Get to know us! Nikki, Gilbert and Matthew

For a long time, Castille solely presented itself as the professional network in tech and finance. Since its original platform, newer and more exciting projections for Castille include employer branding alongside other services. As Castille continues to develop, I sit down with a few members of our team from across the board to share a few memorable moments during their careers at Castille.

Nikki Farrugia,

Director of Client Services, Malta

Andrea: What does your role at Castille entail on a day-to-day basis?

Nikki: As team leader of the Search team, I touch base with all the members of the team (the consultants) both on the finance and the tech side. Generally, we discuss daily updates and see what the plans for the day are, if anything’s happened since the last time I spoke to them.

Once a week, individually for finance and tech I do what we call a SWAT meeting; where we go through all the roles they’re working on, any difficulties that they have, a good thorough meeting of an hour and a half.

AA: What was your journey like to get to your current position?

NF: My journey was a great one! I joined Castille when it was still at the beginning of its own journey, so that was fun! I’ve literally started at the bottom and worked my way up to where I am today. I joined as a part-time junior recruiter on the finance side of the business.

I joined Castille when it was still at the beginning of its own journey . . .

Then, I slowly started expanding my knowledge of the skills on the finance side; the verticals. I ended up managing people.

To cut a very long story short, I became director and head of search encompassing both finance and tech of the whole business.

AA: Could you share with me a memorable achievement you’d experienced with Castille?

NF: Too many of them!

AA: Perhaps one memorable experience you can think of?

NF: Well, actually, I advised a candidate of mine not to take a job! I didn’t feel it was a safe move for him to make.

He still decided to make the move but was very appreciative of my advice, and to this day he mentions it and refers me to clients. It was a good decision – because it’s followed me throughout all this time.

It was a good decision – because it’s followed me throughout all this time.

AA: Lastly, how do you see Castille evolving in a few years, and how do you see yourself growing with the company?

NF: I think Castille is very enterprising, it’s got a good vision of the market. It’s ahead of the market and we adapt very quickly as a whole. I think search, which is my baby – my side of the business,

I’d like to say it’s almost the foundation of the business and I feel my responsibility is to keep it solid and growing and consolidate that.

Nikki Farrugia

Gilbert Galea,

Chief Operations Officer

Andrea: How would you describe Castille as an organisation?

Gilbert: I believe the best way to describe Castille is a 13-year old startup in that it is a very dynamic organisation of forward-looking Castillians continuously engaging in the development of innovative talent products, but who also sport a degree of maturity and camaraderie across the organigram characteristic of more mature companies.

Character aside, Castille has grown into a full-blown augmented talent platform providing enriching career journeys to our global network and outstanding customer experience to our clients in search for top talent from diverse geographies.

AA: What was your journey like to reach the position you are currently in?

GG: Been there from the start, practically when I met Matthew our CEO and Founder in the 2nd year of business. I was a client back then in search for dependable tech teams to join my own on long-term assignments.

While the customer experience back then was enough to setup a deep-rooted relationship with Castille, I must say our Castille Labs software teams proposition today is by far more robust, scalable and future-proof than it ever was back then.

That’s thanks to constant innovation and relentless work on constructive feedback we receive from clients, candidates and internal stakeholders alike.

Castille is a 13-year old startup in that it is a very dynamic organisation of forward-looking Castillians

Gilbert Galea

AA: Could you share with me a memorable achievement you had experienced with the company?

GG: Where do I start? The journey was one filled with loads of ups and occasional downs common to the running of every fast-moving organisation like ours.

AA: What do you hope will change for Castille over the next few years, and how do you see yourself facilitating that change?

GG: As the years unfold, I can see Castille’s vision which has never changed to date, come to its fruition. While before our products could have been boxed in as ‘ahead of their time’, today the products are definitely 'within their time' and in tandem to how the world of work is evolving in the Tech & Finance spheres supported by our Brand.

Particularly in Software, the world is going remote and there’s massive shortages of top talent on the horizon compared to demand.

Castille’s talent solutions are strategically placed to facilitate the search for, and scaling of top talent so our clients can focus on their core business objectives. My contribution to this is largely on the Tech side as we continue to strengthen and grow our remote software talent platform, taking customer and Castillian experiences at every touchpoint to new heights.

Our Castillians make for a dynamic team: an expanding network and platform allows for our employees to engage in multiple talents, remote.

Gilbert Galea

My contribution to this is largely on the Tech side ...

... taking customer and Castillian experiences at every touchpoint to new heights.

Matthew Camilleri,

Founder & CEO

Andrea: How would you describe Castille as an organisation?

Matthew: The Castille brand has always been firmly rooted in recommended specialist talent.

We have been supporting businesses and professionals across a broad spectrum of sectors, in achieving their full potential for years our delivery model to clients has evolved from being that of a specialist agency towards being a Tech Platform in specialist talent.

We continue to retain the people element where there is real value in human engagement. The ethos of our organisation is all about relationships and delivery. We value people of substance and genuine commitment to the cause.

AA: What do you believe are Castille’s strengths, and where do you see opportunity for growth?

MC: Our strength lies in our people, from our core to all our people and extended client teams in all 14 countries. We are committed to continue adding value in the fast-evolving world of work. The recent crisis has taken all the work trends we have been championing for the last 5 years and catapulted them into the mainstream in as many months. With our platform model coming of age in a rush and the world becoming a much smaller playground, we now have a time window of no more than 18-24 months to achieve a global footprint.

Our competition will be larger and better resourced, but we are keen to compete and dominate in our space.

Matthew Camilleri

AA: Could you share with me a memorable achievement you had experienced with the company?

MC: I can honestly say that we have so many achievements (and disappointments) on a daily basis that it would be hard to choose one. Our biggest achievement is that Castille is driven by innovation and passion to the point that our journey has remained a dynamic back in April 2007.

This is no more evident that in the current COVID crisis where most of our traditional sector has been decimated (in the words of many), whilst Castille has weathered the storm and remains on course to achieve it ambitious, more global vision.

Castille is driven by innovation and passion

Matthew Camilleri

AA: What do you hope will change for Castille over the next few years, and how do you see yourself facilitating that change?

MC: Castille has always championed change and we have worked hard to keep ahead of the market.

The key change in the coming years is that the customer experiences we create need to be at world class, in order for us to transition from a strong brand in a couple of small client markets, to achieving global recognition.

All of this at a time when the world of work has not gone through as much change since the industrial revolution. Therein lies the global challenge and opportunity for Castillians.

Nikki, Gilbert and Matthew, in conversation with Andrea Amato.