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Category: Finance-x

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Recruitment Agencies: who to use and why?

So you've recently decided to look for a new job - you've got a great CV, perfect LinkedIn profile and fully utilised your professional network - you won’t need to use a recruitment agency, surely?

Well, maybe not. However, the vast majority of hiring firms will still use outside assistance for most levels of recruitment, and this means you will more than likely need to apply for a role through a recruitment agency at some point.

As a result, before you just randomly send your CV to any old recruitment firm, it is best to think through which agencies you engage with and why.

Which agencies to engage with? 

This choice tends to come down to what stage you have reached in your career so far, so make sure you approach the right type of firm:

Establishment stage – engage with the bigger, larger established recruitment brands. They tend to work with larger PLC businesses and have the reach to offer more choice whilst you gain experience.

Growth to leadership – depending on the salary range (some firms can be fixed on this), we recommend you engage with a mixture of larger recruitment firms and boutique agencies (like us) who build long-term relationships for senior hires.

Board level – depending on salary, we recommend you engage with a mixture of the boutique recruitment firms and the established 'SHREK' (an acronym referring to the five largest and arguably most prestigious) executive search firms.

How many agencies to engage with?

The number of recruitment agencies you engage with for your job search will also depend on what stage of your career you have reached:

Establishment stage – 2 -3 good recruitment firms should be enough. Their scale and reach in this marketplace tends to be strong and should give you everything you need.

Growth to leadership and board level – whilst this sounds counter-intuitive, you should be speaking to 10-15 search firms. Roles at this level will almost certainly be exclusive or retained with a single recruitment agency. As a result, you need to build more relationships with more agencies so as not to miss out on that perfect role.

Spend time and do your research

For a successful job search, search firms should still be a core aspect of your approach. As with everything when it comes to seeking that next career move, spending time on understanding who can help you is really important. Do your research and speak to more recruiters if you aren’t getting what you expect. 

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Professional Network: What is it and how best to utilise it?

people networking

So you've just started your job search and the one thing you hear over and over again is: "make sure you speak to your network"!

But what does this actually mean? You may be like the vast majority of the market who don’t regularly network.  You're just too busy with work and family life, and that's fine. But fear not, you’ll actually have more of a network than you think. And using your network is incredibly important when it comes to finding and securing that all important next career move. 

These are the two main networks you should use to facilitate your search: 

1. Traditional network

This will consist of former colleagues and bosses. Whilst not the furthest reaching of networks (as it depends mostly on them having the right job at the right time), it is still important to have other people know that you are on the hunt for a new role. So tell them! You just never know who might know of someone hiring at your level and can recommend you. 

2. Professional network

This is the most important network to make aware that you're on the lookout for a new role. But what is this network? Think of professional advisors (audit partners, lawyers, corporate finance advisors or managing consultants) you have worked with. Their job entails a lot of business development and meeting people in similar industries. They will know more and be a position to mention your availability more than you think. An introduction or recommendation from a trusted advisor carries a lot of weight, so make sure you make the most of these people in your network - keep them informed if you're on the lookout for a new challenge.

Utilise all your networks to your advantage

The more people who know you are looking for a new role, the more opportunities that will come to you. So where possible, use both your traditional and professional networks to your advantage. The world can work in mysterious ways, so do not be afraid to utilise that professionally.

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LinkedIn: is it as important as your CV?

LinkedIn and CV

The job market changes all the time, but there was a point in 2018 when we had a miniature big bang moment: LinkedIn adding the 'open to work' banner. This allowed you to signal to the world that you are actively looking and thus making it easier to for potential employers to find you. Think of it as LinkedIn’s Tinder-fication moment.

But other than the added reach, what does it all really mean when getting ready to start your job search? This article will outline why LinkedIn is fast becoming as important as your CV.

Who is looking at you on LinkedIn?

In short, a lot of people! LinkedIn puts the number at 1 billion globally and around 35 million in the UK alone. Now obviously not all of these people are relevant to you finding your next role, however, 97% of talent professionals (agency recruiters or in-house talent teams) will use LinkedIn everyday for candidate searches. This is a “passive” route to market which, if prepped properly, will increases your chances of finding the perfect role.

