A Day in the Life of Nick Dean

Name: Nick Dean

Company: Ad Lib – specialist marketing communications recruitment
consultancy

Job title: Senior Consultant

What keeps you busy all day?:

It really could be anything from taking job specifications, writing
creative job adve…

Name: Nick Dean

Company: Ad Lib – specialist marketing communications recruitment consultancy

Job title: Senior Consultant

What keeps you busy all day?:
It really could be anything from taking job specifications, writing creative job adverts, briefing candidates, understanding legislation changes, right through to collecting the milk, answering the phone and advising on the latest office wedding plans!

What keeps you awake at night?:
Trying to remember whether I sent a confirmation email of the right time and date to a candidate or client. I’m awake even longer when I then ask myself if I’m absolutely sure that I sent it to their personal email and not their work address.

Describe your working day:
Where to start! It depends on the day but, typically, I’m in the office by 8.30am, talking to people on their way to work or just catching up with the overnight emails. I spend time searching through talented designers’ portfolios, looking for top-notch copywriters or trying to find specialist marketing consultants. Other days, I will be meeting with new and existing clients and taking job specifications. I might be resourcing for vacancies, discussing opportunities with potential candidates or creating intuitive methods of reaching new people and clients. I need to make time to keep up to date with industry news, and make sure everybody’s well briefed and ready to shine at interview (and that includes our clients!).

Lunch is a very busy time for us (again, it’s a good time to catch up with candidates as they take a break from the office) but I still need to eat. And being in the heart of Bristol means that I can choose anything for lunch from noodles to nachos – although, there’s simply too much choice, so it’s often just a tuna sandwich, two satsumas and a banana.

There may be one or two late calls to make in order to follow up with people when they get home, but I normally make it out of the office by 6pm, even if I’m still chatting on the mobile. Occasionally, everyone from the office will pile into one of the waterfront bars for a beer before home – and normally meet up with other like-minded types from the agencies and businesses near us.

What’s your busiest time of day?:
It varies so much from day to day, but generally lunchtime, or when people are out of ears’ reach of their boss.

What brands/accounts have you worked on?:
Everyone at Ad Lib has worked within the industries in which we specialise – as well as being trained recruiters. Present and past clients I have worked with include Orange, French Connection, GCap Media and Dunlop, among many local and regional media, and creative brands and businesses.

Best day at work:
When everything comes together.

Worst day at work:
When it all falls apart.

Name one thing you’ve achieved that has made your bosses sit up and take notice:
Apart from scoring some unlikely five-a-side goals (Monday nights, Clifton College sports ground), it’s probably managing to create a whole new profitable area of operation in under a year.

Ambitions:
To see Ad Lib continue to grow while retaining its values, culture and environment.

Advice to other rising stars:
To try and think of creative and intuitive ways of developing your brand and reaching people, rather than constantly bothering people through meaningless sales calls.

Quote from the boss:
‘Nick has surprised me with lots more than his capacity to know intuitively when we’ve run out of tea. He has an incredible gift for spotting people’s potential, ignoring my own view on someone’s suitability for a role and sticking to his guns – and scarily, he’s often right! I’ve not met anyone else who still elicits praise from people he dealt with seven or eight years ago. All the more surprising considering he’s a Manchester City supporter!’ Frank Hutton – director