Tell us something people might not know about you? I would be pretty surprised if there was anything, I am a bit of an open book! I am very family orientated and enjoy spending time with my nieces and nephews. I did hold the school record for 100m and still like to run. Plus, I was a beauty therapist for 10 years and have been known to paint nails before a Totum night out or for one of the team before a special occasion. What is your background? Following 10 years as a beauty therapist, I decided I wanted a change. I liked the idea of working in London and as a very sociable person I wanted to work in a larger office with the ability to learn something new. I certainly got that here as the role is so varied: one minute I could be liaising with clients and candidates, the next raising invoices, organising events, agreeing budgets, etc. What did you want to be when you were growing up? I wanted to be a lawyer. I was always interested in law and among others loved the film Erin Brockovich, where she discovers injustice in a poor and ill community and against the odds takes on the bad guys. I get quite emotional with any story where good wins over ‘evil’.

Changing careers

How did you go about changing careers – beauty therapist to team coordinator seem quite different? I looked at the skills I had as a beauty therapist that could be transferable, e.g. professionalism, friendly and approachable manner, excellent time management, good listener, flexibility… And I focused on those when I started looking. I use all those skills in this role. Plus, I looked for a firm that is open to different kinds of people and that can see potential. I love to learn and there is lots of opportunity to do that here. What are your favourite projects? I love organising events – both marketing events and Totum’s quarterly parties! As I work across the business I can organise marketing breakfast meetings, networking events, quiz nights, and recently the International Women’s Day event. I particularly enjoy the Ted Baker and French Connection networking events we have held for BD and marketing clients, as you spend a lot of time emailing and calling them and these get-togethers are a nice opportunitiy to put a face to a name. Everyone is also given a discount so I can do a little bit of shopping at the same time! And it’s pretty rewarding seeing the end-result, when all your hard work comes together in one shared experience. What are your top tips for candidates? Although I am not a consultant, I am quite often the first person a new candidate meets. First impressions really do matter so be mindful of how you greet everyone in the company, treat everyone well and equally. Quite often the consultants and directors will ask for my opinion and how I was greeted, so it is part of the recruitment process. I know this is also definitely the case in some of the law firms we work with. If you would like to find out more about Totum, or talk to Tiffany about her experiences and role at Totum, she can be contacted at Tiffany.Sims@TotumPartners.com