As we approach International Women’s Day, we are delighted to share with you a new interview each day this week, with inspiring and successful professional women, currently working for multi-national businesses across Switzerland and the Netherlands.

With this year’s theme of #BalanceforBetter, driving gender balance across the globe, the experiences, motivations and advice of these women will no doubt to some prove aspirational. In May, we look forward to co-hosting an event with Heineken in the Netherlands, for ‘Women in Finance’, to which we look forward to inviting men and women in managerial roles to discuss ‘How to be an Inclusive Leader’.

The first interview we share this week is with Katariina Wallin, VP Finance of Black Box in the Netherlands. Katariina moved from Finland to study at university in the Netherlands and has never looked back, as she continued to pursue and embrace the opportunities which came her way.

You can read Katariina's interview here.

Congratulations to our High Achievers for 2018, who recently enjoyed a trip away in Las Vegas! Chairman, Paul Macildowie, and Managing Director, Richard Bailey, joined the trip, rewarding the team who have been dedicated in working to our values - Consultative, Specialist, Committed and Confidential; providing a quality service to clients and candidates which exceeds expectation.

Richard stated, ”EMEA Recruitment would not have the reputation it has today without the hard work and diligence of the team. We are thrilled to be able to reward those who performed exceptionally well in 2018. The happiness of our team is very much key to our success and we were so pleased to see results of an internal ‘happiness’ report recently, in which we achieved well above industry average in all categories, including ‘How much do you trust the people you work with?’ and ‘Overall, how happy are you at work?’. This is reflected in staff retention as we experienced 0% attrition in 2018 at senior level and above."

With existing divisions developing across the business and new ones being created, we are very excited to working with both new and existing clients in 2019 and continuing with our commitment to provide the highest levels of service across the board.

We are THRILLED to be celebrating two internal promotions at EMEA Recruitment this week. John Bower, who has worked with the business for over 6 years in our Swiss Finance division, has been promoted to Director, and Hannah Mallia, focusing on recruiting mid to senior level Finance in the Netherlands, has been promoted to Associate Director!

Both John’s and Hannah’s successes are due to their dedication to providing a quality, personal service to both candidates and clients in the mid to senior finance market, enabling them to have built incredibly strong networks. We receive many recommendations about their work, such as:

"It was a pleasure working with Hannah, she was very supportive throughout the recruitment process. Being very involved, making sure we were in constant contact and we didn't lose a beat, she became a true partner to my organisation. I can highly recommend Hannah for her outstanding dedication and delivery in the recruiting process. Thank you, Hannah!"

In the photograph shown, they are congratulated by Founder, Paul Toms, and Managing Director, Richard Bailey. Congratulations to you both, from all of us at EMEA Recruitment, and we look forward to working with you both and celebrating your successes for many years to come.

Our Director - Finance, John Bower, is celebrating his 6-year work anniversary with EMEA Recruitment this week. John is a specialist in finance recruitment who has developed a broad network in the Suisse Romande region. With overall recruitment experience of over 14 years, he offers strong career advice, interview preparation, and selection assistance. Working to EMEA core values, he provides a truly professional and confidential service to clients and candidates.

Many congratulations on your work anniversary John, and your successful career to date. We look forward to what the future holds for you with EMEA!

Last week was a busy and productive week for EMEA Recruitment in Switzerland, with two big events taking place.

On Weds 16th May, we held a HR networking event in Zurich. It was well attended and proved to be a relaxed and informative evening. This was a wonderful opportunity for HR professionals to discuss common issues, such as market and recruitment trends. Our HR specialist consultants, as well as senior management of EMEA Recruitment, enjoyed the opportunity to catch up in person with those in our network, chatting until late into the evening.

If you would like to join us for future HR events in Switzerland, please reach out to Keely Straw.

Despite the late finish, the following evening some of the consultants from our HR team joined forces with consultants from our Finance division, to complete a 6k run in Zug with B2Run. Starting at the Bossard Arena, EMEA Recruitment ran alongside 900 other contenders from other international businesses such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eastman Chemical, Glencore, Medela and Shire.

