The Recruitment Mentors Podcast

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/employersThis week I’m joined by Andrew Dean, Director at Menlo Park Recruitment.After completing a degree in Archaeology, Andrew was on a different path for a few years before deciding to give the recruitment industry a go. He spent just over 5 years in his first role, which gave him the foundations and confidence to set up Menlo Park. Fast forward to now, and Menlo Park has been thriving for over 5 years with over 20 members of staff. Andrew’s journey is an interesting one, mostly because he has still been able to hire during Covid-19, and we cover his thought process on this during the episode. For recruiters who are looking to hire and interested in how to remotely onboard, this one’s for you. For the junior consultants out there, this is a good podcast to listen to purely because it covers a lot of content on Covid-19!You can watch the video replay here - https://youtu.be/L8WbkRfJ058 You can connect with Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-dean-423a9147/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [4:02]Natural progression in role [10:42]How did you progress so quickly? [13:14]How did you cultivate your mindset? [15:14]Have you always wanted to start your own business? [19:28]What was your game plan? [23:35]Building out markets [28:51]Perm or contract? [33:12]How was your first year? [33:35]Challenges or things you weren’t expecting [36:04]Advice to those starting their own recruitment business [37:44]Growth plans for the business [39:49]How did you get people to join you? [41:16]How did your growth pan out? [42:20]Internal interview process [44:11]Hiring triggers [48:11]What have been the decisions you’ve had to make during Covid-19? [52:48]What have been the key metrics you’ve looked at? [55:45]How have you made hires during this time? [59:20]Accepting an offer virtually [1:01:51]Long term effects of Covid-19 [1:05:51]What are you excited to do post Covid? [1:10:30]What would you say to the people? [1:12:14]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 🙌

You can check out the online personal branding course for recruiters by clicking this link:https://azzouzbrandingcourses.teachable.com/p/personal-branding-course-for-recruitersDon't forget to use your exclusive code to get a discount on the course by using 'Podcast' at the checkout.On this episode, I’m joined by Ed Steer CEO at Sphere Digital Recruitment.After finishing university and developing a taste for sales, Ed started his recruitment career at PFJ where he built a successful desk but knew he wanted more. Setting up Sphere and growing the business for him was less challenging than expected, but he was still faced with uncertain times and had to navigate through them!For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about retention and developing managers, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is a great podcast to listen to if you are struggling to meet your personal goals, and have struggles planning as this is discussed in this episode.You can watch the video replay of this episode here: https://youtu.be/bAmJyS322f0You can connect with Ed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardsteer/Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [3:54]Why did you want to go into business with someone? [10:00]How did you come up with the name? [11:17]Differentiating yourself in the market [13:15]Planning to scale [14:48]When did you make your first deal? [16:42]First hire [18:30]Smaller businesses scaling in a competitive market [22:50]How profitable were you in year one? [25:42]A few years later… [28:04]How did you grow the business sustainably with headcount and revenue [32:55]Hiring triggers [37:35]Where are you today? [42:03]Why did you get people involved so much in your 5 year decision? [45:05]What else has got you to where you need to be? [46:40]Key learnings for people trying to grow a business [49:29]Managing managers, and managing expectations [53:47]Biggest challenges [54:27]What have been the common traits you’ve seen that make a great recruiter [56:50]Coronavirus [58:20]Decisions you’ve made [1:03:12]How do you see things changing? [1:04:42]Motivating your team remotely [1:07:00]What would you be saying to yourself earlier on… [1:09:09]What would you say to the people? [1:10:27]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 🙌Tags: RecruitmentCareersBusinessStartupSocial MediaRecruiting