How to think about your LinkedIn profile

Essentially, you need to think of it like your CV, but with an added focus on keywords. Why? Well, this comes down to what LinkedIn is. It is to all intents and purposes a huge database, and searchable keywords means you are much more likely to be found.

Open to work – yes or no?

Quite simply: YES.

To reassure new people to the job market, LinkedIn has a built in feature meaning people from the same organisation can’t see if you have switched on the 'Open to Work' banner. 

Format

This should essentially be the same as your CV.  We've another helpful article on just that, which you can access here. 

The differences to be aware of:

Contact details - it's your choice over whether you include contact details on LinkedIn. As long as you regularly check your Inmail, then adding personal contact details to a public forum isn’t needed. However, if you are comfortable with people contacting you directly then you may get more traction by adding them. It ultimately depends on how you wish to be approached.

Qualifications – these should be listed under the 'Education' section. There will be an option under “schools” to find the relevant professional qualification.

Key skills check boxes – when filling out your experience in each of your roles you will be given the chance by LinkedIn to check a number of key skills boxes. Whilst this speeds up the process and makes sure you are hitting the “keyword quota”, it doesn’t tell your story well. By all means use this tool, but make sure to include details on your Responsibilities and Achievements for each role. 

Recommendations – view these as publicly visible references. Two or three will give your profile added weight when people are reviewing it.

Conclusion

Be sure to give LinkedIn the time it deserves. Given its ability to help attract opportunities to you, it is as important (if not more) than the traditional CV. Do not be afraid to put the majority of your recent CV experience directly on to your LinkedIn profile.

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How to make your CV impactful in an ever more competitive job market

CV: The bastion of the job search, the document that opens the doors, but is it still relevant?

You see lots of missives on the death of the CV, turning experience into ever fancier documents, slides, decks etc etc. The answer; your CV is still extremely relevant and spending time on it is one of the most important things you will do in prepping for your job search.

How to think about your CV.

Format:

Your CV should first of all include all the necessary core information (see below for more details) followed by your experience (in chronological order) with the most focus on your most recent job, tapering off towards your earlier career. Your latest job is the most relevant to your next role, so put the most detail into that.

Length:

I’m a firm believer that all relevant experience should be on the document, meaning the traditional two-pager isn’t always achievable. However, if you taper the amount of detail as you get further back in your career then you will genuinely keep your CV to a sensible length.

Core information:

The basics – name, contact details (you’ll be surprised in the digital world how many people leave off a contact number), relevant educational stages (professional qualifications etc.) and a list of relevant IT systems used. After your experience, be sure to include a section on your interests - think about these and make them thoughtful.

Added extras – a summary (one sentence or a couple of bullet points, max) on your key skills gained during your career. These could be a brief mix of technical and softer skills. This shouldn’t replace specific job experience, but be more of a brief overview.

The main body: the job experience

In this section, it is important to think about your experience through a particular prism. What is your next employer looking for? A good analogy to use is; your CV is an answer to the questions set by the job description. The employer will have spent time putting together a job description - rightly or wrongly both the line manager and any third parties (internal talent teams, recruitment agencies etc.) will use this to judge you against the competition. The more your CV positively answers the job description, the more likely you are to get an interview.

Now ideally you would have the time to tweak your CV for every single application you make, but we are all aware that time is short so having a more focused generic CV is important. How do you achieve this?

  • Keywords – each job you are trying to obtain will have core keywords no matter which business it is with. These tend to be in the main “responsibilities” section of the job description. Use them in your CV where possible - it sounds like painting by numbers but remember not everyone that sees your CV will be an expert in your field. Some will be looking at your type of experience for the first time, so make it obvious! 
  • Responsibilities Vs Achievements – having read the first point, you may feel that a list of responsibilities is enough to get that interview. It isn’t. The responsibilities section will give the employer the confidence you can technically do the job. However, the achievements section will then give you the opportunity to expand on how you have used your skills to go above and beyond, thus making you stand out from other applicants. 

In summary: 

    • Responsibilities: short bullet points mirroring job description focus.
    • Achievements: longer bullet points expanding on your relevant skills.

