In the run up to leaving school, I had no idea what I wanted to do. The prospect of going to University hadn’t even registered as an option, and so along with others from school, I applied for and got a job with a large local insurance company, one of the biggest local employers at the time. With only 4 O’Level passes to my belt, it didn’t feel like I had many other options. There was nothing outstanding about the first role, not really rewarding and the only positive was I was surrounded by great people. I started to do insurance training and professional exams, but stopped after finding them distinctly boring.

The next few years I moved about into roles that really just happened – working as a Chef was fun, as was pouring pints, but neither really appeared to be a long-term career option. I started an accounting qualification, but again stopped when I felt out of my depth. Then on moving to London in 94, I found myself working in Central Government, helping to recruit judges and then working in payroll. Both of these jobs gave me some insight into people, people-problems and fixing things, something I later learnt was a real passion of mine!

After a brief stint in project support work, again in central government, I saw an ad for an HR Manager role in a London-based government agency, and thought long and hard about putting an application in. I had no real leadership experience, no employment law qualifications and certainly had never worked in such a high-profile role. Nevertheless, I thought I’d arrange a chat with the hiring manager (really just to learn more about the job, the organisation it belonged to, and the people (but also so he could see what a nice guy I was before I put in what I thought would be a quickly discarded but long winded application form). Then, I put my application in and waited.

Move on a couple of weeks, and lo and behold I got the job! Nobody was more surprised than me (except possibly my current boss) – and that was it, my HR career began with gusto! Turns out I was offered the job not because of my past exposure to all things people-management, but because I took the initiative to go and meet the hiring manager. It was a great first role, I managed to get sponsorship for completing the full CIPD course, and I loved it, even more so after the imposter-syndrome died down. This role exposed me to the whole world of HR consultancy, as I was hiring interim managers for some major change projects, and was pretty impressed by the figures they were earning, even working for Central Government.

Personal circumstances led to a move back to Lancashire, where I managed to bag another good job in the private sector, then Head of Personnel in a Prison (never again) and then I took the plunge – my first foray into interim management, where I worked with the CPS on a major transformation project, then onto Dolly-the-Sheep land in Scotland, as interim Head of HR for the Roslin Institute.

A few other roles, and some real freelance work really exposed me to a wide variety of markets and challenges, which in turn made me more in demand as a consultant who could turn his hand to anything.

I did make the mistake of going back into an employed role for a few months, but by this time I’d grown out of being employed, and loved being master of my own destiny too much. More consulting and freelance work followed, before I realised that there were opportunities to be had in growing the consultancy business by bringing in associates to work through the firm. This was the best decision I ever made!

That, coupled with my foray into the world of job boards has really taken me to a point where job satisfaction levels are at an all-time high! We have managed to secure a significant number of clients, taken on some extraordinarily challenging but exciting projects and we operate across all sectors.  

Looking back, I do think that being determined enough to do well made me apply for those jobs I always thought I’d not be suitable for. I have a lot to thank many hiring managers for trusting in me, and giving me a chance and letting me develop in the role, but can honestly say I’d have kept on applying for jobs that might have felt out of reach, just because I was so determined, even if I didn’t think I was so suitable!

I really can’t see me doing anything to change where I am now career-wise. I am my own boss, I work with great clients locally and across the UK, and I just love being the go-to problem solver for so many people!