SWAPPING THE GOLF COURSE FOR A ROLE IN RECRUITMENT

Sharp Consultancy's Salary Survey 2025/26: Resetting the Landscape: Strategic Shifts in Finance Recruitment

It would be remiss not to start by addressing the elephant in the room — 2024 was a challenging year.While there were many reasons for this and numerous industries were affected, recruitment likely bore the brunt of it, particularly in the 6 months post-election(s).Whilst key roles and critical hires remained unaffected, certain head counts and processes were scrutinised and investment paused with internal restructures and automation utilised to reduce costs, in some instances, at the expense of employees. We subsequently saw an increase in candidate activity, with the talent pool strengthening. As those pressures eased in Quarter 4, recruitment processes saw improvement and green shoots have emerged. Optimism is on the rise in key hiring processes, albeit with a caveat. The cloud of additional cost increases in April, which is still dissipating. The senior finance and C-Suite market remains relatively unaffected, both regarding opportunities and candidates, it is the levels below that we have seen more change. In the evolving landscape of working dynamics, the volume of hybrid working is gradually waning despite sustained interest from candidates, presenting fewer job opportunities. While the blend of office and remote work remains desirable, it is no longer the predominant factor, indicating a notable shift in priorities for clients and candidates’ acceptance alike. Conversations with candidates underscore a growing desire around the importance of having a supportive mentor or manager and many professionals are increasingly open to a full-time return to the office if it guarantees enhanced guidance and avenues for professional advancement. "The salaries throughout transactional finance have stabilised across the region."Throughout the professional practice market, some similar trends have been observed but there have been noticeable differences in the past year. Salaries across the range of candidates in professional practice, from AAT to fully Qualified (ACA/ACCA) individuals are still rising and those firm’s able to offer competitive salaries alongside stronger training contracts are beating out the competition in a candidate market with a growing focus on study support packages and career advancement opportunities for Part-Qualified candidates, indicating an increase in demand from employers and the volume of available job seekers. The salaries throughout transactional finance have stabilised across the region, in what feels like the longest period of stability seen since Q4 2020 and we expect transactional finance salaries to remain stable throughout 2025/26, with anticipated salary increments to be moderate compared to the significant increases observed throughout the last 2 years. AI & Systems (process automation) continues to impact accountancy and finance, in particular, across larger functions but this has increased the need for wider interim support to assist with the transition and implementation especially with large, automated processes. Whilst 2025-26 will not be the same marketplace for recruitment as seen in previous years, there is certainly a growing level of optimism and whilst a more settled market may be seen as a negative in some areas, for those that have weathered the peaks and troughs over a longer period of time, it will feel very normal and a strong setting for both employees and employers to take advantage and thrive, with an increasing emphasis on growth and development.Download the full Salary Survey here!

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Swapping the golf course for a role in recruitment is not many people’s usual career path. We caught up with Consultant Matt Civil who works in the Sheffield office to find out about how he made the move.

Tell us about your current role?

I joined Sharp Consultancy about a year ago and specialise in transactional clerical and finance roles across Sheffield and Chesterfield areas.

Your background isn’t in recruitment – what were you doing before?

Since the age of 12 golf has always been a big part of my life. At 19 I joined Hallamshire Golf Club as the Assistant Golf Professional where I undertook my three years of PGA training. After five years here, I wanted a new challenge and joined a company that manufactured golf accessories. I began my career in sales, however after a couple of years a friend of mine asked me if I wanted the opportunity to caddie around the world for an Italian professional golfer. My employer was good enough to accept my decision to take on this experience, which I did for just over 12 months.

That sounds quite an experience – how was it?

I traveled to countries that I never expected to get the chance to go to such as Kazakhstan and the Ukraine and also had the opportunity to caddie around Augusta National and at Arnold Palmer’s event, The Bay Hill Invitational, where I was also lucky enough to meet the man himself.

It was a fantastic experience but as glamorous as it may sound, I didn’t see this as a long term career. Airport, hotel, golf course, airport, hotel, golf course, airport, hotel, golf course can become very tedious after 6-8 weeks on the road and living out of hand luggage and because there aren’t any contracts with the players and you can quickly find yourself without an employer if the player decides they want a change!

What did you do next?

I returned to work for the golf accessories manufacture and took up an operational role in Dongguan, China where I had involvement in the order process, new product development and logistics. I then returned to the UK where I continued to work in operations until a restructure saw me take on the role of Production Manager. After about five years with the firm I was ready for a new challenge and a trusted friend suggested that I might be good at recruitment and it would offer the defined career path that I was then looking for.

What attracted you to the role at Sharp?

I enjoy the relationship building and networking aspects of the role and I was keen to ensure that I joined a company that was going to be right for me; I had a friend who worked in recruitment and was familiar with the business and some of the people working here and he thought that it would be somewhere that I would fit in well. He’d also seen the progress that people had made here and knew that I was looking for a role that would offer me the opportunity to develop.

What has been your biggest challenge so far?

Having worked in a completely different industry for so long you take for granted the knowledge that you build up over a long period of time and then to come into an entirely different sector and environment can initially be quite overwhelming and you get on board with new systems and processes. My operational and production background and skill set stood me in good stead however and I quickly got to grips with the recruitment process including developing leads, liaising with clients and interviewing candidates.

What advice would you give to someone considering a role in recruitment?

If you love meeting new people and forging new relationships you can’t go far wrong with recruitment. Equally as important you will need resilience and patience as there will be times where these will be tested!

Sharp Consultancy specialises in the recruitment of temporary, interim and permanent finance professionals. With offices in Leeds and Sheffield our highly experienced team of consultants recruit for positions throughout Yorkshire and beyond. CONTACT UStoday to talk with one of our team about your next move.

SWAPPING THE GOLF COURSE FOR A ROLE IN RECRUITMENT IS NOT MANY PEOPLE’S USUAL CAREER PATH.