I am sure many of you have sat back in your seat after a wonderful meal and said “right at this moment life doesn’t get better than this.”, without a second thought to the kitchen porters, cleaners, commis and waiters that made it happen.

This week, we’ve been talking to the lovely Wendy Bartlett MBE from Bartlett Mitchell about what it is like running a business in the Corona Virus Lockdown.

For those of you who haven’t met Wendy. She is the Executive Chairman of the hugely respected Bartlett Mitchell, an award winning catering business covering London and the South East.

We see a huge variety of CV’s – some are great, some are… well… not so strong. Here are the Top 6 mistakes that we regularly see – if you do nothing else before sending your CV in, make sure it doesn’t fall foul of these.

University of Oxford

Lisa Hofen – BA, CIWFM, MRICS – Deputy Head of Strategic FM

Taking the decision to utilise the services of a professional recruiter was not taken lightly, especially in challenging financial times when evidencing value for money is so incredibly important.  We were, however, finding it increasingly difficult to successfully recruit our senior roles through our campaigns. 

After entering into discussions with various recruitment companies it became evident that the quality of the services on offer ranged considerably, especially when their methods and approaches to recruitment were fully explored.

With Hexagon there was a personal touch and you felt you were receiving a service tailored to your needs.  Nicola visited us on more than one occasion to fully understand the role and the organisation and throughout the process we were kept up to date with search and selection progress.  This culminated with a selection of fully briefed candidates who were hand-picked for the role available.   

In our experience of Hexagon FM has been exemplary – they pride themselves in the quality of their candidates and methods and quite frankly – it works.   

John Wiley Representative

Helen Versloot, Senior Facilities Manager, UK

>In the past 15 months Wiley’s Real Estate and Facilities Team underwent a comprehensive restructure in order to better support the changing needs of the business. We wanted to change how we delivered services from building focused, to placing our internal customers front and centre of what we do. It was decided the best way to achieve this was to bring in a new management team based at our significant sites and to oversee critical services.

We approached Hexagon, by dint of their reputation for personal service and going above and beyond in sourcing excellent candidates. Nikki and Sean went out of their way to understand the brief, our culture, what was required at each of our sites and that we weren’t just looking for someone who could do the role, but about “what else” they could bring to the role and the wider team. We were not disappointed, the service was personal and excellent throughout. We were able to shortlist from an experienced list of pre-screened candidates, who were fully briefed before their interview and their follow up with client & candidates once appointed and in post was exemplary.

It is worth highlighting that all three new Managers were interviewed prior to lockdown but joined after the move to WFH. Testament to the calibre of our new Managers, they have hit the ground running, supporting WFH, preparing for Return to the Office, managing & developing their teams and getting to know their buildings, whilst undertaking significant projects and supporting colleagues in other regions with theirs.

I couldn’t be more delighted ! I am thankful to Nikki and Sean and would have no hesitation in recommending Hexagon.

Dave Richards (FIWFM) – Chief Custom Officer

Working with Hexagon is a different experience from “normal” recruitment.

Why ?

Well, there is an energy and understanding that is sadly lacking elsewhere. Fulfilling the role means getting the right cultural & behavioral fit and then finally making sure the competence and experience is right. Nikki and the team ensure that this tricky blend is pulled together for every role, and besides that, they are a great team to get on and do business with.

For me, that matters a lot

Working with Hexagon is a different experience from normal recruiting
Why? Well, there is an energy and understanding that is sadly lacking elsewhere,
where you are constantly sent candidates to fill the role when we don’t actually need
the role fulfilling. Fulfilling the role means getting the right Cultural & Behavioural fit
blended with the right character, personality and attitude and then finally making sure
the competence and experience is right.
Nikki and the team ensure that this tricky blend is bespokely pulled together for every
role, besides that they are great team to get along with and easy to do business with
and for me that matters a lot. I want my recruiting specialists to understand my
business, my culture and my very different client base and role requirements –
without that understanding I will not get the right hires and the service I need.

Sean has been an amazing support and help to our business and has delivered
in finding us some excellent talent! As a small business Sean has worked
effortlessly to understand our business and the roles we are looking for, meeting
every candidate before we have interviewed and only putting across the best
people. I could not recommend him enough!

Luke is such a delight to work with, I found him to be committed, focused, attentive, great at time management, keeping candidates interest at heart. Such a difference maker, a true gentleman and consummate professional. It was a pleasure to deal with him and I wish him and Hexagon all the very best for the future. Onwards and upwards.

Luke is a great, and such a pleasant consultant. Luke placed me in a role which I would say has been the best match for me so far. He listens to your requirements and shows a genuine interest in his clients. He didn't just secure me a role and forget about me, but kept in touch to see how I was getting on in my new role for the first couple of months. A cheerful and helpful person who I would definitely recommend for anyone seeking their ideal position.