Rachel L’Estrange, Meet the Consultant

From our offices in London, Europe, the UAE, and the US, our team of expert Hanson Search consultants source the best communications talent globally – from PR professionals to digital marketing experts. Over the coming weeks, we’re shining the spotlight on the people behind the profiles. Today, we’re speaking to Senior Consultant, Rachel L’Estrange.

Read the full interview below.

Rachel, tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

I’m Rachel, Senior Consultant at Hanson Search, and I head up the global corporate and financial communications desk. This covers all things corporate and financial PR, from general comms positions to investor relations roles to capital market jobs, and beyond. I have a global scope but with a particular focus on the US, UAE and UK.

Before joining the recruitment industry four years ago, I worked on the other side of the fence, in PR and comms roles across different sectors. Eventually, I settled in financial services, where I headed up the PR team at the Cambridge Building Society. My background definitely gives me a deeper understanding of both client and candidate needs – because I’ve been there myself.

From the Cambridge Building Society, I moved to PR and Comms recruitment, and honestly, I love it. It allows me to combine all the elements of career I’m most passionate about – supporting talented people and navigating the ever-changing financial communications sector.

And what does your role involve, typically?

As Senior Consultant, my role is varied. There’s never a dull day, and that’s what I love most about recruitment – we’re always working with lots of moving parts, and with extremely talented people.

Sometimes, you’ll find me chatting with clients about the market landscape, their individual needs, and how I can support them in finding their next hire. Other times, I’ll be meeting with industry experts to chat hiring trends, sector insights, and other key updates in the finance sector.

Being truly embedded in my market is such an important part of my role, and one of the many reasons I wanted to join Hanson Search specifically – every consultant really is an expert within their market. We know that to be true partners to our clients, and to help them find the best talent possible, we have to know the sector inside out.

So what’s happening in your market right now? What challenges are you seeing?

The financial sector is constantly evolving, and communications professionals need to be more adaptable than ever. That’s a challenge in itself. Key topics of conversations over the past months have been centred around the evolving need to navigate global regulation changes which includes ESG regulations. In addition to this there has been a focus on the growing need to build investor trust in such a volatile market, making investor relations an integral part of financial communications.

The market has really taken a hit this year. In the run up to the general election, IPOs took a dive, and this has had a direct impact on the consultancy landscape. Consultancies have had to navigate this alongside ongoing economic uncertainty and the increasing demand for transparency, and digital transformation.

It’s a minefield. Organisations need to prioritise talent that can handle this complexity, balance short-term flexibility with long-term planning, and navigate real-time responses.

How can you and the rest of the Hanson Search team help support against these challenges?

A good recruiter is an extension of a business. I pride myself on working hand in hand with hiring managers to find the kind of niche, specialist talent they need right now.

Talking about finance specifically, top-tier candidates are in high demand. They’re constantly approached about new opportunities, so without an expert to help, it can be hard to find someone who fits your brief, and then harder still to cut through the noise and actually engage them in conversation.

And that’s where we come in.

Sector specialist recruiters are incredibly well connected with impeccable market knowledge. They can help you find and engage the right talent, no matter how niche your brief may be.

Putting immediate hiring needs aside, partnering with a recruiter will also allow you to tap into unique insight about the hiring market, and I am always on hand to offer salary benchmarking insight, market intel and advice on how to built an excellent team.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give candidates looking for their next role right now?

Use a recruiter! I know, that sounds obvious (and biased), but every day I see how effective partnering with a well networked recruiter can be for candidates.

The job market is tough for everyone right now. Often, a simple job application on LinkedIn just isn’t cutting it anymore. To add to the challenge, a lot of organisations are using AI or other technology to comb through CVs. This means perfectly good candidates can go overlooked because they’re missing a certain phrase or keyword.

Using a recruiter can make life a lot easier for yourself. We can help optimise your CV and cut through the noise of the market – you’re essentially tapping into our network, and our existing relationships.

To find out more about how Rachel L’Estrange could support your talent strategy, reach out at RachL@hansonsearch.com