From what started as a request for an internship position, MM Search initially offered Andrew Jardine the role of Client Engagement Executive, which he balanced alongside his Marketing and Sports Degree at Stirling University. This flexible role offered Andrew both paid employment while also being able to get real business experience which he balanced alongside his university holidays and term time commitments.

Now set to graduate this summer, Andrew will continue to grow with the team at MM Search in a full-time position.

We asked Andrew to reflect on his first 12 months with MM Search….

“12 things I learned about Executive Search in months at MM Search”…

1. How to multitask and balance different parts of my life – I have been working part-time, studying in my final year of university, writing my dissertation, and playing rugby twice a week and on weekends!

2. Meeting new people is a skill – I have had the opportunity to meet so many new people over the past 12 months and learn about different businesses and how they operate; it has been both interesting and enlightening.

3. Every industry is different – we work across all sectors; one day, I can be working with a client from manufacturing, the next one from retail and then one from Aerospace.

4. Building on my communication skills – I have enjoyed honing my communication skills and developing different ways to reach potential clients.

5. Learning all aspects of the MM Search business – I decided early on to write my dissertation on MM Search, and this has enabled me to interview some members of the team and fully understand the industry as a whole.

6. Collaborating with colleagues – we are a close-knit team at MM Search; everyone has their part to play in the process and works well as a team.

7. Being creative – I have enjoyed finding innovative ways to target new clients.

8. Celebrating successes – we live by the ethos of working hard, playing hard at MM Search, enjoying quarterly events and celebrating promotions and anniversaries; most recently, we went to Top Golf and Escape rooms, which were both brilliant – brought out everyone’s competitiveness.

9. Attending networking events isn’t as daunting as I once thought: As members of WeDo and Glasgow Chamber, attending events has allowed me to meet new people and expand my professional network.

10. Embracing technology – we use technology as an integral part of our process, and I have enjoyed learning about and implementing new tools to assist with my role.

11. Support is key! I have been hugely supported and encouraged by Ken, Derek and the rest of the team, which has been invaluable to me over the past year. They also keep my rugby career through the MM Athletes programme, which is hugely appreciated. This has allowed me to thrive in my role at MM Search and also put the same amount of effort into my final year at University.

12. Time management skills are critical in a fast-paced executive search environment; setting realistic deadlines and sticking to them has been hugely beneficial to getting the job done.

MM Search is proud to be Player Sponsor for Andrew Jardine at Biggar Rugby Club.

Resilience, passion, integrity, and pace… are just a few of ours at MM Search, but it is not easy to say what your values are without some digging first.

Some may say that business values are the guiding principles that drive our behaviours, and others feel that they inspire action or future growth, but we know that at MM Search, our culture and values are at the beating heart of our organisation.

Our values inform how we work together, interact with clients, and support our candidates. 

We strongly believe that values help us create the future we want to experience, and as a growing business hurtling toward our sixth year, we place a massive emphasis on our values – they will shape our future.

With this in mind, we wanted to drill down on the clarity of our values, what drives, develops, and deepens the connection that MM Search experiences daily and year-on-year. And as with many things, it is hard to do this in isolation. You often need support from others, so we invited the Chief People Officer of SMS Plc, Judy Keir, to put us through our paces and help us shape our values and understand our culture.

Judy started the workshop by brainstorming, placing photo cards on the floor and asking us to pick one or two that resonated with the MM Search culture.  From this, everyone came up with an explanation about what working at MM Search felt like for them – examples included train tracks – being on the right track in your career, and pebbles of all shapes and sizes; we all bring something different to the team and work closely together, a toddler with toes in the sea – being able to experience things for the first time, dipping your toe into something new and exciting. From this, we then discussed our existing values. These were laid out on sheets of paper, and we all had to put a tick or a cross; the majority with ticks stayed, and crosses would go.  New values were then voted on, based on language we had used to describe the culture earlier.

This was a fascinating exercise – ensuring the entire team were involved, helped us navigate and determine our values. We kept three original values – people specialists, passion, and pace, and we built on these. 

Everyone left the workshop feeling so involved in creating the values, and on board with what they mean, which is really important especially since the team has grown substantially over the past few years.

It was also great to get Judy’s feedback; she thought we were a close-knit, collaborative team that communicated well, and that our competitiveness to achieve a goal shone through!

Onwards we go!

MM Search, Scotland’s fastest-growing executive search firm, kicks off 2022 with a graduate appointment.

Natalie Reid will be taking on the role of Business Delivery Executive. Studying at the University of Glasgow, Natalie graduated with an LLB (Honours) (First Class) with Business Management.

MM Search Founding Managing Partner, Derek MacFeate, says, “The firm has experienced rapid growth over the last 12 months, and the team are delighted to be in a position to offer a role to a law graduate of this calibre. We have seen first-hand the benefits of hiring graduates and offering them both a nurturing and challenging career opportunity.”

Natalie will be the fourth graduate to join MM Search’s flourishing graduate trainee programme.