Mark Whitby is one of the world’s leading coaches for the recruitment industry and host of ‘The Resilient Recruiter’, a weekly podcast that reveals the habits, strategies and attitudes of the industry’s leaders. He recently reached out to Clive Hutchings, STR Group’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, keen to discover his insights into the success factors of scale.
A 30-year journey
Made aware of Clive’s success in building up STR from 3 people to 120+, its expansion across several continents, and the group’s imminent 25-year anniversary, Mark invited Clive onto his show to discuss his 30-year recruitment career and discover what led him and the STR Group to where they are today.
The interview drills down into how to become a successful recruiter, whether scaling a business or developing your career as a consultant. Clive discusses his early days in the industry, the establishment of STR and its leadership shifts over the years, how to train new recruiters, the value of a great professional and personal support network and the impact of AI. He also shares his thoughts on the differences between the US, UK and European markets, his learnings around global expansion and the culture, values and mantra that drive STR’s growth, and a glimpse into his life outside of the recruitment realm.
Key insights
Clive reveals what he found to be the most important contributors to success over the years, including the necessity for high energy, hard work, complimentary skills with your business partners, knowing when and who to hire, and the importance of resilience throughout. Most crucially though, Clive emphasises, is the importance of a strong support network.
“Whether it’s personal or professional challenges, a support network around you is massively important. You need a partner, a mum, a dad, or friend who will support you when times are tough, coach you through it, and remind you that the light is just around the corner.”
In his usual direct, disarmingly honest, and highly empathetic individual style, Clive delivers an essential watch for anyone looking to grow their business or career in the recruitment industry.
Clive reveals what he found to be the most important contributors to success over the years, including the necessity for high energy, hard work, complimentary skills with your business partners, knowing when and who to hire, and the importance of resilience throughout. Most crucially though, Clive emphasises, is the importance of a strong support network.
“Whether it’s personal or professional challenges, a support network around you is massively important. You need a partner, a mum, a dad, or friend who will support you when times are tough, coach you through it, and remind you that the light is just around the corner.”
In his usual direct, disarmingly honest, and highly empathetic individual style, Clive delivers an essential watch for anyone looking to grow their business or career in the recruitment industry.
Or Zero-in on your particular area of interest with our bite-size snippets:
The early days
Operational and leadership shifts needed to grow to 100+ employees
Why many recruitment founders plateau, and how to avoid it
Training a new recruiter
The value of having a support network
The formula for knowing when to make your next hire
Impact of AI
STR’s tech stack and how AI impacts current operations
The relevance of cold calling in the age of AI
Differences between hiring in the US and the UK.
Expanding globally: key learnings
Culture and mantra that work
Partner with us
The STR Group partners with STEM companies to solve their biggest workforce challenges. We’re an international talent provider with 25 years’ recruitment experience, comprising 5 unique brands. Working across engineering and manufacturing, architecture, maritime, automation and life science, we connect STEM talent.
Our suite of services has been developed to provide tailored solutions to our clients’ individual needs and help them overcome their biggest recruitment challenges. Contact us today to find out which of our solutions is right for you and how a partnership with the STR Group can help drive your business forward.
