1. Mark Day-Jones,
Branch Manager
KER Birmingham
What has been your
biggest challenge in your career?
Seeing myself as a “sales man”. We all
know that in recruitment, we work in a
sales driven environment, but my focus
has always been on developing strong
relationships and managing client and
candidate expectations. While the
core of what we do is selling a service,
I’ve always seen myself as a partner or
adviser to my existing and potential
clients and candidates rather than an out
and out sales man. I try to instil this in to
my consultants as I feel it’s important to
position yourself as a consultant rather
than somebody who is purely focused on
short term sales.
What have been the highlights?
Recently it’s seeing people within Kelly
grow, such as a colleague who worked
with me in Birmingham and now works
in our recently opened Kelly Engineer-
ing branch in London. It’s been great to
see both him and the Kelly brand grow
and I’m proud to be a part of it. 2012 has
been a challenging year, but it’s also been
inspiring to see my new team grow and
develop and I have high expectations for
them in 2013 – watch this space!
How did you start your career in recruitment?
Like often happens to people in recruitment, I fell in to it. I started in the personnel dept
for Matthew Hall about 25 years ago. After a few roles working as an internal recruiter
I then moved over to the consultancy side and have worked in agency recruitment ever
since.
What are you passionate
about outside of work?
I love to travel, am a born again biker
and when I can, I love scuba diving
(preferably in warmer climates)!
What tips can you give other people starting a career in recruitment?
Tell us something
unusual about you
I used to be a radio
presenter and I’m
an emergency
blood biker.
How do you stay positive,
even through the difficult times
in recruitment?
You have to believe in your management
team. You also have to believe in your
own abilities to turn things around and
see the positives. I’m very fortunate to
work with some great people, they rely on
me and I them – a good team looks out
for each other and that’s what gets me
through the difficult times.
This is My Story
Have a plan
Be prepared
that things won’t
always go
to plan!
Have
a colleague
who can act as
your mentor and
help you through
the highs
and lows
Its not rocket
science, it’s about
hard work and being
resilient. Discipline,
focus and planning
will get you
results
Don’t be afraid
to ask for help. We
have such a wealth of
experience in our busi-
ness, use that to your
advantage – there is
no such thing as a
stupid question.
Who Inspired you to be
who you are today?
Absolutely my Father. He was a very tra-
ditional man, very grounded and strived
to be the best he could be for his family
and also professionally. We were quite
fortunate that his job took us all around
the world so a big part of our education
was learning about different cultures and
experiencing diversities in life. He was an
inspiring man who believed you could be
whatever you wanted to be.
Favourite subject in school?
Not that you would know it now,
but sport! I also enjoyed maths
and the sciences.