Back in 2015, Dan Rutledge joined Smart Teacher's sister company Vision for Education, as Senior Recruitment Consultant. Six years on, he has gained different experience across the business, has had multiple promotions and is now Systems Manager for The Edwin Group working across it's companies Smart Teachers, Vision for Education and Smart Teachers. Here's how he has diversified his career and found a career path he loves.

Dan has always loved helping people – that's why he started working in recruitment, to help candidates find their dream job. He always goes the extra mile to help his team too. So, when a new IT system was being introduced, Dan decided to learn how best to use it and share his new knowledge with his team.

Dan tells us why he did it: “I feel if we learn best practice from IT and systems, they can really boost our ability to be more productive and effective in our roles. So, I spent the summer learning how best to use the new system. I then started teaching my office colleagues what I had picked up, which helped our team get off to a running start in September. Then I was asked to visit other branches to do the same and teach them too, which sent me all around the country sharing my knowledge and advice.”

Before he knew it, a new Internal Training Manager role was created, which Dan applied for and got, and then he was creating, delivering and monitoring internal training for all branches across the business. He loved his new role: “I really enjoy interacting with and getting to know everyone and having a hand in making them feel more in control of what they are doing – plus saving them time too! It's more than that though, I get to work on projects that have an impact on my colleagues' working lives, I get to help improve them - and I take that very seriously.”

Six years on, Dan has been promoted again, this time to Systems Manager for The Edwin Group. At The Edwin Group, we support our staff to find the area of work they love and thrive in, so we encourage working across the business, support open conversations about career goals and reward hard work.

“For me, one of the best things about working for the company is the opportunity to move around the business and experience different roles. I found that hard work, making yourself useful and finding solutions rather than problems, helped opened doors for me – doors that I didn't realise I wanted to open! I put that down to approachable management and open communication. It's helped me find a career that's right for me.”