The Recruitment Mentors Podcast

On this episode I’m joined by Michelle Flynn, from Michelle Flynn Coaching.She has a vast background in recruitment, working at the infamous SThree group at Computer Futures.Today, she works as a coach - after her own difficult experiences when it came to mental and physical health in the workplace.This is a slightly different episode, but within it there’s a ton of key takeaways and points that I think will resonate with many listeners of the podcast.We chat on this episode about stress, diet and exercise, as well as being able to talk openly about mental health, too.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to educate yourself on burnout and how to communicate your stresses within the workplace.You can connect with Michelle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleflynn/TimestampsSThree [1:53]What made the ingredients of their culture? [4:46]Mental health during your twenties [6:13]Diet and exercise [10:30]Health and wellbeing [14:35]Working with a health coach [17:50]Relationship with stress and how it impacts the body [20:30]What should our relationship be like with stress? [25:38]Rock bottom and how to prevent it [28:49]The value of exercise [33:52]Breathing [35:39]Calm list [37:52]Advice so people can cope better with mental challenges [39:26]How can people communicate openly in the workplace? [43:59]Parting words of advice [48:12]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌

This week I’m joined by Ashley Lawrence, owner and Founder of Trinnovo Group, which contains three brands that operate across technology, life sciences and financial services. He started his recruitment journey working for the infamous SThree group, and from there set out to grow a number of successful recruitment brands. Hearing Ashley’s journey was brilliant, but more importantly this episode focuses heavily on building a sustainable and attractive culture, as well as Ashley highlighting the key hires that he would make if he did it all again.For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about growing a sustainable culture, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn more about innovation and how important it is to work for a company that supports this.You can connect with Ashley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleylawrencecrg/Timestamps:Journey in recruitment [1:40]Opinion of SThree culture [2:15]The CEO of SThree [9:38]Growing recruitment businesses [13:15]How much did it help having a network of recruiters when you started each business?[15:56]The importance of having a plan [19:24]What’s a typical day for you? [21:27]How has it helped you have a competitive advantage? [25:36]Putting the importance on values [28:13]Who would be your first three hires? [30:26]Psychometric testing [37:13]How have you ensured that you have a purpose? [42:20]Common traits that left you confident to be part of their journey [47:33]What have been the biggest factors to your success so far? [52:14]Covid-19 [56:01]How has investment in your culture helped you achieve? [1:00:01]What do you think will be the biggest shift in the industry? [1:02:16]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌

Claim your Hunted profile today with your exclusive and amazing offer which is only valid for Recruitment Rollercoaster Listeners!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER25 to get a HUGE 25% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://portal.hunted.comIf you're a recruiter then make sure you set yourself up a profile on https://www.hunted.com/ to get access to the best companies in the industry.This week I’m joined by Mark Neilan, Investor and former Owner of Finlay James Recruitment.He spent just over 13 years at Finlay James, and was employee number 4 when the business was created. We spend this episode talking about his professional journey as well as his personal struggles when he left the business a few years ago. For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about building a successful business which would look attractive to investors, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn more about the investment world and the importance of the processes within a recruitment company.You can connect with Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsalesrecruitment/Timestamps:Get off the beach! [1:39]How did you enter recruitment? [3:59]Finlay James [6:20]Biggest learnings at Finlay James [10:36]Did you get any advice when you were growing? [11:51]How did you lead a business? [13:53]How long has it been since you left? [17:34]First year out after 13 years in [18:15]How did you keep your head above water? [21:02]Investing in recruitment companies [25:30]What qualities do you look for when investing? [26:58]What prevents people from taking the leap? [33:50]What makes markets and areas attractive? [36:47]How important is it for recruiters to have a solid business plan? [43:34]What've been the common things you’ve seen that have helped people grow quicker? [46:07]Non-negotiables that you need to invest in [51:55]How involved do you get with your investees? [57:43]What’s your idea of a recruitment company that is successful turnover/profit wise? [59:38]Words for people who are fearful of starting on their own [1:02:40]What would you say to the people? [1:03:11]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌

