Meet Andrew

I find that the office is the perfect environment to be constantly learning and improving

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Tell me a bit about yourself and your background:

I'm originally from Pitlochry but moved to Oban when I was young. I spent most of my life there, until I went to university in Edinburgh. I graduated in 2021 with an MA (Hons) in International Business Management from Heriot-Watt University. I've had a variety of part-time jobs while I was studying from being a waiter to a Tesco delivery driver!  

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What’s something about you that might surprise us?  

I love skiing. My mum was a competitive skier when I was younger, so I was bought up around skiing and did it with my family a lot growing up.  

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How has your first year at Subsurface Global been?

My first year has been full of highlights. No two days are the same, there is always something new to keep you going and engaged. The team dynamic is so good, they are more like friends than colleagues. One of the things I was asked in my last interview was how would I feel about sitting in front of CEOs in 6 months-time, and at the time I didn't think much of it. Fast forward to a year and I'm speaking to CEOs, CFOs, COOs daily. Exposure to the level of people you're speaking to is a good opportunity for developing your interpersonal and communication skills. You're constantly learning and adapting, having nice meaningful conversations (as well as business related ones) with people from all over the world.   There's also been a lot of drinking coffee and playing table tennis with the team after hours!

It's been a bit of a steep learning curve, going straight from university to your first office job takes adjusting to, but it's been exciting getting stuck into the role. I've also learned how much people value you and your role as a recruiter - especially when you provide a good service!

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What’s a typical day like for you?

A typical day for me consists of answering lots of emails, speaking with candidates and clients, meetings with clients, shortlisting candidates for a role, and discussing interviews and feedback with clients. There's a lot of business development, building and maintaining relationships with a variety of stakeholders and occasionally travelling for meetings!  

What’s your favourite thing about your job?

One of my favourite things about my job is that you're in control of your own remit/desk. So, I look after the commercial, business development and strategy desk, and I'm responsible for the growth of that. I do really enjoy speaking with people and hearing their stories.  

What’s a piece of advice you’d pass onto a new graduate starting their first job?

It sounds obvious, but I would just remind graduates starting their first every graduate role that being prepared for the day ahead, organising and planning your time effectively will get you through. You can never be too over prepared!  

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