Conclusion

Your CV is a marketing tool to enable you to meet the business you would like to work for. This means you have to objectively look at in this light. Putting yourself in the shoes of potential hiring managers will focus the mind on skills that stand out, not those that are too specific to your current or most recent role.

Above all else, enjoy the process, engage with it and ultimately be proud of what you have achieved to this point.

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4 Essential Things Senior Finance Leaders Should Consider Before Initiating A Career Move

Background: Buy-backs and why you should avoid them

Buy-back: when an employer offers a resigning employee more money in an attempt to get them to stay.

LinkedIn and the recruitment industry as a whole, sadly, is awash with advice on how to manage a “buy-back” situation. The majority of this advice has been done to death and often features, largely made-up, statistics around how many candidates will go on to look for a job once they’ve accepted a buy-back. Granted; at the CFO level, due to the nuance involved in it, these numbers are far fewer. There is an old quote that says ‘73.6% Of All Statistics Are Made Up on the spot’ – often because it serves the narrative at hand.

But what all of this advice fails to address is that on a basic level, buy-backs are not good and they are something you should want to avoid in the first place. Of course, it’s flattering to receive a buy-back when you hand in your resignation, and why shouldn’t you receive one; after all you’re a great employee! But it should never reach the point where it’s actively being considered - if you’ve gone through the steps we’ve outlined below, you’ll know that the decision you’ve taken to leave is the right one and you won’t be swayed by guilt/loyalty/more money [delete as appropriate] into staying. 

Important things to consider before you start looking for a job

From SRM Search’s perspective, there are several measures that CFOs and senior finance professionals can take before they consider initiating a search. From our own experience in early conversations we may have with a Finance Director or a CFO, as much as 15% of them will re-evaluate a career move in some form once we’ve discussed these points with them.

So here are a few areas to evaluate before an external search is even initiated, and by initiate we mean the sharing of a CV with a recruiter/search firm or applying to an external role. Our advice is that the following is treated almost as a “flow chart”. Across this we’d clearly recommend that a dialogue is initiated with your current line manager (where appropriate of course), but before that, you should consider the following four key areas:

  1. Assess your current role/responsibilities and challenges

Frustrations with our current roles can often be short-term. Critiquing your current role and assessing whether you can expand your responsibilities or make adjustments is an important step in career growth. Before deciding to leave your current job or seek new opportunities, it’s worth considering how you can enhance your current role to better align with your goals and satisfaction. Consider:

  • What you enjoy most about it and what the medium-term horizon is for this changing? If your company is expanding or making acquisitions, for example, clearly there is scope here for things changing (hopefully for the better).
  • What are your frustrations and how practically can these be addressed? An obvious example here at the mid-levels of the finance profession may be down to pay. In a tight labour market, as we have in the UK, you may be surprised how open your direct line manager may be to discuss how this might be addressed.
  • Be solution-oriented: when considering potential changes/amendments to your role or a desire for a promotion, focus on solutions that address both your needs and your current businesses needs or goals. For example, propose how expanding your responsibilities can help achieve key business objectives or improve efficiencies.
  • What is the wish list of development areas you feel you need? Perhaps having spent some time speaking with your external professional network can determine or influence how likely you can address this by making a move to another business.
  • On the basis that you decide there is further professional development or experience that can be gained from your current role, establish some set goals; how are you going to measure this and devise a timetable to work towards.
  1. Speak to your professional network

Speak to your professional network outside of your current organisation (separate to a search firm). This could even be as binary as writing a list of people that will speak for you, and who would be “useful” for you. In isolation this is a very worthwhile exercise anyway. These contacts are likely to be brokers (for CFOs), professional advisors such as lawyers, corporate finance contacts and audit partners. For candidates below, say, FC level, this could be your cohort from time in practice, if you are an ACA.

We appreciate completely that not all are practical and it’s clear that you cannot risk conflicts of interests. We would suggest that when looked at forensically, your list will be longer than you’d have envisaged. Asking for advice around the market but also feedback about your engagement in a professional capacity can often lead to some interesting discussions and may shape how you view something externally. Our advice would be always to start here following your evaluation on your role, as outlined above.

