🌎💛 Find the best jobs in sustainability, social impact and more at Jobs for Good >

Meet the team: Craig Turner

Team

2022-02-16

Confido

6 minutes

Want to learn more about the Confido team? Well, now’s your chance to peek behind the curtain and get to know us a little better. 

Every month we’ll be sharing a video all about one member of our team. This month we’re kicking off with our Founder and CEO, Craig Turner! 

Check out our video to learn more. Or, if you’re more of a reader, check out the blog post below. 

How did you first get into recruitment?  

Like 99% of recruiters it was by accident. So I studied law at university, decided that I didn't want to spend another four years training and I just wanted to get straight into a career. 

So a lot of my friends were still studying at Reading, so I started looking at jobs locally and ended up working for a large recruitment firm and it went from there. 

 

What’s one piece of career advice you’d give someone? 

Be true to yourself. For me that means recognising one: your values and two: your priorities. So if you get those two things right, I think you'll know what will make you happy. 

I find that values generally won't change that much during your life, but priorities will definitely change. So it's important you understand what those two things are and then how you can find the right companies that will offer an environment that caters to those two things. 

 

What did you want to be growing up? 

I think initially, like a lot of kids, it was a footballer. I realised that I definitely wasn't David Beckham, so then it was to become an army sniper for a year or so – probably too many video games. Then I actually got a bit more sensible thinking I'd be a Lawyer. 

 

What does a typical day in the home office look like for you? 

Waking up between 6-7 o'clock with the kids and getting them breakfast. Then taking the dog out for a walk and normally plugging in to listen to a podcast. 8:30am I'm at the desk, normally doing set-up calls with the team. 

Then the rest of the day really varies from calls with candidates, with clients. I'm still very hands-on so sourcing, messaging, internal training - just a real range of things. Normally I try to finish around 5pm and have some decent time with the family. 

 

Which one impact startup would you recommend people check out  

Generally I love startups that are finding a new and really simple way to solve what's always been a major problem. I'd like everyone to check out onHand. onHand have solved a major problem within local communities which is all those people within the community that need help.  

They started out as a volunteering app, so it's really easy for you to help elderly people with a shop drop, or call someone who's a bit lonely. It's become this much bigger thing where both individuals and businesses can volunteer through the app. They're also focussing on how they can help companies be a force for good and have a more positive impact - so I'd definitely say check out onHand. 

 

Which volunteering day have you enjoyed the most and why?  

Quite a tough one - I've enjoyed them all. But I think The Felix Project was the one I found most satisfying. I think the main thing was actually just seeing all of the names of the places the food was going to. And also how many companies were donating food. Just the scale of the impact they're having, that's what really stuck out to me. 

 

What’s the best thing you’ve listened to recently?  

I've been a long-term fan of Dan Murray-Serter's 'Secret Leaders'. One of the more recent episodes I've enjoyed was the founder of Farewill, who are disrupting the funeral space. That was really nice to listen to and hear about something you don't normally hear spoken about.  

Another one that I've started listening to recently is Maiko Schaffrath 'Impact Hustlers'. He talks to founders and impact startups which naturally aligns with what we do here at Confido. 

 

What’s your biggest fear?  

Letting people down. So if I say I'm going to do something and I've committed, then I really struggle if I then let them down. 

 

What’s been your biggest achievement? 

After Covid hit, there was an opportunity to buy the other two directors out of the business and take Confido on on my own. But at the same time it was just as the pandemic was hitting, a lot of companies were stopping hiring and I honestly had no idea how things were going to pan out.  

When you're the main person working within the family and you've got a young family to provide for - honestly I had a lot of stress and worries at that point. I was going along solely by myself for the best part of six months. But I came out of it stronger and it helped me refocus on what I wanted Confido to be. Which led to us refining our focus to working with just tech for good's. 

 

What does success look like to you? 

It's being able to look back on my life and being proud of what I've achieved, both personally and professionally. 

 

When are you at your happiest? 

It's when I'm completely switched off from work, which is a very hard thing to do, and when I'm just having genuinely lovely family time with the kids around me. 

  

When you are having a down day how do you make yourself feel better?  

I do two things normally. So one is exercise - taking twenty mins to half an hour to do a HIIT workout - I always feel better after. Or sometimes I just want to get out of the house, so I'll go for a walk and maybe listen to a podcast. Or actually completely deplug and just go for a walk for half an hour. I find one of those two things will always help. 

 

Tell us something we’d never guess about you/ we don’t know about you 

I'm pretty much a massive geek deep down. Marvel, Star Wars - pretty much anything sci-fi or fantasy-related. So on the Marvel front, I'm a big fan of all of the movies and the series but I've also started getting into the comics. So I've probably read about forty comics by now.  

But whenever I'm not working or with the kids, you'll probably find me wrapped up in something sci-fi or fantasy-related. 


Keep an eye out for our next meet the team video next month! 

Get in touch.
We'd love to hear from you.
0 / 1000
Get in touch.
We'd love to hear from you.
0 / 1000
By continuing to use this site, you accept our privacy and cookies policy.