BRYONY GIBSON Director of Bryony Gibson Consulting
What were your career ambitions growing up?
As a child, I dreamed about becoming an Estate Agent after an enjoyable work experience, but I soon swapped glamorous houses for law and studied to become a Lawyer at University. A life-changing event threw me off that course and, after a brief stint in retail, I fell into recruitment. Looking back now, it’s clear that each role has a common thread. I wanted to be in a job that focused on communication and helping people.
Tell us about your current role?
Recruitment is fast-paced, very demanding, forever-changing, and it requires a lot of resilience and determination. But I love it. I am an extremely hands-on person and offer what I hope is a very personal service. I like to be involved in every part of the process, which helps me to build strong relationships with my clients and customers. My specialism is recruiting on behalf of accountancy practices, finding accounting professionals in the North East of England. My days can include anything from advertising, resourcing, interviewing, negotiating on behalf of clients and candidates, offering salary advice, or internal administration. There is always a lot to do, but it brings the variety that keeps it interesting.
What is your proudest business achievement?
I don’t take enough time to celebrate business achievements, it is something I should do more, but I guess being where I am today professionally is one of my biggest accomplishments. I took a leap of faith to leave the security and benefits that come with a leadership role in a multi-national recruitment company, so to still be here almost ten years later successfully filling jobs is something of which I am proud. Being a recruiter requires a certain type of character; to be resilient, tenacious, and not afraid of hard work. Running your own business can be lonely, with a lack of downtime (the last two years has really emphasised this) so I am pleased with how far I have come.
How has your industry changed in the last decade?
In many ways, the art of good recruitment has not changed much at all. Recruiting the right people still comes down to the same core elements but we have seen positive progress across the industry. A notable example is online job boards. People looking for a new job today have much greater access to information, and it proves to be a lot more cost-effective and economical to reach a wider audience with a vacancy. The candidate experience has also changed. Employers no longer own the market and have to work much harder to attract talent. Equally applicants, don’t have as many onerous application forms to complete and post. The entire process has become much more personal and relationship-focused, which is exactly where I can help.
What are you currently working on?
At the moment I am very busy with vacancies, with both small and large accountancy firms. Demand is high across all specialisms, so we have some fantastic opportunities in Insolvency, Corporate Finance, Tax, Audit, and Accounting.
What is the best piece of business advice you have been given?
The thing I try to remember, is to never lose sight of why you do what you do. For me, keeping customer service at the forefront each day keeps me focused and on track. Seeing the bigger picture even when you are stuck in the detail is important. How do you like to unwind outside of work?
I enjoy my daily walks with my Labrador, Buddy, it serves as a good start to the day or de-stress at the end. My life is pretty full-on. My children both play a lot of sports, so that takes up the majority of evenings and weekends but when I do get some spare time, I enjoy running and am currently training for a half marathon. What I don’t do very well, which my husband will happily testify to, is doing nothing. I have an inbuilt desire to always feel like I am achieving something, unless I am in my happy place – a hot beach in the sun. That is the only time I switch off.