You can check out the online personal branding course for recruiters by clicking this link:https://azzouzbrandingcourses.teachable.com/p/personal-branding-course-for-recruitersDon't forget to use your exclusive code to get a discount on the course by using 'Podcast' at the checkout.On this episode, I’m joined by Jemma Gajic, Managing Director of Elysian Search.Originally starting her journey at Harvey Nash, Jemma climbed the ranks as a successful contract recruiter before setting up her first recruitment business. Streamline Connections, 13 years later she then took the opportunity to start Elysian Search, which has been operating for just under three years. Her journey is an interesting one, as she didn’t take the conventional university route, and took the leap of faith to start her recruitment business at 24. For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about navigating through Covid-19, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is a great podcast to listen to if you have aspirations to set up your own recruitment company in the future, as Jemma talks about her key learnings from her experiences over the past 15 years. Timestamps:How are you finding things during Covid-19? [3:57]How did you enter recruitment? [5:22]What was Harvey Nash like? [9:31]Where did the confidence come from to start your own company? [11:02]Have you always been a contract recruiter? [14:13]How did you influence internally regarding your recruitment style? [15:15]Confidence starting with your partner [20:11]What happened during that journey that you didn't expect? [25:00]How did the business evolve? [27:28]What did you learn from that period that applies to today? [29:00]Starting Elysian [31:40]How much has having a niche given you an impact [36:55]Saying yes or no? [39:15]What were your challenges in year one? [40:54]Key responsibility from an operations manager that will help you [43:40]How difficult is it doing it on your own this time? [46:00]What have been your learnings? [48:00]Screening processes to make hiring slick [50:00]How have you been affected by Covid-19? [52:48]How do you think the pandemic is going to affect the recruitment industry? [56:02]What are you excited to do post-Covid [1:00:09]What would you say to the people? [1:01:08]You can connect with Jemma on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jemmagajic/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 🙌

You can check out the online personal branding course for recruiters by clicking this link:https://azzouzbrandingcourses.teachable.com/p/personal-branding-course-for-recruitersDon't forget to use your exclusive code to get a discount on the course by using 'Podcast' at the checkout.You can watch the video playback of this episode - https://youtu.be/b7_arGBsGdkOn this episode, I’m joined by Glen Walsh from Milk Education. He initially fell into recruitment after graduating from the University of Manchester and quickly realised that this was going to be his forever career. After working in New Zealand for a year, he took the leap in setting up his first recruitment business, which then stopped trading after just under three years. That didn’t deter him - and now Glen owns three recruitment companies operating in different markets. Glen’s journey is inspiring, and it’s clear that recruitment runs through his veins after recording this podcast.For recruiters who are wanting to learn about branding and how this can position you positively after Covid-19, then this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn about which behaviours will enable you to propel yourself forwards personally and professionally.TimestampsHow did Glen get into recruitment? [4:06]What happened in London that you didn’t expect? [6:03]Learning experience and advantages [8:53]Working in New Zealand [9:40]Where did that initiative come from? [11:44]What should people be doing to progress their careers? [15:47]When did you start your first business? [18:00]Why more than one business? [21:06]The crash [22:10]What did your life look like at that point? [23:15]Not worrying about what you can’t control [27:36]How did you identify that market and build on it? [29:05]Milk and how it came about [31:21]What did you implement and ensure you did correctly? [33:29]How has social media impacted the business? [36:58]How did you execute the brand and get buy-in from people? [41:10]Milk Education’s growth [44:40]How much did you invest into marketing? [45:37]How do you make sure your values are instilled into your employees? [49:10]Do you do anything to reward and motivate your consultants based on values? [52:10]Growing in terms of headcount [55:13]Have you had to furlough? [1:03:06]Keeping staff motivated during this time [1:04:54]How do you think Covid-19 is going to impact recruitment as a whole? [1:10:10]What would you say to the people? [1:13:25]You can connect with Glen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenwalsh/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 🙌

You can watch the video replay here - Video ReplayI was joined by Rhonda D'Ambrosio, Emma Dredge, Michelle Flynn & Katie Maycock.I'm so excited to bring this LIVE podcast to you all on a very important week #MentalhealthawarenessweekWe always discuss the importance of cultivating the right mindset on The Recruitment Rollercoaster Podcast to give you the best possible chance of achieving success in your recruitment career.I wanted to bring the best people I have met and spoken to about mental health in recruitment to join forces to deliver tremendous amounts of value for all of you!We're going to have an open, honest chat about a vital topic, Mental Health.The panel will share the common mental challenges they hear from recruiters.The panel will share practical advice that will leave you equipped with better tools to deal with the challenges you face mentally now & in the future.The panel will answer your questions, and we will be finishing off this LIVE podcast in a way we have never done before with a group meditation!

