Recruitment
Published: July 18, 2023 | Updated: 19th July 2023
“Someone told me once, you can have as much talent as you want but working hard always out-performs talent”
These are the words of Matthew Edge-Wilkins, Founder and Director of Talent Seeker in Fordingbridge.
With a long background in both recruitment and HR roles in sectors including care and property, Matt set up his own business in 2015, under the condition that he would continue to do the recruitment for the company he was leaving.
“My wife was pregnant,” Matt explained. “And I really wanted to have a good work/life balance so I could spend time with my kids.”
“My boss at the time said he’d support me, providing I continued to recruit for him!
“I’d always wanted to start my own business, too, but I made a deal with my wife that I wouldn’t until I could ensure there wouldn’t be a drop in income.
“Along with the company I was working for at the time, I had a few other contacts in the property industry I’d built up over the years, so it was natural that I started out specialising in that area.”
This would only be the beginning for Matt and Talent Seeker, though, as he quickly started recruiting for marketing roles, too.
“Marketing’s probably my biggest passion outside recruitment, and it’s likely what I’d be doing if I wasn’t a recruiter. I love all the tech around it.
“That said, recruitment is definitely my calling. I love placing someone, then seeing them progressing within that business.
“That’s probably one of the reasons you get into recruitment, because you love the feeling of finding someone a great opportunity where not only are they excited at the prospect of their new role, but the company they’re working for is excited about bringing them on board.”
Along with marketing, Matt started recruiting in the digital and tech sectors, a move which saw him recruiting for some of London’s tech start-ups.
It was all going well, and then Covid hit.
“Virtually all the clients I’d built up over the last five years put their recruitment on hold. It was a very challenging time.
“Luckily, I have a friend who runs a recruitment business focusing on sectors which ended up doing pretty well in that year, so I managed to make ends meet and keep the business afloat by helping her out.”
“The next year, I was crazy busy, as all the companies which had put the recruitment on hold got back in touch, and we’ve been growing massively since then.
“Last financial year was our best ever, doubling our previous best, and a big part of that is that I’ve started recruiting for senior, executive level roles – you’re talking salaries of £80,000 to £120,000.
“Working on those roles is probably one of the most exciting things about recruitment for me, particularly in sectors I’m unfamiliar with.”
“As a recruiter, you have to be an expert in whatever field you’re recruiting for so you can hold your own in conversations with clients and candidates, meaning I have to do a bit of research.”
“The better you know a business, the better you can recruit for them. I like to think working with me is like having an in-house recruitment manager, but one who only needs to be paid when I’m needed.
“Within that, I’m happy to help with every aspect of the recruitment process, from advertising roles to succession planning, as well as some elements you see more in a HR manager, such as onboarding, that’s the value-add I can bring.
And this willingness to work in a variety of areas, has seen him build up a client base to match.
Matt regularly recruits for a number of high-profile clients, including a premier league football club – which brings him closer to one of his biggest passions in life.
“My biggest passion is sport, and it’s an area of the business I really want to grow.”
To conclude, Matt said: “The problem a lot of recruitment agencies have is they recruit sales people then teach them how to do recruitment, whereas I’ve never done sales.
“I’m a recruiter, and that’s what I love doing. I want to give candidates the same experience I would want.”
