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The Drive to Find the Best Match – Mayron en Jelle

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We always want to do a better job for our clients and we do so by getting the best out of ourselves and each other.
Recruitment consultants Jelle Debruyn and Mayron Stam: “What we promise is what we deliver.” Our conversation sees two worlds converge, with Jelle working at STAR Belgium and Mayron at STAR Netherlands.

 

What’s next?

Jelle has worked for STAR since January 2019. He studied communication management but is also interested in chemistry. “It’s a sector in which several members of my family work – an exciting world. It is fantastic to get the opportunity to take an up-close look at the large companies in the port of Antwerp. This is my first job, but already I am gaining confidence and discovering a world that was relatively unknown to me.”

Mayron began as a junior consultant five years ago. “It was my first job as well. I quickly advanced to senior consultant and am currently Team Lead Construction.”

What exactly does their work as recruitment consultants entail? “Basically, we ensure that we can on-board the best available specialist to a client’s project asap,” says Mayron. “We proactively assess our client’s needs: what is the context and what type of support is the best solution?”

Jelle speaks enthusiastically about STAR’s discipline-driven approach. It works really well for him: “I am responsible for the Civil and Piping & Mechanical Engineering departments. As a result, I know exactly what projects are coming up, the expertise required and who would be a good match in each case.”

“We find the right specialist at the right time,” says Mayron. “Generally, we can introduce our clients to the best specialist available within 24 hours. I like that. There is the occasional hiccup, of course, but ultimately we deliver what we promise.”

“If you put in a lot of time and energy, you get a lot back. That’s how it works for me and it’s very satisfying.”

Strengthening market leadership
Are there lessons that STAR Belgium can learn from STAR Netherlands – or vice versa? “Always,” says Mayron without hesitation. “That’s why we always keep each other updated and share what we know.

Having said that, the Rotterdam approach certainly wouldn’t be right for Belgium.” They both laugh. “On the whole, I think that our Belgian clients prefer Belgian specialists. There’s a different mentality and things are done differently.”

“Definitely,” agrees Jelle. “We always start with our own search, but your help is more than welcome if we don’t have enough suitable candidates available.”

“We have established our position as market leader in Belgium and now we have to build on that so that even more people in Belgium become familiar with the STAR name,” says Jelle. “In civil engineering circles, for instance, we are well known inside the port, but not so well known outside of it.” There are lots of opportunities in Antwerp, adds Mayron: “We have many exciting new construction projects coming up.”

 

Your own company within STAR
Both Jelle and Mayron derive their motivation from helping specialists in their search for new projects. “I always enjoy helping specialists find new assignments,” says Mayron. “When you put in a lot of time and energy, you are guaranteed satisfaction. That is my experience. You build up a network of clients and a network of specialists and nurture your relationships with a view to gaining and building mutual trust. Once you achieve that, it’s more likely you’ll match just the right candidate with just the right project. It gives me a buzz.”

“The consultancy profession is not for everyone,” he adds. “There can be good news one minute and bad news the next. It’s like a wave and you need to be able to roll with it, and to get back up if you get knocked down. But it’s also something that, to a certain extent, you can learn.”

During his Small Business and Retail Management studies in Breda, Mayron did an internship at STAR. He ended up staying on. “I like the various different disciplines. Together with your colleagues, you make sure your discipline works and it’s up to you how you go about it. You essentially set up your own business within STAR. And that’s fun, especially if you enjoy ownership.”

 

Swift response
Name some examples of great work done recently? “We built up such a good relationship with the engineering department of one of our large clients so quickly that more specialists soon joined them,” says Jelle. “Managers now come to us on their own initiative, which is a wonderful compliment.”

Mayron recounts an example of an urgent order. “A sales colleague discovered an issue with a particular project concerning the construction of a tank with a rapidly approaching completion deadline. We were asked to supply more staff as soon as possible. And from various disciplines: from insulation to scaffolding and from wiring to supervision. A day later, in close cooperation with our consultants in Belgium, we had twenty excellent specialists in the picture and eight have already started. I really enjoy seeing how swiftly we can respond to such asks.”