  1. Utilise Professional Network Communities

The rise of professional network communities has significantly transformed the way passive and uncertain job seekers explore new opportunities. The "Instagrammification" of LinkedIn has unquestionably made accessing these networks more accessible and personal.

One standout example is the NOVA Community, a network of over 500 senior female leaders who come together to collaborate, share experiences, and engage in meaningful conversations. This community exemplifies the power of professional networks that blend online interaction with offline connections. Members can discuss challenges, celebrate successes, and provide advice, offer/receive mentoring in a judgment-free space. Historically groups similar to NOVA were only focussed on the CFO end of the market, and this has certainly changed. In NOVA’s example, they offer an FC level cohort and a “just market curious” board.

  1. Consider a career coach

A coach isn’t needed in all situations or levels, but technology has made career coaching more accessible through online platforms like BetterUp, Coach.me, and LinkedIn's career services. These platforms allow professionals to connect with coaches remotely, making it easier to access coaching regardless of location.

Career coaching is no longer seen as a service only for executives or those in crisis. It has become a mainstream tool for continuous professional development. More organisations are offering coaching services to employees as part of their benefits packages, recognising the value of coaching in employee retention, development, and satisfaction. Utilising a coach may give you a fresh perspective and operational adjustments that may benefit your current role.

Should you stay or should you go?

Much of the above may be measures that you have taken in the past when considering a career move. Broadly speaking, we do tend to see many candidates overlooking the first point when considering if it’s time for a move and this can, especially at the CFO level, often be the most fruitful source of ideas and support when it comes to the early stages in considering a move from the role you are in currently.

All of the above are routes to consider for either the very passive seeker of a new role or perhaps someone who is in the very early stages of initiating a job search. Ultimately, when the transition to a more active search occurs, the majority of the above should absolutely still be a facet of a rounded and all-encompassing search. In many cases it may be that you decide that, whatever the reason, it may not be the right time for you to move.  But when you do decide it’s your time to initiate that search, we’re here to help.

We’re here to help

If you’re a CFO or senior finance professional who has decided now is the right time to move, please contact me, Richard Boyd, on richardboyd@srmrecruitment.com or call +44 7376 497285

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Bradley Chilvers joins SRM to focus on part-qualified and transactional finance hires

Brad Chilvers

We’re delighted to welcome Bradley Chilvers to SRM Recruitment as a Senior Consultant in our finance recruitment division, focusing on part-qualified and transactional finance hires. Bradley tells us about the roles he’ll be working on, what prompted his move to SRM, and his advice for candidates and clients.

Tell us about yourself?

Travel is a big passion of mine. I was luckily enough to take some time off in 2023 to travel Thailand & Vietnam, if you haven’t been you have to go! Usually, I’ll be tucked into a juicy Netflix series or on the golf course, desperately trying to lower my abysmal handicap whilst strolling around wondering why I ever picked it up in the first place!

Tell us about your career to date?

I started my recruitment career in 2017, after a two-year apprenticeship in estate agency. Over the years, I have always had a focus on finance recruitment, ranging from qualified to PQ/transactional roles across the permanent and interim markets. I’m now positioned solely within the PQ & transactional market, diving myself into permanent and interim needs.

What prompted your move to SRM?

After working for a larger agency for many years, I felt like there was a better way to consult clients and candidates whilst having the autonomy to build out my desk as I see fit. SRM has ticked those boxes!

What was it that appealed to you about working for SRM?

SRM believe in being real consultants, not salespeople, which really resonated with my core values. I’m in a business that truly cares about the candidate journey and the client service – if we can’t directly help, we will be happy to give you some free advice. For my own development too, working with hands-on, passionate founders and directors will greatly help me improve my own career and help me grow as a professional.

Tell us about the roles you’ll be working on?

I’ll be working with PQ candidates for financial reporting, financial controls, payroll, and transactional teams across all sectors within the Northern Home Counties.

What do hiring managers and job seekers like about working with you?

My honest approach. If I cannot help you, I will tell you. I’m not too proud to pass your details onto one of my contacts if they are better positioned to assist with your job search! For my clients, no two are the same, I take time to build effect relationships with businesses to ensure I understand the company, position, and team-culture – making my clients hiring process as stress free as possible.

