The first year in recruitment is often the hardest.
One person who’s excelled in his first year at Axon Moore is Harry Horsley who oversees interim and transactional vacancies across North Yorkshire.
He’s quickly become a trusted advisor to his candidates and clients, consistently champions our values all whilst becoming a new dad to daughter Harlow. We spoke to him about how he’s navigated his first year, his perception of the Leeds market and what he hopes this year will bring.
What was your perception of recruitment before you joined?
Before I joined, I essentially thought that recruitment was plainly getting people jobs and cold calling business to pester them to work with you (this was from personal sources who also work in the industry). However, I have come to learn that this is so far off the mark. I see it as a way of helping people by assisting them in making a beneficial move to benefit their career, helping a hiring manager to make an efficient hire for their team and the business, working quickly to provide options to people who are in tricky situations and possibly have been made redundant and have families that quickly need to get back in to work.
What have you learnt about finance recruitment in year 1?
Aside from the actual ins and outs of finance itself, I have learnt that the financial industry can be a very promising career avenue for candidates, and that finance professionals are very open to speaking to recruiters about their career path, which leads to very collaborative clients as their years of service in the industry increases.
What do you enjoy about recruiting transactional finance / interim?
I enjoy helping graduate level candidates make their first initial move into finance, and I also like how quickly the interim market moves, as you always feel busy! Taking jobs on and placing candidates is normally such a quick process which keeps you on your toes.
What is your perception on the Leeds market?
The recruitment market in Leeds is forever busy, sometimes more so for candidates than opportunities and visa versa. however, the main thing is that it is always busy, and efforts you put out regularly come back around.
For businesses hiring here, not only does the Leeds market contain some of the brightest and motivational accounting minds in the country, but from a temporary point of view, Leeds university proves to be a very popular institution for a lot of high calibre overseas students. Most of which are very keen to work and gain UK experience after the completion of their studies, and prove to significantly benefit teams, and businesses as whole, even if they are only there for a contracted amount of time.
In regard to candidates looking for opportunities – Leeds is highly saturated with many businesses who regularly collaborate with one another and are regularly hiring. Because there is so much opportunity in the area, you find that no matter where you look, there are always positions available in businesses due to candidates moving from one place to another i.e., the opportunities are endless.
What do you hope to accomplish in 2024?
I believe it is always important to have goals to work towards, otherwise you can sometimes feel lost in life, which is a scary sensation. However, it is also important to reflect sometimes on how far you have come, as the best way to know where you are headed, is to know where you have been. Becoming a parent proves to put a lot of things into perspective for any individual, and you feel a real shift in the things that are important and matter most in your life. That being said, my goals for 2024 significantly revolve around building my career, and being happy within myself and my life, so that I can be the best father, and provider, for my daughter.
