Axel Franco

A recruitment expert who is deeply convinced that recruitment consulting is a lever to move organisations forward!

I have nearly 10 years of experience in recruitment consulting with a specialisation in the consulting professions, particularly strategy consulting. I worked for different consulting structures before spending 4 years at BCG as an internal headhunter. This experience allowed me to develop a very large network in all economic spheres, mainly on high potential profiles!

I joined the Upward group in 2014 with an essential belief, that of forging real tripartite partnerships between a company, high-potential candidates and our firm.

I have quite a long experience in the recruitment consultancy business, with a strong specialisation in a very particular sector such as consultancy, a small world where everyone knows each other! My internal evolution has finally been quite natural with the commercial development of many key accounts for the firm and the management of a very high level internal team!

Upward is a different player from those I’ve known, a player committed to three fundamental values: expertise, benevolence and ambition!

Expertise that allows Upward consultants to position themselves as partners with clients and candidates. The “consulting” approach is fundamental to our business. Our clients and candidates alike need the visibility and knowledge of an expert to successfully carry out a strategic recruitment or an impactful career choice!

Benevolence is one of Upward’s hallmarks, we accompany our candidates at every moment of their questioning. We have developed our website with a lot of content available to everyone (job descriptions, experience sharing…). We were the first (and certainly remain the only ones!) to finance specific coaching for strategic consulting processes for example (preparation for business cases), to set up a career compass for those who have questions…

Finally, ambition, because recruitment is a strategic investment, and we do not hesitate to innovate in order to improve every day! Result: 70% of Upward’s recruitment missions are linked to introductions of former candidates or word of mouth. This is a recognition of the quality of our work!

Through my career, I had the chance to work with some of the world’s most prestigious consulting firms. The network that I developed there allows me today to work for large corporate players in a wide variety of sectors (retail, financial institutions, catering, mass distribution, aeronautics, industry…) on business critical recruitments (strategy departments, PE funds, right-hand man, N-1 Comex…).

We are constantly innovating !

When I started in this business, Viadeo was barely growing and Linkedin had just launched its French version ! Since then, social networks have taken a very important place in recruitment ! So there are a lot of challenges for us, with the sole objective of seeking excellence and proposing new services !

My main objective is to align Upward’s objectives with those of our clients and the candidates we support. You have to be an educator, we work on the human factor, so nothing is predictable in our profession!

All our missions are different! They are all difficult and require a maximum investment from us. We work for demanding customers in a competitive environment and on highly demanded populations. There is real satisfaction in helping each other to find themselves around a common goal!

Recruitment is a sector in constant revolution that also depends mainly on the economic environment. It is therefore necessary to be curious, innovative and always attentive to the needs of clients and candidates.

It is an absolute pleasure to interact with clients and candidates who are all different and who need to be listened to.

Tomorrow’s manager will be more coach than chief! He must listen to his employees, encourage initiative and be very flexible!