PHILADELPHIA – In case you missed it, The Philadelphia Inquirer published a story about Frank Recruitment Group, a UK-based company that will open its third U.S. office in Philadelphia on September 12. The firm provides head-hunting services in many major markets around the world, and their decision to open an office in Philadelphia is a strong indicator of the strength of this market. The full text of the article can be viewed below.
Tech staffing firm, funded by Uber’s funders, to hire 250 in Philadelphia
Inquirer // Jane M. Von Bergen
The same group that invested in Uber – and proudly claims it has disrupted the taxi and limo business – will soon, through one of its companies, open an office in Philadelphia with the aim of disrupting recruitment in niche fields of technology.
TPG Growth, which has invested in Uber, Airbnb, and Spotify, is the majority owner of Frank Recruitment Group, the British-based company that chose Philadelphia for its third U.S. office.
“You have a high density of bright college graduates who are up for a challenge,” said Frank chief executive James Lloyd Townshend, explaining why his company picked Philadelphia.
Frank will staff its office with 250 fresh or recent college graduates, filling those spots within a year, Townshend said in an interview Monday.
The office is set to open Sept. 12 and is hiring now.
Typically, recruitment is a relationship business. The recruiter’s Rolodex of potential candidates, employers, and hiring managers leads to connections and job placements.
But FRG aims to disrupt that pattern, chief marketing officer Kashif Naqshbandi said, by forming relationships with particular software products. FRG even forms divisions, each with its own name, to concentrate on a slice of software.
In 2007, the company launched its first brand, Nigel Frank, to focus solely on recruiting Microsoft Dynamics IT professionals. Next up was Mason Frank for SalesForce, a customer relationship management software product.
Since then, four other brands have been formed, including Anderson Frank for NetSuite and Washington Frank, focused on cloud technology staffing.
“It’s the almost total domination of the candidates,” Naqshbandi said. “We’ve become the best at delivering a certain type of candidate. We actually turn business away that’s not core business.
“We spend all of our marketing dollars” attracting candidates and companies in those niches, he said.
“It’s the power of our database,” which Naqshbandi described as narrow and deep, with 280,000 candidates and about 180,000 potential clients.
CEO Townshend said FRG also relies on intense training – four weeks in the classroom followed by a few more months of on-the-job training – as a competitive advantage.
“If they are hungry to be successful,” he said, “we can teach them the technology” as well as recruiting and sales skills.
He said those it places can quickly earn $75,000 a year.
The company employs 900 worldwide with headquarters in London.
In the United States, FRG has opened offices in New York and San Francisco. Pat Navarro and Ian Clark will run the Philadelphia office.
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