What’s your top piece of advice for hiring managers right now?

Your hiring process will set your company’s first impression with candidates. Communicate effectively during your hiring process and set expectations on timelines.

What’s your top piece of advice for candidates right now?

We operate within an ever-changing sector and automation is a common theme. Be adaptable and take the time to learn & develop your systems skills.

Get in touch:

Need help to hire or finding your next PQ/transactional finance role in the home counties? Contact Bradley on bradleychilvers@srmrecruitment.com or call +44 7398 766803. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn here

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Danny Savino joins SRM to focus on finance hires within the Northern Home Counties

We’re delighted to welcome Danny Savino to SRM Recruitment as a Regional Manager in our Finance recruitment division. Danny tells us about his career to date, what appealed to him about working for SRM, his remit in his new role and his advice for candidate and clients. 

Tell us about your career to date? 

In 1996, I embarked on an exciting path in the recruitment industry. Since then, I’ve been at the forefront, steering successful and dynamic recruitment teams across various domains. My leadership has spanned diverse areas, including sales & marketing, technology and business support. In the last 10 years, I’ve delved into the intricate world of accountancy & finance recruitment. 

What prompted your move to SRM?

The reason I joined SRM Recruitment is because I’ve been familiar with them for some time, and I appreciate their client-centric approach. They’ve cultivated an environment where individuals can truly become the best version of themselves.

What was it that appealed to you about working for SRM? 

Joining SRM was an easy decision for me. Right from the founders to the entire team, I felt an immediate sense of trust and alignment. Professionally, the chance to help enhance the service offered already to our clients in the home counties is a great opportunity.

Tell us about yourself? 

You’ll often find me at the gym, dedicated to my fitness routine. I’m committed to staying active, pushing my limits, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Whether it’s lifting weights, hitting the treadmill, or a few press ups, I thrive on the endorphin rush that exercise brings. As an avid Newcastle United fan, my weekends revolve around the beautiful game and on occasions attending St James Park or seeing them on their travels down south. 

What led you to specialise in finance roles? 

My journey into finance recruitment took an unexpected turn. Having worked across various sectors, a technology client of mine needed help rebuilding their finance team. This really sparked my interest and excitement in recruiting in this sector. From that moment, the rest became history, and I’ve been passionate about it ever since.

Tell us about your remit in your new role?

As a recruiter specialising in part-qualified (PQ) accountants, I’ve had the privilege of connecting talented individuals with exciting opportunities across various sectors. From financial accounting to management accounting, I’ve navigated the vibrant landscape of commerce and industry within the home counties. Whether it’s helping candidates take their next career step or assisting companies in finding the right fit, my passion lies in creating successful matches. 

What do hiring managers and job seekers like about working with you? 

Both my clients and job seekers appreciate working with me for several reasons. For clients, I provide tailored recruitment solutions, efficiently source top talent, maintain effective communication, and build long-term partnerships. Job seekers benefit from my guidance, advocacy, transparency, and focus on their career growth. 

What’s your top piece of advice for hiring managers right now? 

Clear and timely communication with candidates. Regular updates and feedback create a positive experience, even if it’s a rejection.

What’s your top piece of advice for candidates right now? 

Stay adaptable: the industry is evolving, so be open to learning new tools and technologies.

Get in touch:

Need help to hire or finding your next finance role in the home counties? Contact Danny on dannysavino@srmrecruitment.com or call +44 7375 409089. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn here

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Building your CV: How to stand-out in the competitive UK job market

Building your CV: How to stand-out in the competitive UK job market
When thinking about starting your search for a new job, the first thing you should do is take a look at your CV. The UK has a highly competitive job market, and many hiring/recruitment managers will be inundated with CVs. In order to give yourself the best possible chance of standing out, securing interviews, and ultimately your ideal role, it’s important to make sure your CV is up to scratch and shows all the necessary information.

Here are our top tips to make sure your CV stands out:


  • It is important that your CV is formatted in a clear, concise and chronological format using bullet points, with your most recent role listed first. Ensure job titles are clear and the font is consistent and easy to read.

