Principles of Principal Principal Consultant is inarguably one of the greatest accomplishments you can achieve within Adaptive. In March of 2019, Andrew Jones billed to achieve this, a mere six months after his promotion to Senior Consultant. This is no easy feat, and so to figure out what the recipe to his success was, I poked and prodded at what secrets he was hiding, but it turns out there is no secret, no one simple key, the way to get to this point is through ambition, hard work and consistency. Andrew became a part of the ABG Family in January of 2017, so rounding out three years here now (happy anniversary!). After a year and a half, he made Senior, and just over two years after being hired he was promoted Principal. The biggest proponent to his achievement was his client base. “In order to make Principal, you need a 4-5 really solid clients” he revealed to me. “New business is the key to keeping momentum up,” he continued on, “you need to keep winning clients the entire time in order to stand a chance to getting to this point.” Essentially stating that if you sit back with what got you to Senior, that won’t be enough.
Phone: +44 208 123 0472 Skype: andrewjones.adaptive Adaptiveglobalization.com
It is an important jumping off point to grow from, but it’s the growth from there that truly is critical. His biggest accomplishment? Winning the Q4 competition last year, with billings of $114k in 3 months, which was a huge part of hitting Principal. Biggest difficulty? The size of the market he was brought into. But even within these circumstances, he diligently messaged and re-messaged everyone, cultivated content people couldn’t not respond to, and understood his demographic and importance to them. It seems even at the beginning Andrew was destined for great success. When it comes to what he has learned most up to this point, it was a lesson that seems so simple, yet carries so much weight, which is “don’t take no for an answer”. Whether it's a client or a candidate, Andrew explained there is a myriad of things you can do to change people’s minds, always – you don't have to ever sit around and take “no”, and if you want to get to Principal, you can’t afford to. Having the expertise to bill at that level, recruiters of this capacity should have almost total control of both sides, and an argument that makes them impossible to turn down.
It was no surprise after hearing this, that the most major difference Andrew notices within himself as a Principal consultant is that of his level of client management. He mentioned that he felt there was a bigger difference between Consultant and Senior, than Senior and Principal because it's really just honing in on the skills that have already gotten you that far. Working to stay motivated and refine his skillset, his plan is to build out Consult as a Division and eventually hit Director. To anyone chasing Principal, his advice is master the fundamentals, whether it be BD, sourcing, client management, etc. have everything concretely down and don’t go just where you can get points by getting lucky, relentlessly keep a full pipeline at all times. Andrew was inspiring to speak with, and clearly on the rise. Pick his brain, he’s got a lot to offer and will keep you on your toes and laughing the entire time. Thanks for sharing!
Andrew Jones UK Service Sales Manager