develop spoke to Trevor Pinder, Junction 9 Founder about his career, his partnership with develop and common recruitment misconceptions.
How did you get into the world of recruitment training?
I think when you are in recruitment for long enough that you should find the one thing you excel at. I always felt that my strengths were developing new business and developing people. It seemed a natural progression to start writing and delivering training, especially when you consider that a vast majority of SME recruitment firms offered their staff little or no structured training, it became clear that this was the next step in my career. When I started Junction 9, four years ago I was always planning to go on the road and deliver some coaching and training externally as well as the online resources. Fast forward to now and here I am.
Tell us about your partnership with develop.
Joey Tait and Kevin Hammond, develop’s founders, approached me two years ago. They were interested in finding out what I could offer in terms of consultant coaching and training on both a one-to-one basis and group sessions. Initially, we agreed on a two-day standalone package which turned into a regular once a month partnership. develop’s founders have ambitious plans for their company and their consultants. They have a continuous commitment to learning for themselves and their team.
develop’s leadership team is forward thinking and very driven, the internal infrastructure is best in class and their markets are bang on trend for now and in the future. Which is why, in 2020 after our two-year partnership, I became develop’s Non-Executive Director (NED). I was delighted and honoured to be asked. One thing that was important to me was that I continue my work with the consultants despite taking on a new role at the company.
How do you feel develop’s Consultants get the most from their relationship with you?
Firstly, they can trust me. We’ve built a strong bond over the last two years. In terms of the coaching and training that I offer them, they know that I use the tools as a recruiter, so they know that the content that I provide is being road tested consistently in today’s market.
The consultants also know that they can approach me any time for advice and that I will do my best to give them an honest, balanced answer.
What other services do you provide develop?
The traditional training services – Boardroom / Zoom sessions for single or multiple agencies. I work with recruiters at every level from individuals starting out, to CEO across all disciplines. Alongside this I have an online training platform www.j9online.net which features all of my best content broken down into 5-to-7-minute videos. I also run weekly live coaching sessions for the subscribers to my site.
Some exciting news for the recruitment industry! j9online.net will soon become the only online training platform in the world that offers mental health support to recruiters. We will do this free of charge for any recruiter Globally, regardless of whether they are a client or not.
Talk to me about the common misconceptions you find in recruitment training.
The most common misconception is that training doesn’t work, however, this is a misconception that isn’t totally untruthful. Poorly delivered, poorly followed up training never works. When you can effectively deliver a simple message, backed by a repeatable methodology and follow this up consistently then it really works. Just ask the very successful consultants at develop.