The Recruitment Mentors Podcast

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 Sheard, Co-Founder of SR2 recruitment.After his dreams of being a professional golfer were starting to wane, he entered the world of sales, working at Computer Futures, part of the infamous Sthree group. He progressed up the ranks of many businesses, and experienced working in a start-up environment as well as for corporate giant Randstad. He then set up SR2 and in just under three years has grown it to over 15 consultants and a strong brand. For recruitment business owners who are interested in learning about hiring without a R2R, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn more about what it’s like working for a corporate business as well as a start-up.You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissheardsr2/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [1:11]What was the motivation to get into recruitment? [3:50]Opus [4:49]What’s your opinion on Sthree culture? [5:46]Growing your career at Opus [8:12]How did you get the opportunities that you did? [9:15]What were your key learnings as a manager? [11:28]How many people did you lead? [14:08]Pros and cons of a startup and a corporate [17:12]Non-negotiables when starting your own business [18:56]What was the differentiator for SR2? [22:09]What runway did you give yourself when starting the business? [27:05]Key things that have been good investments [30:46]How much did you spend on marketing? [32:39]How much thought did you put into your brand? [34:13]Did you over communicate that you wouldn’t be billing? [40:30]What were the key learnings going into year 2? [42:08]What was your mindset when hiring? [44:57]How have you cultivated your culture? [50:24]What’s impacted your retention? [54:13]How did you finish in year 2? [55:55]What have been the challenges? [56:33]How has business been during this time? [1:01:02]How have you handled a potential divide? [1:06:14]Expectations for staff on furlough? [1:07:45]What’s enabled you to build a strong business? [1:10:00]What are you excited about? [1:12:31]What would you say to the people? [1:13:43]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 until the end of June!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER50 to get a HUGE 50% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://www.hunted.com/employersOn this episode I’m joined by John Guest from Harper Harrison.Unlike most, he started out his career in sales through owning his own business and after deciding to step away from that venture he jumped in head first into the world of recruitment.In this episode we drill down on John’s journey as well as talking about mindset, being a manager as well as working remotely and the impact of that on the industry. It was an interesting episode because John did the opposite of what most do in recruitment, he left his own venture to work for someone else - and his reasons are interesting. For recruiters who are wanting to learn about managing in a new company, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent episode to learn about business development and the power of client meetings.You can connect with John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/propertyrecruiterlondon/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [5:39]How was your first year? [9:55]Mindset when looking for a new opportunity [14:14]What stage did you get to after 7 years? [19:06]How did you build that part of the business from scratch? [21:11]What was it like being a manager? [22:27]How do you find out peoples why? [25:00]Being confident in a career move [28:44]Gut instinct [33:16]Going into a new market and adopting the right mindset [35:19]Meeting clients with no knowledge of a new market [38:30]How did you ensure your internal brand was strong? [40:00]What made you push on during hard times? [42:39]How did your mindset shift? [45:05]How have you helped during Covid-19? [51:24]Communicating and not overthinking [55:26]Working remotely [56:48]How have you juggled work and home life? [59:28]How can you switch off? [1:01:19]What are you excited about? [1:02:20]What would you say to the people? [1:04:00]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - Hishem AzzouzIf 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 until the end of June!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER50 to get a HUGE 50% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://www.hunted.com/employersOn this episode I’m joined by Richard Bartlett and Kevin Tyler from Consult Energy Recruitment. It’s always amazing to have two founders on the podcast, so I was super excited to get stuck into this episode. They both entered the world of recruitment in their early 20s, and after working at separate companies but always keeping in touch, they decided to set up Consult Energy Recruitment. The business was started ten years ago, and since then has grown to just under 20 in headcount. We cover a lot of interesting topics in this episode, but pay particular attention to the benefits of an NED as well as how they have handled their business during Covid-19.For recruiters who are aspiring to set up their own business, there’s a lot of juicy information about NEDs, which is worth a listen.