This week, our Principal Legal Recruitment Consultant Jacob Thomas celebrates his seven-year anniversary with Interlink. He's seen a lot of changes in that time and in this Q&A, he shares more information about his experiences and development over the past seven years.

Going back seven years, what brought you to Interlink at the time? What was it about the business that you liked?

It feels like such a long time ago now! At the time I was enjoying a sales consultant role but it felt very short-term, without much long-term relationship building, which is what I wanted to do. I took some time to research various different avenues I could take and recruitment seemed like an environment which would suit my goals and personality. Interlink looked like an exciting option, I always leaned towards an owner managed business as opposed to a large corporate company. Interlink has always had a senior ex-legal team which were great to learn from in the early days, Louis and Daniel have both been great mentors during my time here.

You've progressed from Recruitment Consultant to Principal Recruitment Consultant during your time here at Interlink Recruitment, plus more in between. Tell us about your role from when you started and how it has evolved.

Not much has changed with my role since I joined as a Recruitment Consultant. At Interlink, you are given a lot of autonomy, trust and freedom from day one. Whether this is client events, lunches or networking etc. I wouldn’t want to move away from my role into operations or a non-billing capacity as it would take away from what I love doing.

When you started at Interlink you focused on more Junior Roles regionally and have now moved into the London market. What are the main differences you have found between these locations and job levels?

The size! The sheer number of both firms and candidates in London is something which I found much more enjoyable, compared to regional recruitment in legal. It is a much faster paced environment, which is what I enjoy. One of the main learning curves has been the depth in knowledge required to understand the various different practice areas, as Lawyers in London can be more specific in their expertise, compared to regionally.

How has your style of Recruitment changed and adapted over your time at Interlink Recruitment? What are some of the key lessons you have learnt in your time here?

I’d say the usual aspects of your role, which improve over time, such as being more efficient, organised and more targeted in terms of which clients and candidates you want to work with. I started to really enjoy the role when I began focusing more on building working relationships, with people I get along with, as opposed to “dream clients”.

Life at Interlink has changed a lot since you started seven years back including a change of office location. How have things changed at Interlink Recruitment, both from an office environment and personal perspective? 

When I started with the business, I think I was the 4^th person in a small office on King St in Manchester, which is massively different to the 30 or so team members we have today. It’s been a positive change and I really enjoy seeing the business improve, year on year, even during the challenging times due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

There's always been a great sense of 'team' at Interlink. What are some of your best times at the business?

The best days we have had here are usually the team events. We’ve done a couple at All Star Lanes and regularly go to the races which are always a lot of fun.

Your job can be quite stressful. How do you manage all the tasks you do to keep the work flowing?

Organisation is key! The best recruiters we have are always the ones which have been the most organised and consistent every day. The market moves very quickly both from a candidate and vacancy perspective.

Interlink is looking to bring new members into the team. What advice would you give anyone looking to join Team Interlink Recruitment?

I would say to do your research into what working in the industry is like. Recruitment is definitely not a 9-5 job and it is more of a lifestyle, you have to enjoy building relationships with people from various backgrounds and be able to handle the ups and downs.