Kirsty Sim is Livingston James Group’s Head of Research. Kirsty, who has a background in psychology, has spent over nine years working in recruitment and executive search and joined Livingston James in 2016.
“I started my career in recruitment and HR as soon as I graduated with my degree in Psychology. My early career was spent in the Aberdeen area, initially working with an engineering focused recruitment firm supporting the Oil & Gas industry, and then in my first research role for a boutique consultancy focused on headhunting for senior roles, again in the Oil & Gas industry, across the globe.
“In 2016 I made the decision to move to the Central Belt and applied for a number of recruitment roles, including the role of Researcher with Livingston James. I received offers for a few roles, but gut feel told me that Livingston James was the right place to be, and I joined the research team.
“One thing that has really stood out to me in my time with Livingston James is the commitment to Continued Professional Development. In 2019 I undertook a course in Saville Psychometric Testing. Not only was this of personal interest to me given my background in Psychology and years as a researcher, but it is also provides significant benefit to our clients and candidates, as it allows the opportunity to further analyse whether an individual is likely to be a good fit for a particular role and culture within an organisation.
“In the six years that I have been at Livingston James, I have benefited hugely from working with some of the industry’s most experienced and well-known recruiters. In what can be a notoriously competitive industry, the LJG team stands out in terms of colleagues’ willingness to help and support each other whenever we can, whether through more structured learning opportunities or just by collaborating informally on a challenging assignment or situation.
“This supportive culture extends beyond helping each other with work assignments. During the pandemic, the leadership team established four Champion groups, each responsible for an aspect of life at work, which in our case were defined as social, wellbeing, volunteering, and fundraising.
“Each of these groups is responsible for coming up with fun initiatives that allow us to get more out of our life at work. Throughout the pandemic we took part in virtual fundraising events such as the Kiltwalk and North Coast 500, and had some fantastic social events over Teams, including pizza making, cocktail masterclasses, and catch ups over Friday night drinks.
“This year, our Champion Groups have organised whole company meals, volunteering opportunities with Quarriers and lunchtime yoga sessions, available virtually and in person. This has helped to bring us together as a team in a very challenging time during the pandemic, and a very busy time post-pandemic.”
To find out more about careers at Livingston James, or the wider Livingston James Group, please visit our careers page or contact [email protected].
