Charu Malhotra - Global expertise resourcing manager, Unilever

“Two pieces of advice resonate, one of which I was given a few years ago when I was offered an internal promotion for a resourcing manager based in the UAE. I was surrounded by people telling me to take it, as an expat role was something one never turned down, yet something about the role and timing didn’t sit right. I was and am incredibly fortunate in having an amazing mentor in Virginia Begg, who said: ’Make a decision, even if it’s in the wrong direction; you are allowed U-turns.’ This helped me decide what to do. Secondly, the statement ’persistence overcomes resistance’. It’s simple but powerful, and reminds me to ensure nothing detracts from my focus on ensuring the candidate experience is at the forefront of decisions being made.”

Mark Sharp - Practice group leader life sciences, SpenglerFox London

“The best piece of advice I was given about the recruitment process from the perspective of any stakeholder is ’Be honest!’ Acting in a disingenuous fashion almost always results in a negative outcome in the long term. Likewise, a recruiter’s integrity and reputation is on the line in this regard, with ’best in breed’ headhunters combining diligent evaluation and referencing, with candour and openness in communicating the findings to both the client and candidate. In my experience the best assignment outcomes result from an honest and genuine engagement by all parties.”

Jeremy Snell - Managing director, Zero Entropy Networks

“Two things stand out as great pieces of advice I was given about recruitment. The first one is ’plan effectively’. Time is the biggest enemy for a recruiter as there is always one more thing that needs to be done and only a finite number of hours. Make sure you know what you will be doing tomorrow before you go home today. Secondly, ’take massive action’. The ability to take action is what sets the exceptional apart from the average. Once the plan is written, execute it! Procrastination and hesitation cost you your success at times.”