Leaders at SThree — Olivier Kerckhove
At SThree, offering a career with purpose is essential. Our recruitment consultants change lives by finding ground-breaking roles for people and helping enterprises in the STEM market filling positions that are vital for their growth.
In the case of Real Life Sciences, our brand dedicated to the health and sciences sector, a career with purpose goes one step further. Our consultants enable projects that impact us all — they may work on the next pioneering therapy, deliver a digital device to control a medical condition, develop a life-extending drug or hire a talented doctor to save someone’s life.
Olivier Kerckhove, director at Real Life Sciences France and Benelux, is not just an inspiring manager for our teams in the region — he is a living example of the impact that our business has on people’s lives.
— Hello, Olivier 👋
Give us a short recap of your career
I graduated as an International Conference Interpreter English-Russian-French-Dutch after five years of University realising that I wanted to make a career in sales.
I started my career in the staffing industry when I arrived by utter coincidence to Computer Futures Brussels 16 years ago. Three years later, I moved to Paris to grow and lead Computer Futures in France. Later in 2012, I launched Real Pharma in Paris. In 2014 I was appointed Head of Benelux France for Real Belgium, France, and The Netherlands.
I’ve been with Real Life Sciences for 8 years, and over the years I’ve seen the amazing impact the people we represent have had on the life sciences industry and the treatments available. — Olivier
Could you share with us your most touching experience within the health and science industry?
When my son Jules who was three weeks old became seriously ill, I saw first hand how advances in the life sciences industry could change the outlook for a family.
Jules had a severe cold. As he was so small, we took him to the hospital where he stayed for weeks under observation. Eventually, doctors worked out his trachea was more than 90% compressed. They operated immediately, and we spent three months at the hospital while he recovered.
Thinking back about our journey, it was the heart surgeon and his team who saved little Jules’ life, and they were able to do their jobs to such a high standard thanks to the tools they use — many of which have been developed by companies we know well at Real Life Sciences.
How does your role of dad factor in your job?
Being a father ads so much more purpose to what you are doing, next to the fact that you work hard to provide stability and quality of life for your family. The desire to make your sons proud is a the core of everything I do.
Tell us more about Real Staffing
Real Staffing is a global leader in the provision of pharma, biotech, and medical devices recruitment services. We are one of the world’s most large pharma, biotech, and medical devices recruiters and have one of the most extensive networks of specialist recruiters globally. We aim to help companies of all sizes find the new employee or team they’re looking for and candidates to see the next step in their career.
How are people at Real?
Real Life Sciences is the coolest team out there. We have two offices in France (Paris and Lyon), one office in Brussels and one in Amsterdam. We are a team of about 60 People, and we have 250 people working on projects for us in the Life Sciences sector.
I am particularly proud of the culture of the team; it is one of the most diverse groups in the business. Nonetheless, we all have three things in common: we are passionate about what we do, we always strive to be as human and understanding as possible, and we always look forward to growing and improving which translates into excellent growth figures as we tripled the business in 4 years time.
What is #InspiredByYou by Real Staffing?
#InspiredByYou is the mindset at the core of everything we do. We continually speak to our clients and candidates to hear the stories that have impacted their lives and share their passion for the industry they work in.
Understanding our candidates’ motivations and the work that our clients are doing is core to placing the right people in the proper roles and contributing to the continued growth and development of the industry in which they work.
What would you say to future talent joining SThree?
I know that one day Jules will ask me what I do for a living. When he does, I’m going to tell him that I change people’s lives, by helping wonderful people find a new job to contribute to the development of new medicines and tools that are used by doctors and surgeons around the world. It might only be a small part of the life sciences industry, but I am honored to be a part of it. You could be part of it as well!
Join Olivier and start your own life-changing career in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg or Spain. Send your CV to a.duque@sthree.com or… 👉 Discover SThree’s open positions
