Vancouver has become a large city, but it is still a small community, especially in the technology and IT space.  Here, it’s not six degrees of separation anymore.  It’s more like two or three.  The Vancouver recruitment space is relationship-based.  You want to deal with people you know, like and trust.  I am fortunate to work with some pretty amazing people.  To that end, I’d like you all to get to know my colleague, Josh Bourke.

A few things that come to mind when I think about Josh include:

• Old soul
• Gets along with everyone
• Beer pong aficionado
• Can spout out random facts about animals
• Loves the Planet Earth documentary series
• Learning Jiu Jit Su
• Tall, so tall
• Intelligent
• Great dancer
• Holds passports to 4 different countries

Josh was named after U2’s “The Joshua Tree”; his grandmother used to go to the same church as Bono in Ireland.  His mother is Italian and his dad is Irish.  He grew up in England and decided to do his undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia where he was quite involved in the community.  He just became a Canadian citizen 3 years ago.

He is much younger than I am but we have more in common than one might realize.  He and I have had conversations about Phil Collins and 90s hip hop.  We both love tennis and Game of Thrones.  In fact, we have a Slack channel going in the office to discuss the show.  We both love the David Attenborough Planet Earth documentary series, although he is probably more obsessed with it than I am.  We are both competitive and hate to lose.  Apparently, his family won’t play Monopoly with him because of this trait!

I have a feeling that a lot of people feel that they have quite a bit in common with Josh though.  He gets along with pretty much everyone, is well rounded, and has a wide variety of interests.  I have to say that he is well-read and wise beyond his years.  Over the years, he has definitely been one of the most well-liked and well-respected individuals in our office.

He is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in, and he does it in a way that respects the other person’s opinion.  He is not afraid to tease someone when they’re being silly.  He is also extremely ethical.  All of his actions are done with integrity in mind.  He stands up for both his candidates and clients.

Josh handles both recruitment and client management for us at SIGnature Recruiting.  He has been an IT recruiter for us for the last 3 years, recently moved over to the account management side, and has been garnering some fans!  He recently started managing the Global Relay account for us.  I asked Steve Taylor, the Recruitment Specialist at Global Relay, for some comments on his experience with Josh and this is what he had to say:

I’ve never worked with a recruiter quite like Josh. Not only is he likable and entirely pleasant, he is easy to trust. His friendly demeanor is matched with great results, which are both timely and demonstrate his ability to listen to us. I like working with Josh because you get the sense that he’s committed to learning something from each and every encounter we have and then figures out how to apply that towards serving our needs even better in the future. I once threw him something that was outside his wheelhouse and he still delivered great results. Josh maintains a can-do attitude without over-promising. He’s a great guy to have in your corner!

We had asked a Systems Administrator who Josh had placed with one of our clients about his experience with Josh and he said:

I had the pleasure of working with Josh on finding a new IT position in Vancouver. I look back at the whole experience with great awe with regards to what happens when two competent people set out to work on a mutual beneficial goal. I consider our collaboration a shining example of how the IT recruitment business should work. I enjoyed the process and our interactions every step of the way.

From what I’ve observed, this is the approach he takes in every facet of his life.  I feel fortunate to work with someone like Josh Bourke and from the sounds of it, I’m not the only one who feels this way!

Written by: Rachel Shen