Candidate Case Study - Sarah Burgoyne
Once you start a new job, the people who recruited you have done what they set out to do; that’s the common perception and, probably, a common experience.
But as Sarah Burgoyne discovered, the “after-care” service provided by MacArthur has made the deepest impression on her.
Sarah is now PA to the chief executive officer, and marketing and communications facilitator, at TSP Engineering.
This is an award-winning, Workington-based company which offers a full range of services from design, consultancy and project management, to manufacture and refurbishment along with electrical engineering, instrumentation and testing. TSP is a key supplier to a range of industries including nuclear, defence and security, oil and gas, steelmaking, and construction.
It’s a big operation. TSP has one of the largest workshops in the UK, and employs more than 220 people. And Sarah has found her key role with them, at a site which is near to home.
She had been happy enough in her previous job with the office of the Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner in Penrith, but it was an hour’s drive each way to work.
Says Sarah: “I loved my job but it was a long journey to work. I was new to Cumbria and it was the first job I had here, I took the job hoping to work my way up to a higher position, but after working there for some time I realised it was a small office and nobody had plans to leave.”
But Sarah didn’t want to make a rush decision and decided to apply for a new post only “if it ticked all the boxes”.
When she saw the TSP job advertised by MacArthur, it caught her attention, even though it was the first time she had used a recruitment company. And it’s been a happy move. She loves her new job, and the MacArthur team even visited her there to make sure that all was well, along with answering any questions she had during the process.
“Our driving premise is that we want to meet people and interact face-to-face,” said MacArthur MD, Ewen Alcorn. His team have dual responsibilities, to their clients, and to the candidates for whom they find posts. “We want clients to be confident that they can entrust our recruitment requirements to us as we continually prove that our high standard of delivery meets what they need and expect.”
Keswick-based MacArthur is an engineering and construction recruitment and search specialist agency. They have built on UK and international recruitment experience since 1997: “We are as happy in the board room as we are trudging across a muddy building site or fell-side.”
Ewen is a qualified engineer with a BEng in Naval Architecture and a PG Diploma in Computer-Aided Engineering. He’s worked for large corporations and international recruitment agencies both in the UK and Australia, in various industries including Engineering, Telecoms and IT, as well as for smaller agencies and start-ups.
Co-director Steph Harding has a background in scientific publishing and education, and has also worked as a recruitment consultant. Their expertise and knowledge of the very specific industries and businesses of the somewhat eclectic Cumbrian scene has led to excellent relationships with client companies – and happy candidates like Sarah Burgoyne.
“I’m really lucky that I instantly fell in love with the role, and had developed a good professional relationship with HR so if I did have any concerns I would feel comfortable voicing them. MacArthur created a welcoming, confidential environment where, if required, I could ask questions or discuss any niggles without being judged or feeling nervous. They also brought me a lovely goody-bag which included a water bottle and some chocolate, which was a really nice touch. This part of the process, the after-care, made me feel like I mattered, which I can imagine isn’t the norm with recruitment agencies.”