Celebrating one year of Exceda
Today, the 14th of January is a big day for Exceda, it’s our first birthday. Nikki, our founder has already reflected on how we got here, but to summarise we set up Exceda in the midst of January 2021. Our founder, Nikki, pivoted from redundancy to business leader, and Exceda has built some long-standing, strong collaborative relationships already.
Now, one year after opening the doors to Exceda, it’s time for Nikki to reflect on her favourite bits of the last 12 months.
I started some fantastic partnerships with clients
This is the toughest recruitment market I’ve ever seen. For over five years I’ve seen a candidate short market, aka more roles than there are people to fill them, but it’s been made worse since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Why? Well, we’re in a better the devil you know situation and candidates are more cautious than ever when it comes to moving.
For businesses to find great candidates, they need to take recruitment seriously. That’s why Exceda has built long-standing relationships with clients who appreciate our expert knowledge and advice.
With one of these firms, Elsby & Co, we’ve recruited 17 candidates, 15 of which were new roles, in 2021.
Through mutual respect, shared ownership of the recruitment goals, and collaboration we’re entering year two with some excellent partnerships.
I’ve placed some fantastic candidates
Year one of business has taken some unexpected twists and turns, in particular some pretty strange roles. A pretty strange one was a laser engraver in the first few months of operations when we were still finding our feet.
As time’s gone on though, we’ve fallen back into our sweet spot. As someone who has specialised in recruiting sales and marketing roles for over 15 years, it has been the obvious and natural progression for us to recruit mid-senior level roles in these sectors.
We’ve had a holistic approach to recruitment which has meant we’ve focused on creating new teams, managing recruitment strategies for 3, 6, 12 months, and beyond, and gaining a candidate list of mid and senior-level professionals, particularly in sales and marketing.
In 2021, the average salary of the roles we’ve placed is £28,900, and the job titles have included Marketing and Commercial Manager, Sales and Marketing Manager, Marketing Executive, Marketing Assistant, Business Development Manager and IT Sales Executive.
I shared 12 days of careers advice
Something that’s really important to me as a recruiter, is sharing knowledge and educating clients and candidates. The world of recruitment is ever-changing, and it’s tougher than it’s ever been. That’s why, towards the end of 2021, I started to focus on creating content that added value to anyone searching for candidates and anyone searching for a job.
To kick things off, and to finish 2021 with a bang and bring a bit of fun to everyone’s feeds Alice (my marketing friend and colleague) and I created the 12 Days of Careers Advice in the run-up to the festive break.
We shared everything from ideal cover letters and CV templates to seven ways to protect your mental health in the workplace.
I also learnt that sometimes you need to slow down
A couple of weeks before our birthday, the inevitable happened, Covid-19. It served as a gentle reminder to look back on how far Exceda has come in the last 12 months, and to take it easy.
As a small business owner, it can be a real challenge to step away and take time off, and the recruitment world never stops. Getting ill though, especially with Covid-19, is hard to avoid and was a great reminder that looking ahead into 2022 me-time, personal time off, and my health should always be prioritised.
In 2022, I’ll be building Exceda sustainably, ensuring that I’m able to support my candidates, clients, and myself. The next 12 months will also see Exceda make our first full-time hires, build partnerships with new clients, and create a knowledge base of information.
A huge focus for us this year is going to be on content and education. We’ll be developing blogs, infographics, newsletters and even quarterly white papers.
The first year of Exceda has been an incredible one, we can’t wait to see how we grow, learn, and adapt for year two.
