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 👊🏻

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

Hishem Azzouz

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

7.1 million impressions in the last 365 days.

I’ve been posting on LinkedIn since 2016, back when I was in recruitment.

You can read about all the Linkedin hacks and growth hacks to quickly grow your brand on this platform …

But here’s my honest belief about personal branding for recruiters.

It all comes down to one principle:

👉🏻 Be the #1 most valuable, most helpful, most relevant resource for your ideal customer.

That’s it.

Forget obsessing over:

The best time to post.

How many times to post.

Whether text, video, or carousels perform better.

If every time you show up, you focus on being useful, genuinely trying to help your market, the rest takes care of itself.

That’s how you build trust.

That’s how you build a brand.

And that’s how opportunities start finding you.

#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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A note to self. 

And to other founders.

Had this conversation with a few founders this week, and it was a great reminder.

Your business will never be “perfect.”

There will always be something that needs fixing, tweaking, or improving.

Don’t waste energy chasing perfection.

Enjoy the process of striving for it.

That’s the game.

#Recruitment

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

Still pains me to hear stories like this in our industry.

Not sure it’ll ever fully stop.

I met a recruiter last week who decided to go out on their own.

After six years of energy, time, and loyalty helping build the company they used to work for.

They started as a trainee.

Grew a team.

Delivered solid numbers year after year.

Played it completely straight.

No games to get around their non-compete.

Just wanted to build something of their own.

And still…

They were met with nasty messages, emotional reactions, and people being told not to work with them.

After six years of service.

Wild, really.

I get that emotions run high when good people leave.

But I’ll never understand treating someone like that, especially when they’ve given so much of themselves to your business.

I genuinely think this mindset is one of the root causes of why there’s still so much bitterness between recruitment agencies.

The best leaders know this: how someone leaves says more about your culture than how they perform.

If we want to raise the bar in this industry, it starts with letting people move on with respect, not resentment.

#Recruitment

“How are others finding it right now?”

I get this from recruitment founders every week.

My answer is almost always the same.

It depends.

In the last month alone, I’ve heard:

A firm hit their first ever £1,000,000 month.

A founder on track for record revenue and profit with fewer heads than last year.

A leader doubling their contract book.

A year-one business hitting target, after billing nothing for the first 3 months.

And I’ve heard the opposite:

A team that’s had a brilliant two-year run, but October hit hard, projections missed, processes dragged, and dropouts stung.

A founder who admitted it was the first time they’d lost confidence in their market after months of slow decisions and fewer committed clients.

Another business that was flying last year but has had some of its key top performers leave to start their own agencies, and they are on track to lose money this year.

So… what do you do with that?

Here’s the mindset I keep coming back to:

Whoever you point the finger at, you give power to.

If all your pointing is at “the market”, you’ve just handed away control.

Whether you’re flying or struggling, point the finger at yourself and your team first.

What did we change that worked?

What did we stop doing that hurt?

Where did our process get loose?

Which clients shouldn’t make next month’s plan?

Where did we miss true candidate motivation?

If you believe you have the power to change things, you’ll always have a chance to turn things around.

Because blaming the market gives you an excuse.

But looking inward gives you options.

#Recruitment

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

From Reset to $6M: How Jack Eldridge Rebuilt LHi Group Austin.

When Jack landed in Austin, the office didn’t even feel like an LHi Office.

Four or five people.

All men.

No rhythm.

No spark.

He had to start from scratch.

Over five years, Jack rebuilt everything: standards, structure, and belief.

✅ $1.8M → $6M run rate.

✅ 5 heads → 25 heads.

✅ 70% home-grown US talent.

And now, they’re in a strong position to build on solid foundations, turning the Austin office into one of the best-performing teams in the entire group.

In this week’s episode, we break down:

 🎯 How to reset an underperforming office.

 🎯 The 3Ps that rebuilt Austin: Positivity, Preparation, Productivity.

 🎯 Why focusing on 5 clients with 10+ placements changed everything.

 🎯 How Jack hires and develops top US talent differently.

You can now listen on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube 🎧

As always, a huge thanks to our podcast partners who continue to support our mission with the pod & - SourceWhale | Raise a big thank you to Capex Currency for getting behind our US Podcast series🔥

 #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

Most recruiters ask:

“What are you looking for?”

The best ask:

“What’s stopping you from finding that person yourself?”

That’s the difference between an order-taker and a true recruitment partner.

If you want to work with more committed clients and move closer to retained, it all starts downstream, with proper discovery.

Not taking job specs at face value.

Not jumping straight into delivery.

But asking the kind of questions that uncover the real problem behind the hire.

That’s where you earn control, trust, and commitment.

John Guest believes the same, and that’s exactly what we’re diving deep into in Session 2 of our Retainer Masterclass: Sell Retained with Confidence.

We’re laser-focused on how to conduct discovery and diagnose hiring problems that make your solution the obvious choice.

If you want to stop taking orders and start shaping outcomes, this session’s for you.

🎓 Live today at lunchtime | 1 pm.

📍150+ recruiters already signed up

👉 Register for free here: https://lnkd.in/e4DyPu6f

I will hopefully see some of you there 👊🏻

#Recruitment

Over the last month, we’ve been working hard at Hector behind the scenes to put together something special to end 2025 strong.

After a year of interviewing 100s of recruiters, founders, and leaders and working closely with 50+ high-performing recruitment teams.

We’ve pulled together the most consistent lessons from 2025.

And we’ve made some bold predictions for what the best teams will double down on in 2026 to win.

Here’s what’s inside.

The 5 biggest lessons from 2025.

What top recruiters and founders did differently to win.

The data and insights shaping 2026.

3 bold predictions (and one hot take that might divide opinion)

If you’re a recruiter or leader who wants to finish smart and start strong, this is for you.

👉🏻 Grab The 2025 End of Year Report here: https://lnkd.in/eU88DsMg

Your shortcut to setting up 2026 for success.

#Recruitment

Thinking about starting your own recruitment business?

Then this week's episode is non-negotiable.

Chelsea Karaolis story isn’t polished.

It isn’t the “I smashed £500K in my first year” narrative.

It’s real.

It’s honest.

And it’s exactly why we wanted to do this episode together.

Because most people only see the LinkedIn highlight reel.

They don’t see the part where:

Q1 nearly broke her.

Saying “yes” to the wrong clients cost her months.

Imposter syndrome hit her every single time something didn’t go to plan.

The loneliness of being a founder almost made her quit.

And building a purpose-led business (DE&I at the core) meant choosing impact over fast cash.

But here’s what she did do:

✅ She also built something meaningful.

✅ She created a mission that people feel & want to get behind.

✅ She placed candidates who were completely overlooked elsewhere.

✅ And she’s now running a business with genuine purpose, proof points, and momentum.

This episode covers everything:

🔥 Growing up in Stonebridge Park and why resilience became her superpower.

🔥 The moment someone took a chance on her at TEKsystems and how it changed her entire life.

🔥 Why she said “I’d start a business… but not with my own money”

🔥 The truth about her first 2 years running Unify.

🔥 91% of placements are from underrepresented backgrounds.

🔥 The harsh reality of low-value work, bad clients, and saying “no”

🔥 How she rebuilt momentum with discipline, clarity and better standards.

And what she wishes every recruiter understood about starting an agency

If you’re a recruiter…

A founder…

Or someone who wants to build something that actually stands for something…

This conversation will hit differently.

🎧 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

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