Claim your Hunted profile today with your exclusive and amazing offer which is only valid for Recruitment Rollercoaster Listeners!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER25 to get a HUGE 25% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://portal.hunted.comIf you're a recruiter then make sure you set yourself up a profile on https://www.hunted.com/ to get access to the best companies in the industry.On this episode I’m joined by Adam Richardson, Founder of Strive Sales.His journey is one that is unique, as he left recruitment for just under four years to try a new business venture, before diving back into the world of recruitment and setting up his own company. This episode is an interesting one as we cover a lot of topics.Getting investment, building out internal processes as well as how to nurture a sustainable recruitment business. It’s one of the few episodes of this podcast where we go into detail about the importance of having an Operations Manager, something which is clearly crucial when growing a recruitment company.For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about growing a recruitment business and picking the right investor, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn more about the inner workings of smaller recruitment businesses, as well as some BD tips to help you diversify your approach in this “new world” we are now in.You can connect with Adam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-richardson-687b48112/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [2:22]How much has it helped being in business with someone you trust? [6:00]Experience in your first recruitment role [7:09]How did you achieve what you did? [9:52]Best piece of advice you received during that time? [11:43]First business venture [14:50]Where did the fearlessness come from? [17:31]How did you cope with selling a business to then going back into recruitment? [21:02]What happened in that first year that you didn’t expect? [23:30]How can hosting an event make me money? [25:34]What was the set up at Insight? How did you get people to join? [30:22]Strive recruitment [33:08]What’s involved in scaling a business? [39:22]Investing in recruitment businesses [45:39]Holding yourself accountable [48:21]What other decisions have you made that you think were influenced by your investors? [51:51]How can you have an L&D program in a small business? [54:44]How do you deliver training, development and progressing your consultants? [57:45]Biggest challenges [1:00:07]Hardest decisions in the last 12 weeks? [1:02:16]Your journey with business development [1:03:32]What does the future look like for you? [1:05:53]What are you most excited for? [1:10:42]What would you say to the people?[1:11:38]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌

Claim your Hunted profile today with your exclusive and amazing offer which is only valid for Recruitment Rollercoaster Listeners!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER25 to get a HUGE 25% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://portal.hunted.comIf you're a recruiter then make sure you set yourself up a profile on https://www.hunted.com/ to get access to the best companies in the industry.On this episode I’m joined by Mark Bracknall, Co-Founder and Director at Theo James Recruitment. He started his recruitment career in 2008, and five years ago chose to set up his own recruitment business - and what a journey it’s been! I always love having recruitment business owners on the podcast because each story is different, and Mark gives some amazing insight into the inner workings of his business as well as tips for other business owners.For those who are wanting to learn more about an internal recruitment process and how to make it effective, this one’s for you.Mark also shares some information on the type of technology they’ve embodied to enable them to scale effectively.You can connect with Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbracknall/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [0:54]Career journey [6:40]Managing people [8:44]What gave you the confidence to start your own recruitment business? [9:24]Name of your business [14:25]What did your first year look like? [15:50]What happened in year one that you didn't expect? [20:13]What was the mindset going into year two? [24:42]What was your sales pitch to get people to join you? [27:24]Moving from a lifestyle to a small business [31:22]What processes did you implement to scale? [32:50]Year three [33:55]Financial performance of the business [38:00]How did your day change? [38:36]How would you go about your transition today from biller to non-biller? [41:09]Communicating that transition externally [43:14]Hiring on culture [46:18]Why was year four challenging? [49:39]What’s your new interview process? [52:45]Biggest challenges during Covid-19 [59:26]What’s your mindset about the next few immediate weeks? [1:04:16]What are you most excited about? [1:07:44]What would you say to the people? [1:08:39]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌

