Hector

Fix Inconsistent Performance and Build a Team You Can Rely On to Grow.

For growing recruitment companies with 10+ recruiters who want consistent billings from a reliable, high-performing team.

Hector gives your recruiters the skills to succeed in today’s market with 120+ actionable courses taught by today’s top billers—backed by hands-on implementation support.

Founder

Vertical Drop

Strategic Advisor

The Recruitment Mentors Podcast 

The most practical podcast in recruitment, listened to by 80,000+ ambitious recruiters a month around the world 🌍

Podcast Host 

Azzouz Branding

Hoxo Media

Sales Consultant

Pavilion Recruitment Solutions

Insurance Recruitment Consultant

One Answer Insurance

Sales Executive

Hastings Direct

Sales Adviser

I’m on a mission to help recruiters build the skills they need to succeed in today’s ever-changing market.

To do that, I focus on two things:

🎙️ Hosting the most practical podcast in recruitment: The Recruitment Mentors Podcast - Listened to by 80,000+ ambitious recruiters a month

📈 Building the world’s best training platform for the recruitment industry — Hector.

Safe to say, we’ve still got work to do 💪🏻

I’m at max connections — hit follow to stay connected and follow along the journey 👊🏻

Hishem Azzouz

The non-billing manager era is fading.

For years, being "off the tools" was something people celebrated.

A badge of honour.

A signal that you were progressing quickly in your recruitment career.

But there's a trend I've seen consistently this year across some of the most successful recruitment companies I've met:

They have fewer and fewer managers without a personal billing or contribution target.

Not more.

And honestly… I'm not surprised.

Here's why:

1️⃣ The knowledge gap has never been bigger.

What it takes to succeed in today's market is so different to what worked even 2–3 years ago.

If you're not close to the market, close to customer expectations, and close to today's market nuances, your ability to coach effectively drops fast.

2️⃣ "Do as I say, not as I do" doesn't work anymore.

Most recruiters don't respond to that style of leadership.

They want leaders who can model the behaviours they're being asked to adopt.

People who still feel the rhythm of the market, not just talk about it.

3️⃣ The best companies are shifting the model.

Nearly every high-performing business I've spent time with this year has a management layer full of people who are still contributing.

Not necessarily full desks.

But still revenue-generating.

Still proving they can lead from the front.

The non-billing manager will always exist, and some are incredible.

But I'm seeing fewer of them every year.

4️⃣ The new career pathway looks different.

I don't see more and more recruiters stepping away from the tools early.

I see the opposite.

Those who want to lead are realising:

To lead well in this market… you need to stay closer to the market.

This isn't a criticism.

It's just the direction things are heading.

The best recruitment companies today?

They're building teams where leaders still contribute, still obsessed with understanding their market, and still operate in the same reality as the people they manage.

#Recruitment

Helping Recruitment Leaders Build Consistent, High-Performing Teams | Founder @ Hector | Host of The Recruitment Mentors Podcast (80K+ Monthly Listeners)

If I was a recruiter making one big bet for next year, it would be this.

The more people I meet in person in my industry… the more successful my year will be.

Clients.
Candidates.
People of influence.
Anyone who matters in your ecosystem.

Every time I look at the data, the stories, the behind-the-scenes conversations on the pod… 

It all points in the same direction.

If you get to the end of next year and correlate the people you met with the business you did, the graph will only go one way.

Up and to the right.

In-person interaction is about to become a competitive advantage again.

Because while most recruiters hide behind emails, video calls and AI…

The ones who put themselves in the room will win the relationships and the revenue everyone else misses.

#Recruitment

There will be fewer and fewer stories like this over the next five years in our industry.

Which is why sitting down with Benjamin Richardson & Mike Bott, Co-CEOs of LHi Group, was a real privilege this morning.

How often do you get to unpack a recruitment story that includes:

🏆 Circa £45M+ in gross profit across 300 people, 9 offices and 5 recruitment brands over the last two years.

🏆 A landmark financial event in 2022, in which the business was valued at ~£80M and 80% of the company became employee-owned through an EOT.

🏆 A leadership transition with Jim Denning after five years as CEO, handing over the reins to a brand-new Co-CEO structure.

We did our very best to dig into exactly what they believe has enabled the business to reach this point.

And the first thing we unpacked the foundation of their entire journey was their People Strategy.

They’ve made a huge, consistent investment in entry-level talent for years.

And the impact?

80%+ of all leadership roles have been homegrown.

The majority of the board started their careers inside the business.

