ukrecruiter newsletter

ukrecruiter newsletter - issues 101 to 110

Issue 101	Issue 102	Issue 103	Issue 104	Issue 105
Issue 106	Issue 107	Issue 108	Issue 109	Issue 110
Issue 111	Issue 112	Issue 113	Issue 114	Issue 115
Issue 116	Issue 117	Issue 118	Issue 119	Issue 120

Issue 101 - 15th January 2003

Welcome to issue 101 of the ukrecruiter newsletter

Well done to all of you who won a Christmas gift in our last issue and especially to Jenny Farrell of Cyren Ltd who won the Powerboat ride. Some of the other winners are named at www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/gifts.htm. We'll be trying to organise more giveaways this year to thank you all for reading the newsletter!

CONTENTS

Reviewed Site (ez2www - metasearch engine)

Multiple Job Board Posting Tools Review (AdCourier from Broadbean by David Craig)

CV Database Review (CV-Library, by James Chapman)

Researcher's Tip (Does that exact candidate really exist?)

Article (Writing OnLine Job Adverts by Dan McGuire)

Don't Miss This (Discount from The Recruitment Academy - NORAS Results Coming Soon - Recruitment with NLP Workshop - 30th January Networking Event - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum - Get rewarded for recommending contractors)

*****REVIEWED SITE*****

http://ez2www.com/

ez2www is a metasearch engine that passes your search query to AltaVista, AlltheWeb, Yahoo, MSN, Google and a number of other search engines and combines the output into one list of results.

The results are ranked and displayed according to how closely they match the search criteria. A useful feature is the clustered results to the side of the screen which can help if you've entered very broad search terms and operates like a list of sub-categories. A summary at the bottom of the results page shows how many results each search engine has reported and how many of these ez2www has retrieved.

In addition there is a directory that you can browse and separate metasearch engines for searching for news, auctions, downloads, encyclopaedias, forums, images and MP3 files.

This is useful metasearch tool, worth considering if your usual search engine isn't giving you the results you are looking for.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Make your New Year's Resolutions to ..........

.......Get a head start on your competition .......Protect and maximise your greatest assets .......Improve your margins ......Help your Consultants do their jobs better .......Make Timesheet processing a breeze .......Throw away all your paper documents .......................................................You can with Talisman

To find out more about how we can help YOU keep YOUR New Year's Resolutions, call Helen at:

Beacon on 01582 478888 or email helen.doherty@recruitment-software.net

========================

*****MULTIPLE JOB BOARD POSTING TOOLS, AdCourier, BY DAVID CRAIG *****

AdCourier from Broadbean (http://www.broadbean.co.uk)

What they say? Designed by recruitment professionals for recruitment professionals, AdCourier is the vacancy broadcasting system from Broadbean Technology that provides instant distribution of your vacancies to all major job search engines, and your own web site.

Contact Details: Dan McGuire, dan@broadbean.co.uk, 020 7987 6900 Costs: Starts from £50 per month with no yearly contracts.

Review: The navigation is quite straightforward. You only need to take a 10-minute demo to see how quick and easy it is to use. After all, the prime objective of using a multiple job board system is for you and your staff to save time. I would estimate that after setting the system up, it would take you approx two minutes to post a job.

Features include: Dynamically generated forms (based only on the sites you select), pre-filling (forms automatically include your contact details), budget control (allocating your staff a set amount of job postings), timed vacancies (delivering your vacancies at a predefined time), rebroadcast (where you can repost and edit a previously sent vacancy), cancellation, (where you can cancel scheduled postings), and spell checker (I don't think recruiters need this - do they?!)

According to broadbean, making sure all the relevant data is posted correctly onto the job boards is only half the battle when it comes to getting the most out of online recruitment. They state that the way the jobs are written is equally important (see Dan's article on writing job ads in this issue of the newsletter) and I have to agree with them - job seekers do not search for 'fantastic job opportunity at funky ad agency in the West Midlands'.

Summary: As far as I can tell broadbean have approached the multiple job posting market with three distinct ideas in mind: 1. simplicity for recruiters 2. optimising the job postings and 3. customer service. So the idea is that "nothing is a hassle" - which happens to be their motto!

I would very much like to hear what you think through the discussion forum: http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl

This article was written by David Craig of Fox Productions (http://www.foxproductions.co.uk)

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

We will take care of your testing needs - new service from UK Recruiter

We can: * Determine which psychometric and aptitude tests are most appropriate for your needs * Conduct the tests either via the internet or face to face at your premises * Score the tests against relevant normative groups * Give full written and verbal feedback

Call Louise on 01635 254881 or visit www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/tests.htm

========================

*****CV DATABASE REVIEW - CV-LIBRARY, BY JAMES CHAPMAN*****

http://www.CV-Library.co.uk

- Sectors: Generalist, Subdivided into 94 Sectors. - Target candidate level: Any and All - Site Launched: October 2000 - Number of CV's held: c53,000 of which c42,000 from last 6 months - Other CV Facts: 34% IT; 12% Telecoms; 17% Management; 14% Engineering

Approximately two thirds of the candidates are looking for permanent employment, the rest are seeking contract work.

Geographic split of candidates: Virtually all are UK based and are allowed to work here.

Site Marketing: Currently mostly online advertising through 'pay per click' schemes, though they have run advertising campaigns in local and national newspapers.

How to Subscribe: Through the site using a credit card or by using their 'Call Me' facility and they will contact you within an hour.

Feedback after registering: All clients are called once a month by phone.

How is the database cleaned?: Candidates are emailed after 6 months to remind them to update or remove their CV - though candidates rarely remove their details.

Costs: Unlimited job posting and CV viewing are charged at £40 per month or £400 per annum.

Who's in charge?: Lee Biggins and Brian Wakem whose respective backgrounds are Recruitment and IT.

Summary: CV-Library has a lot going for it. Over the past two years they have grown the company organically and have developed the site, learning by their mistakes. For example they offered a CV database hosting service on behalf of their clients, which didn't quite take off.

Things I liked were the CV Watchdog, which delivers candidates matching saved searches to your desktop, as they are posted to the system. Additionally they will soon be piloting a jobs by text message to candidates, which should mean greater site visits and CV registrations.

Areas I didn't like included the inability to download CV's (you can only view them) and overly simplistic database searches, making candidates hard to find.

Though the above points are relevant, it is important to note what this site is really about - access to 42,000 cross-sector CV's plus unlimited job postings for £40 per month.

The site is basic, but I am sure it will get better as their client base increases.

Overall marks out of ten: 7

Recommendation: Try it for a month - for the number of CV's the cost is inconsequential.

James Chapman is the MD of Business Research Solutions - a London based Recruitment Research firm offering cross sector candidate identification and approach. Further details can be found at their web site www.brsglobal.com or by calling 0870 748 4110.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

PlanetRecruit - finding candidates faster!

The new PlanetRecruit launches on November 1st - faster more accurate searching and time-saving, intelligent auto-matching of candidates to your jobs. Still the only major online recruitment site to serve recruitment agencies exclusively.

For a free trial visit http://www.planetrecruit.com/agency/

========================

*****RESEARCHER'S TIP NUMBER SIX, BY CHRIS MALCOLM, DEANSA*****

Once a month we give a quick tip on managing a successful research project.

Question 6 Does that exact candidate really exist?

Let's remember rule number 1. To research an area one must know and understand how that area works. If you do have a good understanding then ask yourself the question "is my client being reasonable in his expectations?" Particularly in fast evolving industries where the skill sets are being redefined almost daily, and if your client is running ahead of the pack, he may be asking for a skill set that he requires BUT one which may not yet have an available pool of talent. It is your responsibility doing the research to point out to your client that properly trained or experienced talent does not yet exist; in the case of competitors they recognise this fact and are in the process of training staff to fill this particular void and; you must be able to give an estimate of the time lapse before your client will be able to buy this talent "off the shelf".

deAnsa is a research company for headhunters, executive search consultants and recruitment professionals who require target specific research to find the right candidates on a worldwide basis. They can be contacted on +44 (0) 7074 449 449 or by e-mail at enquiries@deansa.com.

*****ARTICLE - WRITING ONLINE JOB ADVERTS BY DAN MCGUIRE*****

Before Christmas Dan McGuire of Broadbean started giving his tips on writing online job adverts. He continues...

In the last two issues I addressed some things to think about before writing your ad. This week I am going to look at some key factors to remember whilst actually writing your advert.

Firstly, let's begin with the basics. Some of these points may seem obvious but are the most common errors.

A shocking amount of ads contain spelling mistakes. Remember that an advert is a written communication. Would you send a letter to a client that contained spelling mistakes?

Start talking directly to your target audience. Use words like 'You' and 'Yours'.

Never use abbreviations unless they are universally recognised in your industry.

Always remember how important it is to combine proficient writing with optimal keyword inclusion to achieve the best response.

Although you can use up to 2500 characters on some job boards, some only search the first 250 characters of the job description, so it is essential to mention the keywords in the first couple of lines. Information about the company can come later.

You should always open your ad with something catchy. Candidates tire of reading "My client is a..." or "This market leading..."

A cracking opening line, followed swiftly by some keywords (you will know which ones to put if you have done your research) will mean your ad appears on many more searches and is more likely to be read in its entirety.

Try and think of something original, or even humorous, but remember to keep it professional. Over familiarity is as much of a turn off as a boring or poorly written ad.

It also helps to have an interesting title. Include as much information as possible in your title as this is the first thing potential candidates will see. A combination of job title, location and salary plus possibly industry sector is a good mix. Also, some job boards search on the job title field, so make sure what you include here is relevant.

In the salary field, you have an opportunity to really sell your job from a financial point of view. Include salary, commission, bonus, car/allowance, pension and any other benefits that you can. Not all job boards accept all of this information but it is important to take the opportunity on the ones that do.

Finally, check your contact details. If the email address is wrong then your responses won't get through. If your number is wrong then candidates may not be bothered to call 192 and instead skip to the next ad.

Hopefully, this will have given you a good overview of what to do and what not to do when writing your ads. Most of it is very basic but, as with most things, it is so often the basics that are overlooked.

Dan McGuire is Sales Director at Broadbean Technology. You can reach Dan on 020 7987 6900 or dan@broadbean.co.uk

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

New Business Sales Seminar

January 24th 2003

Call David at koach on 07960 167702 or email david@koach.net or visit the koach website for more details: http://www.koach.net. These seminars do sell out so book early!

=====================

****DON'T MISS THIS****

£50 OFF TRAINING WITH THE RECRUITMENT ACADEMY

The Recruitment Academy are offering UK Recruiter subscribers a £50 discount on their upcoming training seminars. This discount applies to any 2 day seminar running up to and including the 11th February. In order to qualify please email offer@therecruitmentacademy.com or alternatively call Sefton Owens at The Recruitment Academy on 08702 400994.

JANUARY 20TH, NORAS RESULTS COMING SOON

The results of NORAS Winter 2003 will be published on January 20th and are completely free to download. NORAS Winter 2003 features information on the users of 11 of the UK's leading recruitment sites and includes new data on the motivations of job seekers when visiting online recruitment sites, activities performed on job boards and compares online recruitment to traditional job seeking methods. For more information please see the next newsletter on 29th January or visit www.enhancemedia.co.uk

JANUARY 23RD, FREE RECRUITMENT WITH NLP WORKSHOP, LONDON

There is a "Recruitment with NLP" event being hosted by "The Skills Network." On Thursday January 23rd at the BT Holborn Centre. The event is a 2- hour workshop (18:00 until 20:00) exploring the application of NLP to recruitment. The event is sponsored by BT and is free to all delegates. The speaker is John Carrington. More information can be found at www.theskillsnetwork.com/

JANUARY 30TH, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON

Continuing from our success last year with The Recruiters Network we have our first event on the 30th January. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. If you've not made it to an event yet you can see photos from previous ones at our website (http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk ). We've got events lined up every month this year - so please register at the site if you want to come along.

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?

Another launch last year was the UK Recruiter discussion forum - http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl. Current topics on the site include "Too many job boards?", good recruitment software, and a discussion on charging candidates' to use online recruitment tools. Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

GET REWARDED FOR RECOMMENDING CONTRACTORS

IT Recruiters can be rewarded for recommending contractors to Prosperity4. For every contractor referred by you who signs up with Prosperity4 on "standard terms" you can choose between:£100 Cash; 2 Return flight tickets to Dublin; a golf day for two at Brocket Hall and a Red Letter Day (SAS training, Ferrari Driving, sky dives). Prosperity4 "removes the headache of IR35" and is an Inland revenue approved package. Visit www.prosperity4.com/agency.asp to sign up for the contractor referral scheme.

Issue 102 - 29th January 2003

Welcome to issue 102 of the ukrecruiter newsletter

I'd like some feedback from you all. We're thinking of sending the newsletter once a week rather than once a fortnight. Basically we'll split the fortnightly newsletter in half so that over the period of a fortnight you'll have a similar amount of content - but just delivered in more manageable chunks. Please either email me your thoughts or complete our online survey at http://64.73.24.48/s.asp?u=97980165216

CONTENTS

Reviewed Site (SurveyMonkey)

Article (National Online Recruitment Audience Survey Summary by Tim Elkington)

Psychometrics Review (CAL Online from Criterion Partnership by Bill Boorman)

CV Database Review (Monster, by James Chapman)

Article (Writing OnLine Job Adverts by Dan McGuire)

Don't Miss This (Recruiter Awards for Excellence - Top100 UK Online Recruitment Sites Report 2003 - NORAS Report - 27th February Networking Event - Discount on Recruiter Training - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)

Subscription Form

*****REVIEWED SITE*****

http://www.surveymonkey.com

You can create online surveys using this tool. Whilst there are paid for services available from SurveyMonkey you can also get free basic subscription. With the free subscription you can create a survey with up to 10 questions and collect up to 100 responses. The actual creation of the survey is very simple. You can select from over a dozen different types of questions (including multiple choice and drop down menus). There are a number of different colour schemes available to help you personalise the questionnaire and you can change nearly all the "standard" wording on the questionnaire (ie, instead of a "back" button you may wish it to say "go back"). Your clients/candidates/customers can complete the survey by clicking on a unique URL you will be provided with (although as you can see from the one I've used above - http://64.73.24.48/s.asp?u=97980165216 - it's not a very "neat" URL). You can view the results online as graphs and charts and if you want the data can be downloaded to Excel so you can create any additional charts you may need.

A nice easy tool and worth considering the free service for small surveys.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Looking to start the new year with a new job?

GoJobsite has thousands of vacancies for UK professionals seeking a new career within the recruitment industry. Click on the link below to search for the latest vacancies suitable for you, or register to receive the latest jobs in your inbox everyday.

http://www.gojobsite.co.uk/cgi-bin/campaign.cgi?tid=3602

========================

NATIONAL ONLINE RECRUITMENT AUDIENCE SURVEY - SUMMARY BY TIM ELKINGTON

The National Online Recruitment Audience Survey (NORAS) is the UK's leading source of information on the audiences of UK job boards. 11 online recruitment sites participated in the latest wave of NORAS that included new information on the motivations of users for visiting job boards and compared online and offline media for the first time.

The results of NORAS show that online job seekers are an attractive target audience for recruiters. The average user of a generic online recruitment site is aged 33 and has 12 years work experience since leaving full time education. NORAS also shows that online job seekers will visit an average of five different sites when looking for a job.

The NORAS results are most useful when they are used to differentiate job boards. This process can provide recruiters with hard evidence as to which job board has the best target audience for specific recruitment projects. Choosing the job board with the most appropriate audience means that you'll receive a better response from more appropriate candidates and will waste less time processing irrelevant applications.

8 of the 11 sites participating in NORAS also submitted an Electronic ABC audited Unique User figure. This figure shows the number of different people that visit a site in one calendar month. Combing these Unique User figures with the demographic data gathered through NORAS can show you the approximate size of audience you can expect to get your message to through the job boards in NORAS. For example PlanetRecruit has 238,564 Unique Users, of which 31% work in an IT role - giving you an overall audience of approximately 74,000 IT professionals. This compares to the 65,000 IT professionals offered by Fish4Jobs, 14,000 through PeopleBank, 75,000 through Total Jobs or 59,000 by Workthing.

Alternatively recruiters may be wishing to target candidates living in Manchester or the Northwest. NORAS shows that Fish4Jobs have approximately 131,000 users living in the Granada TV region, PeopleBank have 11,000, PlanetRecruit 19,000, Total Jobs 50,000 and Workthing approximately 38,000.

In addition to the generic sites discussed above, six specialist sites also participated in NORAS - Anderselite, AviationJobSearch, HotRecruit, Jobs AC, JobsGoPublic and Prospects. NORAS confirms the strengths of these sites and shows that recruiters can attract candidates with vary specific profiles via specialist sites. The specialist sites participating in NORAS represent a wide variety of candidates, for example the average salary of users of Anderselite is £31,500 while the average salary of Prospects' users, who are primarily students and graduates, is £14,345.

All of the separate pieces of data in NORAS can be combined. It is by drilling down into the data in this way that recruiters can most accurately assess which job board is best placed to assist with specific recruitment projects. For example NORAS can show you which site you should use in order to target those earning over £50,000 living in the Midlands or which site you should advertise with in order to attract part time administration professionals with over five years experience.

The full NORAS results booklet contains over 30 tables comparing the users of the UK's leading online recruitment sites. Please email noras@enhancemedia.co.uk to obtain your free copy of the booklet or for more information regarding NORAS.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Monster.co.uk - POST A JOB BY CREDIT CARD

* Fast - your job advert will be live in 1-2 hours! * Simple - post your jobs in minutes anytime! * Great value - online for 60 days for £250! * No fuss - only online, no sales people to talk to!

With over 1.2 million unique visits per month and over half a million CVs Monster.co.uk is the leading UK online recruitment site for employers and jobseekers.

Click www.monster.co.uk/ukrecruiter/ to POST A JOB now!

========================

*****PSYCHOMETRIC REVIEW - CAL ONLINE FROM CRITERION PARTNERSHIP, BILL BOORMAN*****

This week I'm going to review the CAL personality profile. The introduction to the final report raises some important points when considering the use of personality profiling. Firstly, personality is not fixed. It may vary over time and change through training or development or may simply vary depending on situations or current emotional state. The second point is that there are no rights or wrongs - the scores do not measure ability, skills, capability or competency they are merely indications of preferences or typical styles of behaviour. Finally, whilst good personality questionnaires are fairly reliable they are not infallible; the profiles are intended to clarify the respondents self perception and as such the resulting report comments on how they perceive themselves rather than possibly how they are perceived by others. These points provide valuable guidelines when selecting any personality profile and those tests that I have completed have indicated that the assessment method that provides the best results are those that incorporate a number of profiles completed by other observers who know the respondent.

Product Name: CAL Online

Company Name: Criterion Partnership Ltd

Website Address: www.cal-online.co.uk

Contact Details: Alan Redman, 01273 691199, alan@criterionpartnership.co.uk

Cost: Full reports cost between £16 and £24 depending on the number of scales included in the questionnaire. Strucutred interview questions report is £10.

Applications: Selection, development, career counselling and teambuilding.

What differentiates the CAL report from others is the ability to select the scales that you would like to include in the questionnaire. So as a recruiter this allows you to focus on the key competencies or attributes for the role.

The test itself took about 20 minutes to complete and involved ranking a number of statements against a 5 point rating scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The test was easy to complete and the screens were simple to navigate making it pretty easy to use remotely and requiring little further external advice. My report, which was produced instantly, gave a breakdown of interpersonal style, thinking style, emotional style, motivation and cultural fit. The report was 23 pages long. I felt the report was reasonably accurate although there were elements that differed significantly from other personality profiles I've completed. Although if used correctly would have prompted discussion on some useful subjects. As I've mentioned previously I find the best use of personality profiles is an aid to the interview process by submitting the report to the candidate prior to the interview and asking them to discuss those areas they strongly agree or disagree with you get a good picture of the candidate and can push areas of discomfort which the candidate may otherwise wish to hide. This would certainly be true in the case of this report, however, given that BPS level B status is required a trianed practitioner would have to give initial feedback.

The report also produces a graphical chart that explains how the comments and areas for discussion have been reached and make the report more understandable in its interpretation.

I found the profile to be pretty useful, especially as an interview aid and at between £8 and £34 to produce it is good value.

Bill Boorman is National Training Manager for Prime Time Recruitment (http://www.primetime.co.uk) and will be reviewing more psychometric test in future newsletters.

Bill is running the London Marathon in April for Round Table Childrens Wish. If you'd like to sponsor him please contact him via bill.boorman@primetime.co.uk

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

PlanetRecruit - finding candidates faster!

For a free trial visit http://www.planetrecruit.com/agency/

========================

*****CV DATABASE REVIEW - MONSTER, BY JAMES CHAPMAN*****

http://www.monster.co.uk

Sectors: Generalist, sub-divided into 42 sectors Target candidate level: "First job to last. Graduate to Managing Director" Site Launched: 1996 in the UK (1994 in the USA) Number of CV's held: c557,000 Other CV Facts: 22% IT; 7% Admin; 6% Marketing; 5% Engineering; 4% Sales; 4% Retail; 3% Accounting; 3% Call Centre. 85% are seeking Permanent jobs, 15% Contract. Geographic split of candidates: 92% in the UK, mostly based in the South East / Midlands.

How to Subscribe: Via the site or by calling 0800 169 5015. The service is supplied for Recruitment Agencies and end Employers alike.

How is the database cleaned?: As long as candidates log into the site once a year, their CV's stay current.

Costs: £8,000 per annum or £1,000 per month for unlimited access to the database. This does not include job posting.

Who's in charge?: Joe Slavin, Managing Director, Monster.co.uk, ran Referral Networks and prior to that worked in the Advertising and Communications division for TMP Worldwide. Denis Gaynor, Product Director - worked for Monster.com in the US during its initial launch and growth. Prior to that he worked in marketing for Ernst & Young.

Summary: I liked the site. The technology behind it seems robust and well thought out. You can conduct a general search and then drill down to the candidates you want. When you have found the candidates you are looking for you can save them and add to the list at a later stage. If you want to contact the candidates en-masse there is a bulk emailing facility on site, which you can set to merge with their name and the date so each contact looks personal to the recipient. Additionally there is a 'Search Agent' that will notify you of newly received candidates that match your search criteria.

Candidates also have the option of keeping their details confidential. Their work experience can be seen and they can still be contacted through a private Monster email account. 20% of candidates choose to do this.

One negative point that I did note is that CV's cannot be added as Word documents and are only sent to recruiters in text format. It must take an age for recruiters to put them in Word format before sending to clients, however I am assured by Monster that this will soon be remedied.

