Matt Satzinger began his role as the New York and East Coast Director of Financial Services for at Hamlyn Williams in October 2022. As one of the most exciting and complex divisions within the company, Matt was selected for both his extensive experience and cultural fit.
East Coast Executive Director Ali Sharaki spoke about his first impressions:
“Matt impressed early during the interview process with his incredible success as a recruiter, Account Manager, and Managing Director. At a previous organization, he was in the President's Club 2 years in a row, and it was clear he had transitioned well as he advanced his career into more of a leadership focus.
Matt brings 15 years of experience in Staffing with a significant majority in Technology, the past 2 years in Digital/Creative/Marketing. This strong professional history has enabled him to transition to leading the Hamlyn Williams Financial Services function, directly managing our Compliance team with Audit, Risk, HR, and Contracts team managers reporting directly to him.
Ali Sharaki talks about him hitting the ground running. “From day 1 Matt showed the entire office that he was disciplined, accountable and professional, but also has a strong appetite for Business Development. He has already signed new terms with a strategic banking client, as well as already utilizing his network to start talking with a lot of key leaders. We know he'll be a huge compliment to the business moving forwards.”
Staffing is a people business, we are all about building connections, and the experience throughout his interview process echoed this for Matt.
“When I was originally contacted by Morgan Glassford about the role, I thought it was just another recruiter trying to set up a call, but her approach was different. It spelled out in the first message the role, why it might be interesting for me; she actually looked and understood my background and exhibited a high level of transparency which I appreciated, so I decided to reply and I am very glad I did!
I am delighted that this was a sign of things to come, there was consistently a high level of connection among everyone I spoke with from the first conversation to the last interview, and subsequently, my experience in the office has produced a consistent experience.
I truly believe sales organizations should be people first, from hiring the right personalities, to how they are trained/supported, to help them develop their professional success to achieve their personal goals. This was apparent in my conversation which ultimately made the decision easy.
The move to financial services was a big step, but it was one I had always wanted to make with the right organization. I have a strong interest in the economy, and how our financial systems work, and felt my personal network built over the years could benefit from the services Hamlyn Williams and my Financial Services team can provide, but I needed to find the right company that had experience and strong sector knowledge.
Hamlyn Williams is certainly an established company and I feel there is a very big opportunity to grow beyond our near-term expectations. We have established relationships and have delivered incredible results with a lot of the big players in FS and continue to build our client base across FinTech, Crypto, Asset Management, etc. Our client relationships are deep rooted which allows us to provide a white-glove service to our clients and candidates who rely on us to tell them what is happening in the marketplace. Staffing is a transactional business, but we combine that with being consultative as well.
Lastly, HW is very entrepreneurial. I have heard the stories of a few team members who have started their own verticals within our business. This does not happen in many staffing companies. The constant pursuit to be the best at whatever field you are in does not allow for new ideas. HW provides an open-door policy for new ideas. I am fortunate to manage one of these functions and feel inspired to help this team grow. (I know I wrote this but it doesn’t sound good, flowing. Need to convey that the SMT at HW has been on progressive and successful career paths themselves which is encouraging for me to pursue other career goals myself. including opening a new office location or moving into an Executive Level role over one of our main practice areas.
The Making of a Leader
Nobody is born a great leader. Many of the skills that make a truly great leader can come naturally, but it takes learning from others, times of deep self-reflection and willingness to change. Matt highlights the key aspects that have shaped his success and enabled his growth into the leader he is today.
Professional Development
“By helping develop others throughout their career, we can make a real impact. I was taught early on about the importance of building a legacy, and the most important aspect of building a legacy is to contribute to the success of others by teaching, mentoring, and developing them to not just be great at their job but great people as well.
I work alongside our L&D team to develop more than just the basic staffing skills, setting newcomers to the industry up for success, both personally and professionally. By preparing them for the highs and lows of this business, whilst also sharing understanding of how and why we do help businesses, people can quickly begin to add value to their processes.
I have spent a large portion of my career building multiple books of business from scratch in different industries, and now is the perfect time to take my experience and help others realize their potential to carve out a career path that they can be proud of.”
Building Relationships
“Quite simply relationships are the MOST important thing in this business. I have relationships with clients, former co-workers, and peers that date back to 2008, and have some of the same friends from when I was 4-5 years old.
This is because I was taught at a young age to care and respect for the people around me, value those relationships, and understand the give and take that’s involved, knowing we have each other’s back through the tough times. Building new relationships is important in business, but that shouldn’t be at the expense of retaining trusted, long-standing ones. Trust and camaraderie that’s developed over years, both in personal and professional relationships has incredible power.
Education
I was generally a good student in Elementary and High School, excelling in soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and basketball whilst maintaining good grades, but taking the step up to college it became tougher to manage, with my grades starting to suffer. Being part of the D1 Soccer program at Fordham University was truly formative, but not entirely due to the sporting aspects; learning to balance pressures whilst turning around my GPA was one of the biggest obstacles I had overcome in my life and has taught lessons I have taken into my career.
Within 15 years in staffing, I have had to overcome many pitfalls, but I have been able to use the lessons I learned in college to help me overcome them, never giving up and learning to embrace those moments when the cards are stacked against me!
Leaders
“I have been fortunate to work for a lot of great coaches, managers, and mentors who have left a lasting impression. The biggest take away from them was that they took the time to understand the people they were guiding, this led to them always knowing how to get the best out of me and treating me like an individual, not managing me the same as everyone else.
Playing sports most of my life, I can vividly remember the coaches who knew how to make me want to run through a wall for them. I thrived on positive feedback but not everyone is the same. The best coaches and leaders seamlessly move between the two, applying their instinct and experience to enrich their words. I have always focused my development as a leader on mirroring this very human way of developing others, and for the most part my teams have always fed back positively to my style.”
Matt Satzinger leads New York and East Coast Director of Financial Services. If you have a role, you would like his team to work on, please contact our office on +1 (646) 349 2712
