David Bloxham has spent 30 years in recruitment, almost all of it at GCS, the business he joined in 1996 and now leads as CEO. Andy Simpson asks how he got there, and what it cost along the way.

David talks through coming back to GCS just as the 2008 credit crunch wiped out half his contractors, and why he says you can always cut your cloth when the market turns. He explains how an MBO nearly fell through before Engage came in as backer, why GCS has never dual desked and now runs at around 95% contract, and what changes when a recruiter takes accountability for the outcome instead of sending a CV. They also get into why every CV now looks the same, the 305 applications for one role, and why David thinks AI is highly underestimated and dreadfully overestimated.

Recruiting Alchemy is sponsored by ryvr.ai, the conversational intelligence platform built for recruitment and staffing businesses.

KEY MOMENTS

• 16:40 Every CV now looks the same, so who explains the human?
• 20:30 Joining GCS in 1996: a 10k offer over a 16k one, on a chat about music
• 30:55 October 2008: the credit crunch takes half the contractors
• 37:20 The MBO that nearly fell through, and forecasting within 5%
• 49:20 From 50/50 to 95% contract, and never dual desking
• 54:12 Taking accountability for the outcome, not the CV
• 1:02:10 AI: highly underestimated and dreadfully overestimated

LINKS Guest linkedin.com/in/davidbloxham1
Company linkedin.com/company/gcs-recruitment-specialists
Host, Andy Simpson linkedin.com/in/andyhsimpson 
Sponsor, ryvr.ai www.ryvr.ai 
Produced by vertical-drop.com