My biggest and only real concern about the site was whether it is value for money. Monster have statistics on the competition, which generally show that the annual cost per CV on Monster is less with them - i.e. Cost per annum / Total CV's held = cost per CV. This equation works very well for them, but they use the entire 550,000 CV figure.

Using Monster's figure of 5,500 new CV's per week, they get 286,000 new CV's per year. Monster has the most lenient criteria for including people in their ½ million figure - if a candidate has logged into their account within the past 12 months they are counted. This is far less stringent than the majority of their competition and thus it will look like Monster holds far more useful CV's than they do.

The figure of 286,000 new CV's per annum doesn't take into account the 20% of candidates who choose to stay anonymous, nor the further 28% who list themselves as not actively looking for work.

Bearing the above in mind, the number of CV's relevant to you and available on the site may not stack up as well as it had first seemed against the cost of accessing them.

Overall marks out of ten: 7

Recommendation: A monster, value for money site, or all smoke and mirrors with a high price tag? To be honest I'm not sure, but with no free trials, it will cost you at least a grand to decide for yourself.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WebSalvo.com - Taking the stress out of Recruitment Advertising.

WebSalvo.com is an innovative web based tool, which allows simultaneous posting of job vacancy details to multiple internet sites. With a host of features, such as, automated candidate response and posting allocation facility, WebSalvo.com saves time and money.

Launching a new key information tool, it now enables you to proactively manage individual advertising campaigns.

For more information or an online demonstration call Chris Troth on 0870 241 7234, or chris.troth@websalvo.com

=====================

*****ARTICLE - WRITING ONLINE JOB ADVERTS BY DAN MCGUIRE*****

In previous issues of the newsletter Dan McGuire of Broadbean has been giving tips on writing online job adverts. He continues...

So, we've looked at what to think about before you write an ad, including the legal side, and you've also researched which boards you're going to post to. You've written the ad and you're about to post it. Here are a few points to consider just before you hit the send button:

Is the ad written in a positive way? Make sure you replace any words that could be construed in a negative way with something positive.

Have you included the all-important keywords? This is, after all, what will enable your ad to be searched upon.

Have you included full remuneration information? This should include salary range and a comprehensive list of benefits.

Have you included a company sell? Give the candidate a reason for wanting to apply.

Have you used enough selling words? Convince the candidate that this is the job for them.

Is your advert interesting? Don't bore your audience to sleep before they've even finished reading your ad.

Have you checked your spelling? Never forget this part!

The litmus test: If you were the candidate reading this ad, would you put your CV forward?

If you can answer YES to these questions then you should have an ad that is easy to find, reads nicely and convinces the ideal candidate to apply.

Now, here are a few other pointers to think about:

If posting to your own site make sure it is updated and cleaned regularly otherwise it will look out-dated and unprofessional.

Make sure you respond to all candidates who apply. A short email thanking them for their response goes an incredibly long way to increasing external perception of your organisation.

Monitor where your response comes from and its quality - there is no point posting to boards that constantly generate poor quality candidates.

Advert writing is by no means rocket science but it is nonetheless an important part of the job. Not the most enjoyable part admittedly, but certainly important. By spending just a little bit more time writing ads you will increase your response and also find that the response is of a better quality. This will undoubtedly save you time in the long run because you will no longer have to waste core hours fielding calls from people who simply aren't right for your job.

You should also find more of those superstar candidates turning up in you inbox meaning more placements, and ultimately more cash in your back pocket!

Dan McGuire is Sales Director at Broadbean Technology. You can reach Dan on 020 7987 6900 or dan@broadbean.co.uk

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

We will take care of your testing needs - new service from UK Recruiter

Call Louise on 01635 254881 or visit www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/tests.htm

========================

****DON'T MISS THIS****

5TH MARCH, RECRUITER AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE 2003 LUNCH & CEREMONY, LONDON

The shortlist for the Recruiter Awards has now been announced and can be seen at http://www.professional-recruiter.co.uk. The category winners will be revealed by the TV presenter Kate Humble at a lunchtime awards ceremony on Wednesday 5 March at Le Meridien Grosvenor House Hotel. To book tickets for the event email awards@professional-recruiter.co.uk or call 020 7296 4266.

TOP100 UK ONLINE RECRUITMENT SITES REPORT 2003

The report is an in depth look at the online recruitment industry in the UK. The report is based on questionnaires sent to online recruitment magazine's database of sites in the UK. An A-Z listing gives a useful guide to the sites. The report is based on the period December 2001 to December 2002. The report is published on 3rd February and costs £30. To receive a copy just email top100uk@onrec.com

NATIONAL ONLINE RECRUITMENT AUDIENCE SURVEY RESULTS

The full NORAS results booklet contains over 30 tables comparing the users of the UK's leading online recruitment sites and is free of charge. Email noras@enhancemedia.co.uk to obtain your copy of the booklet or for more information regarding NORAS.

FREE 2 HOUR SEMINARS FROM ENABLING CHANGE

Enabling Change are inviting Directors and Senior Decision-Makers to attend free training sessions on 13th February in Croydon, 7th March in Hatfied and the 11th March in Essex. These two hour seminars are made up of two one hour sessions from their consultant and management level training courses. The two hour session will give you the chance to experience the sort of training that ECL offer. There is limited availability so don’t delay, contact Nicole Hutton nhutton@enablingchange.co.uk

FEBRUARY 27TH, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON

Unfortunately it's too late the register for this month's networking event (30th Jan). However, you can register for the 27th Feburary. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. If you've not made it to an event yet you can see photos from previous ones at our website (http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk ).

THE EXECUTIVE GRAPEVINE ANNUAL CONFERENCE - 20th MARCH 2003, LE MERIDIEN, PICCADILLY - LONDON

This year the theme focuses on the end-to-end management of human capital. From assessing, developing and retaining current executives, through the identification and management of critical gaps, to the creation and maintenance of the recruiting relationship with an executive recruitment firm. Speakers include David Longbottom, Group HR Director at Dixons plc; Philip Horn, Head of Resourcing at Asda; Jackie Watson, Talent Director at Sainsbury's and Tim Wood, HR Director Global Staffing Project, AstraZeneca. For more information or to book your place visit the Executive Grapevine web site - http://www.askgrapevine.com/Conference/ or telephone 01727 844335.

£50 OFF TRAINING WITH THE RECRUITMENT ACADEMY

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?

Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl. Current topics on the site include "recruitment databases", "too many job boards?", and "which markets are booming?". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 103 - 12th February 2003

Welcome to issue 103 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. Thanks to all of you who responded to our mini survey last week. I've done a brief analysis below.

CONTENTS

Feedback from newsletter survey

Article (Closing - Who did your training? Was it David Brent? by Roy Ripper)

Review (Vacancy Vault by James Chapman)

Don't Miss This (Softworld HR & Payroll event - 25% discount off Power Canvassing Training - Networking Event - £100 off Researching for Successful Recruitment Solutions Workshop - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)

Subscription Form

-----FEEDBACK FROM NEWSLETTER SURVEY-----

76 of you responded to our survey in the last issue of the newsletter where we asked how often you want to get the newsletter.

66% of you wanted to receive it once a week; 25% of you wanted to keep getting it once a fortnight; the rest either wanted it once a month or didn't have an opinion.

Some of the other feedback we got was interesting and it mostly highlighted the fact that you are unaware of the many "treasures" on our web site. 65% of you didn't know you could review back issues of the newsletter at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/recnet.htm. A disappointing 70% of you aren't using the other free services and information we provide on the site such as listing of job boards, cv databases and industry suppliers. 86% of you do not "use" our monthly networking events. For some of you they may be impractical as we currently only hold them in London (this will hopefully change this year).

What we are going to do

Starting from the 26th February the newsletter will be sent out every Wednesday. We will keep the same amount of content we would normally run and spread it over two weeks (this issue is the first in the new format). For example in week one you'd get an article, job board review and psychometric product review and in week two you'd get an article, cv database review and multiple job board posting tool review. In each issue I'll include relevant "Don't Miss This" features.

Some of you suggested articles you'd like to see in future issues. These include developing a website presence, what makes a good or bad cv, professional qualifications and more on the subject of executive search. We'll try and organise these in the issues to come.

On this note, we're also going to start reviewing training courses for recruiters. If you think you'd make a good roving reporter please let me know. Email if you're interested.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Monster.co.uk - POST A JOB BY CREDIT CARD

* Fast - your job advert will be live in 1-2 hours! * Simple - post your jobs in minutes anytime! * Great value - online for 60 days for £250! * No fuss - only online, no sales people to talk to!

With over 1.2 million unique visits per month and over half a million CVs Monster.co.uk is the leading UK online recruitment site for employers and jobseekers.

Click http://www.monster.co.uk/ukrecruiter/ to POST A JOB now!

========================

-----ARTICLE, BY ROY RIPPER-----

CLOSING - WHO DID YOUR TRAINING? WAS IT DAVID BRENT?

So much is written about why you should be and how you should be closing every sale. When I started as a consultant I, like thousands of you out there, was shown the recruiters favourites: Assumptive closes - Where would you like the invoice sent to? Alternative closes - would you like to see my candidate at 3 or 4pm? In addition to these die-hard phrases, I found a whole plethora of more exotic closes such as the Benjamin Franklin, the puppy dog, the step by step and many others. I used to cringe every time I said them, but sometimes they worked and sometimes they didn't. I quickly came to realise that it wasn't my corny attempts to close that actually clinched the deal, but the hard work (or not) that I had put in building up to it.

As an industry trainer I travel around the country meeting a large number of recruitment consultants, managers and owners of recruitment companies and listening to them talking about selling. I am surprised at how often I am asked to talk about closing and asked opinions on various closes. The average consultant I come across is able to list at least four different closing techniques yet is unable to give more than one techniques for opening the sale, questioning or handling objections.

Before we really start looking at how we do it we really should define what "closing" is. I would say plainly that a close is anything that puts a customer in a position, which involves some kind of commitment. Simply, moving forward in a sale to whatever the next stage or action could be!

Four keys to success in obtaining client commitment

My work as a consultant and as a recruitment trainer has given me the privilege of working with some of the best and most successful recruitment professionals in the world. What I have found is that these effective people use rather simple and straightforward ways of obtaining and retaining commitment from their recruiting clients.

In summary;

1. They pay particular attention to thoroughly investigating their clients' needs and demonstrating their own capability. You won't obtain commitment in a recruitment sale unless your client clearly perceives a need for what you offer (your candidate, your retained assignment, etc) so don't waste your time!. The most effective people I come across build client needs by asking lots of questions. You don't require closing techniques with a customer who wants to buy. So your first strategy should be concentrate your attention on investigation of your client needs.

2. They check that their clients key concerns are covered Recruitment decisions can be complex and involve areas of doubt and confusion. A lot of less successful consultants try to close too early. They hope that by doing so objections are brought to the surface and can be dealt with quickly. This can be antagonistic to the client and often their answers back can be equally caustic. The most successful recruitment consultants take the initiative and ask the buyer whether there were any further points or concerns, which needed to be addressed.

3. They summarize the benefits they can offer Often clients get lost in our sale and everything that has been discussed. Successful consultants pull all the threads together by summarizing key points or benefits before moving onto the commitment. It helps to bring these points into focus just before the decision.

4. They propose a commitment A lot of training courses on closing talk about 'asking for the order'. Successful recruiters don't ask - they tell! The most effective and most natural way to bring a call to its successful conclusion is to suggest an appropriate next step to your client. i.e. "May I suggest that in order to meet your proposed start date of February 2nd we commence the search this Friday?"

Before proposing a commitment you have to know what the most appropriate commitment would be. Unlike small product selling where the only commitment is an order, in a recruitment sale there may be a range of possible commitments you could suggest. I.e. meet the contacts boss, arrange for the client to speak with one of your previous customers, etc.

Finally I would say forget all the fancy closes your boss may have shown you (when was their last deal?) and above all keep it really simple. If you've done a good job of building your client needs followed by the other three points above, you are on your way to success.

David Brent (may have) said, "I've never really believed in closing, because my objective is not to close the sale but to hopefully open a relationship!" As cheesy as that sounds I think he has a point!

This article was provided by Roy Ripper of The Recruitment Academy at http://www.therecruitmentacademy.com or 08702 400994.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Talisman - Quick focus on Timesheet Processing * Process from integrated fax server, scanned images or direct input from spreadsheets * Split screen data input from Timesheet image and attach to Temp/Contractor/Booking * Automatic print and attachment of Timesheet to invoice (XML invoices supported) * Queries resolved as Timesheets can be viewed on-screen by Client or Temp/Contractor

Talisman the integrated solution for recruiters - To find out more, call Helen at: Beacon on 01582 478888 or email helen.doherty@recruitment-software.net

========================

-----REVIEW BY JAMES CHAPMAN-----

Vacancy Vault: http://www.VacancyVault.com

What it is: A listing of Job Vacancies on UK Corporate Websites for Recruitment consultants and agencies to source New Business from.

Site Launched: October 2002

Number of Jobs viewable: 8,500, all of which are less than a month old.

Sectors are sub-divided into 25 categories: * IT & Internet: 18% * Engineering, Manufacturing: 17% * Banking & Finance: 8% * Management Consultancy: 8% * Construction: 8% * Public Sector: 7% * Retail, Wholesale: 4% * The remaining sectors have between 1% and 3% share.

Geographic Splits: 30% are in London and the South East, with the other UK regions gaining a roughly equal share of the remaining 70%

Costs: £200 per month

How to Subscribe: Online via Credit Card. The service is supplied for Recruitment Agencies only.

Feedback after registering: By phone or email.

Who's in charge?: Jim McDonagh and Gordon Davidson

Summary: This is one of the simplest services I have seen and likewise this will probably be the shortest review I ever write.

If, like many recruiters, you need more vacancies to fill, this service finds them for you.

There are four search criteria: Vacancy Location, Sector, Age of vacancy and Key words.

The only other functionality is that you can save searches and run them yourself periodically to get the latest jobs.

The whole system is run using software they developed in-house. It scans the internet every hour looking for vacancies on corporate websites that do not preclude agencies from supplying candidates.

When I used the system I found I got a lot of results back and was having to sift through them to find the relevant ones. This soon changed once I worked out the simple Boolean search terms.

They currently have c8,500 vacancies, which they expect to increase as their software becomes more sophisticated, so the figure could soon rise to 20,000-50,000.

The only thing I thought was missing from the site was the ability to set the service to inform me automatically when a relevant vacancy is posted.

Overall marks out of ten: 8

Recommendation: If you have lots of candidates on your books, but nowhere to place them, this has to be for you.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WebSalvo.com - Taking the stress out of Recruitment Advertising.

Launching a new key information tool, it now enables you to proactively manage individual advertising campaigns.

For more information or an online demonstration call Chris Troth on 0870 241 7234, or chris.troth@websalvo.com

=====================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

26TH & 27TH FEBRUARY, SOFTWORLD HR & PAYROLL, LONDON

The annual Softworld HR & Payroll event takes place at ExCeL, London, on the 26 & 27 February. There will be over 75 "of the leading" HR & payroll providers exhibiting as well as a completely free educational programme comprising vendor seminars, breakfast briefings & master classes. One of the sessions, hosted by the Association of Online Recruiters, is "Implementing an effective online recruitment strategy" You can register at http://www.softworld.co.uk/hrp or telephone 07000 763896.

25% DISCOUNT OFF POWER CANVASSING TRAINING WITH KOACH, 25TH FEBRUARY

Gavin Ingham, a leading UK motivational and attitudinal speaker, will deliver the latest in a series of "Power" seminars - Power Canvassing on the 25th February. This one day event is normally £199 per person but we've negotiated an excellent discount of 25% (that's £50!) for ukrecruiter subscribers . Call David at koach on 01223 328778 or email david@koach.net and quote UK Recruiter to receive your discount. For more information you can visit http://www.koach.net/power_canvassing.htm

FEBRUARY 27TH, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON

Our monthly opportunity to get together with our recruiters and industry suppliers. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. If you've not made it to an event yet you can see photos from previous ones at our website (http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk).

11TH & 12TH MARCH, £100 OFF RESEARCHING FOR SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT SOLUTIONS WORKSHOP, LONDON

Learn from leading headhunting professionals about the innovative and effective way to do research. This two day event is normally £695 per person but we've negotiated an excellent discount of £100 for ukrecruiter subscribers as long as you book by the 20th February. For more information or a full course outline contact Anne Watson on 01784 471350 or by e mail topexec@virgin.net

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?

Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl. Current topics on the site include "working from home", "You Don't Know SQUAT About Job Hunting", and "Recruitment databases to avoid" Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 104 - 26th February 2003

Welcome to issue 104 of the ukrecruiter newsletter.

CONTENTS
Reviewed Site (London Congestion Charging Homepage)
Review (Free Recruitment.com by Lucy Walker)
Article (Web Creativity by Adele Poole)
Don't Miss This (Networking Event - "Managing the Flow of your Career" seminar - Human Resources Forum - "Researching for Successful Recruitment Solutions" workshop - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.cclondon.com

The snappily named "London Congestion Charging Homepage" is a comprehensive resource on the newly introduced congestion charge. For those of you living and working in London who already understand what it's all about may find it useful to provide information to clients or candidates. For people who occasionally come into London for business it may be essential! The site contains information describing the purpose of the congestion charge, where and when it operates, how to make payments and what penalties will be made for non-payment. Especially useful is the congestion zone map that shows the boundaries of the zone and allows you to search by postcode or street name to check if somewhere falls within the zone.

A clear and comprehensive site with facts about the congestion charge.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Looking for a new job?

http://www.gojobsite.co.uk/cgi-bin/campaign.cgi?tid=3603

========================

-----REVIEW - A NEW APPROACH TO CV DATABASES-----

Free Recruitment.com - http://www.free-recruitment.com

Key stats: Unfortunately, the only statistical information made available to us was number of page impressions. This was quoted at 10,000 per week.

What the site says: "Our aim is to provide a central CV portal for all UK based human resource professionals. By inputting their own requirements they can view the CVs, make a selection and contact the candidate direct. [For the job seeker] CVs can be entered and displayed in less than two minutes; it is then presented immediately in front of both a UK and indeed a worldwide audience".

First impressions: Having seen PR for this site, I was intrigued by the concept and inspired enough to cover it in this review. The site turns the standard charging structure on its head - the proposition being that job seekers pay to submit their CVs to a database and it's free for recruitment agencies and employers to search the database.

The design was clean and simple although the orange colour wasn't to my taste. The navigation was fine with clear sections for the job seeker and the employer, and buttons on the home page allowed quick access to the most popular 'submit CV' and 'search CV' areas.

It was easy to search the CVs. They are categorised first into different industry sectors and then into separate occupations. The recruiter can then email the candidate directly. As a job seeker it was easy to create a profile. As I'm not looking for a job, I didn't upload my CV but a glance over that section of the form brought no issues to light. It seems that CVs once uploaded appear in the database more or less instantaneously.

Tools on offer: It's a straightforward CV posting board. £20 ensures the candidate's CV stays online for a three-month period. It also provides some advice for the candidate on how to write a suitable CV for this site.

Strengths & weaknesses: The site has recently been launched, so it didn't come as a huge surprise that there were few CVs online. But a search delivered only 44. Moreover, as each candidate is allowed to post their CV up to 4 times in different sectors, there could be duplication of candidates within the 44. On the whole, the copy is written for the benefit of the recruiter, not the candidate - it's the candidate that needs to be persuaded to part with their money. The site would benefit from more text for the job seeker who may well appreciate links to career guidance and information. There is a single banner advertising slot on the homepage. When I first visited an online betting company was advertising which didn't give the site a professional air.

A big plus is that the site is very easy and quick to use, and recruiters can email the candidates directly. The online payment system used is Natwest Worldpay which should negate any issues about security.

Summary: Another new entry into the highly-populated online recruitment marketplace, however the method of revenue generation gives this site a unique proposition.

Free Recruitment seems to be established more with the recruiter in mind than the candidate. For the candidate, the name is a complete misnomer and confusion could ensue. Ultimately the service will only be as strong as the quantity and quality of the candidates posting their CVs. From a recruiters point of view, even though its free and quick to use, they will not continue to spend time searching if it does not deliver. Does the fact that the candidate has paid to leave their details make them any more desirable to a future employer? I would argue not. Yet candidates may be encouraged to pay to leave their CV if they think recruiters are more likely to use this service as its free to search.

From the candidate's perspective, there are a number of established job boards out there on which they can post their CV for free. It may require minimal effort on the job seeker's behalf, but is £20 is good value? It's free to search job boards and corporate job sites and to visit a recruitment consultancy. The cost of buying newspapers or trade titles for their recruitment sections is likely to be cheaper than the financial outlay for this site.

The success depends on how well its marketed to candidates, I'd be interested to see where and how this is done. Currently, searches for 'free recruitment' on Google.co.uk and .com deliver the site on the second page. It's not a bad idea in terms of making revenue - the site won't need a highly paid sales team in order to generate leads, and there will be some job seekers that will pay to leave their CV (I am sceptical as to whether there will be enough to make it a worthwhile product though). Good luck to Free Recruitment, with this business plan at least they can try to make money from the outset.

Lucy Walker is the Online Media Manager at Park. "Park creates solutions that enable our clients to attract and retain the right people for their organisation." Lucy can be contacted on 020 7299 3049 or lucy.walker@parkhr.com

=====ADVERTISEMENT===== Monster.co.uk - POST A JOB BY CREDIT CARD

* Fast - your job advert will be live in 1-2 hours! * Simple - post your jobs in minutes anytime! * Great value - online for 60 days for £250! * No fuss - only online, no sales people to talk to!

With over 1.2 million unique visits per month and over half a million CVs Monster.co.uk is the leading UK online recruitment site for employers and jobseekers.

Click http://www.monster.co.uk/ukrecruiter/ to POST A JOB now!

========================

-----ARTICLE-----

WEB CREATIVITY BY ADELE POOLE OF HOTLIZARD

Over the next few weeks Adele Poole from HotLizard will be giving you tips and hints on creating an effective website. Her first article covers the subject of Web Creativity.

A web site speaks volumes about your company and can win or lose you business without you even knowing. What does your web site say about your company?

Over the next three issues, we are pleased to share our knowledge on what makes a web site work for you and give you a checklist for you to carry out your own site audit. This week we will focus on the creative design and navigation of the site.

Speed is the first rule to be obeyed. Gone are the days when visitors would wait an inordinate amount of time for your site to download. Even on the slowest Internet connection, users expect an immediate response. The most common culprits are large images but the number of elements on the site, excessive animation and the way in which the site has been constructed can also play their part, as will the available bandwidth and hardware of your web site host.

