An evolving career, but one which always has people and their careers at the heart of it, Adam Hawkins, Head of Search & Staffing, EMEA & LATAM, LinkedIn reflects on his past and the future of talent acquisition.
Adam Hawkins’ career in recruitment stretches back some 24 years. His first role was in technology recruitment and it’s been a sector and function which he has been passionate about ever since. At an essential level, Hawkin’s career has been about influencing other peoples lives – certainly the lives of people he’s placed through the organisations where he has worked, but through that there’s been a bigger agenda – to make life and work better for everyone.
An ever changing industry
His early career saw him working with many well-known technology and engineering brands at a time when the industry was undergoing expansion and change. Even now, his early motivation is still with him: “If I think far back to the first role – let’s remember where we start as a recruitment consultant you’re consulting with a customer and candidate and using soft skills to position and persuade people and companies and achieve a strong fit – I don’t think that’s left me. You’re just doing it in different situations.”
Since those days he’s worked across diverse businesses and contexts, including overseas positions for The Adecco Group where he was able to advise and contribute to other companies as they grew their own international footprint. Having also worked in various advisory capacities for major firms, he found himself consulting for LinkedIn before taking on a permanent role there to lead the search and staffing team.
But while the work may have been around the use, evolution and implementation of technology, Hawkins always kept a people focus: “A lot of my purpose was around human connectivity,” he says. “For me technology and now AI is really connected to doing good – Adecco was about making the future work for everyone, and now my work at LinkedIn is about connecting the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful . Ultimately, I want to help people go to work and give them the right opportunities.”
Technology and recruitment becomes complex
Hawkins acknowledges that the role of the recruiter has changed significantly over the span of his career, but he believes change has accelerated over the past few years. “We’re faced with a world that’s in a heightened state of change and complexity,” he says.
