Zak's 2023 recruitment round up

Here at FMC, we work with some pretty cool clients (if we do say so ourselves!).

Which meant when we asked our Smart Industry team which organisations and roles have really stood out to them this year, we were met with hordes of responses.

Each week in the run up to Christmas, we'll be sharing the teams' thoughts on which organisations are at the top of the game in the worlds they recruit in, alongside getting the inside scoop on what they anticipate recruitment in 2024 to look like.

This week, we chatted to Zak about his year recruiting predominantly in the digital maritime space…

What was the most interesting role you worked on this year?

“It would have to be the Chief Product Officer position for a client currently laying the groundwork for genuine hyper-growth. This vacancy required a tremendous amount of out-of-the-box thinking and sophisticated market intelligence in order to find and engage the best SaaS product leaders globally.”  
    

Who was the coolest client you worked with this year? 
    
"Veson Nautical - through continued innovation and strategic growth, Veson remain the competitor to beat within the maritime technology space. By offering a best-in-class solution that can be tailored to both price-conscious and value-conscious customers alike, it is hard to imagine a 2024 where the team does not continue to take advantage of the buoyant market (pun intended)."   
    

Zak's top tip to secure a tip top candidate: 
    
"If your mission is to hire the best "A-Player" talent out there, you MUST have a strong interview process. You will lose more great candidates than you secure if you do not have a process that allows you to comprehensively vet candidates, allows them the opportunity to learn as much as they can about your business, and moves quickly enough so that you don't lose out to your competitors (who I promise are going after the same people!).    

What are you excited for in 2024?

“Since COVID, the digital maritime industry has seen non-stop turbulence in respect to which markets and geographies are buying, and which markets are struggling (the yacht/leisure market in particular). 2024 will see a less volatile market globally that will allow growth and innovation across the board whether you serve the commercial, leisure, or defence sectors.”   
    

And here's what a candidate had to say…

"Zak was phenomenal. He was able to match me perfectly to the right role and company. He found an opportunity for me I couldn't imagine for myself. I owe a huge chunk of my career to his efforts. I can't thank him enough!"