I am a founding Partner of Careers & Candidates, a boutique recruitment firm, specialising in the recruitment of finance and accounting staff.

In late 2008, an opportunity presented to try starting my own firm, and running my own business had always been an interest, so I took the leap, and in partnership started Sharp & Carter, a boutique recruitment consultancy. By the time I left, we had grown the business to two offices, and had in place formal provider agreements with some of the largest domestic and international corporations that had offices in Victoria.Setting up and managing my own firm was a great exercise in thinking through all the lessons and experiences I had accrued, concerning what sought of firm I would like to work for and also use, if I was a candidate, or client. The success of the firm developed through our focus on providing honest service, which encouraged repeat business from our candidates and clients. Internally, we created a remuneration model and policy framework that was fair and transparent, and hired staff that appreciated our openness and honesty, and who would deal with our clients and candidates in a similar fashion. Again, a key enjoyment I had in the firm was developing staff and assisted them to be more successful.

Moving to Robert Half provided a very useful insight into quite a different recruitment model, and though Michael Page and Robert Half are large international firms, the way the companies were run differed significantly. For example, discretionary versus commission remuneration structures, a focus on primarily developing client (company) relationships and winning the work versus identifying high calibre candidates and introducing them to companies, and many other core differences. Again, I very much enjoyed developing and mentoring staff.

Michael Page provided an excellent environment in which I learnt the core skills of recruitment and how to develop client relationships. As my career developed, I took on responsibility for mentoring staff and ultimately managing a team. I enjoyed passing on my knowledge to consultants, and seeing them develop. I also took the opportunity to organise and run training sessions for our clients, around areas such as interviewing techniques and attracting the best candidates in the market.