Our People

In many senses, I’m a detective. The brief I’m given has to cover a job’s responsibilities, what type of person would fit in and which organisational background they might have – but it’s my responsibility to ask the right questions to get all that information.

There’s a lot of computer work – internet searches and database interrogation, which I find an interesting part of the role. I always have to come up with ingenious ways of obtaining the names of people in target positions that might be worthwhile approaching with new opportunities.

My job is highly deadline-driven, especially as there’s often an advertising campaign running concurrently. And there’s only so much research time allocated to each assignment, so I have to make every minute count.

I enjoy the challenge of having to engage candidates early on in the conversation. You have to pitch at the right level. Arrogance or abrasiveness will get you nowhere – but you still have to sound confident that you’ve got something worthwhile for them to listen to.

Research isn’t just about finding people – there’s a lot of learning about different sectors, so I have to look at every job in a market context, in order to give meaningful advice to the consultant managing the assignment.

I enjoy being involved in so many high-level appointments – there’s always so much riding on finding the right person. Some are politically-led appointments, such as senior people in local government or the NHS who I’ve then read about in the press later. It’s good to know I helped get those people appointed, and that they’re clearly succeeding in their roles.