Hiring Hub has recently welcomed ex-BBC Apprentice candidate, Sajan Shah, to its growing community of specialist recruitment agencies after Shah, who starred in the 2017 series, setup his own independent recruitment agency, Talent 4 Tomorrow.
Shah came close to securing investment from Lord Sugar in the BBC show last year, getting fired just three episodes away from the final, but the experience was a positive one, helping to shape his mindset and commitment to making T4T a success without Lord Sugar…
How did you get into recruitment?
I graduated in 2014 and then made my way into recruitment. I was in sales and I always thought I was good with people, so recruitment seemed a perfect fit.
Where’d you start?
I began by specialising in the graduate market, but quickly got headhunted by Randstad as part of its tech team. Unfortunately, we were all made redundant, but soon after I was given an opportunity to go and build up a small start-up that specialised in recruitment. They were part of a large consultancy and, because I performed really well, they then asked me to move to the internal side. I became the Director of People there, doing both HR and internal recruitment. So, I was really able to gain a good balance of internal recruitment experience and the external side of a recruitment agency as well.
What inspired you to apply for the BBC’s The Apprentice?
I always used to watch it on TV and I said to my mum that, one day, I was going to go on that show. I used to watch the show and think to myself, you know what, everyone’s making silly mistakes, and I can go on there and do a better job. I then got onto the show and quickly realised why these things happen.
I wanted to go on The Apprentice simply because I believed I could go on there and win the £250,000 investment. I knew that I wanted to start a recruitment agency and I thought that The Apprentice was a perfect PR platform for me to go on and get traction of candidates and clients once I’d set up my company – which has happened.
So being on The Apprentice has proven a springboard for your company?
100%. I believe the show really helped me! The best example is on the candidate side, the conversations [I have] are much better. Candidates are willing to speak to me. So, when I’m messaging them on LinkedIn, I’ve immediately broken down the trust barrier, because they think: ‘oh you’re not just another recruiter, you were on The Apprentice.’ A lot of candidates want to talk to me about The Apprentice, the whole experience, and in return I’m able to talk to them about jobs.
This has meant that, because I was able to attract a strong pool of candidates naturally and organically, a lot more clients have decided to work with me because they’ve seen what type of work I’ve done – obviously the credibility factor being the biggest thing. Employers want to work with me because they know I’m not going to mess them around, because if I do something wrong it’s going to affect my company. So, I’m always working towards making sure Talent 4 Tomorrow offer a high-quality service.
Do you still keep in touch with other contestants from the show?
We are still good friends actually. The majority of us still work quite closely with each other. For example, Talent 4 Tomorrow help recruit for Lord Sugar’s company. What we’ve done is all sort of stayed together to create a network. So, for example, someone in my network may want flowers, and I’ll send them over to Elizabeth, and in turn someone in her network might have recruitment needs and so, depending on what sort of area, she’ll send them over to me. So, yes, we’re all still working with each other and we’re still good friends.
What is one of the biggest challenges facing the recruitment industry?
One of the biggest challenges in recruitment is, hands down, business development. There’s such a high number of agencies and there’s some great roles out there, but the problem comes with existing PSLs. So, when you’ve got good candidates and you want to drive them into the market, and companies have PSLs and systems in place, it’s very hard to override the systems and say, “look you need to work with us because of this candidate.”
So, I think business development still needs to change. I think there needs to be fresh ideas in the industry and that’s why I think Hiring Hub is a great idea. Hiring Hub’s online recruitment agency marketplace gives you the opportunity to work on vacancies that you may not otherwise get to, but it also compliments my current recruitment processes too.
What inspired you to join Hiring Hub?
As a business, our main struggle is that we’re getting such great candidates that we’re quickly filling all available vacancies, so much so that we actually found ourselves having to decline good candidates. And I thought, with the limited time that I have, it’s very difficult to start doing business development. So, Hiring Hub is going to give me the opportunity to place these amazing candidates we’re getting through, and takes the hassle of business development away.
Hiring Hub is going to give me the opportunity to place these amazing candidates we’re getting through, and takes the hassle of business development away.
How do you feel Hiring Hub is going to fit into your own style of recruitment?
I think our style of recruitment is consultative, we’re very honest. Hiring Hub’s approach is also very honest. The platform lets us see all the details about the company and when we engage on a role we’re able to see who the company is. It’s also very direct.
What challenges are you hoping Hiring Hub will help you overcome?
I think the main challenge is the business development side. Being a small recruitment agency, it’s very difficult to keep focus on different areas, particularly because we work with exclusive clients. So, when we’ve got continuous work coming in, we’ve got to ensure we’re always on the ball making sure we’re filling those vacancies. Because it’s a juggling act, it’s then very hard to break away from those duties and focus on business development, because it takes up a lot of time and it needs a lot of work putting in. Obviously, what Hiring Hub can do is take that burden away from us.
What been your experience if Hiring Hub so far?
I’ve definitely looked at different marketplaces for agencies and Hiring Hub has, no doubt, come out on top. It had the most human approach, and it’s been very consultative. From previous experience, when you try to join marketplaces, it tends to be very transactional, like here’s a vacancy and that’s it. It’s very difficult to understand what the vacancy is about. I think that’s one of the biggest problems with marketplaces. However, Hiring Hub has done very well to break through that marketplace stigma where there’s a vacancy and all you do is just fill it. With Hiring Hub, there’s a human touch to it. They run you through what the vacancy is and how you can make sure you’ve got the best candidates for it. Just having that point of contact at Hiring Hub where you can get support from is invaluable.
With Hiring Hub, there’s a human touch to it. They run you through what the vacancy is and how you can make sure you’ve got the best candidates for it. Just having that point of contact at Hiring Hub where you can get support from is invaluable.
Who do you think will win this year’s Apprentice?
That’s a tough one. There’s no one in it from the recruitment industry this year, ha ha! I believe definitely that the winner is in the girls, 100%. I keep changing my decision every week but I think it’s between three candidates: Sian, Camilla and Jackie. One of those three is going to win it.
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