This episode we take a little look into the world of recruitment:
What are businesses looking for when hiring C-Suite executives and what are the C-Suite executives looking for when seeking new opportunities, has this changed since the global pandemic has affected the traditional working models?
We asked Liz Jones and Daren Rubins, Founders of Conker, a specialist executive search company that specialises in the media and marcom industries to help us out with the answers!
ABOUT CONKER
Conker is an Executive Search business that finds transformational talent for senior roles in agencies, media owners, digital platforms and client brands. Our remit stretches across commercial, strategic, technical, operational and specialist areas - and often in combination.
Learn more about Conker https://conkerwithus.com
ABOUT LIZ JONES
Liz is an experienced commercial leader who understands how talent drives better business outcomes.
She is a strong networker and collaborator; passionate about contributing to positive change and business results through diversity, inclusion and well-being.
Alongside her most recent role at Dentsu Aegis Network (CEO of B2B), she was also the Executive Sponsor for Diversity and Inclusion and together with HR built the first set of complete diversity metrics for business to inform 2020 goals focused on gender, agile working and ethnicity.
Liz led the successful roll-out of unconscious bias training to the leadership team and she also launched the first LGBT+ resource group and gender equality network at Dentsu Aegis Network.
She has always enjoyed building diverse, high performing teams. At PSI over eight years she hired over 20 individuals from different backgrounds and markets and in doing so doubled the revenue and profit of the business.
A proud WACL member, she drove the recent initiative with LinkedIn using data for the first time to look at gender parity in the Media, Marketing and Communications industry.
She has always mentored formally and informally via NABS, WACL, IPA and the wider industry. She is currently on the WACL Exec (Communications and Voice) and was a main committee member of the IAA for many years. Liz is also a NABs Stronger than Summer committee member and mentors for most of the initiatives in the media industry.


ABOUT DAREN RUBINS
Daren’s entire career has been built around helping companies and people to achieve their potential.
Across 30 incredibly successful years in advertising, Daren has been responsible for hiring and/or leading some of today’s most successful names in the marketing industry.
His belief is that motivated talent, in the right environment, can achieve anything. In his 10 years as MD and then CEO of PHD in the UK, the agency experienced unprecedented success. Highlights included;
Pitching and winning Cadbury, Kraft, Expedia, Dyson, Twitter, Confused.com, Purple Bricks, Viacom, British Heart Foundation, P&O Cruises, VW Group, Magners and many more.
Winning eight individual Media Agency of the Year accolades, seven Grand Prix awards and two Cannes Lions Gold awards.
Achieving four consecutive top 100 Best Companies Awards, including 25th, 18th and 16th positions.

Daren also co-created the industry-accreditation Advanced Media Certificate, for which he received an IPA Fellowship and has spoken on numerous platforms about talent and diversity, including the 3% Conference, WACL, Token Man, Omniwomen, Bloom and HeForShe.
In 2017, Daren became CEO at The Lighthouse Company, where he placed 18 business leaders in as many months.
In his spare time, Daren mentors individuals at all levels and also the runs the Marketing Advisory Group for the JW3 Community Centre.