Christian joined Gibson Hollyhomes at the beginning of 2012, shortly after graduating with a degree in English and History from the University of Manchester. Christian specialises in Accounts and Finance recruitment following a successful period in the Sales and Service team as well as the development of a Paralegal desk for Gibson Hollyhomes.
From your experience what factors/challenges do you think are affecting the recruitment market?
Social media now has a huge influence on recruitment. Facebook & Twitter are becoming crucial to attract the younger generation and LinkedIn is an important tool for hiring established professional talent.
Positively recruitment is a thriving industry, however unfortunately because of this there are number of agencies who apply the ‘see what sticks’ approach. With this in mind companies are having negative experiences which dilutes the quality of what we are trying to achieve.
How has Accountancy & Finance recruitment changed since you’ve worked within the sector?
I have noticed an upsurge in training, across both industry and practice. Clients are starting to understand that providing training and study opportunities will inspire loyalty and hard work, rather than it being all about ‘what the candidate can do for us’. Its pivotal potential employees understand that there will be development routes.
The majority of aspiring Accountants want to develop their experience in conjunction with their studies, weighing on one side over the other can cause an imbalance and therefore unrest in the role. In addition to longevity it also encourages a higher calibre of candidate to want to join a business. It’s still not universal, particularly within industry, however more companies are offering study support which is certainly a positive.
What do you consider to be the issues facing this sector?
The major issues stem back to part of the answer from my first response. In every recruitment sector, it is let down by a lack of quality and thoroughness. We have experienced it using rec-to-rec companies. Some are great, engaging and thorough, some are not.
I suppose there is good and bad in every industry. It just makes it more difficult to convince a new client that you will approach things differently.
What values can you bring to clients and candidates alike?
I have worked in recruitment for six years. So, experience is probably the main thing. I have also recruited within the Sales/Service sector as well as Legal, so my commercial awareness is quite broad which helps with perspective. I like to be honest, which I think the industry can lack at times.
If you didn’t work in recruitment, what would you be doing?
In realistic terms… really random, but it would be something in relation to creative writing. I studied English at University and it has always been part of what I do in my spare time. Unrealistically… It would be a professional sportsman (football or golf), that dream ended a long time ago……