Louise Chambers recently joined Mackie Myers to help drive our interim offering. We caught up with her to find out more about her background and her plans for the interim market…
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I am originally from Manchester and moved to London a couple of years ago, to be honest I wish I had done it sooner. I love working in London and have recently just bought a flat with my boyfriend and got our first kitten! Most weekends you will find me travelling the length and breadth of the UK as I have lots of family and friends dotted around, watching Formula One or getting tickets for live performances across London.
Why have you decided to join Mackie Myers?
I wanted to join a company at an exciting part of the their development to help shape and grow the business. Whilst I have never worked directly with the owners or partners at Mackie Myers they have an excellent reputation and I believe it will be a great place for me to further develop my recruitment career. I think Mackie Myers offer the best of the both, a startup environment where you can have great impact and influence but with the career progression expected in a larger business.
Why interim and contract recruitment?
I love the pace of the interim market. It is the type of recruitment where you need to build good relationships with both your candidates and clients. With clients you often work together to identify the problems before they arise therefore feeling like you are adding real value. Strong candidate relationships are also vital as you often end up working with them for years, helping them secure multiple contracts over time.
How would you describe your style with candidates and clients?
I put a lot of emphasis on relationship building with both candidates and clients. I like to meet people face to face so I can truly understand the challenges and motivations of the people I am working with. Recruitment is so much more than just job titles and career history. By spending the time with candidates and clients it enables me to be able to react quickly and provide honest feedback to everyone to ensure expectations are matching up with the market.
What advice would you give to clients looking to hire an interim?
Firstly, be proactive – good interim candidates secure new contracts incredibly quickly. Secondly, try to be flexible with your list of requirements – budgets and skills can vary depending on the availability of people in the market. Finally, work with a recruiter you trust – they can give you a honest picture of the market and can advise you accordingly.