Meet the Team - Olivia

What is your role at VWA and how long have you been part of this awesome team?

I joined VWA as an Associate Consultant on the Temporary & Contract team in September 2023, so I’ve been here for 6 months now!

Can you please briefly describe a day in the life of an Associate Consultant?

As a trainee, I’ve been gradually learning the ins-and-outs of what it means to be a Consultant. Generally speaking, my day-to-day consists of a lot of communication with candidates (both over the phone, video call and via email), collaborating with my team on any jobs they are working on, a fair bit of admin and slowly getting exposure to working and liaising with clients.

What is your favourite thing about your job?

Getting to speak to people on a daily basis – it’s always interesting to hear everyone’s stories and speak to people from such a variety of backgrounds. Building those relationships and eventually placing someone in a job is also very gratifying!

What is your least favourite thing about your job? Careful ha ha!

In a perfect world, we would place all of our candidates in their ideal role, but in reality there’s always a little element of chance and timing involved when it comes to the job market.

What were you doing before you joined VWA?

Before joining VWA, I was living and working in Edinburgh over the summer having graduated from the University of St Andrews in June with an MA in International Relations and Russian.

That’s enough of the work questions. Let’s find out more about the non-working you!

Do you have a favourite restaurant in London?

Though I haven’t been in London long, Honest Italian in Balham is definitely a favourite local haunt – they do the perfect thin-crust pizza.

Can you please describe your perfect Sunday?

It would probably entail going on a long walk, preferable somewhere in nature. Then having a chilled afternoon with friends/family, having a nice meal – nothing crazy! I recently went out to Box Hill in Surrey to go hiking and it was the perfect day out and escape from hectic London.

Which is your favourite season and why?

Despite the onset of hay fever season, spring is my favourite. Between the days gradually getting brighter and the blossoms coming out, what’s not to love?

Dog? Cat? Neither?

I grew up with cats as pets so I’d have to say cat first! That said I’ve grown to love dogs as well in recent years…

If you could jump on a plane to anywhere in the world today, where would you go?

Ooh this is a hard question! Probably Patagonia in South America – I’ve always wanted to go!

Do you have any special talents?

I don’t know if you’d call it a special talent per se, but in high school I took photography classes and became very interested in analogue photography specifically. Because of that, I learned how to develop my own film in a darkroom. Though I don’t have access to one now, I still shoot 35mm and 120mm film and hope to someday have my own darkroom setup.

What is your favourite cocktail/mocktail?

Probably a spicy paloma – grapefruit, jalapeno, tequila, bit of lime!

Do you have a favourite movie?

My favourite movie is probably The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – between the cinematography, the soundtrack, the storyline, I could watch it a hundred times over.

Do you have any hobbies?

I am a big reader and am always up for going cycling, hiking or doing something outdoors.

What was the last TV box set you binged on?

Schitt’s Creek!

Do you have anything you’d like to learn? For example DJ’ing or a musical instrument? Line-dancing?!

I got my PADI Open Water Diver certification a few years ago but I would love to expand on this and eventually get my Advanced Open Water licence.

Finally, do you have a fun fact that might surprise us about you?

I have lived in 6 countries and 15 different houses or flats in 22 years.