  • Ensure your contact information is up-to-date and listed at the top of your CV along with a link to your LinkedIn profile.

  • Try to avoid listing too many soft skills. You can achieve this by adding a ‘Responsibilities and Achievements’ section underneath each role on your CV and, where possible, adding tangible/measurable achievements.

  • Your CV does not need to be crammed onto one or two pages, although keeping it reasonably concise is important. Interviews are where you will be given the opportunity to talk about your experience in more depth.

  • Only list work history that is relevant to your current job search. Your most recent role is going to be the most important and relevant part of your CV and all prior experience will provide more context to employers.

  • When outlining previous work history, it is beneficial to add a small description on previous companies as they may not be widely recognised within the UK.

  • When listing your education history; your high school, university and post-university qualifications are relevant, however, transcripts, grades and primary school education is not relevant, so leave those off.

  • Spelling and grammar: a well-presented and thoroughly proofread CV reflects professionalism and attention to detail. Why not ask a friend to proofread your CV before sending it off? Don’t fall at the first hurdle because of avoidable typos or poor grammar.


At SRM Recruitment, we’re here to support you and your career aspirations. If you’d like further advice or have any questions on the job market in the UK, please contact a member of the team.
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Invest in your recruitment processes and find a recruitment partnerwho ‘gets’ you: a Q&A with Jody Rolfe, FD at TUI.

jody rolfe
jody rolfe
Hiring into a busy finance team can be challenging, but there are some tips you can heed to make the most of your recruitment process and find the best talent for your company. Luke Higgs, Regional Director for SRM, had the pleasure of speaking with Jody Rolfe, Finance Director (Commercial) at TUI about his current role, his advice for those looking to hire finance professionals and how to get the most from your recruitment partner of choice.

Q: Jody, first of all, tell us a bit about your role as Finance Director at TUI?


I’ve been at TUI in total for a decade now. My current role is Finance Director for all things commercial in the UK; what I like to describe as the “fun stuff of finance”. We’re involved in all the strategy, all the trading and finance decisions that the business makes. We really pride ourselves on being right next to the business, as close as we can be, helping them to make the best possible decisions by looking both backwards, forwards and at our competitors.

The team is now at around 40 people and is split into four sub-teams. Our commercial team is heavily based on the different areas of TUI’s business; our Crystal Ski business, the Ireland business, our main TUI Tour Operator and finally, our River Cruise business. That area of the finance team supports the commercial function in setting trading targets, looking at our margins and cost bases, thinking about our budgets and decisions around ancillaries etc. We also have a sales and marketing team; their role in the finance team is to partner with the sales and marketing function, to make sure we sell as many holidays in the most efficient and best way as we possibly can. We have an overheads team that look at the various costs in delivering all those things, so head office costs, staff costs and all the decisions around people. There have been some real positive movements in that area recently too, such as improved maternity and paternity pay options for our staff. Our final team is the FP&A team – they bring everything together for all the UK, working with areas outside of our direct control such as the Airline and Group functions, to bring an overall picture of where we’re going, what we’re looking like, what our reporting looks like. It’s all quite fun and very interesting.

Personally I’ve had many different roles across those different teams at TUI over the last decade, with a brief stint at a major UK supermarket for about 18 months in between. But I believe TUI has something very special about it and a lovely culture. SRM Recruitment know us very well - you hopefully understand why so many of us have been here for so long.

Q: How has the finance team grown and changed since you joined TUI?


We’ve definitely become more of a Group, and less of a UK market. We’ve been starting to leverage economies of scale and looking at how we can do things together. Internally, we often talk our team using the analogy of a F1 car and every different market has its own driver. Personally, I like to think I’m Lewis Hamilton! Basically, we all have the same car but with slight modifications – so the systems we use, the tools we use, the IT infrastructure and strategy we have is broadly the same, and the car therefore is broadly the same – but it’s tweaked for each individual driver (and therefore market) to get the absolute maximum out of it.

This is where I’ve seen things change the most – but it allows you to spend more than you would individually on these things and hopefully get something better out it. Of course, it sometimes creates some internal conflict, because every driver wants their car to be the best and angled especially for them, but ultimately it does work better, so that’s probably where I’ve seen things change the most.

