Getting in at the ground floor with any industry is a daunting prospect as a recruitment firm. There will always be those looking to make a quick buck and nothing more, just as there will be those who dismiss anything fresh and exciting as a fad. At Parna Recruitment we saw a potential in the vape industry that not many did.
When we first became involved as recruiters five years ago, it was because we thought there was an obvious potential there that is only now being fully realised. What follows is both a brief tale of our journey within vape recruitment, and a lesson on measuring prospects.
An Uncertain Trajectory
Five years ago the vape industry was a very different landscape. Not only were vape shops basically non-existent, the word vape hadn’t even hit the popular vernacular. At that point people were still referring to them as e-cigarettes, largely since the predominant design at that time was one that imitated traditional cigarettes. As with anything just hitting the mainstream, back then no one knew what direction the product was going to take.
Looking back it’s easy to say that fortune favours the bold, but at that early stage objections were rife. Facing the unknown during the recruitment process, many of Parna’s potential candidates would tell us daily that it wasn’t going to last, or that we were backing the wrong horse. Fast-forward to now and UK sales of vaping products have surged by 50% last year to reach £1bn, whilst being firmly on course to exceed £2bn by 2020.
In our early days recruiting within the vape industry Parna recruitment was instrumental in building the sales team for a company called Nicocigs. As a brand leader the established themselves successfully with well known brands such as Vivid and Nicolites. Nicocigs went on to become one of the most renowned e-cigarette brands in the field, and was later acquired by one of the largest tobacco companies in the world, Philip Morris.
That’s not to say we ever predicted this eventuality, but the takeaway is that at Parna we were willing to face down something risky and unfamiliar. By taking the time to familiarise ourselves with a variety of fledgling businesses we grasped both the premise of vaping and its potential — we took something scary and new, and made it our own.
A New Landscape for Vaping
Having recruited for vaping companies for five years, it’s been an interesting voyage to say the least, in an industry we’re proud to say we worked in from its infancy.
This advanced immersion within the vaping sector has further assisted our ability to adapt to what is no doubt now a very different industry, particularly from a recruitment perspective. Since we came in as early birds, we ensured we would have a continually developing comprehension lacking in those only now attempting to enter an increasingly competitive and inflated field.
As for what’s changed, it’s safe to say that the exterior perception of vaping has changed massively. Candidates no longer doubt the future outlook of an industry that has repeatedly navigated potential pitfalls and naysayers at each turn. Not only is the market attracting credible, hungry candidates, it’s placing them in trusted positions.
To find out more on how to attract the right talent into your business please feel free to get in contact with the Parna Recruitment team. From mapping salaries to identifying your ideal candidate, our expertise is premised on a full-bodied comprehension of the vape industry.
