What is it like to work at MRL – Guillaume Alméras

He has a Masters in International Business and started working in the recruitment sector back in 2008, then later joined MRL in August 2012. He is a consultant who specialises in placing tech experts, sales and marketing roles within the automotive sector – but it took a bit of clever thinking to finally get him there.

Continue reading to see what he had to say:

1. Why did you choose MRL?

My first ever role in recruitment was in 2008. I was tasked to look after subcontracting jobs for semiconductor roles at Texas-Instruments, here in Sophia Antipolis. It was the first opportunity for me to apply my technical background and work with a company that designs electronic components for tomorrow’s smartphones – and I loved this idea!

I kept going for few years with this business model, kept developing both my expertise & sales in the embedded software and systems industry, then MRL came my way.

I was really attracted by what MRL offered. I knew that working with firms who are experts, high tech and blue-chip was the way to follow my dreams when I started in recruitment.

And now in 2017, I can confirm that I was right to think that, I get to place people that will design, test, produce and sell tomorrow’s innovations.

2. Which division do you look after?

The funny thing is that I was initially supposed to develop the automotive market in the south of Europe, but this market was still recovering from the 2008 recession & then again with 2012 Eurozone crisis. Pretty painful years in southern Europe I have to say! So I rapidly began to understand the necessity of first attacking the embedded software companies to find a way in to the automotive sector.

Taking a risk is always dangerous in business, but I made the right one. The automotive market finally got on board with the embedded software world due to way more complex systems and features being added in. This gave me a natural footing for this division when the time was right.

3. How do you find the working environment?

The ambience and working environment are the second reason why I realised, pretty immediately, that this job – in this company, was made for me!

I often describe MRL as having a DNA, a culture, a thing that we all share between every employee of MRL. Even though we do not physically work with our English or German colleagues there is a comradery. Being experts in our fields and serving a great cause, without forgetting not to be too serious about it is a joy.

MRL’s working environment allows you to make mistakes, to learn from them, and start over again to constantly improve you as a consultant. Make great placements, make good money, have fun but without forgetting to challenge yourself on daily basis.

When you manage to do this, I can tell you, you leave the office whistling.

4. What do you enjoy most about your role?

Apart from the fact that I love to place contributors to technology in the automotive world, what I most enjoy is the sense of positively influencing a recruitment process with my clients & candidates.

Being an advisor is what makes my job really appealing to me because it means that you become a trusted partner and that the confidence is grown between every party in this process.

A true achievement is when a call comes in and the client wants to work with you specifically on their new opening!

5. Where do you see the recruitment sector going?

I often read on social networks that recruitment is going to an end due to AI or informatic tools that could distance the human interactions from the recruitment process.

However, I do not believe this, as long as you are an expert in what you do, covering specific needs and networking with potential candidates then my guess is that a recruiter will always make a difference & add value compared to a machine.

The more our world embraces technology, the more traditional industries will need technological enhancements, and experts in technical recruitment. It will be necessary for the firms to positively transition into these times by hiring the correct person to do so. And that’s what I, and MRL are here for!

If you want to work with MRL get in touch, we are currently hiring across our European offices. Call us on +44 (0) 123 320 860 or email us. Alternatively, follow us on social media to keep up to date with MRL and recruitment news.