I worked with Graham on a recent management consultancy opportunity where I was the candidate. Graham’s outstanding knowledge, skills, and experience in the recruitment arena soon became evident. Graham was excellent in matching the candidate’s skills and aspirations to the client’s needs. Despite the protracted nature of the client’s recruitment procedures, Graham was always on the ball, ensuring that I was kept informed of progress regularly, and on hand to chase the client whenever necessary. Furthermore, he also followed up after my onboarding with the client to ensure everything was as it should be. In the intervening period, Graham’s knowledge of recruitment trends and client sector insight was invaluable. He is also a very friendly and engaging person to know, and I thoroughly recommend him.

Graham is an honest hard working and straight talking professional recruiter who gets results on a "get it right first time" basis. I first met Graham 8 years ago when I was a Director requiring placements for my company. He was able to understand the true nature of the placement need instead of just filling numbers. Graham has always been consistent and successful in providing me with excellent industry placement trend knowledge and also with no hassle professional placement services. When I have a the placement demand, I always pick up the phone and walk through my needs with Graham first.

My experience of working with Graham is exceptional, From initial contact until he successfully placed me into CSC. Graham is great professional, extremely committed and knowledgeable. His work goes way farther than the signing of the contract, his after the hire support and follow ups certainly differentiates his services making him unique. I am grateful for his perseverance and expertise in finding me a role that suited my circumstances. Highly recommended.

Hiring staff can be a challenge with no guarantee of success at the end of it. After hearing about The Associates approach to recruitment from Graham I decided to use them exclusively in the search for my latest role, and I'm glad I did. Working with The Associates did require marginally more time upfront but the investment notably improved the level of service I received and allowed for a consistent message to be shared with all candidates who entered the process.
By meeting face to face we were able to discuss the brief, and this highlighted the nuances of the role as well as the behavioural characteristics of the individual who would fit in the business.
Throughout the process which ended in a successful hire I found Graham and his team honest and thorough. Communication was succinct with the “right” level of frequency.
I have subsequently also engaged with The Associates to supply contract resource which was also delivered to the same standard.
Finding a recruiter, who understands Technology roles, is honest and provides a great deal of rigour is rare. If current levels of service are maintained then I can see myself and The Associates working together for a long time to come.

Testimonial – James Bradshaw – Digital Architect
I was approached by The Associates for a Digital Architect role and received a job specification, the brief given to me on the phone highlighted that the role was not purely technical and the focal point was the strategy and process, however upon receipt of job description I was left with concerns that the job was not the right fit. Job Descriptions don’t always tell the full story, and as an experienced agent, Graham was able to talk me through the background, the job description and allay my fears.
Graham Bradfield from The Associates and I met in person, he gave me a detailed 360° brief on the position, the company and culture which gave me the confidence to proceed. To add rigor to the process I was invited to complete an application through a client branded portal, which included a behavioral assessment, competency based questions, a video introduction and key facts. The level of engagement required gave me comfort that I was being represented in the best possible light. This is a rarity in a world where most recruiters do not take the time to understand me, or the role that they are working, never mind the culture.
The message was consistent from the first engagement through to final interview and matched that of the employer once I met them, I was very comfortable in accepting the role when I was offered.
Working with The Associates demonstrates the value in engaging with a company who understand their client (technically and culturally), communicate effectively and do so with honesty; it has been a pleasure working with them and I would recommend them as a valued partner whether you are recruiting or looking for a new position.