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to educate yourself on other companies and how they have handled Covid-19, as there are a lot of takeaways that you can apply to your own desk.You can connect with them both on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmbartlett/https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevintyler/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [3:51]What gave you the confidence to start your own business? [10:13]Sthree [13:40]Game plan for year one [16:43]Picking and building your markets out [19:42]When did things start to change for you? [22:34]How have things changed due to those decisions you made? [24:30]Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently? [29:00]Journey in growing the business [33:15]Which hires would you have made earlier? [36:00]What changes have you made during this time? [38:08]Hiring learnings [39:33]How did you go about finding an NED? [41:33]How did you pick that person? [44:12]When should people reach out to get an adviser? [46:19]Most challenging decision over the last 8 weeks [47:08]Interview process during Covid-19 [50:25]What expectations have you changed? [52:26]What does a typical week look like? [53:46]How are things going to change post Covid? [55:56]What are you excited to do post Covid? [1:01:44]What would you say to the people? [1:04:08]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - Hishem AzzouzIf 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 until the end of June!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER50 to get a HUGE 50% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://www.hunted.com/employersOn this episode I was joined by John Gaughan who is the Co-Founder of Finlay James & Talentskowt.In this conversation we dug deep into what a typical recruiters job might look like in the future.John spoke in detail about 'Project Freedom' and how the learnings from this project have helped them make decisions on what their employees typical weeks might look like moving forward.Project freedom was a project which gave their staff COMPLETE freedom to work where they want and when they want.It was strictly measured by outcomes and as long as you achieved the outcomes you could do it however you wanted to.With the future recruitment work force likely to be more 'flexible' than ever John shared with us some of the things agency owners should consider when constructing their back to work plan.No doubt the future looks different and to be expected to be chained to your desk for eight hours a day will be a thing of the past.You can connect with John on Linkedin and he is more than open to answer any questions you may have on 'Project Freedom'Connect with John here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johngaughanfja/I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - Hishem AzzouzIf 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 until the end of June!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER50 to get a HUGE 50% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://www.hunted.com/employersOn this episode I’m joined by Susan Barrance from Signify Technology.She initially began her career as an estate agent, then took some time out to travel the world and work in varying roles. When returning to the UK, she knew about recruitment and wanted the lifestyle and progression that it provided. Fast forward to now, and Susan has been at Signify Technology for just shy of three years, and has progressed up the ranks not just in her title, but in her billings, too.Susan’s journey is one that I think will resonate with a lot of recruiters, and she shares a lot of advice around expanding clients and how she was able to bill over £450,000 in a year.For recruiters who are wanting to learn about ‘landing and expanding’ client bases, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn about structure, the power of listening and how to be patient with your billings if you are going through a rough month.You can connect with Susan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-barrance-38b607a7/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [4:22]How many people were in the company when you joined? [9:01]What was your approach to learning? [12:35]How did you cope with self-doubt? [16:44]When did things pick up for you? [18:28]Business development as a contract recruiter [20:23]Expanding accounts [22:55]What else do you do to build relationships? [25:37]Spotting a good account [27:15]Approaching startups [29:02]What changed so you could achieve those numbers? [31:20]How many clients were you working with at any one time? [33:23]How did things change for you? [34:45]Mindset [41:55]Common mistakes from new recruiters [45:05]The benefits of being niche [49:00]How have you navigated the market over the last 12 weeks? [51:28]What’s been the biggest challenge for you? [53:10]How have your priorities changed? [54:27]What’s helped you get through the hard days? [55:54]How has Ryan’s leadership impacted you? [57:21]What are you most excited about? [58:45]What would you say to the people? [59:38]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - Hishem AzzouzIf 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 until the end of June!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER50 to get a HUGE 50% off all of Hunted's annual subscriptions.https://www.hunted.com/employersThis week I’m joined by Alex Cooper, one of the Co-Founders of Ernest Hunter Green.He entered recruitment shortly after finishing university, and progressed through the ranks at three separate businesses before deciding to set up his own. It was excellent to have someone on the podcast who had worked for long periods of time at each separate consultancy, as we were able to get real insight into his experiences and motivations for moving.For recruiters and recruitment business owners who want to learn about a COMPLETELY remote recruitment consultancy, this one is definitely for you. We get into the nitty gritty of remote working and how it works for some but not for others.