Year at this year’s REC awards.

How does it feel to have been nominated?

Surreal and exciting in equal measures. I didn’t expect it but feel honoured!

A word from Karen’s Manager

“Karen has done a fantastic job since she started here at CK over a year ago, not only taking on a new role in recruitment having worked in a completely different industry, but sourcing staff for a very important outsourced recruitment project early cancer detection study.” Russell Oakley, Associate Director