SO Careers - Meet Team Leader, Mandy Teow

Mandy Teow joined Spencer Ogden in 2019 and started to grow her long-term career after stumbling across recruitment via a friend. Read more about her story below.

What initially attracted you to recruitment and why did you choose to work at SO?

As an accounting graduate, I began my career as an auditor, which didn’t last very long. I stumbled into recruitment through a friend who recommended that I join him in a recruitment startup firm. One of the things that attracted me to recruitment is the ability to have control over my earnings and career growth within my role. There is no bias towards age or how many years of experience someone has worked; It’s all about your performance and results. I was headhunted by one of Spencer Ogden’s in-house recruiters. I was really drawn in by the award-winning academy training that is provided. I believe that I would like to excel in recruitment and develop a good foundation for my career.

When did you start working at SO?

I started working at SO three years ago.

How did you achieve the promotion to Team Leader? Is there any advice you can offer to consultants looking to take the next step in their career?

When I was a consultant, I was given the chance to mentor one of the trainees during lockdown. It was difficult at the start, because I didn’t know how to manage my tasks and my time while mentoring someone else. Eventually, it became easier as the trainee developed his skills and became successful. This made me feel a sense of achievement and that is when I realized that I would like to be a Team leader; so that I can share my knowledge and help others grow. I’ve managed to achieve this promotion to Team Leader by balancing my own workload while taking time to support other’s development.

I believe that other consultants who would like to grow and take the next step in their career should focus on quality over quantity. This could mean building relationships and adding value to their candidates and clients, rather than focusing on transactional relationships. This could also mean acting selflessly and supporting your team members.

How has your manager helped you achieve this promotion?

I’ve always been focused on my career growth and working towards promotion. I have always made my goals clear to my manager and then he would guide me by showing how I can achieve my targets. There were times where I felt like reaching promotion was impossible and out of reach. Dave has shown me how achievable it can be, by breaking down my bigger targets into mini manageable targets. By making small changes every day within my work, I’ve managed to move towards my promotion at pace.

What training has SO offered you to support your personal growth to date?

Upon joining SO, I was immediately enrolled into our award-winning academy where I had the chance to learn from experts within the Learning & Development team who had flown over from Singapore. Over the years, I have been exposed to various training pathways including The Emerging Leaders Program, Mastery Program, Mentor Development Program and more. Most recently, I had the chance to fly over to Singapore and meet the leaders from APAC during our APAC Leadership Summit which has been very insightful towards my growth in leadership.

Recruitment has its challenges - how do you stay motivated?

Throughout my journey in SO, I’ve encountered many ups and downs in the industry. I have been through the crash in economy due to the pandemic which has affected recruitment and many other industries. One of the most important lessons I ‘ve learned is that being determined, persistent and consistent is the key to success. This means that despite facing any adversities, we should keep moving forward and making as much progress as we can. By doing so, we will be able to reap the results and that will create a feeling of motivation enabling us to push through every single day.

What are your top 3 tips for a graduate considering a career in recruitment?

1. Having grit and determination despite difficulty is crucial as this is a driver of achievement and success.

2. Having a problem-solving mindset as you’ll face different challenges throughout your career.

3. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes as you’ll learn from these failures and grow.

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