On being a Quinquagenarian and why we need a recruitment revolution.

This is ultimately about recruitment, eventually...

Okay, Thursday 20th September was a big day, apparently. I became a 'Quinquagenarian', which is a posh way of saying 50 years old. A big thank you to all those connections, associates, friends and current and former colleagues who took the time out to send me a personal message. My favourite was the one from Gareth featuring the image of a naked rotund jolly Viking (seriously, just what the ….)

In the week leading up to my birthday I was in a reflective, contemplative mood. I was also rather grumpy. The question that consumed me the most was the manner in which I’d actually arrived at this milestone. How does someone who has lived a life like mine actually survive to this age relatively intact? So, for those that know me, but only via social media, here is a little insight. Followed by a Victor Meldrew style look at the recruitment industry.

The year I was born was prescient in many ways to the life I would lead. It was 1968. It was the year that Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, the same year that Elvis Presley (I’m a huge fan) made his comeback. It was an era of revolution; protests and riots took place around the globe. Vietnam, equal rights and race relations took centre stage. As the Zodiac Killer began his killing spree in California, the Kray Twins were being arrested for theirs in London. Hey Jude, by the Beatles, was No.1 in the UK charts. I think I've lived up to the expectations set by the era throughout my half decade of existence.

Let me put some context into this for you. I’ve led a pretty magical life, in the magical sense that I sometimes feel like the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. It has never been easy, the closest I ever got to a silver spoon was standing guard in a bearskin and tunic as a Coldstream Guardsman, at the back gate of Windsor Castle. I'm a working class guy. My life has been a real roller-coaster, I mean seriously up and down, around and around and occasionally embellished with those really scary moments when the coaster just hangs on the edge of a mind freezing, fear inducing drop, or even upside down. I've learned lessons the hard way, I'm kind of like that. It doesn't matter how many times you tell me not to put my hand in the fire...

But if you value life based upon experience and not material wealth, I reckon I probably beat most of the people reading this hands down. Wow, have I lived a life, 8 lives maybe.

9 Lives - bah, and the rest.

A cat with nine lives. Yep, of that there is no mistake. Falling off things is kind of a specialty of mine; especially from height. Over the years I’ve fallen down firing trenches, into a crevasse or three (I can still tie a mean prusik knot), off a mountain (Dente le Gigante in the Italian/French Alps to be precise), out of quite a few aircraft including helicopters, and once with a pretty serious parachute malfunction. I've fallen off walls, skateboards, surfboards, ironing boards, bars and tables and most recently a mountain bike. I've always survived.

When I’m not falling off things, I’ve been shot at, blown up, run over, knocked down and have even rode a motorcycle into a bar in Bali (I’ll do anything to win a bet). I've had an ax embedded in my head and my finger mangled to pulp by a pressing machine. My face shows the strains (and the scars) of living a life about risk, about adventure and about experience. I own very little, I’ve made money, lots of it. I’ve lost it, had it stolen, had it seized and every time, whether it’s because of war, political uncertainty, inept governments and/or greedy bankers, I’ve dusted myself down, clambered from the wreckage and started again. Every time, with a little less materialism and a sharpened focus on quality of life first. A little older, a little wiser, a little more mellow and undoubtedly with a face for radio.

Love, or in love with being in love...

Love, the wonderfully beguiling, dopamine fueled careless abandonment of being besotted. Just wow. Well, I've been in love 3 times in my life. Once with a career in the Army as a Coldstream Guardsman. It was a fabulous relationship, crazy, dangerous and amorous. It ended far too soon, in hindsight. I’ve loved a generous, warm and considerate woman. A crazy, mad and dangerous woman. I've loved a kind, beautiful, funny and entertaining woman. They were all the same woman. It ended far too soon, there’s the hindsight issue again. Then I've loved the recruitment industry, 20 years+ of it. It's in my blood, my heart beats to the drum and my mind is saturated with industry fueled dopamine. My motivators are exceeding expectations, innovation, bespoke approaches that challenge norms and get results. GET RESULTS! I mean, seriously, isn't that what our job is?

My Love Hate Relationship

Weak recruiters, tepid recruiters, uninspiring and fake recruiters, recruiters calling themselves headhunters, who lack original thought make my blood boil. Clients who accept substandard, par for the course, the same old crappy solution, service and excuses drive me mad. Why don't you stand up and say "Enough is enough...". Stop whining about rubbish service when your commitment financially, emotionally and professionally is so minimal. The saying about "You sow what you reap" has never been more apt. You, the client, have succumbed to mediocrity. You, the fake headhunter, the poor, weak, fee driven recruiter have danced to the devils tune.

It's time the whole recruitment industry had a 1968 moment and revolted against this fallacy that mediocrity is acceptable. There has never been a better time to license the industry and appoint an independent Ombudsman. How come so many recruiters make so much money out of heavily regulated, compliance driven industries without being regulated and compliant themselves? Seriously, just think about that? The vast majority don't even understand the basic tenets of confidentiality, impartiality and diversity. It's all about the 'FEE'.

I'm here to shake things up a little, to challenge expectations, to exceed and deliver beyond expectations. It's time to buckle up buttercup.

If you want to work with a gutsy, tenacious, innovative and admittedly rather old and sometimes cranky recruiter who gets balls deep in your needs, understands the pain from a top down strategic level, then drop me a line. I'm outstanding at building winning teams for businesses who want to go places. It kind of comes with the turf when you’re a Quinquagenarian and have lived through the very best and the worst this industry has to offer. I bring my tenacity, never say die, never give up attitude and approach to what I do for a living. If you’re my client, I’ll literally die for you, well, I might fall off a few things to get the job done for you. Dying might be a little extreme.

Thanks for the Birthday wishes X