Sean Mayzes (VC'11)

Sean Mayzes (VC’11), co-founder of AMD Recruitment, was a VC football star athlete. For him, winning the Provincial Championship with the Fighting Irish in 2010 was one of his most memorable VC adventures. After his time at VC, Sean followed his passion by going to Montreal on a football scholarship and played for Concordia University. Not only is Sean an outstanding athlete and a North Shore environmentalist, he also is a people-oriented entrepreneur.

Prior to launching AMD Recruitment, Sean worked for two of the worlds premier recruiting firms - Michael Page and Robert Half. It was at Robert Half where he met his now business partner, Richard Anstee. Richard and Sean are like a dynamic duo – Sean’s experience launching a residential construction and development desk in Toronto, coupled with Richard’s extensive engineering and financial services background created the perfect opportunity to launch a sector focused business!

What was the transition like from working in corporate to starting your own business?

Like any major change, I’d be a fool if I wasn’t nervous, but I was quietly confident. Once the decision was made, it was time to get the ball rolling; we couldn’t have foreseen the pace with which the idea took off!

As much as I appreciate the opportunities that working for the companies above provided me, they have their limitations in terms of how my business partner and I feel candidates and companies should be serviced within our space.

It is no secret that retention of employees within the recruitment field is a genuine issue. By addressing this head on and viewing it through a new lens, we believe that there is a fantastic potential to increase the level of service expected of our profession.

What steps did you take to establish AMD Recruitment?  

This business was founded on the ethos of being more focused on relationship management than recruitment. The technical services space is one that demands not only a technical understanding of the market but also representatives that truly align with the interests and values of those that they deal with. Combining not only our backgrounds but also our networks is what allowed us to establish this company. Through my network we were able to execute exclusive recruitment partnerships with the Northwest Industries Association (formerly the BC Alliance of Manufacturing) as well as the BC- Building Supply Industry Association. These two associations alone are compromised of over 13 000 businesses and 240 000+ employees, with another partnership coming in a few months times at the National Level. It is has been a rollercoaster ride but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

What is something that you’d like to say to our graduates?

I am definitely not where I thought I would be when I was in high school. I could never have imagined that I’d be in the recruiting business, let alone running my own company. I would say it’s important to branch out and acquire as many skills as you can. It is not what you know but who you know and that starts now!