Stephen O'Brien

Specialist Area

Managing Director - Recruitment Solutions

My Advice

The saying Roy Keane made famous "fail to prepare - prepare to fail" is worth keeping in mind when beginning your search for a new career opportunity. We are here to help you along each step of the process from CV preparation right through to ensuring you are in the best possible position to succeed in an interview. An interview tip: When asked if you have any questions, a good question to ask is "what are your expectations of the person coming into the role and are there specific objectives you would like this person to achieve in the role"? This encourages the interviewers to tell you what they believe are the most important objectives in the role. Listen carefully to this information and if possible come back with examples as to why you feel you would suit the role based on this additional information.

My Background

Stephen joined Morgan McKinley in 2009 and began his career in the IT Recruitment Division in Cork delivering top tier technology talent into key global companies as well as rapid growth startups. After many years of building high performing and motivated teams to deliver great results, in 2021 Stephen moved into the role of Managing Director with responsibility for Morgan McKinley's Cork operations as well as the Supply Chain, Engineering and Life Science divisions on a national basis. He has since begun to scale Morgan McKinley's offering into Europe where our teams now deliver market leading talent in the Projects & Change and Life Science space.

Stephen is passionate about investing in people; his team of trusted advisory consultants are continuously evolving to meet the demands of a rapidly changing market and offer clients a competitive advantage through finding great people. Over the past thirteen years he has built a strong network of both clients and professionals along with in-depth knowledge of the local and national market. He holds a Bachelor of Business from CIT and a Bachelor of Business in recreation & leisure. Stephen is an avid rugby fan and has represented Ireland at college level and Munster at college and club level. He currently coaches the senior team with his local club, Old Christians RFC.