“Where has the past 12 months gone, they say time flies when you’re having fun and certainly this is true for me!”

 

The team at Optimus have been fantastic at welcoming me into the team and offering ongoing support over the past 12 months.  I am very lucky be able to work with a team of people who are hardworking, with a great sense of humour and a have a truly collaborative approach to attracting top talent. Over the past 12 months I have been involved in team events, client events where we have popped over to France for dinner and drinks, wine tasting and pizza making evening, Christmas cocktail making and dinner and a day at the Rugby. Whilst fun was the primary objective, it helped build stronger relationships with our clients allowing us to gain a better understanding of how we can support them and their growing business. But we did not stop there with our client engagement, we enjoy regular lunches and informal catch ups to ensure we evolve our approach where needs be, as indeed their business evolves. Building key client relationships is highly important because we don’t just want to be “another service provider” – we aspire to be seen as a partner to their business and promote their culture and professionalism to our candidates. We feel it’s important to know the business as intimately as we can to ensure we are talking to likeminded candidates who align to their culture as well as possessing the appropriate technical capabilities to be able to perform the role.  

 

I am also fortunate enough to continually meet with some exceptional local talent. What surprised me most when I joined Optimus was the level of professionalism, experience and highly qualified candidates we are approached by, particularly at the senior level. Historically, there has been a perception that top talent had to come from overseas with London agencies delivering these to Jersey businesses. That’s certainly not the case now in my opinion. More and more senior candidates have gained experience working within other offshore and onshore jurisdictions, and/or have been expats in some of the major financial services locations, London, Hong Kong, Singapore etc. With the continued growth of the finance industry in Jersey, attracting these locally based candidates to join some of Jersey’s leading Fiduciary businesses and bring with them their wealth of diverse experience and sector knowledge can only be deemed as a positive for the island. 

 

Another observation I’ve made over the past 12 months is how challenging the fund market can be, particularly in finding credible people at Admin through to Manager level. With more opportunities than people, gaining clarity in respect of company culture, work ethic and levels of overall compensation becomes a minefield for those looking to move. We sit in a hugely enviable position where we are acutely aware of all of these factors and can provide impartial, informed advice as to the myriad of options available and have done so now for the past 12 years.    The career opportunities available within funds are so diverse from boutique to blue chip through to business specialising within Jersey, to those with multi-jurisdictional opportunities. I’ve seen people move through the ranks from Trainee to Funds Director in just 10 years, with the right career advice it really can be that quick.  I accept within the world of funds, occasionally the hours can be extensive particularly when there’s an important transaction going through, however being part of the team and intrinsic to the large, often global transaction is also the most exciting part of the role!!

 

If you are wanting to discuss your Funds career and take advantage of our unique overview of the market, then I would love to hear from you and I am also confident that our in-house barista will rival that of any that can be found on the high street!  Equally, if you are operating in any other fiduciary sector, then we would be delighted to talk to you. 

 

To find out more about our team, simply visit https://www.optimus.je/meet-the-team/