Along with this, we really got stuck into what they believe has helped them retain their best people, so you will learn all about Jim Denning's 'Younger You & Future You' Concept - I thought this was absolutely brilliant!

We then dug into how diversification has been one of their biggest unlocks:

Multiple brands.

Multiple geographies.

Multiple ways of working with customers.

This approach has been fundamental to their resilience and long-term success.

There was so much gold in this conversation.

If you’re a recruitment leader in the trenches, building and growing your business, we did everything we could to make this episode as useful, insightful, and practical as possible.

Can’t wait to drop this one 🔥

#Recruitment

To the 1,300 of you who listened to the podcast so much this year that it was your #1 show…

I appreciate the hell out of you.

There are so many unbelievable podcasts you could give your attention to.

So to have 1,300 people choose The Recruitment Mentors Podcast as their number one, week in, week out…

Thank you ❤️

I hope you’ve felt the show improve this year, with better guests, better questions, better conversations.

And I’ll do everything I can in 2026 to keep pushing the standard.

For the 5,500 of you where we were a Top 10 show, and the 3,900 of you who had us in your Top 5…

Let’s see how many of you we can move to the Top 1 next year 🫶🏻

#Recruitment #Podcast

Sat down in the studio with Jack Cole today. 

The first time since 2019 when I rocked up to his old office with a backpack, two tripods and my phone to record a podcast along with Thomas Hurley  

Whole different chapter now.

And it hasn’t been easy.

This was another really honest founder conversation.

Impact of stress, ego, scaling too fast, getting things wrong, getting things right, and rebuilding with intention.

Zero sugar-coating.

Just the real journey not the Linkedin highlight reel. 

If you’re a founder (or want to be one) and you’ve ever thought:

“Is it supposed to be this hard?”

…this episode is going to hit home.

Can’t wait to share it with you all 🔥🙏🏻

#Recruitment

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If you’re planning to hire entry-level talent into your recruitment business next year…

Do it with one rule in place.

It will massively increase your chances of success and give you far more future leaders in years to come.

The rule:

Never hire entry-level talent into a cold market.

Only place them into markets where you already have traction, job flow, and proof of success.

Don’t expect a brand-new recruiter to build a market from scratch.

Set them up to win.

This came straight from my chat this week with Mike Bott from LHi Group.

They’ve hired their fair share of entry-level consultants over the last 5+ years, tested everything, and this is now their non-negotiable.

It’s massively increased their success rate and it might be worth adding to your entry-level hiring strategy next year.

#Recruitment

Over the last five years, I haven’t partnered with many companies on my podcast.

I REALLY care about who we align with and the impact we deliver for them.

Not just taking whatever ££ comes our way.

Which is why one of the biggest buzzes I get in this business is hearing the results we’ve been able to generate for the partners who trust us.

And this year has been insane.

Here’s how we’ve got on YTD:

🚀 SourceWhale 

575% ROI from their podcast marketing spend this year.

Year 3 incoming…

🚀 Raise Year 1 Partnership

 A qualified lead every single week.
 50% close rate.
 400%+ ROI in year one.

Bonkers results.

This is the stuff that gets me fired up.

So I’m buzzing to say that our 2026 Podcast Partners will be.

🔥 SourceWhale (Year 3 together!)

🔥 Raise (Year 2 incoming!)

Let’s goooooo!!!!

P.S. We do have one more partner to announce for 2026… More on that soon 😉

#Recruitment #Podcast

What will recruitment look like in 2026?

I don’t usually like making predictions.

But after dozens of interviews, hundreds of conversations, and a ridiculous amount of data from this year and being asked this question a few times recently.

These are two trends I can’t ignore heading into 2026 

#1 - Trust will be the new battleground.

Trust has always mattered in recruitment.

But in 2026?

It becomes everything.

We’re heading into a world where trust is being eroded from every angle:

Was that video real or AI-generated?

Was that email written by a recruiter or ChatGPT?

Is this DM from a person or a bot?

Is that “market insight” actually true?

And that’s just the surface.

From a client or candidate’s perspective:

“Can I trust this recruiter with my career?”

“Can I trust them with our brand?”

“Can I trust they’re even who they say they are?”

“Is this candidate / person real that I am interviewing?”

As tech gets louder, and automation accelerates, human trust becomes the differentiator.

Everyone wants to be the “go-to recruiter” in their niche.

But here’s the truth:

You’ll never be the most in-demand recruiter, until you’re the most trusted one first.

Recruitment businesses need a deliberate trust-building strategy now, not in two years’ time.