Last week I was on a panel for one of Simon Lewis's events from Members Only.With the topic being Personal Branding I had to share it with you all.The panel was class and I have had some great feedback so I wanted to make sure you all heard it.We discussed the following points on Personal Branding.What’s the point of personal branding?What makes a clever personal brand with examples to learn from?Story Selling: Finding your story, building an audience, creating content and driving engagement?How to make your employees’ personal brands work for you?Strategies, resources and tips for rolling out personal branding within your business?You can catch the video replay here too - Video Replay 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 🙌

You can check out the online personal branding course for recruiters by clicking this link:https://azzouzbrandingcourses.teachable.com/p/personal-branding-course-for-recruitersDon't forget to use your exclusive code to get a discount on the course by using 'Podcast' at the checkout.Watch the video playback of this episode - https://youtu.be/layCD7R-CSAOn this episode, I’m joined by Stephen May, Co-Founder of The Vivid Group.After initially wanting to pursue a career in professional football with Brighton FC, Steve, unfortunately, had to cut short his dream and began working as a personal trainer, where he met the recruiter that would give him his first role. His journey covers the highs and lows of recruitment as a biller and manager, and then how he grew his agency into multiple brands and lasted through adversity.For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about how to grow out a business with multiple markets, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn how to hone your mindset into being a successful recruiter!Timestamps:How did you get into recruitment? [4:03]What do you think enabled you to capitalise on your progression? [11:41]How did your sporting background translate into recruitment? [13:35]How were your billings? [16:55]Starting his own business [18:35]Who did you set up with? [20:14]What was your plan? [21:20]How much financial runway did you have? [23:04]How long did it take you to make your first deal? [25:37]Knowing what you know now, what advice would you have given yourself? [29:00]How did things change in following years? [31:50]What was the sale to get people to join? [34:37]180 vs 360 model [37:54]How to you incentivise your consultants on delivery [41:25]What was the strategy to grow? [43:14]How did you communicate the change internally? [48:35]How different was that experience in comparison to the first time around? [53:13]Headcount to date [55:27]Did you consciously not want to have all your eggs in one basket? [56:37]Difficulties during Covid-19 [1:02:06]What have some of your key learnings been? [1:06:51]What are you excited to do post Covid-19? [1:09:54]What would you say to the people? [1:10:46]You can connect with Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-vividtech/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 🙌

You can watch the video replay here - https://youtu.be/xiHeWpjZED0Billing leaders special this episode!We're all experiencing unprecedented adversity right now within the recruitment industry.I wanted to make sure I played my part in helping us come together and get through this as an industry.Having sat down with numerous successful recruitment professionals when hosting the recruitment rollercoaster podcast I wanted to try and bring the right people together who can share their own experiences having been through adversity themselves.On each episode of this LIVE podcast webinar series, we will be digging into what the panellists are doing today in their businesses to weather the storm of Covid 19 but also how they have learnt from adversity in the past.In this episode, I was joined by Rianna Sarsons, Charles Curtis & Oliver Amos.I don't want listeners relying on me to ask the correct questions so a HUGE part of this is going to be interactive Q&A with the panellists.I want to make sure you get YOUR questions answered!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 🙌🏻👊🏻

