IGA Talent Solutions welcomes Mark Stanton, Principal Consultant, Change and Transformation to the IGA Family.
With specialist knowledge in the Change and Transformation space, Mark brings a wealth of experience and a solutions focussed approach to supporting his clients with their hiring needs. He has also been instrumental in opening our brand new IGA office in Cork.
Katie Thompson (She/Her) Talent Sourcing Manager at IGA caught up with Mark to find out more about his background and how he has found his first week at IGA. You can read more in the article below.
Hi Mark, welcome to the IGA Family. We’re delighted to have you on board! How has your first week been?
Week 1 has been a whirlwind. I spent Day One in the new IGA office in Cork, then came over to Leeds to meet the rest of the team. It's been pretty full on, so if I can retain 10% of what I've learned this week I'll be doing well! I also got to reconnect with the Change market after a 2-year hiatus. It's been so lovely catching up with former contacts - and I'm looking forward to reintroducing myself to more old clients/friends.
What is your background in recruitment and how did you get into the industry?
I started my recruitment career back in 2016 with a fantastic company called Annapurna in London, having moved over from Ireland. They put a lot of emphasis on training, so I got a great foundation in the basics of recruitment. I was put into the Change & Transformation team and really loved it from the start. The people are great and I found the variety of projects really interesting. When COVID arrived in 2020 I moved home to Cork and moved to a company based there called Morgan McKinley. It was great to have work during the pandemic, and I learned a lot from in that well-established business from some amazing people. I moved to finance recruitment which was a new challenge, and had to start from scratch in building up a new network and community.
What attracted you to join IGA Talent Solutions? What is different about IGA that sets it apart from other recruitment agencies?
I worked with IGA's own Garth and Dan previously, at Annapurna, and have stayed close friends with them since we went our separate ways professionally. While I was enjoying work in Cork, I was keeping an eye on the Change market in the UK. However I had settled at home in Ireland and wasn't planning on moving back. Then I saw Garth's posts on social media, working from South Africa, and we chatted more about IGA and the agile/flexible working model. That, coupled with a booming change market and opportunity to open an office in Cork was a challenge too good to pass up.
What areas of recruitment do you specialise in? What do you enjoy about recruiting into these areas?
I recruit in Change & Transformation. It's a really interesting space, full of a variety of different projects and lots of talented, solutions focused people. I love hearing about what different businesses are trying to achieve, and help find the best people to help them meet that challenge.
What do you think are the biggest challenges that your clients face within the Change & Transformation market at the moment? How can you support your clients with these challenges and what solutions can you offer?
There's a global talent shortage which isn't unique to this space but it's a challenge nonetheless. I spend time in building out a strong network of candidates and clients, so I can identify the right people for the right role. I'm lucky to still have a strong community of excellent change candidates that I built up since 2016, so I'm already well set up to find the best candidates in the market.
Tell us a bit about yourself and what you like to do in your spare time.
I love sport, I play rugby with Midleton RFC back home in Cork. I'm learning to golf, and watch as much sport as I can on TV or in person. I'm also a reasonable home cook, and love travelling when I can, to try new foods and pick up new recipes or just generally to experience different cultures.
