• Position: Infrastructure Recruitment Consultant
• Summed up in three words: Confident, Motivated, Honest
Lloyd moved to recruitment after working in sales. With his previous role offering little progression, he wanted to work somewhere that offered more than just a paycheck.
After his first interview at Maxwell Bond, Lloyd recognised how culture was as important to the business as earnings. Initially starting in a junior position, Lloyd has since evolved towards a senior infrastructure role.
Fun fact: Qualified as a barber, Lloyd prides himself on an inherent ability to spot a poor haircut in seconds.
Tell me about your role at Maxwell Bond
I had initially applied for a trainee recruitment role. After finding a number of commonalities with Steven, I started working on junior roles in the infrastructure area.
Infrastructure is everything in the background. Unlike development, it’s not necessarily the creation of a product but more the role of keeping everything ticking. Say if a product’s been launched, we find someone who can sustain its success.
I slowly built my experience up and started working on the more senior roles. I learnt pretty early on that you needed to stay plugged in to the market at all times if you’re going to make placements. In infrastructure, roles are increasing in salary. Plenty of businesses are moving from a physical server into cloud software, creating a DevOps environment and adopting new tools. It’s my job to stay in the loop of what these tools are and what my clients should be looking for skills-wise if they want to stay competitive.
What do you like about working for Maxwell Bond?
There are constantly opportunities to shape your career. If you really want to achieve something, the parameters are in place to meet those targets. This means that everyone has a team-building attitude.
It’s competitive, but we drive one another – unlike sales. In other words, you’re surrounded by the best people for self-success. Sales is often just a numbers game.
It was the culture that drew me in. My interview with Steven took nearly two hours and I related to the fact he hadn’t chosen the academic route either. I enjoyed how open the interview was and have found Maxwell Bond to be the same. If you’re honest and work hard, it’s a great industry to be in.
How do you spot a company Where People Matter?
If it’s purely selling its own product at every opportunity, it’s probably not a place where people matter. To be certified as a place where people matter, you have to invest in everyone working there.
That extends to the clients as well. Businesses that have a diverse product range and routinely aim to innovate, suggest an environment where people matter.
I’ve seen it in some of our clients, they want to prioritise fit over general ability. It makes sense. Experience doesn’t guarantee that they’ll embrace your company culture.
Some sales roles want you to keep picking up the phone and repeatedly top up your call time. A company that cares will sit you down and work with you to plot a course from A to B.
What matters to you in recruitment?
It’s probably a common one, but a knack for building sustainable relationships. Placing a candidate in the short-term doesn’t only harm the client but also leaves you little to go off in the coming months.
Invest time learning about your client’s industry so that you can predict trends. Help cultivate their hiring strategy so that they can stay competitive in the field and be transparent when a client is ignoring significant opportunities.
Speak to the hiring manager and try and ascertain what it is they’d truly benefit from. Keep alert to projects they’ve got in the pipeline and regularly recommend relevant candidates. In other words, be an expert and be honest.
What’s your top tip?
For anyone coming in blind like I did, it’s all about not quitting. A lot of people quit after two or three months. I get it, it’s hectic and you’ll be knocked back. But sales does prepare you for that… I did the numbers. At Maxwell Bond you’re taught to fail fast and you’ll grow quicker. Ultimately, most top talent people don’t just walk into something and become good at it. You need to put the hours in, come in early, work late - the rewards will follow.
Funnily enough though, it’s less about the financial aspect and more about actually building something and gaining knowledge. If you’re just selling a phone, then you only know about that product. In recruitment, you’re helping someone and learning.
For example, I recently closed business with a candidate who had been left in the lurch by an industry giant. Be motivated by helping those people - the skilled workers unfamiliar with the modern hiring market.
