Niall O’Gorman recently joined Leonid to help R&D tax consultancies find their next star recruit and to help R&D tax professionals to find their dream roles. During his first few days in the job, he spoke with a number of R&D tax consultants to help him understand how and why they ended up working in this industry and what they love about their jobs.
Niall says:
Having worked in recruitment for three years, I thought I had seen and done it all in terms of industries…that is until I discovered the wild world of R&D tax.
Moving into the world of research and development, I originally thought I would be the only one who had made this leap. It gave me flashbacks of eating lunch alone in primary school and I felt like the outsider again!
But my concerns were quickly put to ease as I spoke to people within the industry. Few, if any, had moved into the space with prior knowledge and speaking to R&D tax specialists has not only allowed me to learn so much in a short space of time about a sector that enables growth, but also to meet so many people who will hopefully allow me to learn and grow alongside them.
Despite the endless wealth of knowledge these experts would share, what made me most curious was what motivated people to move into the industry and what kept them there? From surfing in Hawaii to mastering in satellite engineering, the routes to R&D tax have been as varied as they are fascinating.
Here is a summary of some of my conversations, which shine a light on what they love about their job and why they were drawn to the world of R&D tax.
‘I get to make a difference’
For many, the ability to take their academic knowledge and apply it to industries and/or for a societal setting is huge bonus for them, all the while picking up commercial skills along the way.
‘No day is the same!’
For most R&D consultants, no challenge they face is identical. One day you’re drafting up a report based on the video game industry and the next you’re face-to-face with an agricultural expert. The variety of challenges can seem daunting, but it means you never stop learning, which is why academics thrive in this environment.
‘I love the rush’
R&D consultancy is challenging, but for many, this rush is what drives them on. The R&D consultants I spoke to described the need to manage time, deal with a variety of personalities, work as a team and to gauge report language - all while under time constraints. However, each of them described a love of the pressure due to the reward that comes with it.
‘I’m a person of the people!’
For some, academia provided a wonderful avenue of growth personally, but it became a relatively isolated job. The transition into R&D consultancy brings with it daily person-to-person interaction that acts as a real catalyst for people to remotivate themselves if they were potentially stuck in a rut.
But how did they get here?
Most consultants I spoke to described ‘falling’ into the industry - something they had never planned - but either with the help of Leonid or on their own, stumbling upon a decision which none of them regret. For one, it took them to Hawaii and for others, it has allowed them to spend more time with their families. What was startling to me was the passion with which they spoke of a world they did not know existed prior to making the leap!
So, if it’s a leap that interests you, or you want to further advance into the wonderful world of R&D tax consultancy, please do get in touch with Leonid and we would be delighted to help you make that change.