Anyone who knows me will understand that the thought of six months of not working was always going to be a challenge for me. I love all aspects of my job and the recruitment sector (Well… most of them!) The time I had out of recruitment was difficult, rewarding and ultimately, has been a great experience for me.I have the attention span of a goldfish and have too much energy to be stuck at home between four walls - to make it worse it was winter, which is my least favourite time of year. There was an opportunity to do all of those things that I never had enough time for - visiting family, spending time with a close friend on maternity leave and cleaning the house…. It was great…… but I decided I needed to get a job!Now what do you do when you are a one-trick pony? You know how to do one job in great detail and to a high standard, but would I be able to do anything else? (and would anyone else have me?!)I looked at jobs in pubs, restaurants and supermarkets, anything to stimulate me and spend some time with people, but nothing appealed. My life for the last 18 years has been in an office so that was where I thought I needed to be. I managed to secure a temporary contract through Venatu at a company specialising in the sale of fuel pellets. They needed a “winter temp” earning minimum wage. It immediately gave me a reason to get out of bed in a morning and talk on the phone, which everyone will know I can do very well! It reinvigorated my life and I felt a bit more like me again.A fantastic lady called Claire Hoyles hired me and we got on very well from the start. This helped me climb out of my state of boredom and lack of morale. I will be forever grateful to her, I know we will always stay in touch as friends.I think a period of reflection and trying something new has done me the world of good. It has helped me to understand what is important to me, who my closest friends are and taught me to economise! It has taught me to try different supermarkets to try to make our money go further and I am now a big fan of Aldi! Who knew how good their food is?!My major highlight of my six-month sabbatical was realised on February 26th, 2019! I was able to achieve one of my lifelong dreams and I bought a puppy! I am highly allergic to all animals, so this was never going to happen in my world. However, I researched and received new antihistamines, an air purifier and prayed. Well it has worked we now have a gorgeous Cavapoo called Chewy (black, tan and white) and he is my most amazing thing in my world (Apologies to my husband!). I get to bring him to work with me every day and he makes us all smile every day. He even gets to spend most days with Nik’s dog, Paisley and with Gillian’s dog, Poppy.

If I had not had those six months out of my day job these amazing things would never have happened to me. I do not have children (and have no plans!), so this was the closest I will ever get to taking the ‘time-out benefits’ of a maternity leave! Starting up the Pratap Partnership has been the most rewarding experience of my career. I am a shareholder of the company with some of my closest friends in recruitment. We all have the same standards, drive and we support each other in everything we do. I feel like I am back!