At EMEA Recruitment we actively encourage exercise as a complement to our working life, with each employee receiving weekly personal training and yoga sessions as part of their employee benefits. The B2Run was a fantastic way to put their training to practice, with everyone successfully completing the run in good time.

If you are intrested in joining the team or finding out more about working at EMEA, please contact Laura Henderson. 

We would like to wish the very best of luck to our personal trainer, Laura Hewitt, who is representing England in her Commonwealth Games debut on the Gold Coast this week! Her previous achievements include being twice awarded British Champion 2017 and 2016.

We took the opportunity to speak to Laura about how she got to this point and also how she sees weightlifting as one of the most beneficial ways to train for everyone; to fit into any work/life balance. Read her interview below:

How did you start to get involved with weight-lifting?

I got talent spotted through the National Governing Body British Weightlifting. They were spotting athletes from other sports that potentially had a natural talent for weightlifting. I applied for the programme which was called the ”Golden Chance Programme”?; about 200 girls were looked at through a variety of tests and the top 8 with the most potential were selected - I was one of them.

What other sports have you been involved in and what made you choose weight-lifting as a specialism?

I was a gymnast from the age of 4-18 and then did CrossFit for a short while which introduced weightlifting into my life. I enjoyed and it and was in the transition of making more of a commitment to the weightlifting before the talent programme.

How often do you train?

I train 5 times a week. Sessions vary from an hour and a half to two and half hours.

You’re heading to the Gold Coast to represent England soon at The Commonwealth Games in April! What extra preparation/training have you been involved in for the event?

So, up until October last year, I had only taken part in national championships but never an international championship. In October I got selected for my debut for Team Great Britain at the European under 23’s in Albania.  I came 4th overall and had a 6/6 competition, personal bests on everything.
In November I got selected again to get more international experience and went to the World Championships in California Anaheim. It was amazing to see such big names.

How does it feel to have been selected to represent your country?

It sounds really corny, but it really is an honour. I love my country and I am massively patriotic so to be able to wear my country’s jersey is just a dream come true.

What do you think are the benefits of exercise to work/life balance?

As well as being an elite athlete, I work as a personal trainer. So, I promote an active lifestyle through that. Weight training is one of the most beneficial ways to train for everyone. Some people don’t realise that elite athletes who take part in endurance events still have to do weightlifting alongside their discipline, because of the crossover benefits. I work with not just athletes but really normal people, GPs, doctors, managers, business owners, mums; people who just really want to improve their lifestyles and fitness. At RWF (Real World Fitness) it’s not just me, but all of us, who teach all of these people to weight train.

Do you have any stories to share regarding the positive impact training has made on the lives of any of your clients?

I have had people start with me that struggled to sit down on the floor and play with their children comfortably who couldn’t squat a bar. Now they’re squatting over 70 kilos, are 5 kilos lighter and go to the gym 3 times a week. And most importantly they’re healthier and happier.

How would you recommend people schedule training around work hours?

Everyone is different. What I do say is that lots of people say they ”don’t have time” when in reality they just don’t want to make time. As humans, we all make time for things we see as a priority or want, you just have to be disciplined and want something enough. Do you think I want to train everyday? I can tell you - no. Some days I wake up, I’m sore, I’m tired, I don’t want to.  But it is my discipline that carries me through.

If someone hasn’t trained in a gym before, how would you advise they get involved?

Everyone has to start somewhere. Even if you start with body weight exercises because you’re not strong enough to do any more, that is absolutely fine. Don’t be embarrassed about it. Start with basics. Weight train 100%, but check you have the correct technique. Lots of people don’t think to work on their flexibility to help form. It’s all about developing the basics for the long-term benefits.

What do you enjoy most about training others?

I love people. I love my job. I love watching people grow and get stronger and see results. I love weight training. I love what it can do to the body. And I enjoy seeing others work hard and see the benefits.

Gold, Silver or Bronze? What colour medal are you bringing back from the Commonwealth Games?

Ultimately, I’m always a Gold girl, any athletes will probably say the same, but this is my first Commonwealth Games so I’m not going to lie - a medal of any colour would be an absolutely amazing achievement. I will have been doing weightlifting 3 years this April.