You can check out the online personal branding course for recruiters by clicking this link:https://azzouzbrandingcourses.teachable.com/p/personal-branding-course-for-recruitersDon't forget to use your exclusive code to get a discount on the course by using 'Podcast' at the checkout.On this episode I’m joined by Steve Guest from S Guest Consultancy Services and the author of the 'Top Biller' book.After being in recruitment for over 14 years, I was able to get a real insight on this podcast on the old school vs new school way of recruiting, and how Steve has adapted over the years. Starting his career with Hays, we discussed his experiences there before exploring other companies and ways of working, which for those who are interested in leaving the corporate world.Steve gives an insight into how he approached this. We also discuss the power of content and social media presence and how that can (and should) go in hand with old school recruiting methods.For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about personal branding and Steve’s book, this one’s for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn more about a top biller’s day structure, which for those who are maybe struggling with a WFH model could benefit from having a new working process put in place!Timestamps:How did Steve get into recruitment? [4:50]How long were you at Hays for? [7:54]Advice for those who are looking to join a big business? [13:00]How much influence did it have on you early on? [16:16]What was your world like during the crash? [18:23]How were your billings at Hays? [21:56]How long was your ‘struggle’ period? [27:27]The growth of your team [28:17]What does a top billers day look like? [33:28]Sacrifices that people make in recruitment [38:56]What were you like as a manager? [41:47]Where was the motivation to write the book [46:00]Recruitment books vs textbooks [50:14]What are the common things you’re seeing in recruiters as a struggle? [52:07]What’s your view on personal branding vs old school? [58:11]Having a structure [1:05:37]Accessing Steve’s resources [1:12:09]What are you excited about? [1:13:34]What would you say to the people? [1:14:29]You can connect with Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveguest1/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 🙌

You can check out the online personal branding course for recruiters by clicking this link:https://azzouzbrandingcourses.teachable.com/p/personal-branding-course-for-recruitersDon't forget to use your exclusive code to get a discount on the course by using 'Podcast' at the checkout.On this episode, I’m joined by Joe Curtis from 11 Investments & Recruiter Labs.11 Investments - https://11investments.co.uk/Recruiter Labs - https://recruiterlabs.co/Initially starting his recruitment journey with Michael Page, we cover the highs and lows of his billing career. We then dive into his motivations behind starting up 3Search with two other Co-Founders and then taking the leap to create 11 Investments! I loved recording this podcast with Joe because it’s the first time I’ve had a recruitment business owner and recruitment investor on the podcast. For recruiters who are wanting to learn more about the recruitment investment market, then this is definitely one for you. Also, if you are thinking about setting up, but reluctant to go solo - this episode is going to add a lot of value and hopefully debunk some myths for you.For the junior consultants out there, this is an excellent podcast to learn what your future could look like should you have ambitions to be a business owner one day.Timestamps:How did Joe Curtis enter recruitment? [3:58]What was your initial perception of recruitment? [5:22]How did you get the opportunity to progress in a competitive landscape? [7:01]Have you always wanted to start your own business? [8:06]How did ThreeSearch come about? [11:03]How did you differentiate yourselves? [12:30]What did you start Eleven Investments [14:00]What do Eleven Investments do? [15:40]Common misconceptions of investors [18:45]What are the red flags when going through an investment process? [20:54]What have your biggest learnings been? [23:04]Why are clients more likely to help smaller companies out? [29:42]What are the core things you look at before investing in a biller? [31:58]What makes some markets more attractive than others? [34:42]Have you had exposure in the states? [37:17]How important is it to have a business plan? [40:22]When do you know if you’re ready to start a recruitment business? [43:40]How quickly can you grow a recruitment business without investment? [47:37]What have been some of the success stories? [50:00]Where do you think businesses get it wrong on retaining their consultants? [53:51]Hiring triggers [57:50]Cultivating culture [1:00:07]Advice for those starting their own recruitment business? [1:02:48]How do you see recruitment evolving? [1:04:56]What are you excited about? [1:11:31]What would you say to the people? [1:11:43]You can connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-curtis-6278415/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 🙌