Use "web safe" colours and fonts and make sure formatting and styles are consistent throughout the site, including all the forms.

Your site should also clearly follow your own corporate guidelines. Instantaneous conclusions will be drawn about your company - it's strengths, weaknesses, scale and professionalism by the image that you portray. Remember that the web provides a huge audience and one over which you have no control, so pay as much attention to you site design as you would a printed brochure to ensure that you are conveying the correct message and that the site accords with all your existing collateral.

Less is often more and this really applies to web site design. White space works well as does good layout and structured functionality and content. It is also a common misconception that the better sites are the more extensive. It is therefore better to concentrate on the quality and relevance of what you are publishing to the web than the volume.

Writing copy for the web is not an easy task. It should be concise and snappy and it works best when written in a more informal style. Try to make sure that each page of copy fits within your web browser and avoid too much scrolling. If you have a lot to say on a particular topic it is best to link to another page or for copious amounts of information offer a PDF download.

Also beware the obvious signs of lack of attention to detail such as spelling and grammatical mistakes.

Always start out with a site map so that you clearly understand which page links to which and how you wish your visitor to navigate the site. You need to minimise the number of clicks or pages the visitor has to pass through to get to each section. When the site map is portrayed visually it makes this easier to understand

Above all adhere to the KISS principle and make simplicity and professionalism your watchwords and remember it is a recruitment site, which means that visitors are coming to you to find or post jobs. Don't make that difficult to do and when you are tempted to add a bell or a whistle, think carefully if it is really adding value to your proposition.

Adele Poole is Managing Director at HotLizard Ltd. You can reach Adele on 01264 730300 or adele@hotlizard.net

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WebSalvo.com - Taking the stress out of Recruitment Advertising.

Launching a new key information tool, it now enables you to proactively manage individual advertising campaigns.

For more information or an online demonstration call Chris Troth on 0870 241 7234, or chris.troth@websalvo.com

=====================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

MARCH 27TH, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON

If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. If you've not made it to an event yet you can see photos from previous ones at our website (http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk).

7TH MARCH, MANAGING THE FLOW OF YOUR CAREER - 10% DISCOUNT AVAILABLE, LONDON

LC Training are running a career workshop on the 7th March to help people ensure they "meet the challenges you face and take control of your future". The workshop will be facilitated by David Royston-Lee who is a respected Chartered Psychologist with much experience of working with people going through transition. The workshop is normally £150 + VAT per person, however, the first 5 people to book quoting "ukrec" will receive a 10% discount. Contact Marilyn Davidson on 020 8857 2077 or email info@lctlimited.com.

11TH & 12TH MARCH, £100 OFF RESEARCHING FOR SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT SOLUTIONS WORKSHOP, LONDON

Learn from leading headhunting professionals about the innovative and effective way to do research. This two day event is normally £695 per person but we've negotiated an excellent discount of £100 for ukrecruiter subscribers which has been extended to the 28th February. For more information or a full course outline contact Anne Watson on 01784 471350 or by e mail topexec@virgin.net

8TH - 11TH MAY, HUMAN RESOURCES FORUM

The Human Resources Forum, due to sail from Southampton on 8 May, onboard the Oriana has only limited space left on board for delegates and exhibitors alike. This annual gathering for all those involved in the HR industry has over 400 delegates (senior HR professionals from the UK's top organisations) and nearly 150 exhibitors (suppliers of products or services to the HR industry) confirmed to date. If you are interested in attending either as a exhibitor or delegate (HR professionals of sufficient seniority may attend for free) visit http://www.hrforum.co.uk/ or call Alison Bee on 020 8487 2200.

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?

Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "resourcing new clients", "recruitment databases", "freelance resourcers" and "multiple job posting tools". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 105 - 5th March 2003

Welcome to issue 105 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. If you find the newsletter useful why not forward it to colleagues or recruitment friends and suggest they sign up at www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/news.htm

CONTENTS

* Reviewed Site (UK Telephone Code Locator)

* Review (Skillsite by James Chapman)

* Multiple Job Board Posting Tools Review (HR Portal by David Craig)

* Article (Splitdeal by Louise Triance)

* Don't Miss This (Networking Event - Recruitment Trends & Forecasts Publication - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)

* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.cardinal.uk.com/pages/numbering/

Warwick University used to provide a fantastic "Telephone Code Information" site - when this closed down Cardinal Communications took it over. There are quite a lot of different tools on this site but probably the most useful is the "UK Telephone Code Locator". You enter a STD code (eg, 01635) or full telephone number and it will return a list of exchanges in that area, location of the exchanges (grid and longitude/latitude references) and nearby area codes. Alternatively you can enter an exchange or place name and it will display the STD code. Other information on the site includes Oftel data and a list of all the UK STD codes with information such as charge rates and location data. The site also contains a list of phone information held elsewhere, including the BT price list, UK telephone tariff comparisons and links to online phone directories.

This is a very handy site when all you have is a phone number and you want to find out where someone works or lives.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

4MAT.COM's - dotVACANCY - version 2

The new RECRUITMENT WEB SITE solution from 4mat.com

* Over 50 time and money saving features - more than any other package

* A full recruitment web site deployed in under 3 weeks

* A proven track record - 300 solutions implemented * FREE demonstration and consultancy session at http://www.4mat.com

========================

-----REVIEW BY JAMES CHAPMAN-----

Skillsite - http://www.Skillsite.co.uk

* Sectors: IT

* Target candidate level: All

* Site Launched: October 2000

* Number of CV's held: c100,000 with around 5,000 new or renewed CV's per month.

* CV Split: 60% Contactors / 40% Permanent

* How to Subscribe: By phone on 0870 013 1200. The service is supplied for Recruitment Agencies only.

* How is the database cleaned?: It isn't

* Costs: It's a secret!!

Who's in charge?: Terry Canavan who used to run an IT recruitment company. And the site was originally set up by RDL, an IT Recruitment firm.

Summary:

The site is very much geared to the IT contract market and were it not for the current contraction in that sector, probably 80% of candidates instead of the quoted 60% would be looking for contract work.

Where the site seeks to differentiate itself from the rest of the market is to be a CV database that is also a job board, as opposed to the other way round. I think this reflects on the fact that the site is geared to the contract market more than anything else.

Basically the technology and functionality is very good and what I would expect from a larger CV database. On top of well defined search fields you can save searches and get new candidates emailed to you daily.

As the database is never cleaned I don't feel the figure of 100,000 CV's is one that should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to use the service. That figure includes everyone that had registered their CV since 2000 and haven't removed it.

I feel a more accurate figure to work with would be the average number of new and 'updated' CV's per month times maybe 6 or 12 - giving a figure of somewhere between 30,000 to 60,000 relevant CV's.

That many CV's could be useful if the price is right. Unfortunately Skillsite are extremely bashful about letting on the cost of accessing their database. Apparently it is all costed on a per-user basis and depends on the sector within IT that you concentrate on. I was also told that they really didn't want their clients calling them tomorrow to complain about any differences in price quoted in this review versus what they pay. Interesting.

Overall marks out of ten: 6

Recommendation: I get the impression that it's all about 'doing a deal' with this firm. If you fancy your chances give them a call, ask 'how much?', make a sharp intake of breath, offer a quarter of the asking price and be prepared to haggle.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

We will take care of your testing needs - new service from UK Recruiter

Call Louise on 01635 254881 or visit www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/tests.htm

========================

-----MULTIPLE JOB BOARD POSTING TOOLS REVIEW BY DAVID CRAIG-----

Company Name: HR Portal. Product Name: Media Manager - http://www.hrportal.co.uk/

What they say? A highly advanced multi-posting tool combined with media skills which tracks individual vacancies and candidate responses to create a suite of data-driven management tools.

Contact Details: David Silverman, 0870 774 2001, david.silverman@hrportal.co.uk

Costs: If the right combination of services is selected the multi- posting software is free.

Review: HR Portal provides online media advice/buying and a multiple job posting service. Media Manager is quite straightforward to use. You complete the forms and submit the jobs to the job boards.

The system allows you to see: which jobs are/have been advertised along with how many days they have left to run online; the number of responses by job board for each vacancy posted; the cost of your campaign by each job board, vacancy and system user (recruitment consultant). You can also allocate and monitor your advertising budget for each system user.

Job applications are emailed to you via Media Manager. This allows the system to track advertising effectiveness by vacancy/job board. You can grade the candidate response as good, average or poor, giving you an overall picture of which sites have done well for a particular vacancy. This means job boards can be judged by their ability to deliver both quantity and quality of candidates. Candidate grading also means the software can automatically email your chosen response to the candidates.

As an online recruitment advertising agency HR Portal can provide their advice by combining their media knowledge with their ability to track job site/job posting performance.

Summary:

If you want a no-frills multiposting service then there may be less expensive options. However HR Portal position themselves as providing a complete media/posting service. Subsequently with their pricing, the more advertising you purchase through them the cheaper the software.

Any comments you have on the subject can be submitted in the UK Recruiter Discussion Forum: http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum

This article was written by online recruitment advertising and marketing consultant David Craig of Fox Productions http://www.foxproductions.co.uk

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WebSalvo.com - Taking the stress out of Recruitment Advertising.

Launching a new key information tool, it now enables you to proactively manage individual advertising campaigns.

For more information or an online demonstration call Chris Troth on 0870 241 7234, or chris.troth@websalvo.com

=====================

-----REVIEW BY LOUISE TRIANCE-----

Splitdeal: http://www.splitdeal.com/

What it is: Splitdeal aims to introduce recruiters to each other with the mutual benefit of making more placement revenue.

Site Launched: January 2003

Costs: It is currently free for up to 4 months (with an initial 30 day free trial). After this time it will cost £40 per month for a single channel or £70 for multi channels. You don't pay any commission to Splitdeal for placements made.

Who's in charge? Peter Morrison and Gary Chappel. Peter has nearly 10 years experience working within the high-tech recruitment market in Cambridge.

How to use the site:

To use the site you can search for vacancies or candidates by channel (eg, IT, HR, financial, etc). The results give a listing of all matching vacancies or candidates with a brief summary (eg, job title, channel, location, short profile). You can then get full details on those that you are interested in by clicking the "more details" button. If you are registered and logged in to the site the full details also show the contact name, phone and email address of the person making the posting. You then contact that person to discuss how you may be able to help with the vacancy or candidates and agree a fee split.

Strengths & Weaknesses:

It is still early days for the site but as a principle I think it's got great potential. The thing I found most frustrating was the poor quality of the data added by the recruiters. Rather than post a vacancy to appeal to other recruiters who may have suitable candidates many vacancies are posted in the style of a job advert (eg, "you will have 10 years experience...."). The salary information given is also quite poor with enormous ranges being displayed (quoting a salary of £20,000 to £50,000 can't help anyone). I imagine that once recruiters have to start paying to use the service they will make more of an effort with the data they put on the site to maximise their returns.

Currently the amount of potential revenue (total fees available) on the site is £304,000 in placements and £22,000 in other opportunities. There are 149 jobs and 10 candidates listed. 70 agencies have registered so far.

Many recruiters will already do split deals with other recruiters that they know well. This site gives them the opportunity to broaden that network and contact like-minded recruiters in a structured environment.

One of the comments that Peter made to me is that recruiters seem to distrust other recruiters. They may also resist split deal agreements as they feel it weakens their relationships with clients and candidates and their status in the market. Splitdeal have tried to overcome this to some extent by offering a template agreement into which recruiters can enter with one another making the process clearer and quicker. Split deals are very popular in the US as recruiters have obviously realised that 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing!

Recommendation: It's free to use for the first four months so if you've got difficult vacancies or brilliant candidates you can't place give it a go. But please, for the sake of all the others using the site (and yourself), put a bit of effort into your posting!

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

27 MARCH 2003, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON

Photo's from our last event are available at http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. It's free to come along (although you'll have to buy your own drinks) so register at http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

RECRUITMENT TRENDS AND FORECASTS PUBLICATION

The Recruitment Trends and Forecasts is a quarterly newsletter published by Personnel Today. It includes up-to-date economic analysis and business data on the recruitment markets. Including data on the recruitment market by sector (eg, manufacturing, IT and retail), salary watch and an analysis of recruitment advertising. The price is £199 for a year's subscription but you can get a 20 per cent discount online. You can also obtain a free sample copy from the website. For more information visit www.personneltoday.com or contact Robert Cannon at robert.cannon@rbi.co.uk or 020 8652 8803

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?

Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "new to the recruitment industry", "telephone scams" and "employment world". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 106 - 12th March 2003

Welcome to issue 106 of the ukrecruiter newsletter

CONTENTS

* Reviewed Site (BuzzWhack)

* Psychometrics Review (Extended DISC by Bill Boorman)

* Article (Online Recruitment Functionality by HotLizard)

* Don't Miss This (Recruitment Society Event - Recruiter Awards for Excellence - CIPD Recruitment Marketing Awards - Networking Event - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)

* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.buzzwhack.com/

BuzzWhack is "Dedicated to de-mystifying buzzwords". The site is a lighthearted look at the use of buzzwords in today's business environment. The site contains a buzzword dictionary and they offer a daily email newsletter where they send you "buzzword of the day". It contains such classics as "helicopter view" and "win-win" with some new ones for me including, "Pulp Pilot - a non-electronic method for keeping phone numbers and addresses, generally consist of a small piece of paper that can be tucked into a wallet or purse". It's difficult to suggest a true business application for this site, although it is useful to keep on top of current management speak. You can also use the site to point out to colleagues (and probably your boss) the pomposity of using buzzwords. The downside is the potential for you to pick up some for your own personal use!

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Talisman Timesheet Processing module * Direct input from fax images on-screen which are stored against Temps/Bookings/Clients * Print Timesheets with Invoices, whether single or bulk * Allow Clients to view Invoices and Timesheet images over the Internet * Payroll supports PAYE, Ltd's, CIS, Pay & Bill, Students

Talisman the integrated solution for recruiters - To find out more:- Call Helen at Beacon on 01582 478888; email: helen.doherty@recruitment-software.net - Web: http://www.recruitment-software.net

========================

-----PSYCHOMETRIC REVIEW - EXTENDED DISC BY BILL BOORMAN-----

* Product Name: Extended DISC

* Company Name: Extended DISC International

* Website Address: www.extendeddisc.co.uk

* Contact Details: Paul Griffin, 01753 631030, paul@extendeddisc.co.uk

* Is training required: Yes, one day's training is required. £195 + VAT per delegate trained (discounts available for onsite training). Includes the software necessary to run the reports

* Cost: Standard reports use 50 points. These are priced at 90p per point. Therefore a basic report costs £45 to run. Optional extra reports (eg, IT Style, Leadership Style etc) use a further 7 points per report.

* Applications: Selection, development, career counselling and teambuilding.

This week I am reviewing the Extended DISC profile from Extended DISC International. The profile claims to differentiate itself from other assessments of its type in that it aims to report on the natural self rather than the presented self. What this means in layman's terms is that the report reflects you as you are as a person rather than you as you are as a worker. In some cases there are few differentials between the two but in others there can be a significant difference. This result is derived by giving a series of 24 statements in groups of 4 that need to be ranked between most and least. For example, the options in question 1 are as follows: Carefree, positive; Flexible, yielding; Argumentative, speaks out; Stable, relaxed.

I found the site easy to navigate around and the questionnaire simple to complete. It is timed. You only have 15 minutes, which ensures that you give an instinctive response. I found that it took me about 5 minutes to complete and produced what I considered to be an accurate report. The primary use of the profile is as a discussion tool to provoke responses, either in a selection or coaching / training environment. From a personal point of view I felt that this tool would be most useful when employed as part of a counselling or appraisal process to prompt discussion on strengths and areas of discomfort. The report requires quite a bit of interpretation but is easy to understand once you have had some instruction or if you are familiar with other DISC based products.

Page 1 of the report is text based and is broken down by attributes, motivators, tries to avoid, ideal manager / leader, communication style and decision maker. I had no arguments with any of the comments in the report and felt that the "tries to avoid" section would have created worthwhile discussion and helped me to plan how to handle certain situations. The next page of the report lists motivators, strengths, tries to avoid / fears and development areas. The development areas are useful again as a discussion topic and in my case were accurate. You can tailor the report to look at a specific area or a tailored job role as the report highlights the difference between your natural style and non-natural style in 164 different areas of preference so it is pretty comprehensive. What you should bear in mind when analysing the report is that although you may score a low score in any given area this represents your natural style and does not necessarily represent adjustments you have already made in a working style. Used correctly you would discuss the areas of low score to see firstly if the applicant is aware and secondly if they are aware how to manage that part of their natural character. The last two pages of the report provide the usual DISC graphs and a fairly comprehensive diamond that outlines flexibility zones. As I am unfamiliar with their notation, I found them hard to understand so I won't comment on them but had I received the appropriate training it would have made as much sense as the rest of the product.

Other parts of the system that can be used in conjunction with an Extended DISC profile are "Job Analysis" (that can be completed by any number of people to identify the ideal candidates) a "Team View" and a "Relationship Analysis" which indicates possible areas of conflict with certain individuals according to type.

The product was easy to use, navigate, did not take up a lot of time and provided very useful results given the right use. As I have already said I would find it more helpful for coaching rather than selection. For the latter my preference is for personality type in relation to the job rather than natural style. But it does provide you with a very worthwhile alternative to other instruments of this type.

I would recommend this profile if you are interested in finding out about the "person" rather than the "worker". As the licence is free and price of individual profiles is dependant on how many additional report areas you select it can work out as good value. It is also geared to be particularly attractive to larger scale users.

Bill Boorman is National Training Manager for Prime Time Recruitment ( http://www.primetime.co.uk) and will be reviewing more psychometric tests in future newsletters.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Virtual Consultant created by Zero One Design Ltd. The Internet Based Search & Selection System for the RECRUITMENT INDUSTRY. Virtual Consultant is a dedicated recruitment web site and administration system with a sensible pricing structure that wont break the bank. This powerful and flexible internet based database solution can be used as a search & selection website, a contact management database, or a full featured jobs board.

Check out all the latest Developments at http://www.zod.uk.com & http://www.v-consultant.co.uk ========================

-----ARTICLE-----

Online Recruitment Functionality

On the 26th February Adele Poole of Hotlizard started giving her tips on effective web sites. . She continues...

In the last article, I focussed on the importance of using web creativity in an appropriate way for recruitment web sites. In this issue, I would like to move onto how you decide what functionality is appropriate on the web for your company.

There is no set recipe for the functionality, as obviously what works for a headhunting company on the web does not cover the requirements of a temporary staffing agency.

However, with some exceptions such as headhunting, a ready supply of available jobs is a must. Keeping them fresh and updated is essential. Making them easy to find, read the detail and apply to is a sure way to increased candidate registrations.

Where you go from here will be based upon your overall business objectives and how you are using the site to meet them.

If you are looking for candidate loyalty and repeat visits tools like Jobs by Email, Jobs by SMS, candidate areas with login and ability to update and change details work well. Useful tools, such as the ability to build a CV online, will also encourage candidate registrations.

If you are in a specialised sector, you might want to consider a resource centre of regularly updated and relevant information. Salary surveys work well, especially those that collate information online and show that information in real time.

To introduce new candidates to the site, allow visitors to email job details to a friend or to refer candidate details to you for some incentive.

Showcase prestigious clients with specific client personalised areas within your own site and promote your key vacancies though a "Hot Jobs" or "Featured Positions" section.

Client functionality can range from the simple ability to post a vacancy to the site to client areas where they can view assignment progress, search anonymous candidate profiles, review reports and agreements.

This nicely links to the whole arena of bookings and timesheets. For contract or temporary employment, the web lends itself beautifully to clients initiating bookings, timesheets being completed and authorised and data being exported to payroll and invoicing systems. High quality data capture systems also enable this to work for faxed and hard copy timesheets through the same system.

Finally, an area that is often forgotten is the administration tools behind the site that can give you extra help in understanding and marketing to your client and candidate base.

With a well-structured recruitment site you will have a candidate and client database. This in itself provides valuable information which you can report on. But it can also be used in conjunction with an email marketing tool to keep in regular contact with subscribed visitors.

Other administration tools that help you to get the most out of the web site include straightforward vacancy maintenance, candidate filtering and shortlisting, and an embedded content maintenance tool giving you the ability to make text and image changes immediately and at no additional cost.

Adele Poole is Managing Director at HotLizard Ltd. You can reach Adele on 01264 730300 or adele@hotlizard.net.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

We will take care of your testing needs - service from UK Recruiter

Call Louise on 01635 254881 or visit www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/tests.htm

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

18TH MARCH, WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR SEARCH? THE RECRUITMENT SOCIETY, LONDON

"Can search work alongside traditional methods of recruitment, or is it a threat to the more lucrative end of the recruitment market?" This is the subject of the next recruitment society event. The speaker is Noorzaman Rashid, MD of Norman Broadbent. Members can attend for £10 and non members for £20. For more information visit www.recruitmentsociety.org.uk, email admin@recruitmentsociety.org.uk or call Richard Taylor on 020 7439 6288

27TH MARCH, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON

WINNERS OF THE RECRUITER AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE 2003

Last Wednesday The Recruiter Awards for Excellence presentation lunch took place. There were over 650 recruiter's present at Le Meridien Grosvenor House Hotel and Kate Humble handed out awards in 18 categories. Photo's from the event are in today's (12th March) Recruiter magazine and the winners, with commentary from the judges, are named at http://www.professional-recruiter.co.uk

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?

Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "How many calls per day", "Where are all the recruitment consultants", and "Freelance resourcers". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

28TH MARCH, DEADLINE TO ENTER THE CIPD RECRUITMENT MARKETING AWARDS

This year's CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development) Recruitment Marketing Awards ceremony takes place in mid June. If you are interested in entering for one of the many categories you have until the 28th March. Shortlisted entrants will be announced on 5th May. For more information visit http://www.cipdguardianawards.co.uk

Issue 107 - 19th March 2003

Welcome to issue 107 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. I'd like to ask all of you agency or consultancy recruiters to take part in a small survey we're conducting. The survey is looking at the fees being charged in the recruitment industry at present. The questionnaire is completely confidential - in fact we're not even collecting your names or email addresses. If you'd like to take part please visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=33521183138. Results will be published in a future issue of the newsletter.