#2 - The market is splitting: more small agencies, fewer big ones

I don’t think recruitment is slowing down.

I think it’s splintering even further.

And the biggest shift?

More lean, high-margin agencies and fewer traditional “scale to 100 people” plays.

Nearly every market report shows ~80% of UK recruitment agencies have under 10 employees.

I genuinely wouldn’t be shocked if that pushes closer to 90% in the next 2+ years.

Founders have real options now to grow profit in their business.

AI, Automation, Outsourcing.

Not the traditional add 2-3 £250K billers to my business this year which will mean X to the bottom line.

Plus… a lot of founders simply don’t want the stress of 30–100 people anymore.

And let’s be honest:

The economics of UK-only recruitment have got harder.

Lower average fees.

Higher operating costs.

Harder margins.

Which is why so many UK recruitment companies I’ve spoken with this year do 90%+ of their revenue in the US. (There’s a reason for that…)

So if you are trying to scale:

You need to be absolutely dead-set on it.

Clear on the path.

Clear on the sacrifices.

Clear on the long-term plan.

Because the alternative small team, high leverage, tech + outsourcing heavy is becoming more attractive than ever for founders.

Those are my two takes for 2026.

I might be completely off 🤣

But it’s what the conversations, insights, and patterns are pointing toward right now from my point of view.

If you had a take for 2026 and the recruitment industry what do you think it would be?

#Recruitment

Everyone’s been talking about the US market this year.

But what about leading recruiters in Europe?

Different rules. Different challenges. Different playbook.

Especially if you're in the Renewables or Energy industry.

This week, I sat down with Matthew Sykes from JD Ross Energy, and we broke down what it really takes to succeed in the EU markets.

Because leading recruitment teams across Europe?

It demands nuance, cultural intelligence, and serious skill.

In this episode, we get into:

🇪🇺 The biggest cultural mistakes UK recruiters make in Europe.

⚡️ Why renewables is both a goldmine and a trap.

📉 The red herrings, false signals & fragile markets to watch out for.

 🧠 How to lead, coach & stay relevant, even when you're no longer billing

We also geeked out on market strategy because in this space, it's everything.

And Matt opened up about his unique coaching philosophy that’s helped keep him close to the front line for nearly a decade.

🎬 Trailer below. Full episode out now.

As always, a huge thanks to our podcast partners who continue to support our mission with the pod - SourceWhale | Raise 🔥

#Recruitment #Podcast

Last time I talked about Metaview's new AI Sourcing Agent, a bunch of recruiters messaged me saying the same thing.

“I found candidates I never would’ve spotted on LinkedIn.”

That's what this tool is all about.

Because if you think about it, most recruiters still rely on the same LinkedIn filters and Boolean searches everyone else is using.

And that’s the problem.

Filters don’t just filter results.

They filter out excellent talent.

They can’t understand intent.

They can’t pick up on what your version of great really looks like.

That’s exactly the problem Metaview set out to solve.

Their AI Sourcing Agent doesn’t need you to write another Boolean string, it learns directly from you.

From your calls, your notes, your decisions.

It understands how you think about talent, then proactively surfaces candidates that fit your intent, not just your keywords.

After sitting down with Siadhal Magos, Metaview’s CEO, it’s clear that this isn’t just another sourcing tool; it’s the start of truly autonomous recruiting.

And right now, they’re running their best offer yet.

🔥 Sign up in November, and Metaview will double your seat count for six months.

If sourcing still eats hours of your week, it’s time to see what a genuine AI recruiter teammate can do.

You can get this offer & try it out here: https://lnkd.in/ebzn98nM

Because the future of sourcing isn’t about writing better Boolean.

It’s about removing the filters altogether.

#Recruitment

TechShack

Heading up the Contract JavaScript function for TechShack UK Wide! 🖥📱🚀

Senior Contract Recruiter - JavaScript

PuzzleProjectsGroup

Freelance

Oscar

Heading up the Contract function for Oscar Technology in the South East of England and JavaScript Specialist 🖥📱🚀

Contract Manager - London

Senior Contract Recruitment Consultant working with the best and brightest Developers for some of the biggest and most creative companies in London, from innovative startups to FinTech "Unicorns"

If you are interested in the following technologies and wish to speak about potential roles in the South East of England get in touch today:

JavaScript - React, Node, TypeScript, Vue and Angular

PHP - Laravel, Symfony, Zend

If you are a contractor looking for your next exciting opportunity or if you are in search of that perfect hire for your Engineering Team - get in touch!

