Case Study - Careers

From the Barber's Chair to Account Management - Dev's story

By Dev Chauhan/Published Date:24 July 2026

“I went from someone with no recruitment experience at all to helping manage one of the biggest clients at QCS.”

Dev spent over ten years as a barber and hairdresser before joining QCS Staffing in 2022. He started as a Delivery Executive, the candidate-facing side of recruitment, and has since moved into account management, where he now helps manage one of QCS’s largest client relationships, with a focus on the Danish market. His brother Suraj, a long-standing Business Development Lead at QCS, was the reason he ever considered the move at all.

The old career

Dev built a career behind the chair for more than a decade and he's clear about what he genuinely enjoyed: meeting new people every day, building relationships and maintaining them over time.

“A majority of it is making a client feel comfortable in the chair, having a conversation that's relatable, almost acting as a therapist,” he says. “You find that men open up massively when they're sitting in a barber's chair. I don't know why, but they feel comfortable in that environment to do it.”

There was a creative side too, with trends constantly shifting and a need to stay adaptable. But the role came with a physical toll that became harder to sustain. Dev was working six or seven days a week at times, standing for nine hours a day, with no real flexibility built in.

The tipping point

The catalyst was the news that he and his partner were expecting their first child. Dev and Megan had also just bought their first property. For most people, that combination might argue for stability rather than change. For Dev, it was the opposite.

“What better time and motivation to move into a new role than this,” he says. “When you're cutting hair, you have to be there to make money. You have to be physically doing it. With this, there’s more flexibility.”

The timing shaped more than just his decision to apply. On the morning of his final interview presentation, Megan had her first scan. Dev took a photo of the scan and included it at the end of his presentation, a small but telling sign of exactly what was riding on the opportunity.

“I think that's the only reason they hired me, to be fair,” he laughs. “They felt bad. But it really was the motivation behind it all. You can't mess up, really.”

Sales and negotiation had appealed to him since school, even if his only experience of it had been personal, haggling on insurance or utility bills. He'd considered car sales at one point. Recruitment wasn't something he'd actively pursued. His brother Suraj mentioned it, almost in passing and the idea grew from there.

Why QCS

Dev admits he had the same stereotype of recruitment that many people do. Slick, corporate, a bit Wall Street. He wasn't sure it would suit him. But knowing his brother was already there made it feel like a safer step into the unknown.

“If he's working there, it can't be all that bad, can it,” he says.

Not everyone around him agreed with the timing. His partner was supportive but thought he was, in his words, mad to make such a big change while expecting a baby and settling into a new mortgage. Even people interviewing him sensed it was an unusual moment to be switching careers entirely, though Dev suspects that worked in his favour. It signalled exactly how much he wanted to succeed. Suraj was the exception throughout. He knew the opportunity at QCS well enough to know his brother would be fine.

The Transition

Coming from a small barbershop team of three, Dev found the sheer scale of an office environment disorienting at first.

“I hadn't picked up a laptop since I was at school,” he says. “I had no idea what to do. It's the simplest things that a lot of people think are normal and I was wowed by the smallest of things.”

The structured induction made a real difference, particularly because his previous learning had always happened on the job rather than through formal training. Sitting down, listening, and actively absorbing information was a different muscle entirely.

Despite the scale of the change, Dev says he never doubted the decision itself.

What Transferred

“I think relationship building is the key. That's been my favourite thing to do, and it's a huge part of why QCS is so successful.”

The single biggest skill Dev brought with him was relationship-building, the very thing that made him good behind the chair. Building trust quickly, remembering details and maintaining long-term relationships with clients and candidates turned out to translate directly.

He's also developed a strong view on what sets QCS apart from other agencies he's encountered.

“I don't think there are many companies that do it like QCS in terms of the actual care and respect they give to candidates and to managers,” he says. “A lot of other agencies give a lot of respect to the managers but treat consultants a little less worthy. I don't think I'd ever go to another recruitment company if I left QCS, because it would be very hard to find somewhere like this.”

Who Helped Along the Way

Dev names two people as instrumental to his progression. Alex Evans got him properly set up as a Delivery Executive in his early days. When Alex went on maternity leave, Kriss Ford stepped in and pushed Dev further than he might have managed alone.

When Dev moved into sales, Meg became a key source of support, something that had actually started even while he was still a Delivery Executive.

“She always gave me a lot of information that others couldn't,” he says. “When I moved into sales, she really helped with my progression.”

Where He Is Now

Dev's day-to-day is split fairly evenly between client and candidate-facing work. He spends a large portion of his time speaking with clients, winning new business and maintaining one of QCS’s most significant accounts. His focus is specifically on the Danish market, which means continuously building his knowledge of how the country's compliance and hiring landscape works.

It's a far cry from being on his feet for nine hours straight.

“That's probably one of the hardest things about this job, if anything,” he jokes. “I hate sitting down.”

What he’s proud of

"The speed of my development. Going from someone with no experience at all to helping manage one of the biggest clients at QCS."

Dev’s day-to-day is split fairly evenly between client and candidate-facing work. He spends a large portion of his time speaking with clients, winning new business and maintaining one of QCS’s most significant accounts. His focus is specifically on the Danish market, which means continuously building his knowledge of how the country’s compliance and hiring landscape works.

It’s a far cry from being on his feet for nine hours straight. “That’s probably one of the hardest things about this job, if anything,” he jokes. “I hate sitting down.”

His advice

For anyone feeling stuck in a career but nervous about starting again, Dev’s advice is simple: talk to people who’ve been through it.

“I think it would definitely take a lot of stress off your mind if you spoke to people in similar situations,” he says.

He’s candid about how different life feels now compared to behind the chair, where conversations never really stopped and there was little space to switch off. At QCS, even though the role is still built around constant conversation, the day is broken up in a way his old job never was.

“For me and my family, it was the best decision I ever made,” he says.