Xist4 I.T. Recruitment

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Xist4 I.T. Recruitment 📊 Data, Tech & Leadership Recruitment | BI • Data • Cyber • Leadership | Fintech • Greentech • Culture | Human-Focused. Results-Driven.

After my post on Monday about the ASOS hack, I thought I'd better do my bit. 😂I've got three permanent roles, and all of...
22/10/2026

After my post on Monday about the ASOS hack, I thought I'd better do my bit. 😂

I've got three permanent roles, and all of them need active eDV clearance.

No, I'm not claiming these three people could have saved ASOS. That would be a rather ambitious job description.

But the point stands. The hackers got in by fooling one person. Security is a people job.

The roles are in:
Systems engineering.
Business analysis.
Project delivery.

It's a small consultancy working with UK Government and regulated sectors. No giant org chart here. You own your work, start to finish, and people can see what you've delivered.

The roles are on customer sites four days a week, so you'll need to be within reach of the South West or West Midlands.

Active eDV only. If you've got it, you know what these jobs ask of you.

Know someone who'd be a good fit? Send me a message, or tag them below. A good word from a friend goes a long way.

Hackers sent me a ransom note.I ignored it.A notification popped up from the ASOS app and I assumed it was another sale....
19/10/2026

Hackers sent me a ransom note.

I ignored it.

A notification popped up from the ASOS app and I assumed it was another sale. Turns out hackers had hijacked the app to threaten the company. All that effort, and I gave it the look I'd give Del Boy flogging a dodgy watch down Peckham market.

Sorry, mate. Thought you were selling trainers.

Even crooks are struggling to get our attention these days.

Maybe it's a sign. Back to the high street for me. Then I remembered M&S and the Co-op got hacked too. Lawd have mercy.

But here's how they got in.

ASOS says someone posed as a trusted contact and got an employee's login details. One convincing approach, and now some customers' names and contact details may have been taken. Mine might be among them.

Firewalls don't answer the phone. People do.

So it comes down to who you hire, how you train them, and whether they feel safe saying "hang on, let me check." Nobody should feel daft for double-checking.

Has anyone on your team ever stopped a dodgy request just by asking a question? I'd love to hear about it.

A recruiter who says yes to every brief isn't doing you a favour.Take the job from my last post.Stop the attacks. Pass t...
15/10/2026

A recruiter who says yes to every brief isn't doing you a favour.

Take the job from my last post.

Stop the attacks. Pass the audits. Run the security team. Also be the security team.

Plenty of agencies will take that brief and say:

"Leave it with me."

Six weeks later, you've had three CVs.

None fit.

Then the agency goes quiet. They've found something easier to fill.

When I see a brief like that, I push back.

Not because it can't be done.

Because pretending it's straightforward helps nobody.

I ask three things.

What do you need on day one?

What can wait six months?

What can a good person learn once they're in?

More often than not, the answers change the job.

The job nobody could fill becomes one somebody can.

That's not me being awkward.

That's the bit of recruitment most people skip.

When did a recruiter last push back on your brief?

Wanted:One person.To do two people's jobs.The job:Stop the attacks.Pass the audits.Run the security team. Also be the se...
12/10/2026

Wanted:

One person.

To do two people's jobs.

The job:
Stop the attacks.
Pass the audits.
Run the security team. Also be the security team.

Salary: one.

When I see a brief like this, I tell the client:

"You want B.A. Baracus and Murdock from The A-Team."

In the same person.

Depending on their age, that either lands or gets a blank look.

So. One won't get on a plane. The other flies it.

As B.A. might say, I pity the fool who applies.

Nobody writes a job like this on purpose.

Someone leaves and isn't replaced. The work has to go somewhere. So it goes into the brief.

Then comes the line:

"We can't find anyone."

Well, no.

Read the brief again. Count the jobs.

If you get to two, hire two.

Or pick the one you can't live without.

Ever been the one person doing two jobs?

Recruitment has the wrong scoreboard.Most agencies count starts.Offer accepted. Invoice sent. Move on.I get why. It is c...
15/07/2026

Recruitment has the wrong scoreboard.

Most agencies count starts.

Offer accepted. Invoice sent. Move on.

