What if your dream job offer fell through the week before you started — and the world went into lockdown?

In this episode, I’m joined by Jay Gurney, Director of Radiology at Projectus, who went from working warehouse shifts during COVID to becoming one of the company’s top global billers and leading its US expansion.

Fun story, I actually interviewed Jay in 2020 to be my resourcer!

We dig into Jay’s journey from rejection to resilience — from packing boxes and delivering food to billing hundreds of thousands in medical technology recruitment and relocating to Austin, Texas. He opens up about how he built his desk from scratch, the mindset shifts that turned him into a top performer, and how he approaches business development, candidate relationships, and consistency at scale.

We explore:

✅ How losing his job offer before COVID became a turning point

✅ The grind of starting from scratch during lockdown

✅ How to go from resourcer to top biller

✅ Building a niche and becoming the go-to recruiter in your space

✅ Transitioning from transactional recruiter to true consultant

✅ The power of commercial curiosity & information gathering

✅ Why the best recruiters think like businesspeople

✅ Lessons from moving to the US & building credibility abroad

✅ Confidence, resilience & consistency in recruitment success

If you want to understand what it really takes to rise through the ranks in recruitment, build a market from the ground up, and turn setbacks into fuel — this episode is a must-listen.

⏱ Timestamps:

00:00 – Welcome & Jay’s background

02:00 – The job offer that fell through before COVID

05:40 – Working in warehouses & deliveries to survive

08:40 – Getting the Projectus opportunity & starting from scratch

11:00 – Early BD strategies & finding market gaps

14:00 – From resourcer to top biller mindset

18:20 – What it means to be a true consultant

24:00 – Jay’s cold call approach that actually works

30:00 – Losing the fear & taking clients off a pedestal

37:00 – Niching down & building credibility

41:00 – Team builds vs. transactional placements

45:00 – The US move: challenges & breakthroughs

52:00 – Cultural differences in US recruitment

59:00 – Lessons from building a US desk

01:04:00 – Jay’s 1% Better tip

🔗 Connect with Jay

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-gurney-

🔗 Connect with Charles Kyriakou

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskyriakou1/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@charles.kyriakou

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1-better-recruitment-podcast/id1775201502

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@charleskyriakou

LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7244346543967731712

don't forget to get your ticket for the live podcast - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1-better-recruitment-live-podcast-how-to-thrive-in-challenging-markets-tickets-1777948464719?aff=oddtdtcreator