From Hospitality Management To Senior Delivery Consultant In 12 Months: Q&A With Phoebe Rees

A note from VIQU IT: Since this Q&A was published, Phoebe has moved on from VIQU IT to pursue a postgraduate qualification. We’re proud of everything she achieved during her time with us and wish her the very best as she takes on this exciting new chapter.

Considering a career as a Senior Delivery Consultant?

Working in delivery within recruitment entails writing job adverts, sourcing and vetting candidates, managing interviews, and more. It’s a rewarding role for those who enjoy matching professionals with the right opportunities and helping organisations find top talent.

Phoebe Rees joined our team in March 2025, and excelled in her initial role as a Delivery Consultant. Phoebe consistently hit her targets and moved into a senior position as a Senior Delivery Consultant at the start of 2026.

In this Q&A, Phoebe discusses her journey as a recruiter and how her previous role in hospitality management helped set her up for success.

What job did you have before getting into recruitment?

Phoebe: When I was at university, I worked in hospitality as a barista in a local café alongside my degree. After a year, I became their event manager, working full-time while studying. Then, after I graduated, my boss suggested I take over as the café’s general manager.

I loved working in hospitality and was enjoying managing my own team, but I knew that I didn’t want to work in hospitality forever, so I started exploring different options that fit my skill set.

How did you get into recruitment?

Phoebe: I already knew some people in similar positions to me who had become recruiters, and several said it was a great career that was fast-paced and enjoyable. So, I reached out to a few Rec2Rec recruiters, who specialise in hiring specifically for the recruitment sector, to see what opportunities were available.

I had never worked with a recruiter before, so I didn’t know what to expect, but they discussed my skills and experiences with me and showed me how they were transferable to recruitment. I interviewed at a few recruitment agencies, but VIQU IT stood out to me as a reputable agency that valued hard work and would offer me training and clear career progression.

How do you think working as a hospitality manager has helped you in your career as a Senior Delivery Consultant?

Phoebe: In recruitment, you have lots of hard discussions, whether that’s telling a candidate that they aren’t suitable for a role or won’t be progressed to the next stage.

As the general manager in a café, I was very used to having direct and sometimes hard conversations with suppliers and my employees. I also had experience recruiting for my team, so I understood the recruitment process and the importance of getting the right candidate for the role.

Did you have any misconceptions about recruitment?

Phoebe: I had a slight mistrust of recruiters before working with them. As a student, you can be inundated with job promises from less-than-reputable recruiters that turn out not to be good opportunities. I also just didn’t know how they worked and how they matched candidates to roles.

However, I realise now how important they are and how to interact with a recruiter effectively to secure work.

Why did you want to join VIQU IT?

Phoebe: My Rec2Rec got to know me and understood what I was looking for in an agency as my employer. I wanted to work with a professional company which also had an engaging environment and provided plenty of opportunities to have fun with colleagues. I didn’t want to work for a company with a toxic unsupportive atmosphere or where people were always stepping over each other.

Some of the recruitment agencies I talked to didn’t have a friendly atmosphere and had a high employee turnover. That is common in recruitment, but some recruitment agencies didn’t seem to want to actually support you or put in the groundwork to help you succeed in the first place.

My first interview was with Nicholas Hopkins regarding a 360-recruitment role. While I had built strong supplier relationships in my previous role within hospitality, I felt that moving into a position with a significant business development focus at that stage, without prior recruitment experience, wouldn’t play to my strengths. We agreed it would be more beneficial for me to first build my core candidate delivery skills within recruitment. Nicholas subsequently introduced me to Danielle Keegan to explore a delivery-focused opportunity, which aligned much more closely with my experience and initial career goals.

How did you find your first few months of recruitment?

Phoebe: It was a bit of a blur, if I’m honest! I felt a lot of adrenaline when I first started. I was so excited to finally get my first deal over the line and learn all of the processes correctly.

While I know that some people feel anxious about calling up candidates, my background in hospitality meant I was comfortable striking up conversations and asking the right questions right away.

Looking back on my journey from entering recruitment to becoming a Senior Delivery Consultant, the main advice I can give to anyone looking to move into an entry-level recruitment role, is to learn from your mistakes, press on, and continue doing the best you can.

What are your favourite aspects of being a Senior Delivery Consultant?

Phoebe: I love being able to match individuals to roles perfectly. Whenever I hear great feedback from clients about how I’ve been able to listen to what they need and provide them with high-quality candidates that fit their needs exactly, it’s very rewarding.

Recruitment can be filled with highs and lows, and it can take a long time to headhunt and resource a great candidate, but when you find that perfect individual, it’s just amazing.

What have been your recruitment career highlights so far?

Phoebe: In the past year, since I became a Delivery Consultant and then a Senior Delivery Consultant, I have hit my incentive targets twice. This means that I was invited on incentive trips to both Corfu and Barcelona, which were both amazing!

Professionally, Danielle has also trusted me to work directly with more clients and build on our existing relationships with them. That has been really wonderful to do, as I actively want to learn more about the client side of recruitment.

What would you like to achieve next in your career?

Phoebe: I’m really enjoying what I’m doing at the moment. Since receiving my promotion, I’ve had some great opportunities to get more involved on the client/ account management side, so I’d like to learn more about that whilst continuing to progress as a Senior Delivery Consultant.

Any tips for someone wanting to get into recruitment?

Phoebe: In recruitment, it’s really important to be resilient. You cannot take things personally, as you will have a lot of hard conversations, and sometimes people do not respond well to you. So if you want to get into recruitment, you have to be prepared for this.

Also, you should be aware that managing your time effectively is really important. If you work efficiently, especially when you are doing your administrative tasks, it can give you more time to focus on tasks that provide value, such as speaking with more candidates, which will help you get more placements across the line.

Want to become a Senior Delivery Consultant?

Please visit our Join Us page for more information on our benefits and the roles currently available, or contact our Head of Talent, Melinda Queck, directly for a confidential conversation. For further details about getting into recruitment, check out our Q&A blogs with our team members and other blogs on the topic of working in recruitment.