💻 louis.dasilva@oscar-tech.com
📱 07975 952 009

Senior Contract Recruitment Consultant

I specialise in providing organisations with top talent and sourcing candidates to meet your requirements. We Immerse ourselves in the industry through the Oscar run Social Code meetup and various PHP Groups. Over the past 20 year's we have built an in-depth understanding of the digital sector and the technologies used.

If you are interested in the following technologies and wish to speak about potential roles in the South East of England get in touch today:

PHP: Object Oriented, Procedural, MVC
Frameworks: Laravel, Symfony, Wordpress, Drupal
Front End: JavaScript, React, Angular, Vue, TypeScript,
Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB
API: REST, JSON
Unit Testing: PHP Unit, TDD, BDD


If you are a contractor looking for your next exciting opportunity or if you are in search of that perfect hire for your Engineering Team - get in touch!

💻 louis.dasilva@oscar-tech.com
📱  07975 952 009

Contract Recruitment Consultant

RedCat Digital

We’re RedCat Digital: market leading, digital recruitment agency with headquarters in the heart of Shoreditch, London. Founded in Feb. 2000, our foundations were built to service the needs of the digital sector and with over 18 years in the industry, it’s safe to say we know what we’re doing! 
Through our in-depth understanding of the digital sector and the technologies used, we have developed relationships with a wide variety of clients, from agencies, start-up companies, media owners, advertising technology providers, mobile operators, through to blue chip organisations across a variety of sectors.

Recent placements inc. -

- Java Developer (Java, GCP) 
- Data Engineer (Python, SQL, Kotlin, BigQuery, GCP)
- Front End Developer (React, JavaScript, AWS)
- Senior Data Engineer (Java, SQL, Kotlin, Airflow, GCP)
- UI Developer (Angular 7, TypeScript, Firebase)
- Front End Developer (Angular, JavaScript, jQuery, Node)
+ more

Software Engineering - Contract Recruitment Consultant

Safestore Self Storage

Safestore Ltd is a FTSE 250 company and the UK’s largest self-storage company founded in 1998. 

My role as a Recruitment Store Manager primarily focused on driving the performance of my team to consistently achieve the stores targets for NLSQFT, Growth and Ancillaries as well as individual targets for conversion. My day to day role would be to ensure all new online enquiries which account for 80% of new enquiries have been contacted, follow up on existing enquiries, contact customers that have not paid their invoices to recover lost revenue for the business, 

To achieve and surpass target I monitored and tracked several KPI’s, measured daily in order to identify opportunities for further training and development that I would then deliver through weekly 1-2-1 coaching sessions. 

My remit also included the training and development of new Sales Consultants and Assistant Managers to the required level whereby they would go on to work independently at their respective, designated stores

The varied scope of my role enabled me to adapt my approach to different scenarios and communicate with a diverse customer base (domestic, business and student) in order to overcome objections and provide a bespoke solution to their specific situation.

•	Successfully increased occupancy level growth YOY
•	Increased the £/SQFT by over £13/SQFT 
•	Drove underlying EBITDA by over 28% 
•	Proficient at customer retention and growth
•	Organised and lead 1-2-1 weekly coaching sessions for all team members
•	Held face to face interviews and telephone interviews 
•	Individual conversion of 36%
•	Directly contributed to the promotion of Sales Consultants to Store Managers
•	Managed under-performing staff through Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)

Recruitment Store Manager

London Architectural Metal Fabrication

London Architectural Metal Fabrication is an experienced design, build and installation company based in North London providing bespoke solutions to clients requiring custom staircases, iron railings, security gates, balustrade, fire escapes, wrought iron repairs and restorations

During my time there as a Project Estimator I worked closely with the engineers, customers and clients to spec, cost and deliver their project while looking at alternative solutions to meet all client expectations and budgets.

Our client base consisted of domestic, business and local authorities

Project Estimator

Mathys & Squire LLP

My remit was to meet and greet visitors, arrange hospitality for meetings and maintain stocks of office stationery and supplies. I was promoted to the Formalities Department where I was responsible for archiving documents, opening and logging incoming post and franking outgoing post. Also, for the scanning the contents of clients’ files plus all letters and documents from the UK Intellectual Property Office and European Patent Office. Furthermore, I had the responsibility for personally delivering and collecting the legal documents going between various London-based foreign embassies and the London branch of the UK Intellectual Property Office.

Records Clerk

Exan Coachworks

Exan Coachworks is a manufacturer approved centre (MAC) body repair garage for car manufacturers such as Audi and Land Rover. 

