25 years sounds like a long time!
When you are in the business of recruiting recruiters, it definitely is! As one of the first Rec to Rec agencies we used to be asked daily about the concept – now it is an integral part of recruitment agency hiring.
When I joined 17 years ago as I started running the Regional team and working on my first director level assignment, I couldn’t have imagined the journey that McCall would take (we went from independent to part of Empresaria - a global staffing AIM listed firm) nor how the market would change (out went the faxes and the landlines, in comes various technology, international placements and offices in Singapore and Sydney, emerging markets and entirely new sectors).
It has been truly fantastic - and it continues!
Any service-based business that has grown over such a period will have lived through all the typical business clichés, and I won’t bore you with any of them here, but I would like to pen a blog dedicated to the people (past and present) who have accompanied me on the journey. They form our DNA here at McCall - and we would be nothing without them.
At the last count, we have over 250 years of experience in the industry, but we all understand that often we are judged as only as good as your last placement! Advances in technology and social media are transforming the industry, but at the heart of recruitment remains a passion to help others fulfill their career dreams. As the years have gone by, we have grown with the people we have placed, and now many of those first graduate/grad caliber trainee placements are running or heading their own recruitment businesses! After all, when you focus on service, candidates tend to become clients.
As well as supporting our external partners, I would like to think that we are pretty good at supporting each other. The economy has experienced some knocks over the years, and it would have been all that bit harder without the banter and positivity of the team to help each other get through it. On the other hand, in the good times, I’d like to think that there aren’t many better people at celebrating success – indeed our 25th anniversary conference next week will be another great celebration!
One of the key attributes that I have always valued in my colleagues is the ability to listen and not to pass judgement. Career contentment in recruitment is about far more than commission, everyone is looking for a slightly different challenge – but we all know that ultimately a good placement is helping someone obtain a better job and be happier! Being trusted with someone’s dreams is a hugely privileged position that we don’t take lightly; and we have become so established over the past 25 years because we have taken to time to try and understand each client, candidate and colleague as an individual.
Internally our team is varied (we employ apprentices, highly experienced billers, resourcing, part-time staff…) but we all have a true understanding and a real passion for the business, our recruitment sector overall and a real enjoyment of our job in common!
Rather than speak further on their behalf, I’d like to hand over to a member of my team to talk about how they have flourished in the last few years. But the thanks goes to all the team. You’re all amazing.
Alex Evans (formerly Apprentice and Administrator, Resourcer, Consultant) “I believe the key to success lies within all of us if we truly want to achieve and excel at something we love; my attitude, resilience, willingness to listen, learn and teach others what I’ve learnt – to share and ensure that my successors benefit from my knowledge. The opportunity to carve my own career path, to truly understand the route I wish to take however is not an option everyone is afforded, so for this, I am thankful. Having a focus gave me the drive to work hard and I had the necessary determination to achieve my goals and do my job very well.”
Here’s to plenty more anniversaries to celebrate!