CONTENTS
* Reviewed Site (Country Reports)
* Multiple Job Board Posting Tools Review (web-cruit by David Craig)
* Recruitment Consultancy Web Site Review (AndersEllite by Adele Poole) - NEW FEATURE!
* Article (Online Recruitment - Can You Handle It by HR Portal)
* Don't Miss This (Online Job Index - Free Employment Law Update - Networking Event - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.countryreports.org

Country Reports is a site that contains information on over 250 different countries. If you are conducting an assignment for a client with an overseas operation or branches based in a country, that you are not familiar with on a business level, this site is a great resource. The country I looked at as an example was Hungary. There is comprehensive information on the Hungarian history, geography, economy, government and people. Information included population and ethnic statistics, labour force and unemployment rates, an overview of the political situation, main exports and imports, dates of national holidays and technology take up rates. There are also daily headlines from their national business paper and weather reports. Finally in case you require them there are national anthems available for each country. If you've got a sound card you can even play them to your colleagues!

A site that most of us wouldn't use with great frequency. However, a very comprehensive resource for when the need arises.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

For excellence in recruitment web site design, development and marketing HotLizard is the premier supplier to the recruitment industry and to staffing and HR departments. Whether you are looking to re-develop your online recruitment offering from scratch, add fresh design concepts and functionality to an existing presence or market your site effectively to your target audience, HotLizard can provide you with a professional and cost effective solution. For more information, please contact Joanna Ratcliffe on 01264 730300 or email joanna.ratcliffe@hotlizard.net. You can also view further information on HotLizard and some of our reference sites at http://www.hotlizard.net

========================

*****MULTIPLE JOB BOARD POSTING TOOLS, WEB-CRUIT, BY DAVID CRAIG*****

Company Name: Resourcing Software Product Name: web-cruit: http://www.resourcingsoftware.com

Contact Details: Mark Keane, mark.keane@resourcingsoftware.com, 01455 290111

Costs: Pricing starts from £250 per year.

What they say? The web-cruit range provides everything from a stand- alone vacancy-posting tool, to an end-to-end Internet recruitment solution with branded job board fully integrated with existing HR or recruitment software.

Review: In its basic form web-cruit allows you purely to post jobs to the job boards. It can also be used to post jobs to your own site; with web- cruit providing a job board, which is plugged into your existing site. In its more advanced state the software can be integrated into HR and recruitment databases such as Bond , Personic, UC-Search or RebusHR, enabling you to export jobs to the job boards from your own system.

web-cruit gives you access to reporting features that enable you to see which jobs are currently being advertised and when they are going to expire - an email is also sent out to notify you. The report manager allows you to see where each responding applicant came from. You can then mark the applications accordingly, highlighting those to be short-listed, declined and so on. This will enable you to pinpoint more accurately which job boards to use in the future. Resourcing Software stated that by using this feature their clients have been able to reduce the number of job boards they use - in one case a client whittled down the job boards they used from 19 down to just 4. However it took them one year to be able to do this.

The enterprise edition of web-cruit gives you a filtering facility as well as posting and reporting functions. This feature allows you to ask the applicant filtering questions in their job application. For example, you can ask whether the applicant is eligible to work in the European Union. However, do watch out, as some people will lie when asked this question.

Summary: Like other online recruitment software web-cuit is constantly evolving with new features and modules being added on an ongoing basis. As an established company they have a mature and thorough understanding of online recruitment software and what it can achieve.

Any comments you have on the subject can be submitted in the UK Recruiter Discussion Forum http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum

This article was written by online recruitment advertising and marketing consultant David Craig of Fox Productions http://www.foxproductions.co.uk

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

4MAT.COM's - dotVACANCY - version 2

The new RECRUITMENT WEB SITE solution from 4mat.com

Over 50 time and money saving features - more than any other package A full recruitment web site deployed in under 3 weeks A proven track record - 300 solutions implemented FREE demonstration and consultancy session at http://www.4mat.com

========================

-----RECRUITMENT CONSULTANCY WEB SITE REVIEW, ANDERSELITE BY ADELE POOLE-----

We're starting a new set of reviews from this issue. A team of web site design experts will be reviewing recruitment consultancies sites. We'll run a review every few issues, the first one is provided by Adele Poole of Hotlizard and Giles Guest of 4mat.com will be writing our second one in April. If you'd like to suggest a site for review drop me a note.

Company Name: AndersElite Site URL: http://www.anderselite.com

Company and Site Description: AndersElite was formed from the amalgamation of Anders Glaser Wills and Euro Elite, specialises in technical recruitment for the built environment and operates from a network of regional offices across fourteen professional sectors. The site looks to provide candidate and client functionality to support this business.

Creative Design and Impact: The design of the site works well. Clean and professional, the use of white space and the layout of each of the screens makes it easy for the visitor to find the information that is relevant to them with ease. It also gives me a really good feel for the extent of content on the site, without having to drill down. It loads quickly. Since it contains some nice graphics and lots of images, it has obviously been designed well to achieve this. It also scales well to smaller screen resolutions so you don't lose much, if any, visible content throughout the site.

I think I would have struggled to instantly understand the industry sectors that AnderElite focuses on from the home page. I wanted to know who they were and if they were relevant to my job hunt and I did have to delve into the site to find the information I required to make that decision.

Ease of Use: Navigation was great throughout but after the initial page I did lose the quick search until after the registration procedure. Ideally I think that this should be omnipresent to keep the surfing job seeker engaged.

Relevant Content: The about us section is informative on the company in general but it would be nice to have more of that on the home page.

The candidate content is superb. The career centre is full of relevant and helpful content to assist the job seeker including CV and Interview advice, salary checkers and industry-specific news. Plus there are lots of jobs!

Client content is also good with information pertaining to advertising options and sponsorship opportunities and the facilities offered through the site. Client advertising supplies in-depth information on employers within the sector and the client micro-sites navigate well to current opportunities with those employers.

Candidate Functionality: Candidate functionality is extensive. The quick job search gets me to the heart of the jobs database quickly, but I would probably like to see the "job title" field being a drop down rather than a text search box as I feel slightly reticent that I might not get the job title right. The candidate registration process questions are relevant and the inclusion of some filtering questions should mean that AndersElite can easily process the candidate registrations they receive. Subscription to jobs by email and email newsletters on the registration form is good and will help with candidate retention.

Job search results deliver a good subset of information on the matching positions, including recency, salary and location. Drilling down to the full job description provides an excellent summary of the vacancy, but having registered I had to supply a CV to apply. Perhaps I could have been offered the opportunity to create one online or to complete a more detailed registration form.

Most effective of all was the instant recognition upon return to the site and display of current matching jobs and navigation to the career centre.

Client Functionality: On the surface this looks limited to advertising and sponsorship management but looking further into the range of services available the site gives clients the capability to manage vacancies, monitor assignment progress and search for candidates themselves on the site.

Candidate and Client Marketing and Retention: All the bases seem to have been covered on the candidate side from push technology such as Jobs by Email, Jobs by SMS, emailing vacancies to friends, regular newsletters and good content. Application progress and personalised content would give the candidate even more reasons to return.

The facilities for promotional opportunities, candidate searching, information on salaries and the ability to receive candidate details by email should keep clients active on the site on a regular basis.

Online Marketing: Excellent performance on the search engines for all the relevant search terms used. Looks like all the right things have been done here to maximise online exposure.

Summary: The AndersElite site is a well-designed, well-structured site, which is easy to find, easy to use and provides real value for the candidate and client.

Adele Poole is Managing Director at HotLizard Ltd. You can reach Adele on 01264 730300 or adele@hotlizard.net.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WebSalvo.com - Taking the stress out of Recruitment Advertising.

Launching a new key information tool, it now enables you to proactively manage individual advertising campaigns.

For more information or an online demonstration call Chris Troth on 0870 241 7234, or chris.troth@websalvo.com

=====================

-----ARTICLE BY HR PORTAL-----

Online Recruitment - Can You Handle It?

Online recruitment has fast become the smart way to recruit. However, posting jobs to sites is only half the job done. It gets the vacancy advertised and kick starts a flood of responses. And here lies the problem if the 'other half' of the job - handling the responses - hasn't been done.

Software that deals with job applications is essential to a successful online recruitment programme. Without it, recruiters will most likely drown in a pool of candidates.

Online recruitment generates more candidates - good and bad. The trick is to sort one from the other. And fast.

ASK an ASP A good application software provider (ASP) will develop a programme to suit your business that saves time, effort and money. Typically it will include an automated pre-selection process including 'killer questions' (to weed out inappropriate applications), profiling and scoring, psychometric tests and CV scans that look for specific skills and experience.

In effect, this acts as an electronic first stage interview. So when the real interview comes along, the candidate is already known to be a strong contender.

The most effective software sits behind the recruiter's site so candidates feel they're dealing with a particular consultant or company. In reality, the ASP monitors the process alongside the recruiter. Simultaneously, you and your provider can see through a 'back office' the level of responses on your recruitment website and their progress. All the while, on the candidate-facing page, applicants enter their details and answer the questions set. They only see your website details and corporate identity so feel they're dealing directly and personally with your company.

This time it's personal Online recruitment is quick, direct and personal. As soon as candidates come online you can relate to them. You can email to set up an interview, answer questions and provide information. What better way to establish whether the candidate is right for you - or indeed you are right for them?

A new piece of software available from some suppliers allows you to 'grade' applicants as they come in. Incoming applications can be graded good, average or poor, depending on pre-set criteria, how they answer questions and their CV scan. This allows you to pick up the good candidates and fast track them to interview. Also, knowing which sites and consultants consistently bring in good people, allows you to place future ads intelligently for the best response. Effort and money are quickly saved in equal measure using grading software.

Where to start Sophisticated software is only as good as its provider. Choose an ASP that will work in partnership with you. Make sure they take time to understand your business and tailor the software to meet your exact needs. Remember you'll need their support after the programme is up and running.

Online recruitment is the ultimate in responsive job advertising. But only if you can handle it.

To find out how your business could handle online recruitment better contact David Silverman at HR Portal on 0870 774 2001 or email him at david.silverman@hrportal.co.uk. HR Portal combines media knowledge with software skills that it tailors to individual clients for best effect. See some of its software in action at http://www.hrportal.co.uk/r63a11.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Comprehensive list of training courses for recruiters.

The UK Recruiter web site now lists courses by many different training providers.

Visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/training.htm

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 17TH MARCH 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM We're adding a new "feature" from this issue! Each issue we will bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards (by number of vacancies carried) and highlighting any interesting trends. This week's total is 433,486 which is down 11,547 on last week. For more information (and to see which job boards make up the top 10) visit http://www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

8TH APRIL, FREE EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE FOR HR RECRUITERS FROM HUNTRESS Huntress Search are running a complimentary employment law update breakfast briefing. The session will provide an overview of the current legislation and key issues relating to the practical effects of the Employment Act 2002. Whilst the event is complimentary they are asking that all attendees contribute a £5 donation to Cancer Research UK. For more information contact Allison Upton 020 7744 1300 or email Allison.Upton@huntress.co.uk

27TH MARCH, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. If you've not made it to an event yet you can see photos from previous ones at http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

Issue 108 - 26th March 2003

Welcome to issue 108 of the ukrecruiter newsletter

CONTENTS
* Recruitment Fees Survey Results
* Job Board Review (The Big Choice by Lucy Walker)
* Article (Online Marketing by HotLizard)
* Regulars & Don't Miss This (Online Job Index - Discount on "Big Billing Whilst Managing" Course - Networking Event - "Managing the Flow of your Career" seminar - CIPD Annual Recruitment Conference - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----RECRUITMENT FEES SURVEY RESULTS-----

Thank you to all 112 of you who took the time to take part in our mini survey last week. I'm providing an overview of the results here.

We asked "What do you invoice on?"; nearly all of you invoice on basic salary (I'm assuming those who don't invoice on basic salary are charging a fixed fee rather than a percentage fee) with a third also invoicing on car allowance and/or guaranteed commission. Very few recruitment companies invoice on share options, healthcare or bonus payments.

We asked questions about your standard fees. The results showed that the majority of you (43%) charge a fee of 20% for ad-hoc or contingency assignments. The majority of respondents (86%) charge between 15% and 25% for these sorts of assignments.

For search or headhunt assignments the average fee you charge is 30%. The majority (60%) of you who responded to this question charge between 25% and 30% for search assignments.

We also asked about fees for retained assignments. However, the results would suggest that the question wasn't clear enough in defining the word "retained". When we next conduct the survey this question will be clearer.

Looking at the salary bands you operate within the figures show that 35% of you work at salaries of up to £20,000 (although 23% of you "never" work at this salary level). 46% of you regularly work at the £20,000 - £30,000 salary level (an additional 37% "sometimes" work at this level). 50% of you regularly work with salaries of between £30,000 - £45,000. The majority of you regularly or "sometimes" work at between £20,000 and £45,000 salaries. Within the £45,000 - £60,000 salary bracket 35% of you regularly work on jobs with 42% "sometimes" conducting assignments at this level. Only 24% of you regularly conduct work at £60,000 - £80,000 salary level (although 35% of you "sometimes" work at this level) and only 11% regularly conduct work at the £80,000 - £100,000 level. 72% of you "never" or "rarely" conduct assignments above £100,000.

Thank you for all your comments you submitted, which sadly we won't have space for here. However, one which unfortunately sums up many people's feelings at present was "times are hard! Fees down, percentages down, retained assignments non-existent".

We'll be conducting another fee survey in a couple of months time to compare what's happening in the market. If you've any comments on the survey or questions you think we ought to include next time please drop me a note.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Looking for a new job?

http://www.gojobsite.co.uk/cgi-bin/campaign.cgi?tid=3604

========================

-----JOB BOARD REVIEW - THE BIG CHOICE BY LUCY WALKER-----

The Big Choice: http://www.thebigchoice.com

Key stats: * Unique users: November/December/Jan/Feb average 70,650 per month * Page impressions: 847,800 * Active database: 161,185 registered job seekers

Most advertised roles/industry sectors: Graduate-focused web site, with roles advertised in some 30 areas.

TheBigChoice says: "We offer bespoke packages for every sized business with over 160,000 registered members, allowing graduate recruiters to cost-effectively recruit from a large pool of talent."

First impressions: The first thing that strikes the visitor is the wealth of information on the site. Whilst the homepage is devoted to graduate jobs, there is also advice on career planning. This covers students from A-level to graduate, and there is also a link to a post- graduate school. There's content relating to all aspects of student life from music to health and finance to travel and even dating! Students are rewarded for writing music and film reviews with a crate of beer, which I thought a nice touch. This extra content differentiates The Big Choice from its competitors (who may link to student portals but are themselves solely careers-focused) and could encourage repeat visits. However, back to the main focus of the site: graduate jobs.

Despite the abundance of text on the homepage, the job search is given priority. It's easy to search for jobs: searches are conducted by work discipline, location or combination of the two. A brief job description leads to a profile page and application details. I liked the list of company names positioned on the right-hand side which as well as providing a quick link to the company profile pages, gives the visitor a gauge to whom is advertising. There's one high-profile advertising opportunity on the homepage, but few branding opportunities within the site.

Tools on offer: Job listings, company profiles, e-mail shots, sponsorship of e- newsletters, and editorial are all available. Recruiters can also pay to access the candidate database. The Big Choice also helps with other areas of the recruitment process by offering screening and assessment services.

Strengths and weaknesses: There's a large database with comprehensive candidate details including the industry sector they want to work in. This is 'cleaned' every three months, especially important in the graduate arena. The database has been built by taking entrants' details at graduate fairs, on campus marketing and excellent optimisation of the site for, and promotion on, search engines. Advertisers' entries on The Big Choice also sit high on the search engines, which I especially liked. Another plus point for the advertiser is that costs tend to be cheaper than many of its competitors.

I have to gripe about the design. The site takes a factual, informative approach, but on some pages the amount of text can be overwhelming and it would benefit from more white space. Also, it baffles me as to why a UK-focused site will buy a .com suffix but not also .co.uk Having both will ensure that the site can be found first time when the address is typed into the browser.

Summary: The graduate online recruitment marketplace is highly competitive. There have been recent casualties (such as activate.co.uk) but also new start-ups pushing their way onto the scene. The Big Choice is one of the more established sites with a decent-sized candidate database and is a veritable mine of information for students looking for jobs or career advice. Although it is not as swish as some of the other graduate sites, it remains an inexpensive addition to a graduate recruitment schedule.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Access over 95,000 fresh CV's for just £40 per month (no minimum contract).

Still not convinced? Then test search our CV database instantly at http://www.cv-library.co.uk/search

For just £40.00 per month you will have full access to the CV Database, the ability to setup watchdog filters to receive CV's, and you can post unlimited vacancies to our successful jobs board, which is integrated with all the top AMS posting services.

For more information visit http://www.cv-library.co.uk/cvdatabase or contact us directly on 01252 810992 or sales@cv-library.co.uk

========================

-----ARTICLE-----

Online Marketing

Over previous weeks Adele Poole of Hotlizard started giving her tips on effective web sites. She continues...

In the previous two issues, I have looked at creativity and functionality for online recruitment sites. In this final hints and tips article, I want to focus on perhaps the most important element of the mix - marketing of your web site and specifically how to best achieve this online.

Marketing of web sites is often completely ignored or neglected yet without it a web site can't hope to reach it's full potential. The offline methods of making sure that your web address appears everywhere - on your business cards, in advertisements on all your marketing collateral - is essential.

The best online method of getting immediate targeted traffic to your web site is to use a Pay per Click service. For a minimal registration fee and administration charge you can leverage a service which can put you at the top of all the major search engines and you only need pay pennies for each visitor that clicks through to your site. You can have complete control of your marketing budget and cheaply increase your site's visibility and traffic.

Good job board relationship management will give your vacancies and your site reach and should generate quality candidate registrations. Selecting the most appropriate job boards for your sector and specialisation is essential as is monitoring their delivery of targeted traffic.

Online and offline marketing should always be supplemented by direct marketing. A good site that is generating regular and plentiful candidate and client registrations, can be building you a strong opt- in email list. Using professional HTML emails for marketing emails to registration lists has a higher response rate than any other form of direct marketing.

Clients and candidates will expect that your web presence is supported by good literature but gone are the days when you need to rely on expensive design and print services. Literature can now easily be produced online and made available from your web site, viewed online, emailed as fulfillment material and printed in house, losing none of the quality but vastly reducing the cost.

The final element of the marketing mix is obviously looking at how your campaigns are working so that you can tweak elements of your proposition. An effective web statistics package can give you a wealth of invaluable information on referring search engines and visitor behaviour.

I hope that you have found this series of brief articles useful and if you have queries on any aspect of web design, development and marketing, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Adele Poole is Managing Director at HotLizard Ltd. You can reach Adele on 01264 730300 or adele@hotlizard.net.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WebSalvo.com - Taking the stress out of Recruitment Advertising.

Launching a new key information tool, it now enables you to proactively manage individual advertising campaigns.

For more information or an online demonstration call Chris Troth on 0870 241 7234, or chris.troth@websalvo.com

=====================

-----REGULARS & DON'T MISS THIS-----

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 24TH MARCH 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 459,970 which is the largest number of jobs on the Index in over 12 months. For more information visit http://www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

7TH-8TH APRIL, DISCOUNT ON "BIG BILLING WHILST MANAGING" COURSE, WINCHESTER ECL, the Recruitment Training Company, are offering a Special Discount of £100.00 off their Management Training Course: "Big Billing Whilst Managing". This two day course takes place in Winchester on the 7th & 8th April. For more information or to book a place call Samantha Atkins on 01264 360234 or email satkins@enablingchange.co.uk

24TH APRIL, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON Unfortunately it's too late to register for this month's networking event. However, you can get in early and register for the one in April. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. If you've not made it to an event yet you can see photos from previous ones at http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

25TH APRIL, MANAGING THE FLOW OF YOUR CAREER - 10% DISCOUNT AVAILABLE, LONDON LC Training are running a career workshop on the 25th April to help people ensure they "meet the challenges you face and take control of your future". The workshop will be facilitated by David Royston- Lee who is a respected Chartered Psychologist with much experience of working with people going through transition. The workshop is normally £165 + VAT per person, however, the first 5 people to book quoting "ukrec" will receive a 10% discount. Contact Marilyn Davidson on 020 8857 2077 or email info@lctlimited.com.

25TH JUNE, CIPD ANNUAL RECRUITMENT CONFERENCE, LONDON The annual recruitment conference from the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development takes place on the 25th June at Olympia. The one day conference costs from £430 + VAT and is "your opportunity to discuss the latest thinking policies, and practices in recruitment and retention to help you become an employer of choice". You can also visit the HR Software show which takes place on the 25th & 26th June. For more information visit http://www.cipd.co.uk/recruitmentconference and http://www.cipd.co.uk/hrss/

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT? Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "the other side", "how many calls per day?", and "placement charges". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 109 - 2nd April 2003

Welcome to issue 109 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. In the Don't Miss This section you have a chance to win a copy of the Online Recruitment Guide from Personnel Today - worth £95.

CONTENTS
* Reviewed Site (One Look Dictionary Search)
* Recruitment Consultancy Web Site Review (Robert Half by Giles Guest)
* Article (Is your business ready for flexible working by Crone Corkill)
* Regulars & Don't Miss This (Win a copy of the Online Recruitment Guide - Online Job Index - Free Employment Law Update - Networking Event - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.onelook.com

The OneLook Dictionary Search site is a search engine for words and phrases. They index more than 5 million words in more than 800 online dictionaries. To get a definition for a word you type it into the search box on the home page of the site. The results show a list of dictionary websites that define the word. To the right of the screen there is also a "quick definition" which is normally a few words giving a very simple definition. When you click on one of the links to the dictionaries that list the word you are searching for you are taken to that dictionary site and can see the definition in their format.

You can also use the site to translate words. Again from the home page enter the word into the search box, this time ensure that the box "find translations" is clicked and then press search. Again a list of dictionaries that carry that word are shown along with the languages into which the word can be translated. Finally the site can also be used to check the spelling of words. Insert a * or ? (* matches any number of letters and ? matches exactly one letter)

A very comprehensive dictionary site. It could also be useful for helping in the completion of crosswords!

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

========================

-----RECRUITMENT CONSULTANCY WEB SITE REVIEW, ROBERT HALF BY GILES GUEST-----

Company Name: Robert Half - http://www.roberthalf.co.uk

Company and Site Description: Robert Half make the splash page claim to be the global leader in financial recruitment and regardless of the legitimacy of this claim with 325 globally spread offices their position at or very near the top of financial recruiters is certain. Their site - and we focus on the UK site in this review - should therefore live up to certain expectations and deliver truly leading services to candidates and clients alike…

Creative Design and Impact: An initial simple homepage gives a choice of two divisions and the company could be in danger of falling into the trap of forcing the choice based on their internal company structure rather than the difference in services a candidate might want. This is often a problem in recruitment sites and doesn't bode well. Fortunately the main page is clear, clean and professionally designed. The white background and classic blue is an easy if somewhat safe choice for a large corporate site and the design impact achieves the desired result with the visitor instantly believing they are dealing with a sizeable, professional company. There's something 'not quite right' about the way the design all fits together and this could well need addressing but there are no fundamental design rules broken and the site scores well for clarity.

