Meet Claire

Leader of Vision and Values

Having done a degree in Business Studies, I spent the next six years working in sales promotion for various London agencies before my employer went into administration and I found myself without a job. I then set up Stopgap in 1993 with no recruitment experience whatsoever, but simply a strong desire to challenge the recruitment industry’s reputation for bad practice and poor candidate care. A little more about me... My first job was running an illicit ear-piercing business in the girls toilets at school, aged 14.

Top tip for candidates and/or clients

Over the years I've shared my 'pearls of wisdom' with so many people - it's hard to distill these into just one or two. Having said that, one of the best things people can do when they embark on a job search is be write down a list of 'Must Have's' and 'Nice To Haves'. This reduces the chance of application/interview burn out, because they are only applying for jobs they want - the only caveat here is on the list does need to be the skills they want to use. Typically a successful candidate will have at least 75% of what's listed in a job ad or job description, unless you are close to this, there's little point in applying.

But I've also said to many candidates "If you don't get on the road, you'll never know what's round the corner" - this is especially true if they are not following a classic career path. Sometime you need to take a risk to reap the rewards.

shows they have most of what you're looking for - don't worry about the last 25% or so - especially if there is something on their CV that sparks your interest and suggests they could be a good fit for the team. Secondly, treat your applicants with respect - respond to their application, keep them in the loop during the interview process and if you really like someone - don't waste time - if they're great they'll be snapped up!

Out of Office You’ll Find Me

Playing golf, enjoying good food & wine and then exercising the excess off with my husband and Sybil, our lovely but naughty Springador. This will either be around our home in Epsom or in the Loire Valley at Les Bordes International

Your favourite blog or resource on the Stopgap site

My absolute favourite podcast was "High Performance Teams Aren't Built By Accident" when Sarah Windsor chats to Mat Turner about his experience starting and growing Clownfish Events - It brought back so many very happy memories of the early days of Stopgap!