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn more about remote recruitment companies if you’ve realised that you’ve thrived more in a remote environment than you have in an office.You can connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcooper1/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [4:28]First year [7:00]PSD [8:30]Forming relationships and accessing mentors [10:28]What made that person the top 1% in the company? [13:17]What made Elliot someone you’d want to follow? [14:43]How to not be a job hopper [17:12]Starting your own business [20:28]First year plan [23:27]Did you want to scale? [25:52]Running a completely remote business [29:54]Key learnings that have had an impact on the business culture [32:40]Why is an open culture important to have in a remote business? [35:25]Getting people to open up [37:05]Measuring efficiency and having visibility on performance [40:19]What do remote consultants typically need help with? [46:15]Common misconceptions recruiters have around flexible working [48:18]What are the great things about building a remote business? [51:05]Do you think if you had an office you’d be more profitable? [53:31]Non-negotiables for your onboarding process? [55:19]What does that process look like? [57:31]Future vision for the company [1:00:00]What are you excited for? [1:02:20]What would you say to the people? [1:03:37]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - Hishem AzzouzIf 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 until the end of June!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER50 to get a HUGE 50% off all of Hunteds annual subscriptions.https://www.hunted.com/employersOn this episode, I’m joined by Jay Guney from Digital Gurus!He initially built his recruitment career at Oscar for just under five years, where he progressed up the ranks and worked as a billing manager. Arguably one of the most difficult jobs in recruitment! After moving to Digital Gurus it gave him the opportunity to level up in his career, and a lot of the conversations that we had on this episode was centred around management and why he loves it so much!For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about management and what it entails, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn more about building relationships with clients and senior candidates and why it’s so crucial in any market.You can connect with Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayguney/Timestamps:How did you enter recruitment? [4:00]How did you end up working at Oscar? [7:14]What was your first year like? [8:29]Why did you pick it up quickly? [10:50]Positives looking back? [13:24]Leadership responsibilities [17:00]Biller to manager [19:37]Hiring triggers [21:53]Career at Oscar [23:48]Evolving your role [25:11]What do you wish you knew about management? [27:38]What was important to you in a new role? [31:21]What things did you try to look for before choosing that role? [33:20]Being a manager in a new business [37:17]First year in new role [39:00]Seeking help [41:27]How did using EBITDA help you and your team? [44:13]Pitfalls in business development [45:28]Building relationships [49:45]Pitfalls that prevent recruiters taking themselves to the next level [51:27]Winning retained work [53:29]How has a brand helped you? [55:56]Running events and how they helped [57:30]Toughest challenges [59:56]How do you think Covid-19 is going to affect the industry? [1:02:43]What are you excited to do post Covid-19 [1:04:48]What would you say to the people? [1:06:35]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - Hishem AzzouzIf 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 🙌f7DZ5tdaGDvUWtiPFwJx

Claim your Hunted profile today with your exclusive and amazing offer which is only valid until the end of June!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER50 to get a HUGE 50% off all of Hunteds annual subscriptions.https://www.hunted.com/employersOn this episode I’m joined by Justin Pearson from Hyve, a boutique management consultancy focused on the recruitment sector. He previously founded, scaled and exited Human Capital, a global search business.He initially entered the world of recruitment after trying to secure an Accountancy role via Michael Page, and started as a consultant there which formed the foundations of his career. After founding his own recruitment training business, he decided to focus on setting up Human Capital, which for 14 years he built, scaled and exited and became chairman in January 2017. This is by far one of the best episodes I’ve ever recorded, as the breadth of knowledge, the experience that Justin has enabled us to do a deep dive on all the questions that recruitment owners want the answers to.For recruiters who want to learn how to build a successful recruitment business that has a high value to potential buyers, this one's for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is a crucial podcast for you to listen to, to not just develop your approach to recruitment post-COVID-19, but how you can arm yourself to be more than just a CV matcher and become a true consultant in your market.You can connect with Justin here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinpearson/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [4:09]Michael Page in the 90s [5:29]What was it like working for Michael