Ease of Use: The main page is well laid out with the key links (search, submit CV, contact and info) instantly identifiable. 'Submit CV' leads straight to a form (remembering the candidate 2 click rule) and 'Contact' also leads directly to the information required. With 'info' and the international links easily identified (there is nothing worse than icons with no easily identifiable meaning) the site scores well in terms of ease of use and navigation.

Relevant Content: Most content is relevant and accurate throughout the site and provides the user with the answers to most of his/her questions. However I was disappointed with was the lack of information on why a candidate or client should use Robert Half. I could understand the size of the organization, where its offices are and how the company structure breaks down but I really didn't know why I should work with Robert Half rather than the multitude of other financial recruitment companies. On a recruitment web site I would expect a page singing the praises of the company and giving at least three or four bullet points on why I should work with them. They loose "good-website" points for this.

Candidate Functionality: The job search is the main candidate functionality on any recruitment web site and Robert Half have decided to go for the quick and simple search. The search works well and on a home page the simple search is an excellent idea as it gets candidates to the jobs fast.

There are no detailed search facilities in the site but this is fine on the Robert Half site due to the number of jobs within the site. (There is a calculation for job websites to show the required complexity of a search engine based on the number of jobs. This avoids hideously overly complex or under functioned job search engines).

Finding more information about a job is easily done as is the application and overall Robert Half gets it dead right on the search engine.

That's as far as a review can go on the Robert Half site because there is no more to it. They have a competent search engine, CV submission and a few content pages - and nothing else.

With the exception of the search and apply there are no real services for candidates and if you are a client unless you wish to find an office phone number you will never have reason or desire to visit this site.

What's there does the job perfectly well and operates correctly but there really isn't that much there. For a relatively small amount of money a company 1/50th of Robert Half's size could put a web presence online that made them appear a larger, more advanced, more service orientated and frankly better company.

Summary In summary if you are already working with Robert Half and want to see a list of their jobs the website is fine. However competitors of Robert Half will delight in the fact that both prospective and existing candidates and clients may well leave the Robert Half UK site less convinced they are a global leader than when they arrived.

Giles Guest is Managing Director of 4mat.com, the UK's largest provider of recruitment web sites. You can reach him or his team at giles.guest@4mat.com or see their products at www.4mat.com

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

4MAT.COM's - dotVACANCY - version 2

The new RECRUITMENT WEB SITE solution from 4mat.com

========================

-----ARTICLE-----

Is your business ready for flexible working? By Crone Corkill

Changes to family friendly laws (The Flexible Working Regulations 2002) come into effect on 6 April, 2003. Anyone whose child is under 6 on this date (or under 18 and disabled) may be able to request a change to the hours they work, the times they work or homeworking. Is your organisation ready for the potential issues that could arise from the new legislation? Are you aware of your obligations as a business?

Crone Corkill (recruitment consultancy) and Simmons & Simmons (law firm) have developed a checklist to ensure that your business can manage the flexible working transition, smoothly.

* Formal policy: Has your personnel department developed a formal policy that deals with flexible working?

* Applicants: Have your staff been made aware that there is a policy in place? Has your organisation defined who will be eligible for flexible working?

* Company wide policy: Will this policy only be applicable to parents with children under 6 (or disabled children under 18)? Will it be rolled out to parents with older children and/or nonparents?

* Legalities: Are you aware of the legal processes that the business must follow when an employee makes an application?

* Roles: Are all roles suitable for flexible working? Has an audit of all roles within your organisation been carried out?

* Trial Periods: Have you thought about agreeing trial periods when you accept applications?

* Reviews: Have you implemented a review element within the policy, which will allow both employer and employee to discuss any potential issues under the new arrangement?

* Promotion, Bonuses, Salary Increases: Will flexible workers be eligible for promotion, bonuses and salary increases in the same way as any other employee is? How will you ensure that flexible workers are fairly treated - do managers / staff need to be educated?

* Health & Safety: Are you aware of the health and safety issues when your organisation allows employees to work from home?

* Meetings: Are there certain meetings where flexible workers are expected to attend? How much notice should line managers give the flexible worker?

* Equipment: What equipment will you supply to the flexible worker to enable them to work from home? Will there be a permanent office desk for the employee?

* Confidentiality: Are flexible workers aware that they should be obliged to keep all company material confidential?

* Sex / Part-time discrimination: Is your organisation aware that maternity returners are still protected by sex discrimination legislation - this will mean in particular that any refusal to allow them to work flexibly will need to be objectively justified. Is your organisation aware of the protection that part-time flexible workers have against discrimination?

For more information you can contact Julian Grimes of Crone Corkill on 0207 636 0800 or Philip Bartlett of Simmons & Simmons on 020 7628 2020. Alternatively visit the Department of Trade and Industry website at http://www2.dti.gov.uk/er/flexible.htm.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Access over 95,000 fresh CV's for just £40 per month (no minimum contract).

Still not convinced? Then test search our CV database instantly at http://www.cv-library.co.uk/search

For more information visit http://www.cv-library.co.uk/cvdatabase or contact us directly on 01252 810992 or sales@cv-library.co.uk

========================

-----REGULARS & DON'T MISS THIS-----

WIN A COPY OF THE ONLINE RECRUITMENT GUIDE - WORTH £95.
The Online Recruitment Guide has been recently published by Personnel Today and we have a copy worth £95 to give away. It's written by Alan Whitford, who has many of you will know as a contributor to this newsletter. For information on the contents of the guide visit http://www.personneltoday.com. To win a copy all you need do is collect a special code from our website. Go to http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk and look for the message "Win a copy of the Online Recruitment Guide" found on the home page of the site. The first correct entry "out of the bag" at 12 noon on Friday 4th April will win the copy of the guide.

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 31ST MARCH 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. Last week there was the largest number of vacancies on the index in over 12 months. However, this week's total is 414,355 which is down by more than 45,000 on last week. For more information visit http://www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

8TH APRIL, FREE EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE FOR HR RECRUITERS FROM HUNTRESS
Huntress Search are running a complimentary employment law update breakfast briefing. The session will provide an overview of the current legislation and key issues relating to the practical effects of the Employment Act 2002. Whilst the event is complimentary all attendees are asked to contribute a £5 donation to Cancer Research UK. For more information contact Allison Upton 020 7744 1300 or email Allison.Upton@huntress.co.uk

24TH APRIL, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON
Another great recruitment networking event took place on the 27th March. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. So, if you've not made it along to one yet visit http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk and register. There are photo's on the site from previous events.

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum Current topics on the site include "Online CV finding services", "Commission", and "Safety engineers". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 110 - 9th April 2003

Welcome to issue 110 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. Congratulations go to Margaret Hannon of HTS who won the guide to Online Recruitment in last week's newsletter.

CONTENTS

* Reviewed Site (Kellysearch)
* Job Board Review (exec-appointments.com by Damian Routley)
* Review (Recruitment Industry Benchmarking Index by Louise Triance)
* Don't Miss This (The Recruitment Society Event - Free month trial of recruitment system - online job index - networking Event - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.kellys.co.uk/

Kellysearch is a directory of UK manufacturing companies which lists over 150,000 companies classified under 110,000 product headings. The site is free to use. To conduct a search you simply enter a product/service, company name, trade name, town, street or postcode in the search box at the top left of the screen and press go. If you do a product/service search the results summary shows the different categories that contain companies relevant to your search. You can then browse through the companies in these categories. If you search by company name the results summary shows the different companies that match your search criteria, with location details and information on the categories that company falls under. Information on companies includes: address, map, telephone numbers, email and web address, contact names, product and services.

This is a very comprehensive site if you are searching for information on UK manufacturing companies. It is especially useful by the fact it is free to use.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Talisman the integrated solution for recruiters - To find out more:- Call Helen at Beacon on 01582 478888; email: helen.doherty@recruitment-software.net - Web: http://www.recruitment-software.net

========================

-----JOB BOARD REVIEW - EXEC-APPOINTMENTS.COM BY DAMIAN ROUTLEY-----

http://www.exec-appointments.com

Key stats * Unique users: 110,000 (Feb 2003) * Most advertised roles/industry sectors: Finance, General Management, Technology, Public Sector, Consulting, Sales (mirrors current job market)

What the site says "exec-appointments.com was launched last year with the objective to become the new online institution for executive-level positions. We advertise career, interim and contract jobs from top executive management recruiters and employers in all functional and industry areas across the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. We also advertise non-executive director and senior voluntary positions."

Review The site's "target clients" are senior consultancy and the ratio of direct clients to recruitment consultancy are 10% to 90%, and the main clients are those one would expect to regularly see in the Sunday Times, Financial Times or Daily Telegraph. Split in to two main searchable areas - £30k to £50k and over £50k, they advertise permanent (85%), interim (7%) and contract (4%) jobs as well as non- executive director (3%) and senior voluntary positions (1%).

Strengths & Weaknesses Betty Thayer (CEO) and Tim Irving (CTO) are clearly aware of the market they're operating in and have structured the site to appeal to the audience. Whilst this may seem an obvious point, it is still surprising to see how many other sites fail at this. There is no compulsory registration process (although the applicant will need to provide name and email address in order to make an application), the operation and search are simple, and the applicant can email the recruiter direct. For a demographic that is more comfortable with broadsheet recruitment, this strategy has its advantages.

The physical appearance of the site is very professional. There is minimum text on the homepage so as not to distract the applicant from completing the task they originally came there to do. Should advice be required, there is a "Services for Executives" area with links to other organisations that provide everything from career management to CV construction. The search results are displayed in a clear table format, reminiscent of spreadsheets. The advertisements are all full display. There is the opportunity to have templated designs that high volume users simply fill with copy and upload. Unlike some similar sites, there are no lineage advertisements - we wouldn't expect a senior executive to trawl through lineage in the printed media - why should online be any different?

With regard to number of applicants on the site, there has been a continual increase in these figures since the launch (a year ago). Exec-appointments.com has made excellent use of their connections within industry - for instance a seminar on Corporate Governance and Branding last year proved to agencies that the site is committed to adding value. An invaluable piece of PR. Then there's been other marketing and PR initiatives an association with Classic FM giving exposure to an audience of 7 ½ million.

There are lessons to be learnt from their online marketing strategy too. Exec-appointments.com can manifest itself as 120 different domain names. The search engine optimisation is consistently updated - although at time of writing "executive recruitment" appeared only seventh in the ranking on Google. And there are over 250 affiliate links on other relevant sites - thus helping to boost the ranking (and the traffic figures).

Summary In a market where a professional approach is tantamount to a successful return, Exec-appointments.com has established itself very early on as a worthy contender. It will be interesting to track its future and observe how it rides the waves of online recruitment in the coming year. Advice for the year ahead? Do not devalue your product by dropping rates in order to get companies on board. If the product works, let the results speak for itself. A good site, operated well.

Damian Routley is TCS' media specialist. To discuss how they can provide recruitment solutions to your organisation, please call him on 020 7420 1800 or email droutley@tcstown.com

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Check out all the latest Developments at http://www.zod.uk.com & http://www.v-consultant.co.uk

========================

-----REVIEW BY LOUISE TRIANCE-----

Recruitment Industry Benchmarking (RIB) Index: http://www.ribindex.com/

What it is: members provide confidential (password protected) information about their monthly performance on certain key measurements. These results are analysed by RIB (in conjunction with Cranfield University School of Management) which then provides each member with their monthly report, in which their results are measured against the performance of the rest of the rib index members.

How it works: Every month member companies input their data relating to 30 different criteria (measurements). These criteria include length of staff tenure, average permanent placement salaries and fees, debtor collection days, training spend, etc. The results are only made available to the companies who partake in the RIB Index. Where there are at least 10 companies in a sub sector of the industry (eg, office secretarial) comparative data is also provided for their performance against the others in that sector. It is anticipated that the range of criteria will soon be extended to include more operational Key Performance Indicators (eg interview to placement ratio) as well as enabling sectors to have their own sector-specific criteria.

Site Launched: August 2002

Costs: RIB Ltd is a not-for-profit company, so once the running costs are fully met, the more the members, the lower the fees. There is currently no joining fee (although this may change in the future). Each company pays £150 per month.

Who's in charge? RIB was founded by Romney Rawes (email: benchmarking@rawes.com). Romney is a Management Consultant to the Recruitment Industry who has over 33 years experience of, and currently holds six non-executive Directorships within, recruitment.

Review: The primary benefit is to enable a company to benchmark and so objectively evaluate their own performance, to be able to identify areas of improvement. Members will also be able to use the data to market themselves to clients or candidates (although if they wish to make any of their data publicly available they must submit to a data audit by Cranfield to ensure the information they have provided is accurate).

Additionally, the more companies that get involved in RIB the greater the benefit to all parties. The number of current members isn't revealed, although RIB started with 50 founder companies. The RIB Index is now undertaking a membership drive. Joining companies such as Adecco, GAAPS, Parker Bridge, Carlisle and Eden Brown, as well as many smaller operations who are already a part of the Index should be a good selling tool for membership. Romney also pointed out to me that RIB members accounted for 1 in 5 of the nominations for the recent Recruiter Awards for Excellence and the same proportion of winners.

The only problem I can see is that in the current market £1800 per annum may be quite a large sum for some recruitment firms. It is also crucial that potential members feel satisfied as to the confidentiality of information supplied (which is why RIB has involved Cranfield to ensure the complete integrity of the database); remember it is only you who can see your information.

Recommendation: If you are looking for ways to improve your business why not consider becoming part of the RIB Index.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Recruitment Counsellors is a network of franchised recruitment professional that serve clients' and candidates alike across a variety of industries, geographical locations and job functions.

As part of the "Counsellors" group of companies with over 300 home workers supported by 100 head office staff we are looking to rapidly develop our network of recruiters.

If you are interested in becoming part of this network and becoming your own boss, then please visit our franchisee site at http://www.recruitmentcounsellors.com

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

15TH APRIL, WHERE NOW FOR RECRUITMENT? THE RECRUITMENT SOCIETY, LONDON
"How will the recruitment industry shape up to the battering it receives from all sides?" This is the subject of the next recruitment society event. The speaker is Dr Gareth Osborne, Chief Executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. Members can attend for £10 and non members for £20. For more information visit www.recruitmentsociety.org.uk, email admin@recruitmentsociety.org.uk or call Richard Taylor on 020 7439 6288

FREE MONTH TRIAL OF RECRUITMENT SYSTEM
Pyplia Ltd are offering a free, no obligation, trial of their new Recruitment data management software worth up to £1,500. Contact Greg on 020 7324 6060 or email Greg at enquiries@pyplia.com. For further info, the full details are at http://www.pyplia.com

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 7TH APRIL 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 430, 091 which is up around 15,000 vacancies on last week. For more information visit http://www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

24TH APRIL, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON
If you've never been to one of our networking events - why not come along on the 24th April. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. It doesn't cost anything to attend (except for the drinks you buy!). Visit http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk and register. There are photo's on the site from previous events.

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "recruitment databases", "too many job boards?", and "which markets are booming?". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

ukrecruiter newsletter - issues 111 to 120

Issue 111 - 16 April 2003

Welcome to issue 111 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. If you find the newsletter useful please suggest to colleagues and recruitment friends that they sign up too! All they need to do is email me with the word subscribe in the subject line.

CONTENTS
* Reviewed Site (Acronym Finder)
* Multiple Job Board Posting Tools Review (Websalvo.com by David Craig)
* Article (Starting a recruitment "desk" from scratch by Warren Kemp)
* Don't Miss This (Online Job Index - Free workshop and partnership briefing - Free multiple job board posting - Networking Event - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.acronymfinder.com/

The Acronym Finder site has a searchable database of over 287,000 acronyms. Despite the off-putting colour scheme the site is very simple to use. You simply enter the acronym and click "find" to search for its meaning. All the matching acronyms are listed with their descriptions. The results also show if the term is specific to a certain country, so against REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) it says "UK". They also advertise a "reverse lookup" function where you can find the correct acronym for a "definition". However, this is currently offline and apparently will become a paid for service.

This is a useful tool if you are looking through CVs or a job spec and don't want to reveal your ignorance by asking a client or candidate to translate an acronym for you!

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

For excellence in recruitment web site design, development and marketing HotLizard is the premier supplier to the recruitment industry and to staffing and HR departments. The online recruitment specialist, is offering a massive 20% discount on all its web design and development services until April 30th 2003. As an added incentive to new clients, the first year's site hosting will also be included free of charge with any new development project.

For more information, please contact Joanna Ratcliffe on 01264 730300 or email joanna.ratcliffe@hotlizard.net. You can also view further information on HotLizard and some of our reference sites at www.hotlizard.net

========================

---MULTIPLE JOB BOARD POSTING TOOLS, WEBSALVO.COM, BY DAVID CRAIG---

Company Name: WebSalvo.com Limited - http://www.websalvo.com

Contact Details: Chris Troth (Business Development Manager) Tel: 0870 241 7234 ext 207, chris.troth@websalvo.com

Costs: From £100 per year. (Dependent on number of licences required).

What they say: "WebSalvo.com is the UK's premier Internet recruitment advertising, multi-posting and performance measurement software provider, who focus on one core principle - quality."

Review: When you log into your Websalvo.com account you are led to an area which allows you to search, sort, create, delete, and post job adverts to the job boards. When creating new adverts you are alerted if you have failed to fill in any required information, e.g. location / career / industry categories. There is a character counter on the job description form field so you know how large your job posting is going to be. There is also an option to place key words in the form. These will be picked up on by many of the job boards when candidates search. Remember IT candidates would search on sql, c++, java or whatever their speciality is - not "fab job in Dartmouth". Once you have created the job advert you post it to your selected job boards. At this stage you are given some extra fields to fill in specific to the job boards you have chosen.

Before you can post to the job boards using Websalvo.com you will need to set up accounts with the job boards and purchase job posting credits for the ones that charge. To help you decide which job boards to use, Websalvo.com has listed them on their system by industry, with individual write ups, indicating whether they are free or not and grading them between one and five according to the feedback they have received from their clients.

When dealing with advert responses you have the option to store the CV online as well as having it emailed to you. One of the benefits of being able to store the CV online is that you can access it from any location as long as you have Internet access. One handy feature you can use is a personalised email auto responder which sends back an email to the applicant with your chosen message when they apply.

Another option allows you to set up accounts for each of your team to use, allocating them a set number of jobs they can post to each job board. There is also a feature where you can see which members of your team have been successful in filling which vacancies and from which job boards. This will give you a better picture of what works and what doesn't.

Any comments you have on the subject can be submitted in the UK Recruiter Discussion Forum http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum

This article was written by online recruitment advertising and marketing consultant David Craig of recruitment advertising agency, Giraffe Advertising - http://www.giraffeads.com

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Access over 100,000 fresh CV's for just £40 per month (no minimum contract).

Still not convinced? Then test search our CV database instantly at http://www.cv-library.co.uk/search

For more information visit http://www.cv-library.co.uk/cvdatabase or contact us directly on 01252 810992 or sales@cv-library.co.uk

========================

---ARTICLE - STARTING A RECRUITMENT "DESK" FROM SCRATCH BY WARREN KEMP---

In a series of three articles Warren Kemp is looking at starting a recruitment 'desk' from scratch. These tips apply equally to someone new to recruitment or to a consultant joining a new company with little ongoing activity.

Park 1: Managing your Day ~ The initial period

Starting a new desk from scratch or breaking into a new market can be a daunting experience. Rest assured most of the top recruiters today had to start that way! In the current economic climate there are not many ready made consultant opportunities brimming with candidates and clients so lets grit our teeth, roll our sleeves up and get on with it!

First things first. It is imperative that you uncover and register at least three or four varied A1 candidates, enabling you to market to a variety of companies. To give you a good spread, try finding candidates that cover the top and bottom end of your industry in terms of salary and experience. Obtain candidates from differing locations (e.g. it is no use presenting someone living in London for a post in Glasgow). In the early days, candidates will come from colleague referrals, internet searches, old candidates on the database (if applicable), direct approaches from you to known names in the industry or direct applications to you (get your name known quickly via your web site and articles in industry journals).

During this period, although perhaps five out of eight working hours should be spent recruiting, there is still an element of marketing that should be done. This will vary from fact-finding calls in preparation for presenting your candidates, to following up any snippets of vacancies you may pick up from candidates or good old- fashioned advert chasing. Make sure there is adequate time set aside for administration, either after the mornings calls and then again at night or all at night. Do not administrate after each call, once you come off the phone you will not get back on it.

Warren Kemp is a trainer in headhunting skills for the REC & ASSC and is a certified practitioner in NLP. If you want to discuss the content of this article further you can email warren@warrenkemp.com or call 0800 074929.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Recruitment Counsellors is a network of franchised recruitment professional that serve clients' and candidates alike across a variety of industries, geographical locations and job functions.

As part of the "Counsellors" group of companies with over 300 home workers supported by 100 head office staff we are looking to rapidly develop our network of recruiters.

If you are interested in becoming part of this network and becoming your own boss, then please visit our franchisee site at http://www.recruitmentcounsellors.com

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 14TH APRIL 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 437,744 which is down 7,500 on last week. For more information visit www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

25TH APRIL, FREE WORKSHOP & PARTNER BRIEFING FOR RECRUITING FIRMS
RAW Ltd are holding a complimentary 'Best Practices in Hiring & Retaining Top Talent' evaluation workshop followed by a strategic alliance and partnering open discussion. The session will provide an overview of the 'Worlds Best Hiring System' currently used by over 20,000 senior managers. Learn and explore the potential of partnering with RAW to increase sales revenues, enhance your service offering and differentiate yourself in the market place. All attendees will also receive a special invitation to a public workshop. Limited Seating. For more information contact Reg Athwal 01372 371 171 or email partner@regathwal.com quoting "UK Recruiter Partner".

FREE MULTIPLE JOB BOARD POSTING FROM JOBSENSE
Jobsense aim to provide the first completely free of charge job broadcasting service available on the web. In order to qualify for free of charge access to Jobsense, you must register online at www.jobsense.net as a client requiring a maximum of 5 users and posting no more than 100 job vacancies per calendar month. If you do not qualify for the free service then they promise to undercut any competitor’s quote or pricing tariff for job broadcasting by 50%. For more information visit www.jobsense.net, email sales@jobsense.net or phone 0208 447 7252.

