Merijn van der Steen - Brewer Morris, London

Merijn van der Steen – Consultant
London – Commerce & Industry Team

Academic background
LLM University of Maastricht, the Netherlands

Previous work experience
In-house lawyer with government body in the Netherlands

Why did you move into recruitment?
After graduation I decided to pursue a career as an in-house lawyer with a government body. As a litigator the main part of my role revolved around advising on administrative and planning & zoning issues and act as the representive of the council in court. Although I enjoyed my work I realised that I took more interest in people’s careers and the issues they come across at work. With a Masters degree in Employment and Labour Law, I decided to pursue a career where I was able to develop my commercial skills and combine this with my aspiration to be involved in an important part of everyone’s life: their career.

Why did you join Brewer Morris?
I relocated to the UK in 2008 and joined a legal search firm based in London. After a short stint with that firm I joined Brewer Morris. The main reason for me to join Brewer Morris was the fact that most people came from a professional background and therefore have a good understanding of the market they are recruiting for. The fact that Brewer Morris has a good reputation and long-standing relationships in the market because they were the first global tax recruiter definitely helped in making my mind up!

What is a typical day?
It is difficult to say what a typical day looks like as hardly any day is the same, as the work is very diverse. Depending on the assignments you are working on, you will spend time talking with candidates, preparing them for their interviews, liaising with clients or to go out and meet the client.

Having said that, you could say that a typical day will start with a cup of tea and reading though the emails I have received overnight. After making sure I have dealt with anything urgent, client's or candidate’s requests, the day will revolve around liaising with clients to talk through the position they are recruiting for or to give them an update on the market. A large part of the day is also spent talking and meeting with our candidates to discuss their work experience, reasons for moving, provide advice on possible career paths and whether it is a good time to change employers or if it is better to stay put for a while.  To be able to build good relationships with both clients and candidates it is also important to make sure that your knowledge on the tax market is up-to-date.

What do you enjoy about the role?
The best part of the role is assisting people in finding their next job in an environment where you will know that they will get the change to take their career to the next level. In addition to this I really enjoy the fact that you get a lot of responsibility to run your own desk but that there is also a good level of support from the people at Brewer Morris and that in the end of the day it is a team effort. 

Any downsides?
We are dealing with people and their unpredictable nature. Nothing is more frustrating than clients or candidates changing their minds at the last moment and that you know they make the wrong decision.

What do you think makes a good recruiter?
One of the most important qualities you will need is the ability to empathise with people and take an interest in them. If you are, in addition to the mentioned above, resilient and can stay calm under pressure then a job in recruitment could be a natural fit for you.