“The Technology and Professional Services Practice has evolved out of the historical IT recruitment business and today is one of the leading search firms operating in Europe. I joined the Practice 3 years ago, having spent 6 years at Odgers Ray& Berndtson, 3 years at Corporate Executive Search and 3 years at Hanover Matrix, now Augmentum.

During my time here the Practice has developed into being a major force in the senior hiring of Technology and Professional Services executives. I focus on software and consulting and my clients range from early stage development companies to large, multi-national Corporates. I enjoy the autonomy and ability to help both established blue-chips and those less well-known organisations to strengthen their senior management teams, with exceptional people, who can really make a difference to the futures of those businesses.

What makes Harvey Nash different to our competitors is the multi-faceted nature of our different services lines.  Of course we provide an executive search capability, however we also have an interim management practice, an IT recruitment business and an offshore software outsourcing division.  This fundamentally provides us with an edge over other search firms who do not have these additional service offerings and therefore we can engage with clients in a variety of complimentary ways.  Furthermore I genuinely feel that we have a strong sense of team community where people are willing to help and support their colleagues based on a desire to behave in a collegial manner.  I think our researchers are not only hard working but they take pride and are passionate about what they do.  This results in outstanding candidates being presented to the consultants for client assessment. 

The market is naturally tougher than it was this time last year although I would argue strongly that the foundations in Europe remain strong.  Although the beginning of the year was fairly sluggish, I have personally found in recent months clients are hiring, you just have to work harder to find them!  Once you do identify clients with hiring needs it is critical to present the best pitch and delivery team in order to win the work.  Market knowledge, evidence of previous success in their specific domain, speed of delivery and high quality execution are paramount in securing new business opportunities.  It is these qualities that make someone successful at Harvey Nash.

In terms of what we look for in potential hires for Harvey Nash, I firmly believe it is important for people to not only possess some of the qualities I talked about earlier but also a practice ‘fit’.  The basics are required i.e. a strong work ethic, the desire and determination to keep at it, sector knowledge and experience are all key, but in addition they will need to be collegial, collaborative with a strong personality but without the ego.  Nobody can do it on their own and therefore recognition that researchers and PAs have a crucial part to play is another important factor.”