Matt Harris - Taylor Root, Sydney

Matt Harris - Manager
Sydney - Private Practice Team

Academic background
BA (Hons) Business Studies

Previous work experience
Prior to joining Taylor Root I was a senior consultant with another international recruitment consultancy based in London for five years.  In total I've been recruiting into the legal profession for over ten years.

Why did you move into recruitment?
I've always enjoyed sales and client development and recruitment allows me to deal with complex, challenging problems and scenarios with a strong "human" element.  The human element often increases the level of difficulty, but ultimately makes a successful placement all the more rewarding.

Why did you join Taylor Root?
The quality of recruitment consultancies and their staff varies wildly across the market and, having spent a number of years as part of another professional, collegiate team, it was essential to me that when it was time for a change I didn't sacrifice the best of what I had.  Taylor Root's reputation in the market was well known to me in London and when deciding to relocate my family to the other side of the world there was simply no other agency I would have taken that level of risk for.  Having been in Australia for nearly three years there is no question I made the right choice.

What is a typical day?
It sounds clichéd but there isn't a typical day.  There are always routine tasks such as assessing new applicants, interviewing candidates, client liaison, interview preparation and candidate management etc., but because you're dealing with people, making serious career decisions, the level of variety is endless.  From the moment you first meet a candidate through to the moment when they accept a new role there are numerous potential outcomes and hurdles - when you're simultaneously juggling numerous candidates the multiplication factor certainly makes each day different.

What do you enjoy about the role?
I enjoy building strong client and candidate relationships.  Both sides place a very high level of responsibility on our shoulders to act honestly, understand our market and offer professional advice. For our clients, the costs of recruitment are very high whilst for a lawyer, making a wrong move can cause irreparable damage to their career - doing a good job for both sides and arriving at an outcome that benefits all concerned is terrific and the reason good recruiters make a long-term career in this industry.

Any downsides?
It would be impossible to deal with the number of people we see each year without some of them making some surprising/frustrating decisions at some point throughout the process.  There are times when despite your best efforts (and best advice) things just don't go your way, but it will always be part of the job and something good recruiters learn to take in their stride.

What do you think makes a good recruiter?
A good recruiter needs to be relentless in their efforts, responsible and professional.  Ultimately, recruitment is a sales job, but your ability to build relationships and achieve an honest result will always pay greater dividends than trying to deliver a quick fix or make a fast buck.