A Career at CBSbutler: Employee Insights from Ciaran Digney, Key Account Manager

At CBSbutler we’re extremely proud of the career progression opportunities we offer to members of our team. We talked to Ciaran Digney, Key Account Manager at CBSbutler, about his background, the culture he’s encountered since he first joined us, and how the chance to progress his career in a different sector encouraged him to join us. Ciaran’s story is a great example of why and how CBSbutler helps people grow, both professionally and personally.

Ciaran, please tell us about your professional life before you joined CBSbutler

Prior to joining the company I worked as an Estate Agent in property sales for seven years working my way up from Sales Negotiator to Branch Manager. Before that I’d worked for another estate agency, and before that I was the Assistant Manager of a couple of pubs in London. So I’ve always enjoyed working with people and providing a great customer experience. 

What attracted you to the recruitment industry, and specifically a role at CBSbutler?

To be honest, there are a lot of crossovers between estate agency work and recruitment. For example, instead of dealing with vendors and buyers I’m now negotiating between clients and candidates, and the similarities of brokering deals, building relationships, gaining people’s trust and delivering the best possible customer service make it very interesting. 

There’s also the potential to make a lot more money in this industry. So instead of sharing a percentage of the commission made on a house sale for example, I can make a lot more with CBSbutler for placing a candidate, especially within the IT Sector that I specialise in.

And finally, there was the opportunity for career progression which I welcomed. Here, because CBSbutler is a large and progressive company, we’re offered a variety of promotion routes to pursue, whether that’s account management or consultancy, each of which comes with its own greater financial rewards.

What would you say to someone thinking about making that leap? And has it worked out well for you?

My career has progressed very well since I’ve been here and I’m extremely pleased and grateful to be in the position I’m in at the moment. 

I originally started as an Account Executive working under Matt Wilson, Director, Group Sales, who was Lead Consultant on three large IT accounts we have here. Then within 18 months I was promoted to Account Manager as a result of meeting targets and making a certain amount of placements across those accounts. So the rewards are achievable! 

My advice for anyone thinking about joining CBSbutler is to go for it! If you’ve got transferrable skills, like sales, and are passionate about building relationships between clients and candidates, you can really hone your skillset here. It’s a fast-paced, people-driven environment which we tend to thrive on, but it’s also about building trust, being thorough and providing great customer service to ensure longevity and the success that we all want for both our clients and our candidates.

Let’s talk about CBSbutler. What makes it such a great place to work?

It’s the people, pure and simple. My colleagues make it very easy to learn about specialist recruitment, even if you’re approaching the job with minimal experience. They’re always more than happy to answer questions about any aspect of the role and will happily share what they know about clients’ expectations and candidates’ aspirations. It’s an environment where shared success is celebrated.

It's also a great company to work for if you want career progression. Progression and promotion opportunities are on offer and colleagues are actively encouraged to go for promotions, both to further their own careers and to evolve the business in the right direction. A phrase we hear here a lot is: “Be the best you can and get rewarded for it!”

What about the company culture?

We’re a fun and friendly team and CBSbutler encourages social activities like drinks events and ‘jollies’ such as going to the races, partly for the enjoyment these things bring and partly to encourage morale- and team-building. They seem to work if our recent gold-standard Olympic event is anything to go by!

Ciaran Digney’s journey is just one example of the many success stories here at CBSbutler. If you’re looking for a career that offers great support, and the chance to make a real impact, we’d love to hear from you.

For more information on career opportunities at CBSbutler, please contact us.