We’ve ended up with smaller local teams in some areas and bigger teams in Group functions elsewhere, but it does create a lot of opportunity for movement. Many of us have worked in local and Group teams, myself included. You get to really understand what other markets are doing and it’s great from a personal perspective too – it involves meeting people from different cultures, different areas of the business and markets, and also allows us to travel, which is ultimately what our business is all about…travel!

Q: What do you think is the biggest challenge when hiring finance professionals in the current market?


I’d say our biggest challenge is that we paused our graduate and apprenticeship schemes during the pandemic, so there was a bit of a gap in the pipeline for us. Normally we’d have people who’d have been in the business for a couple of years and were ready to rotate and move up and with several years of experience. This gap meant that we had some holes, especially as the business started to grow again post-pandemic.

Finding people in the market who are the right fit for us has been especially hard. It’s easier to find people with the right CV and right level of experience, but I’ve found the most challenging thing is finding those people who are the right fit for the business; those who will enjoy and work well with us and stay for a few years and be part of the TUI culture and grow with us. That’s something that is really hard to test in an interview, in a CV or an application process or LinkedIn profile. You need to invest time in your interview process and selection criteria to find the right type of person who will fit well in the team. We have lots of different types of people across our business, and we try to make sure they’ll fit well into the team and benefit from what TUI has to offer. That’s definitely been a huge challenge for us.

Q: What tips do you have for others looking to hire into their Finance teams?


Firstly, I like to be open and honest in an interview process, I see it very much a two-way street. It’s not just if we want you as a candidate – it’s also if you want us, and I love it when someone really wants to work with us. It’s so important we’re open and honest and don’t sell a dream that’s not there. I like to be open with people about the experiences they’ll get and the challenges they might face when they come in, just as I expect them to be open with us about their CV, experience and what they expect from us.

Secondly, just getting time to meet people. In our post-pandemic world, it’s very easy to not meet people face-to-face or to just have a shorter Teams call. We’re all working back-to-back with meetings and trying to the find the right time to invest in the right person. But I’ve found investing the extra three or four hours finding the right person is much easier than recruiting the wrong people or hiring the person who isn’t quite right for the role. It’s always worth investing the time in recruitment. We as leaders are only as good as the people below us, so it’s really important we get it right.

Q: What advice do you have for anyone thinking about working with a recruiter and how to get the most from the partnership?


Similar to my point above, it’s about the quality of the relationship. When I speak about making sure we’re getting the right people – this refers to a recruitment partner too. It’s about making sure a recruiter is listening to what it is you’re after, they understand what your business is and can be open and honest with the candidate well before you get to meet with them.

It can be very time consuming doing direct hiring – you can have 20-30-40 CVs for just one role – but being able to have a personal conversation with all of those people for an hour is a week of my time I can’t just carve out for every role. So having a partnership with a recruiter who really understands what you’re looking for, who understands how your business works who can do that initial detailed screening for you…well, it becomes invaluable and a real investment and one you can depend on over and over again. It’s about being transparent, having a good relationship, and being able to pick up the phone. You need to be able to talk to them regularly, to know you’ve got a partner, and not just someone who can send you more CVs than what you may already have.

Q: Why do you choose to partner with SRM?


I think SRM and TUI have been working together for just over 18 months now, and in my team alone we’ve already had three roles come through from SRM. This tells a story in itself - we don’t have a high turnover of staff at TUI, so most of our external roles have been working directly with SRM. And it’s a massive benefit of that relationship – everyone you’ve put forward to us has had the right understanding of what our business is, what it’ll be like to work with us, and they have fitted in really well.

I know other areas of the business (such as our airlines business) have also been reaching out and finding the benefits of the bespoke service you offer and that real understanding of the businesses you work with. Even though SRM has been growing too, we still feel like we’re getting the same very personal service. We’ve been very pleased with the people we’ve hired from SRM. In fact, only this morning we’ve been talking internally about passing over a bit more responsibility to a more recent staff member in our sales and marketing team from next month. We’re very keen on internal promotion and progression here at TUI, and that very much applies to people we’ve recruited through SRM.