I get why. It is clean. It is easy to measure. It keeps the lights on.

A candidate I placed many years ago popped up recently. I hadn’t said hello in a while, so I did.

We had a lovely catch-up. She is flying, which was brilliant to hear.

Who else haven’t I spoken to in some time, and how are they getting on?

So I have spent the last week or two getting back in touch with hiring managers and candidates I had lost touch with.

Many of the people I placed are still with the same companies, in a few cases more than 10 years later.

Not the same jobs.

Bigger jobs.

Jobs where the decisions carry more weight.

Some have become part of the furniture, in the best possible way.

And, yes, I had lost touch with some of them. That bit is on me.

Seeing where they are now was a useful reminder.

The real result is not the start date.

It is whether the hire still makes sense years later.

Some of them are now the people making the hiring decisions.

Pay review season is when recruiters get very busy.One week, staff ignore LinkedIn messages.Next week:“Hi, yes, open to ...
02/06/2026

Pay review season is when recruiters get very busy.

One week, staff ignore LinkedIn messages.

Next week:

“Hi, yes, open to hearing more.”

Life is expensive.

Food. Petrol. Mortgages. Rent. Kids’ clubs.

By the time you’ve paid for Saturday football and swimming, the child should come home with a diploma.

Not every company can fix pay right now. Budgets are real.

Fine.

Then say that. Plainly.

People can handle a straight answer.

They rarely handle being fobbed off.

And when people feel undervalued, recruiters get very busy.

Not because we create the problem.

Because someone finally asks them what they’re worth.

What should companies do differently during review season?

Five things companies say.What they usually mean.“It’s a blank canvas.”Nobody has agreed what good looks like.“It’s fast...
28/05/2026

Five things companies say.

What they usually mean.

“It’s a blank canvas.”
Nobody has agreed what good looks like.

“It’s fast-paced.”
Planning is poor, so everything is urgent.

“You’ll have lots of autonomy.”
Support is thin and expectations are vague.

“The culture is like a family.”
Work bleeds into everything.

“There’s loads of opportunity.”
The path exists in theory, not in practice.

None of these are automatic red flags.

But they do need an honest conversation before the offer.

Not a surprise after day one.

The right candidate will not walk away from the truth.

The wrong fit will.

Which one have you heard before — and did it turn out to be true?

Most retention problems started before day one.The role was oversold.The culture was dressed up.The hard truths stayed u...
26/05/2026

Most retention problems started before day one.

The role was oversold.
The culture was dressed up.
The hard truths stayed unsaid.

Six months later:

“They weren’t the right fit.”

Or maybe they were sold a job that did not exist.

That is not a retention problem.

That is a hiring problem with a delayed invoice.

People rarely leave the job they were told about.

They leave the one they actually got.

Where does it usually go wrong in your experience: the hire, the role, or the honesty?

The brief said Java. But the real problem was risk.That is what stood out.A Principal Java Engineer had resigned in the ...
14/05/2026

The brief said Java. But the real problem was risk.

That is what stood out.

A Principal Java Engineer had resigned in the middle of a major project.

To put it mildly, nobody was thrilled.

So yes, they needed someone strong in Java.

But that was not the full story.

They needed someone who could walk into a live payments platform, understand what was going on, support the team, and make good decisions when pressure kicked in.

That is not just a technical hire.

That is a trust hire.

And I think this is where a lot of recruitment sounds too simple.

“Find us a good Java engineer.”

But what does good actually mean here?

Good under pressure?
Good with architecture?
Good with senior engineers?
Good in a regulated payments environment?
Good when delivery cannot slip?

At Xist4, that is the part we care about.

The bit behind the job title.

Because that is usually where the real search starts.

12/05/2026

When a Principal Java Engineer leaves in the middle of a major project, the vacancy is only part of the problem.

We recently supported a London payments firm facing this exact situation.

On paper, they needed a replacement.

In reality, they needed someone who could step into a live platform, improve the architecture, support the team, and make strong decisions under pressure.

In payments, uptime, resilience, and compliance all matter.

This is why senior tech hiring is not just about technical skill. It is about judgment, timing, delivery, and risk.

Watch the video to see what was really at stake.

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Bristol
BS483HN

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441179244408

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