Page? [7:03]Progression at Page [8:47]Why start Human Capital? [9:18]Did you start up on your own? [12:55]Relationship with your investors [13:57]Why do you think investors saw potential in you? [16:03]Human Capital [18:13]Milestones to help carve the market [20:10]Being niche [22:40]What did the business look like after 5 years? [23:39]The difference between search and contingent [29:55]The power of saying no to a client [37:00]Recruiters are solution providers [39:40]What other solutions can you bring? [41:05]How did that mindset enable you to scale the business? [43:15]Exiting the business [51:22]The journey of being bought - the process [55:24]Common misconceptions on management buyouts [59:38]What have been the positives from an MBO route? [1:04:38]Pitfalls that hold recruitment business owners back on their equity value [1:10:05]Do you need to know that you wanted to scale for the start? [1:15:17]Future of recruitment businesses [1:16:48]What are you excited about with Hive? [1:21:48]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - Hishem AzzouzIf 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 until the end of June!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER50 to get a HUGE 50% off all of Hunteds annual subscriptions.https://www.hunted.com/employersOn today's episode, I’m joined by Sam from That Recruitment Company.He fell into recruitment after initially working in car sales, and since starting as That Recruitment Company’s first employee. He has watched a successful business grow whilst also developing himself over the last six years. I felt really inspired after having Sam on the podcast, as his sheer determination, resilience and positivity is something that a lot of listeners probably need right now in the current climate. Also, he’s clearly a hero for cycling nearly 1,000 miles for charity. For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about working in a small growing business, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to get an insight into a fool-proof day structure that will increase your billings.You can connect with Sam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-holloway-2ba43084/You can watch the video replay here - https://youtu.be/T8kWAxl3nn0Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [3:55]Why did you join Chris? [6:41]A rec job in a smaller business [8:30]First year in recruitment [10:20]What was the focus in your first 6 months? [13:00]How did you do BD? [14:21]What went on in your next 6 months? [17:15]Resilience and mindset [18:33]Go to advice for people in their first year [19:55]Best year [23:15]What does your day look like? [25:55]Preparation process [29:33]What have been your learnings (international recruitment) [32:27]What does BD look like for you now? [34:21]Why do you think you’ve become a cornerstone of the business? [40:44]What have been some of the biggest challenges for you? [43:42]What prevents recruiters from taking their billings to the next level? [46:31]What advice would you give to your old self [48:00]Journey with your finances [50:58]Motivation when having children [53:55]Fundraising [54:44]What are you excited to do post-Covid? [57:04]What would you say to the people? [58:10]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - Hishem AzzouzIf 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 until the end of June!Use the code - ROLLERCOASTER50 to get a HUGE 50% off all of Hunteds annual subscriptions.https://www.hunted.com/employersOn this episode this I’m joined by James Blackwell, CEO of Ronald James Group.After carving out a 5 year sales career, as well as launching his own coffee shop at the age of 21, his entrepreneurial mindset landed him in recruitment slightly later than planned - at 27! Spending 4 years as a biller then led him to want to create his own recruitment company; yet not in the conventional way we usually hear about on The Recruitment Rollercoaster Podcast. His story is unique and well worth a listen - so I won’t give too much away.For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about automation and VA’s (virtual assistants) - this ones for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn more about mindset, personal development and elevating yourself to the next level as a consultant.You can connect with James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameskblackwell/Plus you can subscribe to his youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmpoGTKBv56LZO-qA1Me15gTimestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [4:15]Opening your own coffee shop [6:08]Perception of recruitment [9:50]Time at Nigel Frank [11:18]What else contributed to your success? [14:39]Starting your own business [16:50]What was your game plan? [20:18]End of year 1 [26:00]What was the pitch that made businesses give you a chance? [29:07]Things you wish you had done? [34:30]Best piece of tech you’ve invested in? [35:44]VA’s [39:35]Making a VA a part of your recruitment business [44:50]Most common misconception of a VA? [46:00]Strategy to grow [48:01]Learnings from making mis-hires [53:00]Taking a step back [56:00]What things did you change going into year 4? [59:30]Where are you now? [1:06:09]Productization of your services [1:08:45]What are the common challenges that you hear in recruiters? [1:10:46]What are you most excited to do post-Covid? [1:14:26]What would you say to the people? [1:18:38]I hope you enjoyed the episode, the best place to connect with me is on Linkedin - Hishem AzzouzIf 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 🙌