Initially I worked there as part of my school syllabus work experience in 2005. My role at this time was to observe the mechanics at work and help with sanding down car body parts, cleaning the workshop and gathering tools

I started at Exan Coachworks in June 2005 initially on a trial period of two weeks, based on my successful trial Exan offered me an apprentice. My role was then to shadow more senior mechanics while they worked to learn about different repair methods. On a day to day basis I would remove panels from cars, file down and repair the damaged areas, prime the repaired panels for painting and then fit them to the car.

As I grew in experience I started to do spot repairs, fit body kits, alloy wheel refurbishment and painting cars before finishing my apprenticeship

Apprentice

As a Contract Recruitment specialist at TechShack, I partner with companies across the United Kingdom across JavaScript, React, Node markets. 

TechShack are a PEOPLE first Talent Partner which is run by experienced technical recruiters with over 40 years worth of experience. We provide permanent and contract solutions to some of the best companies across the globe, supporting them in pushing their capabilities to the Max. 
 
We take the time to really understand your company culture and create stories that attract the perfect candidates. We do all the hard work of finding and screening people so you can concentrate on running your business.
 
We're totally committed to being inclusive and building a diverse team of talented people. You can count on us to make sure your employees are super happy and sticking around for the long haul.

Our expertise includes Software & Web Development, Mobile Development, Test & Quality Assurance, Data & Analytics, Infrastructure & Cloud, Tech Security and Technical Leadership roles.

If you’d like to find out more about how TechShack can help you with your recruitment needs, please get in touch today on: 


💻 louis.dasilva@tech-shack.co

Louis Da Silva

Full Stack Engineer | £350-450p/d | Outside IR35 | 3 Months | Fully Remote (UK based)

I am currently working with an AI Consultancy who are looking for a Full Stack React Engineer to join their product focused engineering team on an initial 3-month contract.

You'll be responsible for delivering high-quality frontend features and backend microservices & API's.

Skills:
⚙️React and Next
⚙️Typescript
⚙️Node (NestJS)
⚙️AWS or Azure nice to have

They want to get somebody started week commencing 1st December.

If you are available within 1 week notice or immediately, please DM me with your latest CV and I will be in touch if relevant.

Senior Contract Recruiter - JavaScript, React, Next, Typescript, Node 🖥️🚀 | 65+ Recommendations | Organiser - Leadership Roundtable

𝗡𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 | £𝟰𝟱𝟬-𝟱𝟬𝟬𝗽/𝗱 | 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗜𝗥𝟯𝟱 | 𝟲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 | 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲

I am currently working with a Travel company who are looking for a Node Engineer to join their engineering team on a large-scale digital transformation project which is expected to go on for multiple years.  

The client is looking for someone that has extensive expertise in scalable backend services, federated service, architecture, cloud-based solutions and API design.

𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀:
⚙️Node
⚙️Express
⚙️Typescript
⚙️GraphQL/Apollo
⚙️Kubernetes
⚙️Terraform
⚙️AWS

**This role is open to UK based candidates**

The interview process is 1 stage (60min Technical Discussion) 

They want to get somebody started before the Christmas period so if you are available 1 week notice or immediately, please reply with your latest CV and I will be in touch if relevant.

#node #outsideir35 #fullyremote #aws

Platform Engineer (Dev Background)| £500-550/day | 3 Months | Outside IR35 | Hybrid (Paddington) 2 days per week

I have partnered with a leading Consultancy who are looking for a Platform Engineer from a Software development background to work on proof-of-concept workflows to demonstrate an MCP platform’s capabilities.

The ideal candidate will have a Polyglot mindset, have experience working with AI-related technologies (ideally OpenAI Builders, MCP servers) and have experience developing in multiple languages. 

Skills:
☑️Either Typescript, Java, Golang, Python, Scala
☑️Terraform, Kubernetes, EKS, GKE etc
☑️AWS or GCP

Length: 3 months
Hybrid: Paddington 2 days per week
Rate: Up to £550/day
IR35: Outside

If you are interested in the role and would like to know more, please reach out with your latest CV and I will be in touch if relevant.

#platformengineer #outsideir35 #python #golang #java #aws #gcp #kubernetes

Any UK based Laravel Developers looking for a remote 6 month contract? 

Skills:
Laravel
React or Vue
MySQL
AWS

Please reach out to Alex Bird.

#outsideir35 #laravel

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Louis Da Silva

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The Battle

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Louis Da Silva

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