On this episode I was joined by a guest you should all know, Rhonda D'Ambrosio who is the Founder of Mental Health In Recruitment.Myself and Rhonda sat down on Episode 69 so if you wanted to get more of her backstory go to #69.Rhonda recently launched 'Mental Health In Recruitment' and I wanted to make sure you all knew about it.We dig into why this is so important to her and the change she is hoping to make in the recruitment Industry.What actually is Mental Health In Recruitment?Mental Health In Recruitment supports the recruitment Industry to drive positive change to the understanding of mental health issues in order to improve lives and improve business.If you want to get involved or find out more about it then get in touch with Rhonda directly on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhondadambrosio/Also you can check out Mental Health In Recruitment Here - https://www.mentalhealthinrecruitment.org/----------------------------------------------------------------I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌

Claim your Hunted profile today with your exclusive and amazing offer which is only valid for Recruitment Rollercoaster Listeners!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER25 to get a HUGE 25% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://portal.hunted.comIf you're a recruiter then make sure you set yourself up a profile on https://www.hunted.com/ to get access to the best companies in the industry.On this episode I’m joined by Chris O’Connell who is a mental health ambassador and advisor for Mental Health in Recruitment.He has an impressive recruitment career spanning over twenty years, but our conversation is less about recruitment and billings; this is another episode focused on mental health and wellbeing. I highly recommend everyone to listen to this episode, not only because I think it’ll resonate with a lot of you, but Chris has shared a personal and difficult story which isn’t easy to do.You’ll know why once you listen to it.It was amazing to speak with Chris and hear about his career, but mostly listen to his transformation with his mental health.You can connect with Chris on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/itschrisoconnell/TimestampsHow did you enter the world of recruitment? [1:32]Why were you consistently good? [5:31]Setting up your own recruitment business [8:44]Why didn’t you feel any different when you reached those milestones? [11:19]What did you have to sacrifice? [12:49]Did anybody know how you were feeling? [15:25]How did it feel exiting the business? [17:28]What were you hoping time off would be? [18:53]Depression and addiction [24:36]What made you look at yourself and change? [27:23]What was impactful in helping shape where you are today? [30:28]What are the common things you see in leaders that may make them miss out on things? [34:46]Why does empathy and compassion enable you to be a better leader? [38:20]Where can you start? [39:55]How can we get more men to open up and be vulnerable? [46:18]Checking in with yourself [52:40]What are you excited about? [53:24]Parting words [55:00]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌

Claim your Hunted profile today with your exclusive and amazing offer which is only valid for Recruitment Rollercoaster Listeners!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER25 to get a HUGE 25% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://portal.hunted.comIf you're a recruiter then make sure you set yourself up a profile on https://www.hunted.com/ to get access to the best companies in the industry.This week I’m joined by Gareth Morris, Owner of Evolution Recruitment Solutions.He initially started his career at SThree’s Computer Futures, and after two and a half years decided to set up his own recruitment business. With an entrepreneurial mindset ingrained from a young age, we pick apart the last 20 years of business at Evolution Recruitment Solutions on this episode. The highs, the lows as well as the international expansion over the last 10 years.I always find that conversations with individuals like Gareth naturally adds a different dimension to the podcast, as he’s been able to give a holistic view on the industry in the last 10 years. As well as a lot of tangible advice in this episode. I hope you guys like it!You can connect with Gareth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-morris-2277b43/Timestamps:How did you enter the world of recruitment? [1:21]SThree environment, what was it like? [3:51]What gave you the confidence to start your own business? [5:08]Were you in an entrepreneurial environment? [6:44]What was IT recruitment like in the 90s? [8:30]What was the mindset towards the intention for the business? [11:55]The first key milestones [14:17]What were your thoughts on growing headcount? [17:22]When did LinkedIn come into play? [21:55]The financial crash [26:15]What did you learn from that time period? [28:29]How did investing in your people impact your business in spite of adversity? [32:10]What did you wish you knew in those first few years? [33:40]Hiring triggers [35:20]The eleventh year… [36:28]How did you penetrate international markets? [40:35]Hiring internationally [42:44]Biggest challenge growing internationally [44:33]Replicating your culture internationally [46:07]How important are company values? [48:26]Impacting the profitability of your business [53:35]What are some of the key factors that enabled you to scale? [58:00]How have you retained people so well? [1:00:58]Journey with evolving recruitment over 20 years [1:07:04]How has your role changed now? [1:11:38]What’s your thoughts on the future of recruitment? [1:14:15]Advice to other aspiring recruitment owners [1:17:16]What are you excited about? [1:22:40]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌

