Liz Gleeson Reflects on 1 Year of Work at Brunel

What's it been like for you shifting into 360 Life Sciences Recruitment this year? Is that something you had done before?

I've done both recruitment and business development separately throughout my career but the 360 side is a little more new to me. I had dabbled in it before but now I'm doing that more full time and I'm really enjoying it. It definitely is demanding with the pressure of bringing on new clients and then maintaining the account management with them as well as working on actually recruiting the roles. But if anything I think it allows me to build a stronger relationship with my clients because I know every single candidate I'm putting forward. I know them inside out for it's so easy for me to just call the candidate, call the client. I'm so intertwined in both sides of the process that it helps me to make it all smoother and I'm really enjoying that part of it.

What are some of the lessons you've learned during your first year at Brunel?

I feel like before I was working with mainly small-to-mid size companies and here at Brunel I've had some great exposure to larger multinational companies which has been really exciting. I've learned a lot from that because recruitment works differently for them. So I've definitely learned on that side and that was daunting at first but I've been able to get more into the groove of recruitment for larger companies. And you know, it's funny because the larger companies, they just have smaller business units within a larger organization and that's how Brunel functions as well.

Brunel is a huge international company and that experience was new to me too. So adjusting from working for a boutique firm to working for a huge global company has taught me a lot and it's been great!

How have you enjoyed working with the rest of the Food and Beverage team?

It's been great having the opportunity to work alongside my Manager Ksenia Mosends because she is super supportive. I feel like I can call her at any time for anything and we get along really well. Even though I'm a remote employee out of Vancouver and she's in Brunel's Calgary office I get the chance to see her in-person at least once per quarter. I fly out to Calgary or we'll meet up here in Vancouver or we'll get together for different conferences and things as well.

I love that Brunel does that for me because as a fully remote worker, I know sometimes people can feel a little bit detached. So to get to go to the office and meet people in person from time to time is really nice and helps me always feel engaged. It can be a difficult balance, but I I feel like Brunel is doing remote work really well. They listen to me. So if I were to ever voice that I was feeling left out or detached from the company Brunel would quickly act on that.

The Food and Beverage team also exists inside of the larger Life Sciences team, can you tell me about the dynamics of that?

I've had support from some of the recruiters on the team to work on a couple of my roles, which has been great and I've really enjoyed that side of it. And I love hearing about the different roles that they're working on because although they might be focused more on the Pharmaceuticals or Medical Devices side of things, there is a lot of crossover into Food and Beverage and Agriculture.

So it's great to have that involvement and not be siloed from them. We often end up sharing candidates or just brainstorming together to solve common problems within the team. So that's been great. I really do enjoy that aspect of having a larger team to fall back on as well.

How would you describe Ksenia's leadership style?

She's my boss but we very much work together as a team and when I need advice or guidance, she is there for me and I really enjoy her leadership style. I feel like we're on the same level and we think in a similar way, but she's still able to pull me up on things in both a professional way and a friendly way too.

If you were trying to convince a friend to come work at Brunel, what would you tell them?

The trust that's put in you to do your work is massive, and I think sometimes it can be underestimated how important that is. And I love the opportunity to explore different areas within my particular vertical. Brunel has been open to me exploring different avenues beyond the general manufacturing side of things. If I put a business case forward, the team will always listen to me. And so I feel like you're definitely heard and trusted here at Brunel and those are two of the most important things for me.

There's also all of the great compensation and perks in terms of we're well paid, there's a strong commission structure, and we get great PTO!

Final question, what are you looking forward to during your 2nd year at Brunel?

I've gotten to be part of the global Life Sciences Drivers Team. So we're collectively working on some great prospects globally. So I'm really excited to work more closely with the team moving forward. For my particular prospective client I'm collaborating with Australia, the Netherlands, Germany and the US and I'm really excited to see what will come of that. Hopefully we'll have a lot of success together in collaborating globally and it'll be a great opportunity for me to grow my skills.

Liz (left) and Ksenia (right) attending CHFA NOW in Toronto

Thank you to Liz for her excellent work throughout her 1st year at Brunel and for joining us on the blog to revisit. If you'd like to learn more about Brunel's Food and Beverage recruitment services by connecting with Liz and Ksenia, get in touch with us at the form below. And to stay up to date on the latest from Brunel, follow us on LinkedIn!