Inside Look At Our Winner's Trip: Our UK & US Tech Recruitment Team Take Miami!

Miami, Florida – a land of sunshine, white-sand beaches, and cultural delights, was also home to Understanding Recruitment’s highest performers earlier this month when we took 20 of the team on holiday to say thank you for their hard work! Find out how they qualified, and all the highlights of their trip below.

One of the perks of life working in recruitment is the once-in-a-lifetime trips we can take those individuals that have gone above and beyond to exceed expectations on.

This May, after years of waiting we could finally take 20 UR team members from our UK and US-based teams – ranging from our Business Operations team to Principal Recruitment Consultants – to Miami, to celebrate them surpassing their full-year target (we combined the 2019, 2020, and 2021 winners after the trip’s original date was thwarted by COVID).

Taking a well-deserved break from sourcing and placing tech candidates, learning and development, HR and accounts, our team enjoyed excursions in alligator territory, delicious food, and more, over five days in the sunshine state, as well as some down-time for relaxing, shopping, and the city’s famous beaches!

Here’s what some of our exceptional performers had to say about the trip:

Sitting on that plane to Miami felt like…

“When I finally found out the destination of Miami I was incredibly happy as I had never been to the US before, and it was great to be able to experience it alongside such a great group of people! As I had waited so long for this trip (hitting it for the first time in 2019) I think it only properly sunk in when we landed in Miami!” said Anna Lynch, Principal Account Manager in our DevOps team.

“I qualified for the first trip in my first and second year at Understanding Recruitment, and both times have felt unbelievable. Trips like this are a completely different kind of experience. I’ve been able to visit places as a grad after a year that I definitely couldn’t afford and it’s great to take time off and relax, without actually taking time off. I really felt like I was being rewarded for all my hard work beyond my salary,” she added.

Monique Hunt, our Management Accountant from our Finance team, commented, “Due to Covid, Miami has been a long time coming for me. I won ‘Business Operations Person of the Year’ back in December 2019. Miami 2022 was definitely worth the two-year wait though! I put so much care and attention into my work and it was nice that this was recognised by the directors when I won the award and got to go on this trip!”

“After working here for three years, hitting the trip incentive twice during the COVID years and not being able to go made going on this trip ever so much sweeter! It was a massive draw for me to get into recruitment to go on trips around the world I wouldn’t usually get to go on,” added Cedric Sellmann, Principal Account Manager, from our Java recruitment team. “Sitting on that plane (there was a lot of standing up and cheers-ing though to be fair!) made all my accomplishments feel so much better. It definitely motivated me to not miss another one in the future!”

My lasting Winner’s Trip memory is…

“It is hard to pinpoint a couple of highlights as the whole trip was full of amazing activities and memories, but going on the speed boat around Miami Marina and the Everglades tour were certainly standouts,” said Harry Sansom, Principal Account Manager for Tech & Data in our Charity & NFP team.

“However, just being able to spend time with the team away from work having a laugh and relax was priceless. It was great to finally meet up with some of the US team as it has been a long time coming having only spoken to them via Teams previously. For me, it just reinforced the great culture we have that everyone got on so well and spent most of our time together. It is true when people say although we might be work colleagues it certainly felt like a trip away with your closest pals.”

Emma Mathiesen, Head of Training & Development, added, “As a parent of two small children time on the beach to chill and properly switch off without having to worry about my little ones was amazing. Aside from the time on the beach, I loved the organised activities like going on a speedboat because they’re not things I’d ever done before. I also really enjoyed getting to know the team more than I’m able to on a day-to-day basis in the office and the group had a great dynamic which made it really fun!”

Molly Boca, Recruitment Consultant from our US-based Acceler8 Talent office, said, “My biggest highlight of the whole trip was having a chance to meet my friends from the UK office. After two years behind a computer screen, it was a dream come true to be able to see everyone in person.

But even beyond that, to be able to meet everyone on the US offices’ first full-year trip was an experience that I will never forget. Whether it was boating through the Everglades or just sitting on the beach with a cocktail the company was my favourite part of Miami!”

The secret to making the next Winner’s Trip is…

“I think quality over quantity and steadily working towards micro-goals is the best mindset for hitting a trip!” says Molly, when it comes to advice for making the next trip.

Cedric adds, “We’ll train you up and give you all the tools you need to be successful here, not just to get on the trip but to hit your goals in life. You put in the effort, work closely with your team, and surround yourself with like-minded successful people and I can promise you’ll get on the next trip. The more the merrier!”

Another year, another Winner’s trip! Will you be on it?

“It was great to see the collaboration and cohesiveness between everyone. It was absolutely superb to be with everyone on one of the best trips we’ve ever done, and we can’t wait to do the next one and see who qualifies!” concluded Chris Jackson, Founding Director at Understanding Recruitment.

A big well done to all the winner’s trip qualifiers, including James Potton, Emma Mathiesen, Josh Smith, Tom Rankin, Harry Sansom, Charlotte Young, Dan Nightingale, Anna Lynch, Tom Parker, Leo Sparkes, Cedric Sellmann, Monique Hunt, Lisa Booth, and Brad Howell from our UK Understanding Recruitment team, who were joined by Mat Ferdenzi and Molly Boca, from our Acceler8 Talent Boston recruitment team.

Did you know we also take new graduate or trainee starters on a trip to our office on the other side of the point if they make their target on joining?

Read about our 'Road to Olympia' incentive trip our recent grads and trainees took earlier this year!