Recruitment
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Vision
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From hotel group GM to MD of Career Vision Recruiters, Stuart O’Connor chats to Hotel & Catering Review about his plans to open a second office and standing out from the recruitment crowd
fter 25 years in the hospitality industry, Stuart O’Connor knows what clients are looking for when they advertise for a GM, a chef or a KP. He also knows what candidates are after when they decide it’s time to
Clients return to Career Vision Recruiters because they’re looked after, says Stuart. “We understand their business. Everyone working here has a background in the industry. We aim to give both the client and candidate 100% and we’re completely honest with them at all times. We’re in this for the long haul; we’ve
candidate that applies for a role with us will receive the information, regardless of whether they’re suitable or not. You don’t get a sense of a person from their CV, they might have an amazing ‘can do’ attitude that could make them ideal for a role that they otherwise may not be suited to.”
move on from their role in a restaurant or hotel. Last year, he decided to channel all that expertise into something new. In August 2019 he set up Career Vision Recruiters, a dedicated hospitality recruitment agency in Naas and he’s about to open a second office in Limerick. Stuart kicked off his career in hospitality in the old Berkeley Court hotel with the likes of Joe Russell, Michael Vaughan and Barry O’Connor. It was their passion for the job that ignited his own interest in the sector and led to roles such as General Manager of the Towey Group. His interest in recruitment came about by accident. “I fell into recruitment about four and a half years ago. I had gone for an interview for a GM role in the midlands and the agency ended up pitching recruitment to me instead. Initially, I was unsure as it wasn’t something I had any experience in but someone said to me, you’ve been involved in recruitment all your life. In the couple of years before that, I had probably interviewed a couple of hundred people. So I decided to go for it,” said Stuart. After working in recruitment for a few years, he decided to venture out on his own and set up his own agency in Naas, Co Kildare. Before Covid hit, the agency was performing extremely well. “The first three months of this year were probably the best I’ve ever had in recruitment. For a new business we were steaming ahead and doing 14 or 15 placements a month. That’s basically unheard of at the start of the year, for any recruitment firm. We had plans to move to a second property in Limerick in April of this year, but obviously that was put on the backburner. We’re now full steam ahead to open early next year.”
invested substantially in the company and we’re seeing growth even during Covid.” Only roles for live jobs are posted, says Stuart. “We don’t post roles just to increase our database. I’ve been in that position before where I’ve applied for a role and gone to an agency, only to be told at the end of the process that they have nothing for me at the moment and my CV will be filed. That really gets to me. A
With demand for its services increasing, Career Vision Recruiters will open its second office in Limerick in February 2021. “We’ve got four staff members here in the Naas office and we’ll start off with three in Limerick. We’ll be focusing on the Wild Atlantic Way and Munster in general; it’s an area of growth for us and I believe staycations will become more of a trend over the next couple of years.”
Stuart O’Connor, MD, Career Vision Recruiters
ISSUE 11 2020 | HOTEL
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CATERING REVIEW
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