#workforus The importance of excellence, teamwork and innovation

We're expanding! You may have noticed!

Following recent hires into the E-Commerce and Digital teams, this is the first #workforus blog from a member of the newly formed Technology recruitment team. Our customers have been asking us for some time if we can help fill their development and design teams so we've listened…and created a team to do just that.  We've brought in Matt Skelton to head up the team and whilst he's been busy planning strategy and throwing himself straight in to educating us on IT Recruitment, we've also decided it's a good idea to bring someone with experience help support the delivery of the immediate job flow.  That person just so happens to be his wife, Yasmeen! Who in the below blog explains why she has come out of retirement to help us all out…

As a lot of people do, I hadn't intended to get a job in recruitment; I had left university with two degrees & three languages but I also had very empty pockets and living in Central London is an expensive place to be in your twenties.  A friend of mine suggested speaking to a mutual friend; he had just got a job at a well-known corporate recruitment company and he was loving it!  I wasn't sure though, I never really looked good in a suit.

I have however, always enjoyed getting to know new people, working at a fast pace and in a fluffy & shiny totally non-corporate way, I had always enjoyed helping people - maybe I might be good at this?

After successfully completing my rookie year specialising in Public Sector Finance Recruitment, during which time I received national recognition for having the fastest growing desk starting from scratch - I moved to Manchester.  Along with the big re-location came a new company who at their very heart held innovation, teamwork, excellence and, importantly, fun as their company values.  I loved it. My colleagues with whom I worked very closely (team commission!) reinforced to me that building trust with our candidates is vital - if you genuinely have their best interests at heart and can provide sound guidance through challenging times (and changing jobs is always a challenge!) then successful outcomes, whether short term or further down the line are pretty much guaranteed.  Over the next few years I worked with a wide range of talent from Banking & Financial Services, Finance & Local Government.  I can even count some of the people I worked with from this time as former candidates and now friends.

Having enjoyed an extended maternity leave, it's time to get back to business.  My priorities have obviously shifted; I used to be able to work early/late/weekends in the past but now my time is largely occupied by a smiling/crying toddler.  In the almost 9 years since I started out in the industry, I had seen that being a mother and working in corporate recruitment can sometimes fail to work as long hours and unpredictable schedules don't meet in the middle very often.  However, in a fortunate twist of fate my husband Matt,Head of Technology at The Candidate, told me about Brian & Colin's vision for their company, the great people he was working with & the flexible ways of working on offer - far from the rigidity of the corporate recruitment companies I had previously worked in, it sounded like a great opportunity to be a part of something special.

You must think I'm mad working with my husband and you're probably right! However we've worked in the same office before and I've seen him grow a successful technology team from scratch. The fact is The Candidate are already well established across E-Commerce and Digital Marketing so a technology team makes sense. I can apply my recruitment experience and values to a new sector, focussing on all aspects of software development, database and infrastructure whilst Matt concentrates on the senior market and Jack Such, our latest Technology Department hire focuses on supporting us by growing our regional candidate base across development.

I am really looking forward to helping Matt build The Candidate's Technology team & extend The Candidate's exceptional & innovative  "customer experience" to a wider network as the team grows."

How does this sound to you?  Do you want to work in a flexible working environment?  Can you be a part of a vibrant & growing team?  Would you like to be a part of our journey? #workforus