24TH APRIL, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON
There's only just time to sign up for the networking event next week. If you can't make it to that one then why not come along on the 29th May. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. It's free to attend so visit http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk and register. There are photo's on the site from previous events.

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "what are average billings", "hard copy advertising" and "what makes a great/useful job board?". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 112 - 23 April 2003

Welcome to issue 112 of the ukrecruiter newsletter

CONTENTS

* Reviewed Site (Hemscott)
* Job Board Review (PersonnelToday.com by Lucy Walker)
* Psychometrics Review (Discus Online by Bill Boorman)
* Don't Miss This (Discount on Teleseminar - Online Job Index - Recruitment Society Event - Networking Event - Internet for Search & Selection course - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.hemscott.net/

The Hemmington Scott web site contains a "company info" section that has free information on over 2,300 UK & Irish registered companies. In order to access the free information on the site you do need to register - but this is quick and simple to do. You can either search the company information database by company name from the home page or click on the "Company Info" link to access a page where you can search by other criteria and where there is an A-Z listing. The depth of information provided on companies varies, although very comprehensive information is available on many of the companies. This includes 5 year summary P&L with balance sheet, daily share price, names of Directors and major shareholders and a summary from the annual report. The site also contains full annual reports for quite a number of UK companies. As well as the free information there is also plenty of additional information available for those willing to pay.

This site is certainly one of the best, and most frequently quoted, free sites for financial information on UK & Irish companies.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Looking for a new job?

http://www.gojobsite.co.uk/cgi-bin/campaign.cgi?tid=4701

========================

-----JOB BOARD REVIEW - PERSONNELTODAY.COM BY LUCY WALKER-----

Site URL: www.personneltoday.com

Key stats.
Unique users: (March 2003) 17,839 jobs page, 26,802 main site Visits: (March 2003) 52,482 jobs page, 72,187 main site
Page impressions (March 2003): 331,076 jobs page, 334,467 main site
Most advertised roles/industry sectors: information not available at this stage, for examples look at the job section on the site. There are currently 607 live roles on the site.

What the site says:
"PersonnelToday.com is a leading website for HR professionals. Because the site offers up-to-the minute information and news we have become an extremely important resource for HR professionals. We received fantastic feed back from a user survey in 2002 and with the continued development of the site we intend to maintain and grow this reputation"

First impressions:
Personnel today.com is easy to navigate and pleasing on the eye. Its simplicity belies the fact that it contains a wealth of information for the HR professional. This online spin-off of Personnel Today magazine carries news and resources as well as jobs. The content includes daily news; information on employment law and other human resources topics; an archive of articles from Personnel Today, Training magazine, Occupational Health, and Employers' Law; and a directory of products and services. Whilst the site statistics reveal a significant number of repeat visits, no doubt attracted back by the 'sticky content', they also show the jobs section receives its fair share of traffic.

Tools on offer:
Within the Jobs section there's an easy-to-use search facility with an all-important free text search box. Candidates can customize their job search, store their CV online (choosing whether to make it visible to recruiters), and receive email alerts via the 'My Jobs File' section. Such customisation builds loyalty to the site. Also present is an HR- oriented version of the ever-popular salary checker. The editorial in the separate Careers section includes listings of employment events and 'Careers Coach', an 'ask the experts' area, where consultants provide career advice.

Strengths & weaknesses:
Although the content differs (job search versus career advice), to my mind it seems incongruous to separate the Jobs and Careers sections. Why not make it clearer for the visitor and have all the information available from the same point?

There are some accessibility issues that have not been addressed. Whilst the floating dynamic menu is eye-catching not all browsers can view it. Moreover the size of the text cannot be increased which limits the use of the site by the visually impaired. Many sites need to improve their accessibility but I feel a site whose editorial encompasses issues such as equal opportunities and diversity should take measures to adhere to best practice guidelines. The site's due for an update next month with added features to increase its usability so maybe these shortcomings will be remedied then.

There's some great content. The 'hot-off-the-press' nature of the news is conveyed by the latest headlines positioned at the top of the homepage together with date and time of posting. In fact, the news on the site is updated five times a day.

From an advertising perspective, there are some interesting opportunities. The sponsored competitions help with branding and traffic driving strategies. Unsurprisingly, traffic to Personneltoday.com increases considerably when there's a competition running. From a recruitment point of view, I like the high-profile Job Watch slot on the homepage; it's able to deliver an employment message to those who may not be actively looking for a change of job.

Summary:
Personneltoday.com and its print parent belong to Reed Business Information's portfolio of products. RBI was slow to develop the online versions of their paper publications perhaps through concern about losing out on print revenues. However they now effectively utilise their vast editorial resources for content and pool their technology so that products such as the salary survey tool crop up on other RBI- owned sites. It is a highly comprehensive one-stop shop for human resources information.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Check out all the latest Developments at http://www.zod.uk.com & http://www.v-consultant.co.uk
========================

-----PSYCHOMETRIC REVIEW - EXTENDED DISC BY BILL BOORMAN-----

* Product Name: Discus Online
* Company Name: Axiom Software Limited
* Website Address: www.discusonline.com & www.axiomsoftware.com
* Contact Details: Adrian Vincent, 0161 877 2199, adrian.vincent@axiomsoftware.com
* Training: The one day Discus training course is strongly recommended in all cases, although those already trained in DISC theory or to BPS Level B are qualified to use Discus.
* Cost: Pay per profile, starting at £19 for a one-off report, but there are volume discounts available
* Applications: Selection, training, personal development and career counselling

I have used Discus for my own staff assessment needs for the last five years and generate around 500 reports a year so I am very familiar with the product.

Discus is a simple to use product and is based on DISC principles. For those of you not familiar with DISC, the product effectively ranks you in percentile terms against the following indicators - Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance.

The personality questionnaire consists of 24 sets of four statements. From each set of statements, you need to select one as being most descriptive and another as being least descriptive of how you feel you react to certain situations. The questionnaire takes about 10 minutes to complete - although, as with most personality questionnaires, it is not timed. One of the key characteristics of Discus is the usability of the feedback report. It is written in plain English and is broken into clearly defined sections.

The feedback report starts with a DISC profile series, consisting of graphs for the individual's Internal, External, and Summary profiles, plus the Shift pattern, which highlights the differences between the Internal and External profiles. The Shift pattern graph percentiles indicate the amount of adjustment somebody is having to make between their own personality and their "working" personality. The more in conflict a personality is with the working personality, the greater the potential for stress or reverting to type under pressure. I have found this a particularly useful feature when using Discus as a development tool.

The next part of the report gives a Style Card with a breakdown of key values including pressure responses i.e. how the candidate will react when placed under pressure and the best approach to managing that individual. The next section is the Trait Analysis, broken down into permanent, transient, potential and inactive traits. The final graph is Profile Tension, which shows how much pressure the individual is under, how much they can cope with, and highlights areas that may be a source of the tension.

This is then followed by a detailed textual report that includes communication style, decision making, organisation and planning, motivation, managing style and style of management required. The extended report also gives a list of questions that will explore positive and negative aspects of the profile for use in an interview situation. Other sections of the extended report include summaries of the candidate's ability to form relationships or work within a team and future ambition linked to development. The report is about eight to twelve pages, comprehensive and very simple to follow and use.

I use the report between the first and second interview, passing it onto the candidates and asking them to comment on areas that they strongly agree or disagree with. Where I find Discus stands out in this application is that the report is very easy to follow, read and understand. This also has the added benefit that it can be used and interpreted by those without in-depth experience or training in psychometric tests. I would recommend the product strongly.

For anyone wishing to get further information on the principles of DISC, Axiom have an extensive online library which is free to access and can be found at www.discusonline.com/udisc and www.discusonline.com/dalg. There is also a free online trial available for anyone wishing to try out Discus for themselves - simply email contact@axiomsoftware.com and they will send you a link and password.

Bill Boorman is Director of Training for Prime Time Recruitment ( http://www.primetime.co.uk) and will be reviewing more psychometric tests in future newsletters.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Try evelo free for a month. We are giving a free month’s trial of our recruitment data management service, evelo. All you need is a broadband connection to the Internet and a computer capable of running a web browser like Internet Explorer. There’s no software to install and we can set your account up overnight. Telephone support is included during working hours. For more details visit www.pyplia.com or call 020 7324 6060 and speak to Greg.

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

29TH APRIL & 30TH APRIL, DISCOUNT ON HOW TO NEGOTIATE BETTER FEES & MARGIN - TELESEMINAR
On the 29th & 30th April Breakthrough Coaching are running a one hour teleseminar that teaches you how to handle price objections effectively. The session is normally £39 + VAT per person, however, they are offering ukrecruiter subscribers a 10% discount. For more information contact Mark Whitby on 0870 011 8004 or email mark@breakthrough-coach.com quoting "ukrec"

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 22ND APRIL 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 357,565 which is down 80,000 on last week. Probably some impact from the Easter break. For more information visit www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

19TH MAY, INTERIM MANAGEMENT - THREAT OR OPPORTUNITY? THE RECRUITMENT SOCIETY, LONDON
"How is the growth of Interim Management affecting the rest of the industry?" This is the subject of the next recruitment society event. The speaker is Julian Meighan of Interim Performers. Members can attend for £10 and non members for £20. For more information visit www.recruitmentsociety.org.uk, email admin@recruitmentsociety.org.uk or call Richard Taylor on 020 7439 6288

29TH MAY, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON
Unfortunately it's too late to register for April's networking event. However, you can get in early and register for the one in May. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. Register at: http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

5TH JUNE, INTERNET FOR SEARCH & SELECTION COURSE, REC, LONDON
If you are a recruiter, search consultant or researcher you could benefit from this course. "Internet for Search & Selection" is a course we've written. We run it in conjunction with the REC on a public and inhouse basis. The next public course in London is on the 5th June. For more information contact Emma Thorpe on 0207 462 3270 or email emma.thorpe@rec.uk.com. If you simply want a course outline you can email me for that.

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "recruitment advertising", "headhunting", and "help me please..". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 113 - 30 April 2003

Welcome to issue 113 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. Don't forget to let us know if you've any suggestions of sites to review, articles you'd like to see or ways you think we can improve the newsletter.

CONTENTS
* Reviewed Site (Trade UK)
* Recruitment Consultancy Web Site Review (Badenoch and Clark by Adele Poole)
* Article (Starting a recruitment "desk" from scratch - part 2, by Warren Kemp)
* Don't Miss This (Networking Event - Jobs Index - Internet for Search & Selection course - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.tradeuk.com

Trade UK contains information on over 60,000 UK based companies that export to other countries. The site is intended for use by companies wishing to trade with a British exporter although it is great for looking up companies by industry, product or service. On the homepage of the site is a search box where you can search by product or service or by business name. The results are returned giving basic company information: company name, phone number and address with a one-line description of the business area in which they operate. You can view details on individual companies by clicking the company name. The depth of detail available on companies in the database is varied. Typical information includes at least one contact name (often the MD or the Sales or Marketing Director), email and website address, turnover, number of employees, export markets and detailed description of the company's activities. You can also print a report of a number of companies.

The database seems comprehensive and is quick to use. It would be a useful resource for finding UK companies operating in certain industry sectors or providing a particular product or service.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

4MAT.COM's - dotVACANCY - version 2

The new RECRUITMENT WEB SITE solution from 4mat.com

========================

-----RECRUITMENT CONSUTLANCY WEB SITE REVIEW, BADENOCH AND CLARK BY ADELE POOLE-----

Site URL: http://www.badenochandclark.com

Company and Site Description:
Badenoch and Clark supply temporary, contract and permanent staff into accountancy, banking, investment management, law, IT and public sector. Their web site provides access to their UK services and to accounting, investment banking and legal opportunities in the US. The review will focus on the UK site.

Creative Design and Impact:
The site design is clean and functional and it is immediately obvious who Badenoch and Clark are and which sectors they provide resource solutions into. However, the home page could be better laid out and provide even more information to the visitor. The design is consistent throughout the site but when you get to the form pages for job search and search results the design is not as carefully executed and the pages don't feel as professional.

Ease of Use:
This isn't a huge site to negotiate and the traditional left hand menu makes it straightforward to go to each of the sections and determine the content available. It is also nice to be able to navigate by discipline as if I am only interested in Legal jobs, the rest of the site soon becomes irrelevant. It would also be useful, from within this section, to be able to search, view and apply for jobs in this discipline.

Relevant Content:
There is a huge amount of content in each area but i am completely put off viewing any of it as it is all in pdf format to download. Whilst this is a fantastic medium for supplementary information that the candidate or client might want to download and keep to read at their leisure, I would have liked to have seen much of this on the site itself to browse through. The content needs to be visible and engaging to keep me on the site.

Candidate Functionality:
The candidate functionality is limited to job search and sending a CV to the managing consultant. It does also enable the candidate to email a position to a friend. I would have liked to have seen more information on the position to encourage me to apply. The layout of job search and display would benefit from tidying up. The lack of even a simple registration process precludes the site from functionality such as jobs by email, jobs by SMS or any kind of candidate area to encourage them to return to the site and update details. It could also be useful in the absence of jobs by email etc. to encourage speculative applications.

Client Functionality:
I couldn't see any client functionality on the site.

Candidate and Client Marketing and Retention:
This is an area that the site could definitely improve upon. Only the Industry news really gives me any reason to return to the site. Features for the candidate such the personalised area with the ability to build and update a CV and view their progress online are useful tools in drawing the candidate back into the site.

For the client to be able to register for newsletters and updates, post a vacancy online and perhaps to view assignment progress or search candidate profiles are all areas that could be considered.

Online Marketing:
I don't think that I would have found the Badenoch and Clark site purely through searching online either as a candidate for relevant jobs or as a client for a company to handle my recruitment requirements. Subscription to a Pay Per Click service could immediately put them in the top 3 on all the major search engines and the site would benefit immediately.

Summary:
Badenoch and Clark's site is a good basic job site, which allows candidates to find jobs and apply. With a few simple changes the site could add lots more value as a resource for both the candidate and client.

Adele Poole is Managing Director at HotLizard Ltd. You can reach Adele on 01264 730300 or adele@hotlizard.net.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Access over 100,000 fresh CV's for just £40 per month (no minimum contract).

Still not convinced? Then test search our CV database instantly at http://www.cv-library.co.uk/search

For more information visit http://www.cv-library.co.uk/cvdatabase or contact us directly on 01252 810992 or sales@cv-library.co.uk

========================

-----ARTICLE - STARTING A RECRUITMENT "DESK" FROM SCRATCH BY WARREN KEMP-----

Part 2: Managing your Day ~ Obtaining an Assignment

In a series of three articles Warren Kemp is looking at starting a recruitment 'desk' from scratch. The last article looked at the need to uncover a few good, high calibre placeable (A1) candidates. He continues...

Before we talk this week about step two - obtaining an assignment or vacancy lets visit the subject of what makes an A1 candidate. As a rough guide an A1 candidate should score 7 out of 10 or better in the following checklist:

1. Be in employment
2. Command a salary that is appropriate to their current position
3. Be realistic about what their next move might be
4. Have no skeletons in their cupboard
5. Have skills that are needed in the current marketplace
6. Be able to show good solid recent achievements
7. Show steady or better career growth to date
8. Be able to communicate well
9. Be of an appearance that is applicable to their industry
10. "Work" well with you

So we've now got a few A1 candidates - its now important that you market a variety of them out to prospective clients, enabling you to cover a wide and varied catchment area. If you are hitting the proverbial brick wall on three or four calls with candidate A, then changing to candidate B and therefore style/size of companies will regain your confidence to make the breakthrough.

As with in the first stage although perhaps five out of eight working hours may be spent marketing, there is still an element of recruiting that must be done. This may vary from fact-finding calls in preparation for recruiting, to follow up calls to previous recruiting conversations. Once again set aside adequate time for administration either after the mornings & afternoon sessions or all at the end of the day. Do not administrate after each call, however excited you are by the request to " Send me some information on your company ".

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

There's no such thing as a free lunch!

But I think we can come close. If you've just started out on your own and don't have budget for a decent recruitment data management system this could be your lucky break. We're offering a single subscription to our system, evelo, free for 6 months. evelo is an internet based data management service that is accessed using the internet to take advantage of the offer you'll need a computer with a browser and a broadband connection. Included in the offer are daily backups, telephone support and any updates we make to evelo. For more details visit http://www.pyplia.com or call 020 7324 6060 and speak to Greg.

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 28TH APRIL 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 355, 732 which is down 1,833 on last week. For more information visit www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

15TH MAY, RECRUITMENT STRATEGY WORKSHOP, LONDON
Workthing and PSL (a online psychometric consultancy) are holding a one-day workshop to tackle all of the hot issues in online recruitment. The workshop is designed to enable recruiters to discuss recruitment challenges with their peers and benefit from the advice of experts. The workshop is aimed at corporate recruiters as opposed to consultancies and agencies. The cost of the seminar is normally £95 + VAT. However, ukrecruiter subscribers are being offered a 20% discount brining the rate to £76 + VAT. To take advantage of the offer visit http://www.workthing.com/marketing/psl_may03.html and complete the form quoting "ukrecruiter subscriber"

29TH MAY, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON
If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. Our next event is in London on the 29th May. If you'd like to come along, it's free to attend, register at: http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "headhunting", "leaving an agency", and "financial recruitment job boards". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 114 - 7th May

Welcome to issue 114 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. We're thinking about introducing a new feature to our newsletter where we give examples of ingenious ways recruiters use the internet. For example do you use the internet to find passive candidates? The feature will consist of case studies and real recruitment examples. If you've got any relevant experience drop us an email or call Louise on 01635 254881.

CONTENTS
* Reviewed Site (The Applegate Directory)
* Job Board Review (JobServe by Damian Routley)
* Article (Starting a recruitment "desk" from scratch - part 3, by Warren Kemp)
* Don't Miss This (Online Job Index - Networking Event - Free Workshop & Partner Briefing for Recruitment Firms - HR Directors Business Summit - AGR Annual Conference - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.applegate.co.uk/

The Applegate Directory has information on more than 46,000 companies cross-referred to 18,000 products. The directory covers the following industries: Chemical, Oil and Gas; Construction; Electronics; Engineering; Food & Agribusiness; IT for Industry; Plastics & Rubber and Recruitment Services. A major limitation is that there's no search function for the directory. However, for each sector you can browse (listed A-Z) by Companies, Products, Towns, Post Code, County, Telephone Code, Top People and Top Companies. To use the directory you choose the industry sector and then the criteria you are looking for (eg, a company by name or a type of product) and there is an alphabetical listing of matching results. Another browse criteria is "top people" which typically include Managing Directors, Sales Directors and Marketing Directors. Whilst this listing of names is useful - it'd be far more useful if it included a contact email address!

The Applegate Directory is a useful site - obviously many people think so as it currently gets more than five million page views a month - although its lack of search functionality is frustrating.

=====ADVERTISEMENT===== Pay lots of Temps? - With Talisman you can:-

* Enter hours worked and confirm/change rates direct from the Timesheet image * Attach Timesheet image to the Booking * Automatically print Timesheets with Invoices, including bulk Timesheets * Resolve Invoice/Timesheet queries easily with image on- screen * Let Clients resolve their own queries with optional Extranet access

For more information Contact Helen on 01582 478 888 or email helen@recruitment-software.net

========================

-----JOB BOARD REVIEW - JOBSERVE BY DAMIAN ROUTLEY-----

JobServe: www.jobserve.com

Key stats:
Unique users: Not available
Live vacancies: 27,264 (as quoted on alljobsUK.co.uk on 28 April 2003)
Page views: 9,721,758 (Jobserve stats, March 03)
Most advertised roles/industry sectors: 13907 I.T. jobs; 1128 Accountancy jobs; 3665 Engineering jobs; 2043 Sales & Marketing jobs; 1128 Finance & Insurance jobs; 1139 Medical jobs; 1283 Construction & Civil Engineering jobs; 1115 Electronics jobs (Jobserve, 24.04.03)

What the site says:
"Our mission is to nurture, encourage and promote all skills and abilities within everyone we come into contact with to enable them all to fulfil their potential."

First impressions:
The first 'edition' of Jobserve appeared in May 1994 - making it one of the world's first online recruitment websites. Initially the strategy was solely for recruitment consultancies and concentrated on IT vacancies. Since that time, they have expanded into 16 different sectors and, more recently, commenced operations in Sydney, Australia.

The site itself is very easy to navigate. Directly you reach the site, you have to choose which industry you are interested in. Once clicked through, you are totally emerged in that sector. To be able to search for jobs, you must register some basic details and you're in. If more than one industry sector holds interest, you have to re- register with another user id and password. I would prefer if one set of log-in details were all you needed, but we can't have everything.

Aesthetically, the sight is fresh and clean. Links, logos, text and irrelevant information do not overwhelm the jobseeker when all they come to do is find a job. The functionality couldn't be simpler - find a job and email your CV (or use the Fast-track Service - online application form to speed the selection process).

The site was initially designed for use by recruitment consultancies. More recently it has been made available to advertising agencies, but the billing method favours the consultants more than the ad agencies. The man behind it all, Robbie Cowling said, "success for Jobserve is providing the customer with what they want at the price they are prepared to pay for it." This pricing model has been one of the key factors that have influenced growth. Advertisements are sold by pre- paid 'vacancy week', one job for one week. Thus reflecting the fast moving IT recruitment market, especially that of temporary contracts.

Tools on offer:
Like most job boards, Jobserve offers a searchable CV database, a jobs-by-email service and an advertiser directory with links to all live adverts. Unlike most job boards, the candidate is able to request relevant jobs be sent to their mobile phone as a SMS message. These messages have a unique reference number which, when the candidate phones a special number, the entire job is read out using 'text to voice' technology. A candidate can also download all the jobs in the database to their PC, making covert job seeking all together easier.

'On the Job' is devoted to relevant industry news (you're able to jump between sectors here), career and legal advice for the jobseeker, information for candidates and news about Jobserve.

Not content with all these services, Jobserve bought two double-decker buses and installed twenty terminals, a satellite web connection and takes the buses to the candidates. They're opening an Events Team Centre near Stafford shortly, where the buses will be based. Upton Park will also see these buses appearing on match days. Jobserve has just signed a 2 year sponsorship of West Ham United.

Strengths & weaknesses:
As the site has been designed with consultancies in mind, the client branding opportunities are limited (other than simple banners). Maybe it would be worthwhile to incorporate a separate area for corporate recruiters when demand for these positions dictate?

