Welcome to our latest blog series – get to know the team. We wanted to give you a chance to get to know the people behind the emails and phonecalls, and to get an inside look at who we are and what we do.

So, without further ado, here’s Jack, our Associate Director. 

What’s your role at ISL?

I’m Associate Director. My role is about making sure that everyone in the business is achieving and exceeding their targets. Other elements of my role include new talent acquisition, account managing for some of our larger customers and contributing to business revenue.

How did you get into recruitment?

To be honest, I fell into recruitment like most people. I finished university and didn’t really know what I wanted to do, so I looked into recruitment and thought I’d apply. I worked for a recruitment company for a short time before I went travelling and then came back to it which is where I found ISL.

How do you differentiate yourself from other consultants in the industry?

I feel like I pride myself on giving customers the best experience possible and always do what I say I’m going to do. There are a lot of recruiters out there who promise the world and don’t deliver, whereas I feel we always deliver on what we say we’re going to. From a management perspective, I’ve built really good relationships with everyone I work with which is reflected in results.

What roles or type of clients most excite you?

For me, any sort of technical position, particularly within software development, is interesting to me. In terms of clients, startups with any sort of sustainability or medtech focus are ones I find most exciting to work with.

What’s your favourite part of the job?

I’d say my favourite part of the job is the new business acquisition. I really enjoy getting a new customer on board, delivering against their goals and having them come to us once we’ve fulfilled their aims and being told we’ve done a great job. From a leadership and management perspective, seeing other people grow within their role and achieve their goals is always really enjoyable for me to see.

What are some misconceptions people have about recruitment consultants?

There are a lot of misconceptions, which within a lot of cases aren’t actually misconceptions. People tend to think of recruiters as money grabbing, cut throat people only in it for the commission, which is true in some cases. However, there are a lot of great recruitment consultants out there (like us) who genuinely care and want to a good job finding people their dream roles.

What would be your best piece of advice for a founder looking to grow their startup?

For any founders looking to grow their startup, I’d say invest and develop a long-term relationship with a recruiter you can trust. Building an established relationship with someone on a partnership basis where you can really be open and honest with each other, they can represent your brand in the right way and attract the best talent.

What would be your best piece of advice for a candidate looking to join a startup?

Again, I’d say engage with good recruiters that specialise in working with startups and scaleups. If you get a good relationship established, the recruiter will go above any beyond to secure you the right role. So do your research and find a few companies you’d like to work for and find a recruiter to help you.

To learn more about ISL or to chat to Jack about career opportunities, connect with him on LinkedIn here.