Claim your Hunted profile today with your exclusive and amazing offer which is only valid for Recruitment Rollercoaster Listeners!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER25 to get a HUGE 25% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://portal.hunted.comIf you're a recruiter then make sure you set yourself up a profile on https://www.hunted.com/ to get access to the best companies in the industry.This week I’m joined by Chevy Rough, who is a wellbeing and productivity coach who previously spent 10 years in recruitment. This is a different type of episode this week, as we talk less about his experience being a recruiter and more about mental health instead. I’d usually suggest episodes for specific types of people, however, whatever stage you’re at in your career: whether that’s one day, one year or one decade in recruitment - this one is for all of you.Trigger warning - we talk about drug use and suicide in this episode.You can connect with Chevy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chevy-rough-2a96a855/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [3:00]Alcohol and drugs [7:00]Shifting the culture of recruitment [12:32]Financial wellbeing [14:38]How did you get out of that dark place? [17:00]Looking at yourself and realising your mistakes [19:50]How important are friendships during this change? [23:50]Advice to people to find a healthy replacement [30:56]What if I’m scared? [33:51]Men discussing mental wellbeing [35:37]Common things that keep people paralysed [43:21]How did you get to the point where you knew you needed to change? [46:50]Therapy [53:00]Suicidal thoughts [55:52]Learning to slow down [57:57]Non-negotiables for today [1:00:07]Self-education [1:02:17]Self-awareness [1:07:12]What are you most excited about? [1:11:37]What would you say to the people? [1:13:13]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌

Claim your Hunted profile today with your exclusive and amazing offer which is only valid for Recruitment Rollercoaster Listeners!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER25 to get a HUGE 25% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://portal.hunted.comIf you're a recruiter then make sure you set yourself up a profile on https://www.hunted.com/ to get access to the best companies in the industry.On this episode I’m joined by Connor Hey from Org3D.After studying to become a priest, he decided that he didn’t want to pursue that path professionally, and began to research into varying career options, and found that recruitment was best suited to his personality and career goals.Since working at Org3D he’s learnt a lot about himself, and has had to work through the testing times of coronavirus still in the very early stages of his career.For recruiters that want to learn more about the american market and how to do business development - this one’s for you.For the junior recruiters out there, this is an excellent podcast to listen to because you will all probably relate to the feelings Connor has had during this time.It’ll definitely give you some positive takeaways you can implement if you’re like him and just come back off furlough.You can connect with Connor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-hey-863839175/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [1:40]What drew you to your current company? [6:33]How were your first couple of months in recruitment? [9:28]What helped you get through the hard parts? [11:33]What habits have you developed? [14:30]Knowing what you know now, what would you say to your old self? [16:29]Year 1 billings [18:33]How do you implement the content you consume? [24:07]What’s been the most impactful thing you’ve learnt [28:09]What did you bill in your first quarter of 2020? [31:20]Experience in the US market [33:05]Fees in the US [36:24]Being on furlough [39:08]What was it like coming back? [41:52]How are you approaching BD? [44:57]How are things now, three weeks in? [48:27]What have you been surprised by? [52:29]What should I be thinking about coming back off furlough? [53:43]What are you most excited to do? [55:40]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hishemazzouz/If you would love me to cover certain topics with future guests please drop me a message. Finally, if you have been enjoying the podcast and you have two minutes then it would be greatly appreciated if you could leave a review. Simply it will enable me to reach more people with the podcast, you can easily leave a review with the following link - https://ratethispodcast.com/rollercoaster 🙌