It’s a big year for anniversaries at QCS Staffing! We’re celebrating 10 years of Alex McCrudden, our Principal Consultant who has been instrumental in developing our ICT specialism. He spoke to us about his time at QCS Staffing: “I started as a Delivery Executive before progressing to Account Management”
After moving locally to Berkhamsted with a couple of years’ recruitment experience under his belt, Alex discovered QCS Staffing which happened to have a position available. After a memorable interview process (what’s your most embarrassing moment?!) he joined as a Delivery Executive and supported one of QCS Staffing's long-term customer accounts before taking full client responsibility as an Account Manager. In addition to supporting legacy clients, Alex has opened doors with a variety of new clients to QCS Staffing and continues to seek out new companies and recruitment opportunities.
“I’ve seen the QCS Staffing team grow from 20 to more than 80 people”
Ten years have brought with them plenty of change. Alex’s journey at QCS Staffing has included an office relocation, the addition of new sectors, enormous team growth and colleagues progressing their careers. He’s also witnessed office romance blossom between fellow employees and some exceptional QCS Staffing social events including celebrations in Celtic Manor, London and Portugal! Perhaps his biggest highlight has been winning and developing a key client account in the form of the United Nations, eventually becoming that organisation’s number one partner for IT recruitment services and making great friends with management and contractors along the way.
“The recruitment market has become more congested, yet QCS Staffing has prevailed”
Since Alex joined in 2010, recruitment has grown at a rapid pace. With more recruitment agencies on the market, especially within the UK’s IT sector, it’s harder for some agencies to secure business and turn a profit, yet QCS Staffing has continued to excel. Alex has seen QCS Staffing expand its services to become truly international and diversify its service offering.
“In my sector alone I’ve enjoyed recruiting people into exciting roles in Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany and I know my colleagues have gone as far as Australia, China and the Bahamas!” he says.
Alex and QCS Staffing are now preparing for Brexit and IR35, both of which will present new challenges to the recruitment industry that QCS Staffing is well prepared for.
“The IT sector has had its fair share of changes”
Alex specialises in the IT sector which he says has gone through a big shift in the last 10 years. He points to a move from more conventional development roles to newer technologies like O365, Azure and AWS cloud technology with implementation and migration projects coming thick and fast. The pace of change is significant and Alex is currently aligning his focus to current trends in addition to ever important technical areas such as
data centres, unified communications and information security. He’s come a long way since joining QCS Staffing when he admits his technological expertise was limited, but he now loves the market saying the candidates are great to deal with and there’s always a lot going on and new skills to pick up.
“QCS Staffing is an alternative to standard recruitment companies in terms of work environment and culture”
The location of QCS Staffing's offices can’t be beaten, says Alex, but there are other reasons he’s stuck around at QCS Staffing for so long. He notes that while QCS Staffing is a sales-focused company, you’re not being pressured to hit targets and you’re not let go if you miss them. He has experience of this, as in 2011 his main client stopped recruiting and there were few new clients on the horizon. Worried about his future, Alex was relieved to find that QCS Staffing were supportive and stuck with him, and soon after he started a new partnership with the UN that has since become one of QCS Staffing main customers.
Finally, Alex says the people at QCS Staffing help to keep him coming into work with a smile every day. “I’m extremely fortunate to work alongside a fantastic bunch in the RenewIT team and in QCS Staffing as a whole. They do seem to be getting younger though….”
“I’m looking forward to growing the IT team at QCS Staffing and taking on a leadership role”
In the future, Alex is looking forward to continuing to grow the ICT team, working closely with the Delivery Executives and engaging with more clients. His end goal is to make QCS Staffing ICT function an even more important part of the business with more contractors working in the UK, Europe and the US.
A few words about Alex from his colleagues
“Working with Alex is honestly a pleasure. His knowledge, personality and wonderful nature make him one of the best individuals I have worked with in the last 10 years. He is a constant top biller year-on-year who seems to take the stresses and problems of recruitment completely in his stride.” – Ash, IT Principal Consultant
“Alex has a natural ability to build rapport with both clients and candidates, meaning that he has developed long lasting relationships - and often personal friendships - over the past 10 years. Alex has a good sense of humour, is reliable and patient, all qualities that he has further developed since becoming a father.” – Jo, Business Services Manager
Congratulations to Alex on a fun-filled 10 years!