Jobserve operates on a credit basis. You buy what you need, and then are issued with credits that equate to one vacancy-week. There are volume discounts to be had, and recruitment agencies and advertising agencies each have a separate rate-card. Personally speaking, the process of raising pro-forma payments is inconvenient. Whilst I can appreciate the reasoning, it seems there is little flexibility from the site in this department.

The search function on Jobserve is slightly frustrating. It makes more sense to include a salary search, as most people are quite keen on that aspect of a job. As it stands, there is only a keyword search (although more detail can be achieved in the "search builder").

Summary:
With new job boards launching every week, Jobserve has quietly got on with its job, operating a simple posting service, serving a specific audience for contracting and permanent positions (while also operating in profit). Launched in the distant Internet year of 1994, the audience on the site has steadily grown, without the need for huge marketing budgets, which supplement so many other sites. Rightly so, they were the first Dot com to receive the Queen's Award for Enterprise. Jobserve is a good illustration to the rest of the Internet industry, not just recruitment, in how to provide an efficient and profitable service.

Damian Routley is TCS' media specialist. To discuss how they can provide recruitment solutions to your organisation, please call him on 020 7420 1800 or email droutley@tcstown.com

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WANT TO RUN PSYCHOMETRIC OR APTITUDE TESTS?

Call Louise on 01635 254881 or visit www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/tests.htm

========================

-----ARTICLE - STARTING A RECRUITMENT "DESK" FROM SCRATCH BY WARREN KEMP-----

Part 3: Managing your Day ~ "Just another Day"

In a series of three articles Warren Kemp is looking at starting a recruitment 'desk' from scratch. The last article looked at the early stages of setting up and running your recruitment desk from a 'standing start'. He continues:

In the last newsletter we covered the need to have a few A1 candidates (and what made one) available for you to market out to potential clients. Why? This is the easiest way to get in touch and have a conversation with prospective clients. Try saying: " Hello my name is Warren Kemp. The reason for my call is that I have an exceptional individual with an outstanding track record in your market. He/she has expressed an interest in finding out about your company and whether someone with their up to date skills could be of interest to you".

That sounds much better than "Hello my name is Warren Kemp. I thought I might take the opportunity to introduce myself and my company to you and to see if we could help you with any vacancies you might have". I know which person I would rather have a conversation with if they called me!

Conversations introducing and discussing your candidates will most of the time not result in an interview if it is a cold call with no knowledge of vacancies they may have. It can however develop into a discussion about how you can help them fill a vacancy they do have that your candidate isn't right for. So by marketing in this way once you have obtained an assignment/vacancy or two, it is only natural to run off and recruit like mad to fill these vacancies (you will do that anyway no matter what I tell you !). In your enthusiasm you will either not ask the questions of the client or put the answers to the back of your mind. But please remember that the chances are, in the early days, other recruitment companies may be working on the same assignment or the client may be advertising internally. Therefore it is vital that you keep marketing. The job is not finished till the cheque hits the bank!

Ongoing you should therefore aim for an equal spread of marketing & recruiting calls. This may not be feasible on a daily basis as you will be following up hot candidates or clients, but by using daily targets try and balance it up over the course of the week. Use a desk diary or a computerised one to spread the load and keep a check when booking follow up calls. Once again, make sure administration time is appropriate in length and at the right moments.

I'm sure by now if you've followed the strategy outlined in series of articles you will already be well on the way to having a busy desk to run. There are no short cuts in recruitment. However working hard in an ethical and professional manner will ensure that you have a steady income stream. Good luck!

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Get Monster.co.uk, the world’s No.1 recruitment site working for your business with a special introductory offer of half the usual price.

* Three job postings * Your company profile on monster.co.uk * Your own company branded banner for one week * One target mail shot by keyword search

All this for 60 days for just £1000. Get this offer NOW! http://www.monster.co.uk/landingpage.asp

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 5TH MAY 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 369,206 which is up 13,000 on last week. For more information visit www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

30TH MAY, FREE WORKSHOP & PARTNER BRIEFING FOR RECRUITING FIRMS, LONDON
RAW Ltd are holding a complimentary 'Best Practices in Hiring & Retaining Top Talent' Evaluation Workshop followed by a strategic alliance and partnering open discussion. The session will provide an overview of the 'Worlds Best Hiring System' currently used by over 20,000 senior managers. Learn and explore the potential of partnering with RAW to increase sales revenues, enhance your service offering and differentiate yourself in the market place. For more information contact Reg Athwal - 01372 371 171 or email partner@regathwal.com Ref' UKRec Partner.

10TH & 11TH JUNE, HR DIRECTORS BUSINESS SUMMIT, THE BELFRY
The HR Directors Business Summit is an opportunity for HR Executives, Heads of Recruitment and other professionals in the industry to meet in a forum dedicated to addressing the topical issues in the HR world. The conference programme includes case studies (American Airlines, Kraft Foods, BAE Systems, Barclays and more) and dynamic and interactive presentations from industry leaders. Over two packed days participants can interact and network with gurus and peers and so develop their understanding of how HR, Recruitment, Personnel Management and technology are helping businesses improve their bottom line figures. For more information visit http://www.hr.worldtradeco.com or contact craig.eason@worldtradeco.com

14-15 JULY 2003, AGR ANNUAL CONFERENCE, SOUTH WALES
The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) is holding its annual conference at the luxurious Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, South Wales. The event normally attracts between 400-450 delegates with a shared interest in graduate recruitment, either as recruiters or as suppliers of services, such as publishing or advertising. There is a mix of workshops, showcases, plenaries, networking and entertainment. For further information visit http://www.agr.org.uk or email info@agr.org.uk

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "commission only basis", "work permit transfer", and "financial recruitment job boards". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 115 - 14th May 2003

Welcome to issue 115 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. We've got articles planned for future issues of the newsletter covering paid for directory services, spam removal products, building a recruitment website and generic vs niche job boards. If you want to write an article for us or suggest a topic you'd like to see covered drop me a note

CONTENTS

* Reviewed Site (Free Pint Bar)
* Review (The Agency Channel by Louise Triance)
* New feature - IT Strategy Clinic ("Grid Computing" by Ade McCormack)
* Don't Miss This (Online Job Index - London Networking Event - Internet for Search & Selection - Leeds Networking Event - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.freepint.com/bar/

I reviewed the Free Pint site back in issue 97. However, for this review I'm going to focus on their "bar". Free Pint is a "community site for information professionals" and the "bar" is a discussion board where you can post web related questions. The site is used by a worldwide network of information professionals and the bar has a great deal of traffic. To post a message onto the bar you need to first register with Free Pint. This is straightforward and free of charge. Before posting a message it is a good idea to search the bar to ensure that a similar message hasn't been posted recently and that you can't get the answer you want purely by browsing through the postings.

One of the ways in which you might use the bar would be when sourcing industry specific information. If you're having trouble finding an association for a specific industry or a directory of key players. As with any discussion board of this nature you will get the best response if you are specific and clear about your requirements and briefly explain why you want the information.

I have used the bar in the past to find information on the web and also browse it regularly to keep up to date with great websites.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Check out all the latest Developments at http://www.zod.uk.com & http://www.v-consultant.co.uk ========================

-----REVIEW BY LOUISE TRIANCE-----

The Agency Channel: http://www.the-agency-channel.com

What is it?
The Agency Channel is a matching tool for corporate firms with open vacancies to find recruitment agencies interested in putting forward candidates on a contingency recruitment basis. Conversely it allows recruiters to search for vacancies to work on in one single market place rather than having to contact lots of corporates asking if they have any vacancies.

How it works:
Both parties need to subscribe to the agency channel in order to use the service. Hirers add their vacancies (specifying the fee and rebate period) and registered agencies search the site and submit "blind" candidate details to appropriate jobs. The whole recruitment process is then conducted online; interviews and/or requests for more information are arranged via a messaging system on the site. Agencies invoice the hiring company directly upon candidate appointment.

Who's in charge:
The Agency Channel.com has been created by David Palmer who has 12 years recruitment experience. Contact david@the-agency-channel.com or phone 0845 2300 125.

Site Launched:
The website went live at the beginning of April 2003.

Costs:
Registration is free and agencies can conduct a free vacancy search at any time without commitment. Site usage is free to hiring companies until September 2003 and to agency suppliers until may 2003. At the end of these free periods users will be polled to establish an "acceptable and sustainable pricing structure".

Strengths & Weaknesses:
The principle of the site is very simple. Matching together agencies and hirers in a confidential and structured environment. The site is simple to use both as a hirer posting jobs and looking through the response and as a recruiter keeping a directory of candidates and putting them forward to specific vacancies.

As a hirer the benefit is in time savings; not having to brief a large number of agencies, being able to accept applicants online and not having to spend time on the phone explaining to the recruiter why applicants aren't suitable. However, my fear is that some hirers already invest too little time in the recruitment process and this site could encourage that. Because most of the interaction will take place on line the chance of a successful placement is down to the skills of the hiring company to put in writing the job and person specification and the skills of the recruiter in "selling" the candidate on paper. Both hirer and agency will have to present their vacancies/candidates well if they are to get the best out of the system.

My other initial concern is around recruitment fees. The client specifies the fee they are prepared to pay. I imagine that for most hirers, in the early days at least, they will be offering very low fees. This will mean that the best candidate for the job may not be put forward if the agency is not prepared to work at a low fee and if this means the role remains unfilled the hirer may feel the site has failed them. However, there is nothing to stop an agency submitting a candidate and requesting a higher fee.

The key to the success of The Agency Channel will be in getting companies to support it. This is why they are starting with the recruitment to recruitment industry. Recruiters will initially use the site as the "hirers" (and recruitment to recruitment firms will be the "agencies"). As the site expands they will cover more industry sectors (eventually becoming generic).

Summary:
This is a potentially great concept - but the success will depend on The Agency Channel achieving a good take up and the parties involved giving it a fair trial.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Access over 100,000 fresh CV's for just £40 per month (no minimum contract).

Still not convinced? Then test search our CV database instantly at http://www.cv-library.co.uk/search

For more information visit http://www.cv-library.co.uk/cvdatabase or contact us directly on 01252 810992 or sales@cv-library.co.uk

========================

-----NEW FEATURE - IT STRATEGY CLINIC - ADE MCCORMACK-----

Regardless of whether your business is focused on the IT Sector, you need to be aware of the strategic implications of technology on your business. This occasional column will endeavour to demystify some of the more prominent yet esoteric terms.

Today we look at GRID COMPUTING.

What is it? Grid computing is a term recently introduced to the marketplace by IBM. In essence it is an approach to squeezing better value from your IT investment. "But how?" you might ask. Consider your usage of your PC. Not just in terms of how many hours per day but in terms of utilising its power to the full. The average utilisation is under 10 percent! Multiply that by the number of computers you have and you will see that you have spent a small/large fortune on a fast depreciating asset that is very under utilised.

IBM is telling the market that it can provide the ‘magic pixie dust’ to enable companies to improve on this situation. Without going into too much detail, IBM has gathered a group of tools and technologies together to enable your PC to perform tasks both in the background when you are using your desktop and in the foreground when you are not. The clever bit is that IBM promises to bundle up all the little pockets of unused capacity on all your machines and so enable companies to run very large (server) sized applications, eg. payroll- processing, without actually needing a separate server. So in the future, when you pop out to lunch (if lunch becomes popular again) your PC will resume the payroll-processing task.

Why do I need to know about it? IT recruiters - need to appreciate that this could have a very big impact on the manner in which organisations build their IT systems

General recruiters - need to consider this as a model for reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their IT infrastructure

Caution! This concept has only just hit the streets. Whilst IBM assures us that it can deliver today, I would not recommend that you should be the first to test-drive this model. Migrating to a grid computing paradigm (it would be rude not to use this word) will require the IT staff to "pull up the drains" from a technology perspective and thus will also be very disruptive to the business.

How can I impress friends and colleagues? Step 1 - Wait until an unknowing victim tries to put you on the back foot by introducing any of the following terms: IBM, architecture, client server, distributed computing. Step 2 - Essentially ignore their comment or question. Smile enigmatically. Remember you are just about to have lunch. Step 3 - Unleash the following: "Whilst I am sold on the TCO benefits of grid computing, I have strong reservations about being an early adopter. What’s your view?" Step 4 - Look smug. Pass them a tissue if necessary.

Auridian Consulting is focused on helping recruitment organisations both exploit opportunities within the IT marketplace and also to get best value from their IT investment. Visit http://www.auridian.com/rec or contact Ade McCormack via ade@auridian.com. (c) 2003 Auridian Consulting

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WANT TO RUN PSYCHOMETRIC OR APTITUDE TESTS?

Call Louise on 01635 254881 or visit www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/tests.htm

=======================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 12TH MAY 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 346,108 which is down 23,000 on last week. For more information visit http://www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml. You can also view a chart and table of this data at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/alljobs.htm

19TH JUNE, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LEEDS - 1ST REGIONAL EVENT!
We're running our first regional Recruitment Networking event on the 19th June in central Leeds. It will follow the same format as our London events. The event is generously sponsored by Recruiter Magazine (www.professional-recruiter.co.uk). If you're able to come along and enjoy the free food, drink and opportunity to network register at: http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - TEMPORARILY OFF LINE
Unfortunately the discussion forum is suffering from technical problems and is temporarily offline. We're trying our hardest to rectify the problem get the site up and running again as soon as possible.

Issue 116 - 21st May

Welcome to issue 116 of the ukrecruiter newsletter.

CONTENTS

* Reviewed Site (PollMonkey)
* Psychometrics Review (OPQ32 from SHL by Bill Boorman)
* Article (does size matter - which is the job board for you? By techjobscotland)
* Don't Miss This (Recruitment Managers wanted for new TV series - £100 discount on Search & Selection course - Online Job Index - Networking Events in London & Leeds - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://pollmonkey.com

Back in issue 102 I reviewed the SurveyMonkey website which allows you to create free surveys on the web. PollMonkey is a site created by the same people which allows you to add a poll free of charge to your site. Whilst the basic Poll creation features are free you have to subscribe (20 dollars a month) if you want to be able to add your logo or use other "advanced" features. Once you have designed your poll you can add it to the body of a web page or as a pop up on your site. Once the individual has completed the poll they can view the results from others who have taken part.

This is a nice free tool for creating basic polls. It's so simple to use that you could add a new one to your site every week if you wanted. If you want to see a sample of how it looks visit www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/recnet.htm

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Looking for a new job?

http://www.gojobsite.co.uk/cgi-bin/campaign.cgi?tid=4701

========================

-----PSYCHOMETRIC REVIEW - OPQ32 FROM SHL - BY BILL BOORMAN-----

Product Name: OPQ 32 online
Company Name: SHL (Saville & Holdsworth)
Website Address: http://www.shlgroup.com
Contact Details: Roy Davis; uk@shlgroup.com; 0870 070 8000

Training: To administer and interpret the questionnaire you need training to BPS level B intermediate. The training takes 6 days and costs around £2200 + VAT. Cost: From £15 to £142 per individual report produced.
Applications: Selection; promotion; succession planning; training needs analysis; development planning and career counselling

SHL are probably the best known practitioners of psychometric assessment and the OPQ 32 Questionnaire comes with a long and respected reputation. Having never completed an SHL assessment I was keen to see whether this reputation was deserved.

The questionnaire is the most comprehensive I have completed and contained 120 questions which took about 50 minutes to complete. The "questions" consisted of 4 statements to be rated most and least and took some thought to answer. As with any questionnaire of this type it is sometimes difficult to determine most and least from a set of similar statements. Having answered such a detailed questionnaire I was particularly interested in looking at the differences between this report and the others I have completed to date during other reviews.

The feedback has to be given by a qualified practitioner (thanks Louise) and when you look at the written report the reason for that is quite clear.

We got the full premium report back that consisted of 28 pages - so it takes some interpretation and expert feedback took around an hour. The first part of the feedback was taken from a profile chart showing scores on a low (1) to high (10) scale across the 32 scales. An example is the "persuasiveness" scale which measures between the statements "rarely pressures others to change their view, dislikes selling, less comfortable using negotiation" through to "enjoys selling, comfortable using negotiation, likes to change other peoples views".

The trained assessor uses the profile chart to highlight the relationship between one area and another. The profile chart is followed by a textual report which gives detailed feedback for all the scales on the chart. Add on features include a detailed management competency profile which looks at management qualities, professional qualities, entrepreneurial qualities and personal qualities in detail. I found this to be the most useful and accurate part of the test. This is then followed by a breakdown of team type and a section on leadership style and reporting style. The last part of the report consists of a candidate report that explains the data in more simplistic terms and must be given to the candidate to enable them to understand some of the conclusions drawn.

I can't argue with the quality of the report produced. For a senior position where more detailed analysis was necessary it would undoubtedly lead the field in my choice of instruments. For day to day use however I felt that the report contained so much detail that it was hard to pick out the salient points where a similar instrument enables you to focus on more specific areas. I wouldn't anticipate using it to select staff for positions under about £50,000+ salary. With the cost and time involved in training application and analysis I would see SHL as being really the domain of the expert consultant or consultancy head hunter where more detail is needed to justify shortlists and can be used to justify decision making.

I have outlined my reservations on its use as a selection tool due to the sheer volume of information produced but would not doubt its credibility. If can justify both the cost and, if you're not already BPS level B trained, the 6 days training against the potential benefit then speak to SHL.

Bill Boorman is Director of Training for Prime Time Recruitment ( http://www.primetime.co.uk).

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WANT TO RUN PSYCHOMETRIC OR APTITUDE TESTS?

Call Louise on 01635 254881 or visit www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/tests.htm

========================

-----ARTICLE - DOES SIZE MATTER - WHICH IS THE JOB BOARD FOR YOU?-----

The battle has been the same for centuries, the big and powerful versus the small and wily. This can be seen within online recruitment, the market dominated by large generic boards with independent niche websites (rapidly increasing in number) beginning to elbow their way into the tight circle and take on their giant competitors.

In the high streets of today the small businesses are often driven out by the corporations and multi nationals, but this need not happen on the internet. It's a case of the Supermarket versus the local shop; some consumers will prefer the extensive choice of product lines and volume shopping whereas others opt for a simpler and faster visit to their high street specialist. There is room in the market for both types of outlet and recent NORAS research has shown that jobseekers use an average of 5.4 job boards when searching for a new position. The internet market place allows for competition on an almost equal footing regardless of backing and niche websites can often become known as the local expert. They can afford to be less generalist/mainstream because their visitor base is more specialised and focussed, resulting in the more unusual jobs reaching the relevant target audience.

Bigger is better? There's no disputing that bigger means more coverage, more jobs & more visitors but the individual jobseeker may be more interested in a smaller selection of high quality relevant jobs. Big is not necessarily best and sometimes it can pay to stay small and beautiful, focussed and independent. After all, just think of how the supermarket vegetables compare to those of the farm shop…

So, which boards to use? A definitive answer to this is impossible, yet it certainly pays to bear these points in mind:

* Research your job board, look at statistics to see which board will best fit your vacancies (NORAS for large boards, direct comms for small boards) * Do you have a large number of different sector jobs? You may get a good deal on a generic job board on which you can post unlimited jobs rather than out sourcing to numerous small boards * Request a free trial on the job board to ascertain response levels (you should manage/refresh your jobs for at least 4 weeks to gauge this) * Look at the local niche boards, they may have a loyal following and will certainly know their market well

Clare de Mowbray is the director of www.techjobscotland.com, a job board displaying technology/IT vacancies throughout Scotland.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Apply by 23rd May and save £1000!

The half-price Monster starter pack will give you · Three job postings over six months · Your own company profile on Monster.co.uk · Company branded banner for one week · One target mailshot by keyword search All over a six month period. You'll also get a 30% discount on access to our HUGE CV database! Click here to find out more or copy and paste this link into your browser.

http://uk.sitestat.com/monster/monsteraction/s?Camp1_UKRec_news_copy2_ 21May&ns_type=clickin

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

NEW TV SERIES - RECRUITMENT MANAGERS WANTED!
RDF Media are making a new TV series about managers for broadcast on Channel 4. Bosses from a wide range of sectors with different views on management will be asked to swap places and apply their skills in a new environment for a week - and the results will be filmed. They are now starting production and are looking for bosses with flair to take part in the series and are very keen to find managers in the recruitment sector to take part. If you are interested in taking part contact Bronwyn on 0207 013 4304 or email managers@rdfmedia.com

5TH JUNE, £100 DISCOUNT ON INTERNET FOR SEARCH & SELECTION COURSE, REC, LONDON
"Internet for Search & Selection" is a course we've written. We run it in conjunction with the REC on a public and inhouse basis and the next one is on the 5th June. If you book by the end of the week you'll receive a £100 discount. For more information contact Emma Thorpe on 0207 462 3270 or email emma.thorpe@rec.uk.com mentioning ukrecruiter.

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 19TH MAY 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 372,813 which is up 26,500 on last week. For more information visit http://www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml. You can also view a chart and table of this data at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/alljobs.htm

19TH JUNE, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LEEDS - 1ST REGIONAL EVENT!
We're running our first regional Recruitment Networking event on the 19th June in central Leeds. It will follow the same format as our London events. The event is generously sponsored (with free champagne and nibbles) by Recruiter Magazine (www.professional- recruiter.co.uk). If you're able to come along and enjoy the free food, drink and opportunity to network register at: http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - BACK ONLINE
After our technical problems last week the discussion forum is back online. Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "good time to start an agency?", "spam email", and "web based recruitment software". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 117

CONTENTS

* Reviewed Site (Business Information on the Internet)
* Job Board Review (S1Jobs by Lucy Walker)
* Article (The 5 Golden Rules of Recruitment Websites by Stephen Freeman)
* Don't Miss This (Free 24 Hour CV Database Access - £50 off NORAS interactive product - Be coached for free & write for the newsletter - Online Job Index - CIPD recruitment conference - Networking Event - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/index.htm

"Business Information on the Internet" is a directory of links compiled by Karen Blakeman. Karen is a "information professional" who runs courses on finding information on the web. This site is an enormous directory of business sites with a strong UK focus. The directory is split into 15 main categories including "News", "Company Financials & Annual Reports" and "Trade & Service Directories". Within each category relevant sites are listed with a short description and information showing if it's a free or paid for service.

This is a site I've used a lot over the years and one worth bookmarking.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Get a better response to your online recruitment advertisements.

