I've been consulting in recruitment since 1986 mainly across the New Zealand and Australian finance and banking markets – so helping people and companies make the right employment decisions has been a huge focus for the majority of my career.

I enjoy what I do because "everyone wins" in a successful job placement. The company is happy because they've got an excellent new employee and the candidate is happy because they've got a great new job!

I've chosen to concentrate on the financial markets over many years to build up specialist knowledge, relationships and networks that can really make a difference with service levels during the recruitment process. People appreciate talking to a specialist recruiter who understands their market and who can add value by offering them genuine knowledge and career advice.

With due respect to the "mass market" and "big brand" recruitment companies, I prefer to work in a more informal and relaxed environment, where I can concentrate on giving professional, informed and personal service to my clients and candidates and where I can "work hard and play hard" without worrying about politics, red tape, bureaucracy or career ego's.

When away from work I enjoy getting out on the water especially overnight trips to Great Barrier or similar "get away from it all" locations. With a love for good food and wine, I have to compensate in recent times by getting to the gym regularly to try to keep in some sort of shape…I've also been known to hit the golf course and although broken 80 on a few occasions – the quality of my golf can only be generously described as variable...

I'm happy to talk to anyone who needs career advice on any aspect of recruitment in the financial sector – just pick up the phone and give me a call or send me an email.

I joined Virtue in July 2008, having had 6 years recruitment experience across a variety of sectors including engineering, supply chain, manufacturing and health. With 4 of those years spent recruiting overseas candidates into New Zealand and having moved here myself from the UK 14 years ago, I’m usually the one that everyone asks about the logistics and reality of moving to NZ!

Prior to moving into recruitment, I had a variety of roles including PA and office/practice management but started my working life as a Nurse! I love my role at Virtue because I have the opportunity to combine my payroll and finance skills with recruiting for permanent and temporary roles. I am also surrounded by like-minded people who believe in an ethical, professional approach to recruitment and who treat each person as unique. We work hard and there’s never a dull moment, but we really enjoy what we do and have a lot of fun doing it!

In my spare time I can be found hoisting sails on our small yacht en route to one of the many glorious bays around the Hauraki Gulf, or jogging (possibly more like shuffling) round the streets as I try to keep fit!

I’ve been described as the ‘voice of Virtue’; my distinctive Scottish accent brings a curious smile to everyone who contacts the office. This is my first role in recruitment and in NZ. As a Para Consultant; my role is to support Nancy on the Temporary side of the business and provide administrative/compliance support to the rest of the team. Previously I have worked in administration and co-ordinator positions across a number of industries including film and television. There are many similarities to Recruitment –the people contact, the all-important logistics and organisational skills and of course the variety – every day is certainly different! I take pleasure in appreciating people’s individual talents and skills, and this is certainly embraced here at Virtue.