Kate Walewska, Director of Marketing & Student Recruitment – University of Warwick

"I’d never heard of Mallory Partners before and had no intention of moving jobs when John approached me about the role at the University of Warwick.

I really wasn't looking; I was happy – in fact, I was about to move closer to work. I took John’s call, but made it clear from the outset that I wasn’t interested and agreed to receive the job description really just to see how the role was structured in relation to my own. I had a great initial call with John and Martin, but that was it as far as I was concerned.

That wasn’t it as far as John was concerned, though. He kept going; patiently, insistently, and gently nudging me to consider the role. Mallory Partners clearly know Warwick extremely well and, eventually, he convinced me to go for an exploratory interview, cleverly arranging a follow up very quickly - it was booked for the following morning before I’d arrived back home! The more I talked to people at the university, the more intrigued I became about the role and the team - and I started to see what John could see.

I was particularly impressed with John’s loyalty to Warwick as a client, but also his commitment to me as a candidate. He understood them – but he also worked out what made me tick, the things that were important to me as a person, the reality of my family commitments and what I would need to even consider being able to move.

I’ve come to realise that John clearly knows me better than I know myself. He could see this role was absolutely right for me and, now that I am three weeks in, I can see he was right. I know the higher education sector well and so I realise that he and the university fought for me; it really has been an extraordinary experience."