Behind the scenes with a Steadman Brown Recruiter: Ronnie Mahoney

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Behind the scenes with a Steadman Brown recruiter: Ronnie Mahoney 

Ronnie joined Steadman Brown in November 2022 and as a Senior Recruitment Consultant, he focuses solely on recruiting Salesforce professionals on behalf of our Salesforce partners. 

Ronnie sources the best talent covering consultants, project managers, developers and most recently account executives – whatever talent the client needs, Ronnie can provide the best. Most of the partners Ronnie works with are exclusive clients, meaning only Ronnie is delivering results to that partner at that time. 

Let's look behind the scenes of what our Salesforce recruiters do and how they help people looking for a new role. 

How do Steadman Brown stand out as the UK’s top Salesforce recruiters? 

I believe it’s the understanding we have of the individual markets. As we are one of, if not the only recruitment agency that mainly work with Salesforce, we are able to break it down into individual markets where our different experts specialise. I work with candidates in the consultancy field, and predominantly dealing with consultants means if you were to ask me a question about a certain consultancy, nine times out of ten I will be able to answer with a very honest opinion, whether that be with my client or someone else. I talk to consultants to find out their way of working and compare it to clients who could be a possible match. 

As a team, we are all Salesforce certified and have a deep understanding of the platform. We use that to get a better idea of what the candidate does and what are they looking for from a future role. Having a good knowledge of the platform means we understand our candidate’s roles and aren’t just reading CVs. 

 How do you build relationships with candidates? 

The most important thing we do when contacting a candidate is to learn as much as we can about them and build trust. We go an extra step further to find out exactly what they are looking for in their next role and offer different opportunities. Once we know everything about the candidate, it’s all about keeping in contact and checking in regularly. We focus on being honest with our candidates and clients to ensure a positive candidate experience. 

What is the most rewarding part of your job? 

The most rewarding part is seeing the difference we can make when we find a candidate who is not enjoying their current role or if something is missing from their job and we are able to find them their next role. It’s when we check in after a few weeks of the candidate starting their new role and hearing how much more excitable they are and how much more they are enjoying their job. 

What’s the most challenging aspect of your role? 

The part that is most challenging is making someone realise there are much better opportunities out there that they may not see. It’s when the candidates are interviewing when they realise that there is something they are missing from their current role. Often people can be blinded by the comfort of being in a company for so long, and that isn’t a bad thing, but they won’t challenge themselves to find that next step. 

Can you describe a recent success story? 

I have two that stand out to me. I had a lady reach out to me as there were talks of redundancy in her role. She was happy at the company, but she didn’t know what to do, so she contacted me to see what was out there. 

I talked her through the process of what is to come. Given personal experience, I know taking the redundancy can be a good thing that allows you to venture out into a new role. She was interested in finding out what roles there are, so I introduced her to my client. She was happy to speak with them and in the process of the client reviewing her CV, she took the voluntary redundancy as she saw the market was okay and she was working with me. 

The client came back on the CV on Monday, and an interview was booked for Tuesday at 11am. They then wanted to fast-track the second stage interview for 2pm that day and by 3pm she was offered the role. So, from being made redundant on the Friday, she was offered a job on the Tuesday. It’s one of my quickest turnarounds. 

The other story is when I reached out to two guys on LinkedIn who were moving to the UK, one from New Zealand and the other from Canada. They were both looking for a new Salesforce job, so I kept them up to date with relevant opportunities and placed both into the same company. 

How do you stay up to date with the latest industry trends? 

LinkedIn is a great platform to stay up to date. Salesforce post every day with a range of updates, and we will often comment on the updates with our own opinions. We research the updates in more detail, and we also talk to people in the relevant fields asking for their thoughts. That way we are learning with them. We also attend events such as Salesforce World Tour. 

What trends are you currently seeing in the market? 

Salesforce positions are picking up. The end of financial year is at the beginning of the year and the first few months following it are always quiet due to things like budgeting and starting projects. It’s after those things start that companies will often realise they are understaffed. 

The next three months are going to be very busy across developers, consultants and administrators. 

What advice do you have for people looking for their next Salesforce role? 

My advice would be to have conversations with us to understand more about the market. There are often questions from people asking about things such as salary ranges, and we understand those markets in detail. We are here to help people find a job based on their needs, so we can give insight on the areas that need clarifying. 

 What do you do in your personal life? 

I've been playing football since I was young and at a pretty decent level too. I'm a big sports fan and love watching football. Team events are great to go to and are really important for how we work together as a team.