Martin leads the Accounting & Finance division of Quest Recruitment. He has proven experience working at Mid, Senior & Executive level financial appointments including Partner, Director & Senior Management level roles across leading accounting firms and select finance/audit/risk roles in industry, particularly Financial Services. His deep market knowledge of the Dublin finance scene, particularly of Professional Services, leaves Martin well placed to advise candidates on their options and to guide clients on staff sourcing.
How did a career in recruitment catch your attention?
Like many recruiters I didn’t finish my university education and naturally feel drawn into a recruitment position, but rather fell into recruitment through a series of opportune meetings and guidance by a few influential figures. From the outset, recruitment had its attractions, as a people centric career within professional services which rewards listening to people, being attune to the market and giving good guidance.
What is a typical day like for you at Quest?
While it would be nice to say the day has a neat and organised routine that really isn’t so! Our main contact points are clients and candidates with our activity centered around one or the other. Indeed the most rewarding and productive part of the day is when both come together and we place a thrilled candidate with a now happy client! Communicating with candidates tends to occupy the bulk of the day, including initial reach outs, consultations, follow-ups, maintaining candidate relationships, interview preparation, working through offers/contracts, etc. Client work, outside of general relationship building, is more concentrated to briefings on new positions, candidate submissions and follow-ups, arranging and receiving feedback from interviews and candidate offers / on-boarding. Finally a large portion of time is spent sourcing and headhunting quality candidates with the right skillsets for our clients and often takes the form of desk research through the obvious channels of Linkedin, Job boards, candidate database and of course our own tried and tested means.
What is the best part of your working day at Quest?
As alluded to above naturally the high point is bringing together the needs of both candidate and client. There is real satisfaction when a candidate of mine accepts a position which they are really excited about or interested in, particularly if I have been working with the candidate over a longer period of time and have really journeyed with them to find the right role. Likewise when we have a satisfied client there is a sense of a job well done! That having been said, on a more daily basis I feel working alongside colleagues who I respect professionally and whose company I enjoy personally is really a great part of working with Quest and a key element of having a positive and rewarding workplace.
Tell us an unusual fact about yourself that not many people know.
This might struggle to satisfy both qualifiers, especially given it’s on my LinkedIn profile, but after completing my Leaving Certificate I spent five years in priestly formation (although my go to joke is that I was never really training to be a priest, but rather a Bishop!) I lived firstly in the National Seminary in Maynooth before being moved to the Irish College in Rome, with a variety of pastoral assignments throughout. Not the typical background for a Recruiter, but certainly one which yields some interesting conversations with candidates and clients alike!
What is your advice to candidates who are seeking a new position?
To start with, change need not mean betterment, so reflect on your motivations for seeking a career move in the first instance. List out some pros and cons in your own mind and have a list of motivating factors front of mind. This list is key for two reasons, firstly it will help guide your jobs search and give clear priorities for what you are looking for next, for instance a reduced commute, more responsibility, better work/life balance, etc. Secondly having secured your new position and handed in your notice you will, in the majority of cases, be flattered with a counter offer and fawning praise about how you can’t be done without in your current office, so return to your list of cons to remind yourself exactly why you wanted to leave in the first place!
Once you have a good idea of what you are looking for in your next role you can assess each opportunity cording to your preferences quite clearly and talk your time in thinking about each position before applying. After all, your career is important and it takes time and attention to make the right decision. It would be remiss of me not to mention at this point you should be consulting with your favoured recruiter, who is hopefully one of my esteemed colleagues here at Quest Recruitment!
Connect with Martin on LinkedIn today or contact her via e-mail: mmcfadden@questrecruitment.ie
