FEATURE
Fate – VAS Valuation Group ’ s chief operating officer and co-founder Gina May and compliance executive Dylan Johnson .
KICK START
How Dylan brushed off a broken leg setback to secure VAS Valuation Group career
WRITER : DAVE ROBSON PICTURE : TOM BANKS
Conventional interviews aren ’ t always the way VAS Valuation Group gets its staff . But going with first impressions , heart and feel , rather than ‘ the norm ’, has paid handsome dividends for the Middlesbrough-based valuations specialist .
This is , after all , a business that has employed brilliant people based on exceptional customer service in shops and the service industry and given them the training and experience to build a career . Take Dylan Johnson , for example . After his plans for a civil engineering career were tripped up by a broken leg , he ended up with two KickStart interviews in one morning – one for a draughtsman role and the other with VAS Valuation Group .
With his heart set on the former , Teesside University graduate Dylan , 25 , of Park End , freely admits he knew nothing about VAS when he entered the interview .
And yet , nine months on , he ’ s enthusiastically talking to Tees Business in the company boardroom alongside chief operating officer and co-founder Gina May . So what happened ? Dylan smiled : “ I ’ d just handed my dissertation in last May and was out with friends when I fell over near Albert Park and broke my leg . I was laid on the concrete floor for about an hour in agony and ended up in a metal brace for months .
“ The lack of mobility meant the job I had lined up fell by the wayside , so when I was fit enough to work the Jobcentre arranged two interviews , with the VAS one first .
“ I thought , ‘ I might as well do it ’, even though I hadn ’ t prepared .”
Taking up the story , Gina says : “ I asked him , ‘ Do you know what we do ?’ and he said , ‘ No ’. He said he did civil engineering and surveying , yet he didn ’ t know what we did .
“ As much as it put me off in one way , I loved his honesty . The story of his leg , he was a bright lad , he had warm , kind eyes – I knew he had drive and his head screwed on .
“ I ’ m a massive believer in fate , so I said to him , ‘ Would you like me to tell you what we do ? We work with surveyors and valuers – it could be up your street ’.
“ I told him , ‘ I guarantee that after six months you will still be here ’ and he is .
“ I wanted to take a chance on him because I thought it would be something he ’ d enjoy .”
And she ’ s been proven right . After being offered both jobs but choosing VAS , Dylan started in March as a compliance executive and has quickly progressed to a stage where he is reviewing valuers ’ reports , a role that requires knowledge and experience .
It ’ s a key task in the Group ’ s VAS Panel division , which has a strict quality control process so all valuations for lenders and brokers are right first time , every time .
Dylan said : “ It ’ s been great . I settled in quickly and found my footing – no pun intended .
“ It ’ s a great environment – all the people are lovely . When companies say they ’ re like a family , VAS genuinely is like one big family . Everybody supports each other and looks after each other .”
And Dylan ’ s story , says Gina , is the perfect example of why a hunch , or spotting someone with that ‘ spark ’, is what often drives VAS Valuation Group ’ s recruitment policy .
She said : “ If someone can turn my frown upside down , it ’ s a good sign .
“ Most people who start with us don ’ t have a clue what we do but I prefer that in a way – it ’ s easier to train them if we ’ re starting from scratch . It was a bit different with Dylan , though , because he knew what surveying is .”
And whether they ’ re officially recruiting or not , Gina added : “ I ’ m always looking for new people because you never know what ’ s around the corner .”
For information about potentially working at VAS Group , email info @ vas-group . co . uk .
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