A Career at CBSbutler: Employee Insights from Matt Wilson, Director of Recruitment, Defence Consultancy

Matt, tell us about your role at CBSbutler

I’ve been with CBSbutler since 2016 starting as Business Development Manager, within Defence. When CBSbutler changed hands earlier this year; I spent some time with Rob and the Operational Leadership Team, discussing specific areas that we wanted to target and how my skills could be best utilised to generate revenue. The result of those discussions was the creation of a new pillar - “Defence Consultancy”, which sits alongside, and across, our Defence IT and Defence Engineering pillars and aims to provide services within the strategy and  advisory space across Defence. We’re focused on UK Defence matters but  are increasingly expanding our global footprint and work with some very prestigious clients; supplying consulting firms with permanent talent, as well as project-specific security-cleared contractors.

What’s your background?

After I graduated I worked at a recruitment consultancy that had a great reputation for developing graduates. However, after a couple of years and a house move I decided to give something else a go. I moved to an Energy company, selling energy to businesses and quickly became the top performing sales person. That role really helped to develop my sales abilities and understand my strengths - engaging with clients. After I took some time out, travelling in South, Central and North America I thought very hard about what I wanted to do, and when the role at CBSbutler became available, I was really impressed by what the company offered in terms of sector focus and the clients they worked with. The opportunity to work with large scale defence systems integrators and the challenge of taking that offering to market to try to grow the business in that space was a very appealing prospect. I like to think I’ve made a success of it – I was President’s Club winner 4 years in a row, and one of the top 10 billers for six of my years here, generating profit into the multiples of millions! Now I’ve entered into a new role, where I have a new challenge and an element of building from scratch again, in a well-established market with the chance to build a team to drive the pillar forwards, it’s very exciting.

Describe the ideal talent you’d like to join you.

That’s a good question! I’m a firm believer that anyone can become a great recruiter, whatever your background or experience. It’s all about how you apply yourself. People often think recruiters are pushy sales people but I can honestly say I’ve never seen one be a success. For me the defining factor is always ‘Are you prepared to be the hardest-working person in the room?’. 

Great recruiters tend to have three things in common: firstly they are resilient, secondly they stay the course, and thirdly they have faith in what they’re doing. Determination is key.

Creating the right support framework is Here at CBSbutler we don’t throw people in at the deep end without support and training – there’s always guidance available! I pride myself on working with people to get to know what motivates them,  with the primary focus being ‘what can I do as a leader to enable their success?’

There are no ‘typical’ character types – I’ve worked with all kinds of people with different personalities and from all backgrounds. There’s no one formula that makes a successful recruiter.

I’d say that if you can show that you genuinely want it, you understand what it means to really work hard and have the patience to accept that it takes time, there are great rewards to be had. 

What are the rewards for all this hard work?

Typically, the main one is financial – there is great money to be made in this industry and we offer a very attractive commission scheme, but for me there’s a real balance to be had between remuneration and job satisfaction. Being a recruiter is running your own business within the framework of a supportive organisation. We’re prepared to give you the opportunity to establish yourself, nurture clients and build really strong relationships. And eventually, you can reach a point where you’re happy with what you’re taking home, the hours you work and the opportunity to create a strong work/life balance for yourself. There are very few companies in this industry that offer such a good level of balance for the amount of income you can generate. It’s definitely a case of what you put in, you get out.

Tell us about the CBSbutler culture

Recruitment does have a reputation for being cutthroat industry, with a dash of aggressiveness but CBSbutler most definitely isn’t like that!

As an organisation we offer people the opportunity to work how they want to work and according to their personality-type. We like to accommodate different people at different stages of life, we’re flexible, and ultimately, you’re responsible to yourself. But, we’re all coming to work for the same reason - to drive success.

As for culture, we’re a friendly bunch, we have regular nights out – they’re a great opportunity to built relationships and enjoy spending time with the people you work with, as well as sharing business opportunities.

What level of seniority are you looking for?

The people we do business with are some of the most senior people within global organisations, and often Senior ex-armed forces. Most of them have been to top-end public schools and are now operating budgets running into the billions. Whilst we’re clearly not expecting talent to have a similar background, we are looking for people with recruitment experience and, most importantly, people who are comfortable operating at C-suite level, selling to some of the most senior stakeholders in the business. We’re looking for strong communicators, who don’t get flustered easily, are comfortable being challenged, are bright, and primarily can justify themselves and the services they offer. 

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