So, 2022 is upon us.
For me personally, 2022 represents 20 years of recruiting for the insurance market.
In 2002 I was a 26 year old looking for a new role. After being made redundant by LTSB Insurance I really didn’t know where to go with things and what to do next. I managed to get a fixed term contract with a broker, but it was only short term and as me and Juliet had plans to get married and move out of our flat into a house, I needed a permanent role for the mortgage. After going to a recruitment consultancy to find a new job in the market, I found myself with a job offer to work in recruitment. I thought, he who dares….
My original view when I walked through the door at Search in Crawley in 2002 was that I would give recruitment a whirl and if it doesn’t work out, I couldn’t be in a better place to find my next job. I certainly did not think that I would make recruitment my long term career but after getting my first placement, I was hooked. I won’t name the candidate but the client was Xchanging Claims Services and the position was for a Claims Adjuster – all consultants should remember their first deal! I had to call the candidate to share the good news from outside my local pub as the offer came in late on a Friday. The buzz of telling someone that they have secured a new role is something that I will never lose – particularly as in this case I could get straight back to my pint and raise a glass!
I am not going to reel off everything else that has happened in the last 20 years. Helping to start a business from day one, establishing a new brand, securing placements in various different locations around the world, building a team, going through a MBO and starting all over again are all parts of what we have done but the main thing I am most pleased with, and proud of, are the friendships and partnerships that have happened. I truly regard a lot of the people that I deal with as good friends and feel privileged to have worked with so many great people.
Sometimes in recruitment we are helping an individual secure their next role, sometimes we are helping a client find their next great hire. The other aspects that do not always get seen by others are when we become counsel for someone at a low ebb, provide advice and support, be a shoulder to cry on, drinking partner (only on occasions…), relocation specialist (we even have a relationship with a removal business), free salary surveys and benchmarking exercises and, most importantly, to be a good mate when you need it.
I am one of those rare breeds of people who still love the job they do. Of course there are bad days, sometimes bad weeks, thinking about in 2020 there were bad months – but this makes you enjoy the good times all that bit more.
So, in summary, 2022 is something of a milestone year for me personally and I hope that all of us have a damn fine year! Let’s do this!
