Meet Ray and find out about her life as head of talent acquisition at Universal Music UK. Part of our Bitesize world of work series.
Ray: I'm Ray Pope and I'm head of talent acquisitions for Universal Music UK.
My job is really varied. It can be anything from finding a new apprentice or an intern for one of the record labels, right the way through to a really senior head or executive of one of his record labels. Under the Universal Music umbrella we have a number of amazing record labels that we hire into. My role you don't need a formal qualification for, you just need to be wise. You need to, you need to instil trust in the wider business. You just need to be a really good relationship builder, you need to have a banging network, you need to know where to put people, you need to know how to advise people on where they should go with their careers. You need to be a confidante as well for people because, you know, they're coming and talking to you about stuff that's really important - their lives you know. So you have to be really respectful of that and help them and give them the best possible advice.
We are the windows to the label, effectively; my department and we are the first port of call when people come into the business.
I did OK at GCSE. I - I'm dyslexic. So I did, didn't do so great in the more academic stuff, but music and art and all the creative stuff I smashed that and I really enjoyed it. I want to take a gap year after I finished school, but I have strict parents. Yes, they were like, 'No, you're not getting on that barley cushion yet. You need to go to university.' So I went to Leeds and I did Popular and World Music there and I loved it, it was brilliant.
So I was like determined to be a singer because I grew up singing in church, wanted the gospel singer or an R&B singer - something like that. And it was only until I came down to London and started sort of working with temping agencies, actually, that I discovered that you could just work behind the music as well as do the music - which was really exciting. I really struggled to get in to the temping agencies when I first started out, because I had a lot of retail experience I'd always kept a job going whilst I was at uni - really important. So that when you leave school, you not completely starting from scratch with no work experience. I didn't have any office experience and you know we're in an office, so to get into the music industry it was really tough because I didn't have that transferable skill. But I wasn't, I wasn't prepared to just send my CV in and be rejected online. I went down and I knocked on some doors, you know. I door-stopped people and you know no one's immune to my charms. I managed to get in. All you need to do is just get out from behind your computer and physically go and talk to some people and that's I think best way to get a foot in the door.
No word of a lie. Every day I walk into this building I get goose bumps. I look up at it and I think 'How did I get here? I'm so lucky.' Everyone here is music obsessive and it's a bit of a melting pot for creativity and yeah, so you can't not be affected by it.
I was just a little kid and was told that I wouldn't really amount much and so to be sitting here as head of creative talent acquisition for the biggest major record label in the world is full circle for me. I just think. Yeah. You know anyone can make it if you work really hard. So don't worry if you can't spell. Don't worry if you need extra help in certain areas like and a company worth its salt would give you that support.
And, um. So, yeah. I'm proof of that.
Every day I walk into this building… I get goosebumps!
Ray is responsible for finding the right people for junior and senior job roles at her company’s record labels. She also helps employees with career advice
Ray is dyslexic and says she struggled with academic subjects but did well in Art and Music at GCSE
She says you need to be able to build good relationships and a network. It is also important to be trustworthy
You don’t have to have formal qualifications to do Ray’s job. She got into it by getting office experience through temporary employment agencies
She studied Popular and World Music at university. She originally wanted to be a gospel or R&B singer
Ray says it is tough to get into the music industry, but she worked hard and got out there to meet people.
A similar role to a talent acquisition manager is a recruitment consultant. Recruitment consultants help employers find suitable staff, and match people to permanent and temporary jobs.
What to expect if you want to be a recruitment consultant
- Recruitment consultant average salary: £16,000 to £40,000 per year
- Recruitment consultant typical working hours: 38 to 40 hours per week
What qualifications do you need to be a recruitment consultant?
You could get into this role via a university course, an apprenticeship, working towards this role or applying directly.
Sources: LMI for All, National Careers Service
This information is a guide and is constantly changing. Please check the National Careers Service website for the latest information and all the qualifications needed.
For careers advice in all parts of the UK visit: National Careers Service (England), nidirect (Northern Ireland), My World of Work (Scotland) and Careers Wales (Wales).
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