With just over 10 years in, Managing Consultant, Martin Hall has joined Dynamic to take the lead on our contract recruitment solutions. We’ve spoken to him for some of his insights, and to find out more about what he’s learned from a career in recruitment.
Can you give us a brief overview of your role?
My main role is a 360 recruiter role, so I do the whole process. I proactively look for clients in the contract world, find the candidate, and marry them both together.
I’ll find a client, understand their needs, their challenges, and I’ll go to market and find the right candidate for the clients.
Half is business development, half is filing roles. In the contract market, which I prefer, then I don’t need to worry as much about commission. Because it’s spread over time. But the other guys, if they don’t make a deal for 4 or 5 months then it can be rough.
What led you to a career in recruitment in the first place?
Oooh that’s a difficult one. Brutally honest I used to be a stockbroker, I used to trade. When the housing market crashed, I quit my job and moved to Marbella. That was only supposed to be for a couple of months, but I ended up staying for 2 years!
When I came back, I met a gentleman in a pub. He got me into recruitment, and I really enjoy the work-hard play-hard lifestyle: even though I’m old as shit now. I went from knowing nothing about it, to a junior, to a senior and now to a team manager.
So you’ve had a great career in recruitment. What’s your advice for someone just starting out?
You need a lot of dedication, you need to be resilient, and you need to put in the hard work at the start. In the first 6 months, put all your energy into the job. It’s a sacrifice of your social life and free time. But if you can put those hours in early in your career, you’ll reap the benefits much quicker. And after those 6 months it’ll be so much easier.
Others slog it out for 2 years, and then they give up without giving it their all.
And you can’t be shy about anything. Some people can be anxious when they need to pick up the phone and call a CTO. But John said something the other day that stuck with me: “You need to learn to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations”.
What’s been the most memorable moment in your recruitment career?
I would say, it’s when I placed an IT director into a large finance firm in London. He didn’t want it, because he was a contractor but they wanted it permanent. We went and sat down and had coffee for 3 hours, really hashed out the pros and cons. He took the job and ended up staying for 4 years. And he told me after that decision changed his life.
Obviously the commission and money making potential is huge. But there’s also the fact that you’re helping people, and changing lives. I still speak to that fella now.
What led you to choosing Dynamic for the next stage in your career?
Choosing Dynamic was simple. I really liked the owners: I got on well with John and Adam, everyone in the office was friendly, it’s a nice office and in a really good location. You’re not the average recruiter, this is more professional services and headhunting rather than just flinging CVs.
For me, it’s the progression of building a team. The opportunity to come in and grow my own desk. And the guys are happy to give me the flexibility and support to do that.
What aspect of recruitment do you think is often overlooked?
I think it’s the complexity of the journey.
When I first started, I thought it was just “You want a job, you’re looking to hire someone, there you go.”. But it’s understanding the complications around a candidate, and finding a client that is right for them. People think it’s simple, but it’s quite a bit of responsibility: Your client and candidate have put their faith in you.
There’s a lot more that goes into than just filling a job, because people are more complex than that.
What are you looking forward to, as you progress in your new role?
I would say it’s firstly being successful myself. That’s my first key objective.
Then it’s building my own team and helping junior recruiters turn into recruitment consultants in their own right, who can take control of their own desk.
That’s the joy of recruitment, it’s finding someone who maybe doesn’t have that experience, and helping them grow into the role and the career.
So my focus is on testing and development. But in the future, I can bring another guy in who does project management. And they’ll just be able to crack on and they can just get on with their job.
If you could meet anyone, who would it be and why?
I’d have to say Da Vinci. How he came about designing some of the stuff he did. The sistine chapel. I love museums and stuff like that.
At Dynamic we’re always looking for new members to join our growing team: Whether you’re an experience recruitment consultant like Mark, or just looking to get started in your career. If you’re ready to take that step, contact us here to find out if you’ve got what it takes. Or apply directly to our open recruitment consultant position here.