San Diego - This means more

‘This means more’ is the slogan that Liverpool FC use to promote their branding on a global basis right now and I cannot help but think that this mantra reflects my situation right now. I have worked in recruitment since October 2011 (so quite a while now) and in that time I have had the pleasure of managing incredible teams in Manchester, New York and now San Diego. Why does ‘this mean more’? – I have always managed and worked as part of a larger management team and with the guidance of a boss/mentor in the same office, now I am the leader for a new office and get the chance to build markets and an entire office from the ground up.

To say that I am grateful for the support I have been given in my career to date would be a gross understatement and I’d like to think that I always reflect on where I come from, a working class town in Northern England called Bolton, certainly a far cry from the sunshine of Southern California! Managing a team and being the one that everyone looks up to is nothing new for me personally, this is part of the game you play once you become good in our industry. We all know the pain when people quit after you’ve spent months and years’ training them up and I would be naive to think that this next adventure won’t come with some long days, sleepless nights and ultimately stresses that only the seasoned Reccer will understand, especially those who have had the chance to open up an office and build a desk/team up.

As I left New York I was constantly asked if I was excited, what challenges lay ahead, why we chose San Diego, will you miss New York? and "are you ready?". Working in New York for over 3.5 years’ certainly gave me that ultimate competitive edge that was needed after working in Public Sector recruitment back in the UK and I genuinely believe Frank Sinatra’s words “if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere”, working in a fast paced sales environment next to Wall Street will push even the most hardened person from time to time but ultimately if you put in the hours, you will be rewarded and my reward was the chance to move thousands of miles and open up our first West Coast office.

What does the future bring for Hamlyn Williams in California – if you are reading this and don’t know who we are, you will soon and if you read this and do know who we are, you will probably agree with this sentiment: We will be the leading recruitment firm in regulated industries by the end of 2020 – BIG WORDS How is this quantifiable? How can you be an industry leader when some firms have thousands of employees?

20 months is the timeline but by the end of next year, we will have created a working culture unparalleled by any competing firm in the local market, we will be respected by industry leaders and we will be the go-to agency for firms who want to partner with a business that care for the industry they operate in. Our current ‘churn rate’ in the US is under 10% (industry standard is 35-40%) and our commission structure is industry leading, oh and we also reward our consultants with trips around the world, take them to conferences, train them daily and give them a platform to grow their careers in a way that not many business (let alone recruitment businesses) can do right now, I am living proof of this. It is worth noting that a recruiter at HW does not simply ‘fill open jobs’ passed on by account managers, they are trained to be able to work with C-suite executives, have discussions about their chosen industry and can be regarded as true Consultants within merely months.

From a foundation of just me in January we now have a (growing) team in place ready to build up the San Diego business and I simply cannot wait for what the future will bring for both myself and every single person that joins me in this adventure.

Is this going to be easy, NO, is it going to be the greatest challenge of my career, YES. Will it all be worth it? ABSOLUTELY. This means more, to me, to my family and to everyone that I work closely with here at Hamlyn Williams. I don’t have a stat to show how many recruiters get the chance to open up their own office, let alone in somewhere like San Diego but I plan to give everything I have to make this office the best in our business globally and with the help of those around me, possibly the industry. Bring it on!

If you have spent time reading this and want to have a conversation about how you can be a part of this, then please get in touch: [email protected].