NORAS interactive is a new online system that allows you to identify the job board with the right target audience for your recruitment needs. Advertising on the job board with the best target audience means that you'll get a better response to your online vacancies from more relevant candidates. To find our more about subscribing to NORAS interactive call 020 7801 6266 or email noras@enhancemedia.co.uk. For more information about NORAS visit http://www.enhancemedia.co.uk/noras/index.html

========================

-----JOB BOARD REVIEW - S1JOBS BY LUCY WALKER-----

Site url: http://www.s1jobs.com

Unique users: 140,000 per month Visits: 245,000 per month Page impressions: 5 million per month Traffic figures from March 2003

Most advertised roles/industry sectors: carries a range of roles in different industry sectors. All are based in Scotland.

What the site says "s1jobs is the No.1 recruitment website in Scotland. Not only does s1jobs attract 10 times more Scottish job seekers than its nearest rival, but it consistently carries more live Scottish vacancies than any other site."

First impressions From the outset I was struck by how far s1jobs goes to provide a worthwhile user experience. The site is straightforward to use but the plentiful explanations and 'help' links guide the novice user through the online job seeking process. That's not to say that the more experienced visitor is neglected: search results are delivered fast via the search box that sits slap bang in the middle of the patriotic blue homepage. There's also an advanced search facility to hone down your search if required.

There's a nice, warm community feel to the site: 'you made suggestions… we've listened' proclaims a link on the homepage. The tone of the copy is welcoming and importantly jargon-free: 'get headhunted' is a stronger call to action for the user than 'register your CV' for example. There's editorial, conveying career advice and recruitment news specific to Scotland, which helps to generate repeat visits. User loyalty is further encouraged through the myS1 section where candidates can store their CV to attach to job applications, add this CV to the database (remaining anonymous if required) and register to receive email alerts.

When it came to the actual search results a click on a job title brought up the full details in the frame on the left-hand side. I found the text in this small space cramped and difficult to read. On the whole, however, the site is uncluttered. The banner and button advertising opportunities stood out. The odd pop up box popped up but frequency capping meant that they informed rather than annoyed. The site was quick to download and easy to navigate.

Tools on offer There's quick search and advanced search facilities, a CV database, email alerts and company profile pages. Recruiters can use the back office system and, for those who want their job advertised quickly, vacancies can be posted immediately and paid for by credit card.

Strength & Weaknesses I've enthused about the community feel and the user-centric approach. However, I found the Recruiter Profiles section misleading. The section comprises a list of companies with some blurb about them. It's great to have this introduction - it's more informative than the company logo that's normally displayed on these sections - but it's not unless you mouse over them that you realise they link to full company branded mini sites. Despite such opportunities for employer branding, the large majority of job listings on the site were placed by recruitment consultancies and I thought it disappointing that there were not more direct recruiters featured.

The cost for a job listing, sold on a two-week basis, is quoted at one rate on the site (if you upload the ad and pay by credit card) and a different rate on the rate card. The latter was more expensive perhaps as the administration costs are greater. However, the pricing difference didn't seem particularly fair.

Launched in 2001, S1jobs was owned by the SMG media group before recently changing hands to Newsquest. It was sold along with the print titles: The Herald, Sunday Herald and the Evening Times and their recruitment ads run on the site for free. The site's marketing activity has been very strong. The site has been promoted extensively using the full scope of SMG's Scottish portfolio and advertising has run in the sister newspapers, on TV, radio and outdoor as well as on search engines. The advertising has really struck a chord with the public: they voted the s1jobs 'ice cream' TV ad Scotland's favourite TV Ad in the 2002 Scottish Advertising Awards.

Summary So the advertising is driving visitors to the site and I think there's enough to keep them there. s1jobs made the statement: 's1jobs can claim to own more job seeker attention than any other media in Scotland' . This is, I feel, a moot point. There are other media in Scotland with far greater readership figures that carry recruitment, although we need to consider that all that audience won't be job seeking. Nonetheless with ABC audited figures of 140,000 unique users, that's a far higher penetration into Scotland than any of the UK generic job boards, making the site a strong option for Scottish- specific recruitment.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Finding Passive Candidates on the Internet

We run a half day session for recruiters wishing to move beyond job boards and CV databases into the hidden depths of the web. Delegates learn techniques for finding passive candidates on the Internet using the latest search technology and advanced candidate mining techniques.

Call 01635 254881 for information

========================

-----ARTICLE BY STEPHEN FREEMAN-----

The 5 golden rules of recruitment websites.

1: Look professional. First impressions count. No one should be more familiar with this old adage than those in the business of recruitment. Yet there are still many recruitment websites that look like they have been designed in an afternoon...and on a word processor at that. The recruitment industry distinguishes itself on being able to recognise the value of professionals who are good at their job, so it is most bizarre that many recruitment agencies still choose to have their website designed by some teenager with little or no understanding of marketing or design.

2: Look the part: In simple terms, make your site look like it understands the industry it caters for. For example if you're a medical recruitment company then reflect this by having a site that looks clean and hygienic. This might mean using a colour scheme of white and various shades of cool blues.

3: Let people in: If someone has taken the time to visit your site, don't make them have to register before they can see any jobs. They will just go elsewhere. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. Like, if you're the only recruitment company that specializes in 'beer tasting' jobs, then fine, make people register.

4: Display when the job was posted. This gives people confidence in the validity of your job postings. Too many sites out there seem all to too happy to leave jobs displayed month after month, never removing them from their site. If you think that this will give a good impression, it won't. It will only serve to make people question what jobs are actually genuine.

5: Write full job descriptions: Many job descriptions are far too short, some just one line in length. This is just downright slap-dash and does little to convey a sense of professionalism. Be too vague and you run a high risk of being bombarded with applications that just aren't relevant. Help job seekers do much of the screening work themselves by giving them a good overview of what you are looking for by describing positions properly at the outset.

Stephen Freeman runs JobTek (www.jobtek.co.uk) an online database system. Email steve@rocknet.co.uk or call 01244 373483 if you want to discuss any of the above.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====
Access over 100,000 fresh CV's for just £40 per month (no minimum contract).

Still not convinced? Then test search our CV database instantly at http://www.cv-library.co.uk/search

For more information visit http://www.cv-library.co.uk/cvdatabase or contact us directly on 01252 810992 or sales@cv-library.co.uk

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

FREE 24 HOUR CV DATABASE ACCESS
Hotonline is Celebrating the launch of the all new combined products of Planet Recruit and Jobtrack. In order to show recruiters the advantages in accessing the largest database in online recruitment they are offering any non clients the opportunity to have a 24hr demo account. This will give you access to over 500,000 CVs. For more details call Neil or Tim on 0870 20 20 121.

£50 OFF NORAS INTERACTIVE PRODUCT
Enhance Media are offering ukrecruiter subscribers a £50 discount on their new NORAS Interactive product (online research tool allowing recruiters to identify which job board has the best audience for their recruitment needs). The first 5 people who subscribe by emailing specialoffer@enhancemedia.co.uk will get a year's subscription for only £249 + VAT. If you require further information call 020 7801 6266.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE COACHED FOR FREE & WRITE FOR THE NEWSLETTER?
We'd like to run an article in a future issue of the newsletter reviewing life coaching and it's benefits to recruiters. Andy Smith of Ascent Life Coaching is offering four telephone coaching sessions free of charge for us to give away to a reader who would like to write a review of the process. If you are interested in receiving some free coaching and think you'd be able to write a 500 word review for the newsletter drop us a note.

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 26 May 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 381,971 which is up 9,000 on last week. For more information visit www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml. You can also view a chart and table of this data at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/alljobs.htm

29TH MAY, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON
Final chance to register for this week's networking event. If you can't make this one - you can register for the 27th June. If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. If you'd like to come along, it's free to attend, register at: http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

19TH JUNE, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LEEDS - 1ST REGIONAL EVENT!
We're running our first regional Recruitment Networking event on the 19th June in central Leeds. It will follow the same format as our London events. The event is generously sponsored (with free champagne and nibbles) by Recruiter Magazine (www.professional- recruiter.co.uk). If you're able to come along and enjoy the free food, drink and opportunity to network register at: http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

25TH JUNE, CIPD ANNUAL RECRUITMENT CONFERENCE, LONDON
The annual recruitment conference from the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development takes place on the 25th June at Olympia. The one day conference costs from £430 + VAT and is "your opportunity to discuss the latest thinking policies, and practices in recruitment and retention to help you become an employer of choice". You can also visit the HR Software show which takes place on the 25th & 26th June. For more information visit http://www.cipd.co.uk/recruitmentconference/ and http://www.cipd.co.uk/hrss/

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
We're still having a few problems with the discussion forum, however, these shouldn't stop you from visiting the site and posting messages. Current topics on the site include "good time to start an agency?", "bogus company", and "web based recruitment software". Visit the forum at: http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum.

Issue 118

CONTENTS
* Reviewed Site (Trade Association Forum)
* Recruitment Consultancy Web Site Review (Korn Ferry by Giles Guest)
* Review (Spam Arrest by Chris Marsh-Bourdon)
* Don't Miss This (Online Job Index - HR Directors Business Summit - Networking Events - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.taforum.org/

The Trade Association Forum Web site contains a searchable directory of over 900 UK trade associations.

From the home page of the site you need to click on the word "Directory" in the top right hand corner. You can search the directory by the association name or by "activity". The amount of information on each association varies but can include a brief description, postal address, telephone and fax numbers, named main contacts, an email address and a link to the association's Web site. Where contact's are named many also have a brief profile.

Unfortunately there is no browsable directory of associations by industry sector so that can make it quite difficult to ascertain if you have found all the associations within a particular field. However, this feature is due to be added within the next six months.

The TAF site is a great starting point if you trying to locate information on which associations service a particular industry or job function.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Talisman - The complete recruitment solution:

* Front Office * Back Office * Timesheet Processing, Payroll & Invoicing * Client & Candidate Extranet

For more information Contact Helen on 01582 478 888 or email helen@recruitment-software.net

========================

-----RECRUITMENT CONSULTANCY WEB SITE REVIEW, KORN FERRY BY GILES GUEST-----

Company Name: Korn Ferry
Web Site URL: http://www.kornferry.co.uk

Overview:
This could easily be the shortest review of this series. "Site not accessible. The end." or "Inexcusable. The end" I am referring to the requirement to change and lower the security and privacy settings on my PC before being allowed to view the Korn Ferry web site.

The problem is the site's insistence that you allow 'cookies' - small bits of data a web site stores on your personal machine - to help it run more efficiently in the future. Cookies can be extremely useful and are used by lots of commercial web sites. However we have long advised against the use of cookies in recruitment web sites purely because computers in the work place can have multiple users. Imagine if your boss sat down at your PC, logged into a recruitment site and saw "Welcome back Giles. We've got more of those jobs you applied for last week." Not the best ever career move. We can assume Korn Ferry use cookies more subtly but the point is that I was denied access to their site and had to go into Internet Explorer's settings and reduce the privacy from medium (standard Microsoft) to low (not recommended) just to access the web site. How many people know how to do that? How many people working in a corporate environment couldn't do it due to IT policies? If I were a job seeker would I not simply move on to the next recruitment site?

Ever the diligent reviewer I decided to check why this occurs - surely it must be me? Surely no company would let this happen? However colleagues had the same problem and some friends in other companies had the same problem.

Site description:
Korn Ferry operate at the higher end of the recruitment market and their business is based around search and selection. The site attempts to mirror the ideals of quality, professionalism and provide information suitable for the senior executive.

Creative Design:
If you are one of the lucky ones that can access the Korn Ferry site you will be quite impressed. The design is slick, neat and looks professional. The design pitch is correct - higher executives would feel at home both with the images and layout principles employed.

Ease of use I was able to find office information quickly as well as media information and details for investors. News is a constant throughout and moving through the site is smooth and without problems.

Relevant content The information contained within the site is good. The copy tone is good - intellectual and well written without being highbrow. The news and reports section gives plenty to peruse and inspires confidence in the company.

Candidate and client functionality:
The main Korn Ferry site decides not to list jobs - understandable for a headhunting/exec search company trying to brand itself at the top of the market. However with senior executives increasingly likely to browse the web they get round this by building a new site 'ekornferry.com' where candidates can register and search for jobs. The search is very simple and I'm not convinced by the range of jobs available but the site and design are again well implemented. This site has the feel of a good start and a place with potential.

Candidate and client marketing and retention: With the average CEO being in place (hopefully) longer than an IT contractor headhunting sites need not be designed to encourage retention and candidate loyalty.

Online marketing: The site is adequately marketed online and finding it is made easier due to the size and market presence of the brand and its coverage in other journals and magazines.

Summary:
Overall kornferry.co.uk is a great site. It is just such a shame that a design or testing failure means that a number of people cannot see it making it commercially useless for that section of the audience.

Giles Guest is Managing Director of 4mat.com, the UK's largest provider of recruitment web sites. You can reach him or his team at giles.guest@4mat.com or see their products at www.4mat.com

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

RESEARCH

BRS is an established London based full service recruitment research consultancy. Working cross sector we deliver assignments on time and to budget.

We are immediately availability to start work; offer Fixed Assignment Fees and Shared Risk on placements.

For more information on service offerings contact James Chapman on 020 7748 4393 or jamesc@BRSGlobal.com

========================

-----REVIEW OF SPAMARREST - BY CHRIS MARSH-BOURDON-----

http://www.spamarrest.com/

Product: Spam Arrest
Cost: $19.95 for 6 months. 30 day free trial available
Compatible with: Eudora, Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape, and any other email program that supports the POP3 protocol.

Unsolicited email aka spam, is on the rise. Every newspaper in the last couple of months has run articles on the perils and dangers of this nuisance. Generally it is hyped to the proportions of viruses, mainly because they don't understand the issues surrounding spam. Some however do harbour attachments that are viral.

Yes, spam can be a pain when it fills up your Inbox, but it can also be very offensive. Why should you or your colleagues have to face a barrage of 'appendage enlargement' or 'naked schoolgirl' emails each day? Most email clients (Microsoft Outlook, Eudora etc) can help you block individual email addresses from being kept in your Inbox. However, you still have to download the emails (although they are subsequently deleted) and you have to maintain this banned list manually Keeping up with the tricks spammers use to send mail is also a full time job.

This is where SpamArrest and similar products come into their own. SpamArrest will take around five minutes to setup on each workstation,with each step of the process it provides you with excellent contextual help. Your mail is effectively collected by their servers where the filtering is performed. Once implemented, the next time someone sends you an email, SpamArrest will send them a reply asking them to prove they are real (or valid). This is done by sending them an Internet link (url) that they click. The sender will then be asked to enter a word they see in an image on the web page. Each sender will only be asked to do this once, thereafter the use of SpamArrest will appear transparent to the sender. The reason for the validation is because spammers send out email in bulk, usually using complex automated software. This software cannot response to the SpamArrest reply email and therefore will not be validated and passed through to your email Inbox.

Conclusion:
The simple setup and inexpensive subscription belies the powerful features which are kept transparent from us. This is a very good tool and you won't know how you did without it, especially for those of you who have a your email accounts active for a long time.

Positives:
Simple to implement; cost effective and reduces maintenance to a minimum

Negatives:
If genuine email senders do not follow the process their email will not be seen.

Chris Marsh-Bourdon works for Pyplia Ltd who specialise in front office recruitment systems and solutions. You can contact Chris on 020 7324 6068 or by email on christopher@pyplia.com.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

WANT TO RUN PSYCHOMETRIC OR APTITUDE TESTS?

We can: * Determine which psychometric and aptitude tests are most appropriate for your needs * Conduct the tests either via the internet or face to face at your premises * Give full written and verbal feedback

Call Louise on 01635 254881 or visit www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/tests.htm

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 2ND JUNE 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 382,517 which is up 516 on last week. For more information visit www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

10TH & 11TH JUNE, HR DIRECTORS BUSINESS SUMMIT, THE BELFRY
Unfortunately you're too late to attend the HR Directors Business Summit next week. The Summit is an opportunity for HR Executives, Heads of Recruitment and other professionals in the industry to meet in a forum dedicated to addressing the topical issues in the HR world. However, you can register an interest in next year's event - either as an exhibitor or conference delegate. For more information visit http://www.hr.worldtradeco.com or contact craig.eason@worldtradeco.com.

19TH JUNE, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LEEDS
If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry and based near Leeds why not come along to our first regional Recruitment Networking event on the 19th June in central Leeds. It will follow the same format as our London events. The event is generously sponsored (with free champagne and nibbles) by Recruiter Magazine (www.professional- recruiter.co.uk). Register at: http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk

26TH JUNE, THE RECRUITERS NETWORKING EVENT, LONDON
If you are involved in the UK recruitment industry these events are the perfect opportunity to network with other recruiters and suppliers to the industry. If you'd like to come along, it's free to attend, register at: http://www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk. You can also view photos of previous events on the site.

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "interview training", "recruitment exhibitions", and "small business recruitment". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 119

CONTENTS
* Reviewed Site (Hitwise)
* Multiple Job Board Posting Tools Review (AMS5 by David Craig)
* Review (Ev-Screen by Louise Triance)
* Don't Miss This (Online Job Index - Hitwise Top 10 Recruitment Sites - Recruitment Society Event - AGR Annual Conference - Networking Events - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.hitwise.com

Hitwise collects and collates information via ISPs, monitoring how 25 million global Internet users interact with over 300,000 websites. In the UK, Hitwise monitors the usage of 8.4 million Internet users (nearly one third of the UK Internet population), which is then categorised into 150 different industries. The information can be used for business reporting (to understand the performance of a website), business planning (analysing where a site’s traffic originates from, and therefore which sites are most effective to affiliate with), and as a market indicator. Information is available on a paid for subscription basis, however a free monthly newsletter is available which summarises trends and focuses on one industry from the Hitwise database.

A complimentary report on your web site is offered by Hitwise, and is available completing the form at: http://www.hitwise.co.uk/contact/rrp.html?ac=ukrec

Hitwise is making data on the recruitment category available to the ukrecruiter newsletter. So from this week we’ll be listing the top 10 most visited recruitment sites in the Don’t Miss This section.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Access over 110,000 fresh CV's for just £40 per month (no minimum contract).

Still not convinced? Then test search our CV database instantly at http://www.cv-library.co.uk/search

For more information visit http://www.cv-library.co.uk/cvdatabase or contact us directly on 01252 810992 or sales@cv-library.co.uk

========================

-----MULTIPLE JOB BOARD POSTING TOOLS REVIEW - AMS5 BY DAVID CRAIG-----

Castle Links: http://ams.castlelink.co.uk
Product Name: AMS 5ive
Contact Details: Craig Glinski, 0870 840 8035 or craig@castlelink.co.uk
Pricing: From £600 (up to £10,000) per annum. Pricing is on a sliding scale depending on the anticipated volume of jobs per annum.

What they say: "Castle Links have been developing software for the staffing industry since 1995. We are the leading multiple job-posting organisation in the UK and have used our development experience to push the boundaries within the industry".

Review:
The programme is fundamentally a clever user-friendly interface. As the User Manager (or Administrator) of the system you can allocate your employees / colleagues a set number of job boards they can access and a set number of job postings they can use. For example you can allocate employee x, 10 job postings per month for Gojobsite. As this employee uses their allocation of job postings, the system will show him/her how many adverts are left available to post. You can also set the system to warn system users when they are down to the last few postings.

Users can group a number of job boards together to post to on a regular basis. This is a time saving feature, especially if you regularly post similar types of jobs. After all the whole point of multi posting is to save time.

You can pre-programme defaults into job postings so you don't have to keep retyping in contact details, etc. As a safeguard to getting the advert right, users can't post to the job boards if all the relevant fields haven't been completed. Once a job has been submitted to the job boards, the system updates the user on the current status (either the posting is in progress, has been posted or is under review). If the posting is under review the system will indicate the problem with the posting so that it can be corrected or the user can contact customer support.

Castle Links also offer applicant tracking so users can see which job boards candidates come from. The system can have the applications sent to the assignment holder or to as many individuals within the organisation as required. Alternatively they can be stored online within the Castle Link account. You may also choose to have auto responders sent out to the applicants with a personalised message.

Summary:
As with many IT based products, AMS 5ive is constantly evolving, endeavouring to be the number one time saving job-posting product on the market. Pleasant design too! If you haven't looked at Multiple Job Board posting before, it is worth trying out a 30-minute demo with them.

Written by David Craig http://www.wholeofthemoon.co.uk

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

RESEARCH

BRS is an established London based full service recruitment research consultancy. Working cross sector we deliver assignments on time and to budget.

We are immediately availability to start work; offer Fixed Assignment Fees and Shared Risk on placements.

For more information on service offerings contact James Chapman on 020 7748 4393 or jamesc@BRSGlobal.com

========================

-----REVIEW OF EV-SCREEN BY LOUISE TRIANCE-----

Ev-Screen: http://www.e-validator.com

What it is: ev-Screen is a screening tool for IT recruiters meant for use before viewing the CVs of advert responses. 20+ IT recruiters have signed up for the service since the start of the year, including Harvey Nash

Site Launched: January 2003 although the company (E-Validator) launched in August 2000 and the backend technology has been in place for the last two years.

Costs: There is currently a free of charge seven-day trial on offer. The standard cost is £50 per vacancy valid for a screening period of up to seven days.

Who's in charge? David Harrington (david@e-validator.com) - 01536 512 111. Whilst David's background is not as a recruitment consultant he has experienced IT recruitment as both a candidate and client. His motivation for setting up the company (with two business partners) was the frustration he felt at the lack of screening being carried out by recruiters he had worked with.

How to use the site:
You select the skills you wish to screen, for the particular job you are working on, from drop down lists. The "test" can consist of up to 60 questions. Good sense dictates that for each skill area you are "testing" you should pick more than one question to increase the effectiveness of the screening. Once the screening questionnaire has been set up you direct candidates applying for your position to the site where they enter a reference number, this can obviously be done in offline, as well as online, advertising. The candidate completes the multiple-choice questionnaire and submits their CV and contact details. At the end of the application period the recruiter will visit the site and see, ranked by percentage, how the candidates performed. ev-screen suggest that recruiters do not have a cut off percentage but instead look at the highest ranking applicants as being the most suitable for the role.

Strengths & Weaknesses:
The key to this site is in selecting the correct skills to screen. If you use the service as suggested by David then you would not even look at the CVs unless they were ranked highest. Thus, if your screening questions are not targeted correctly you will miss good candidates. As the product can be branded (at a one off cost) selecting the right skills could be incorporated into the client briefing session giving responsibility to the client.

Recommendation:
This product is going to be great for companies who have a lot of candidates applying for technical IT roles who need to pre-screen to get to shortlist as quickly as possible. There are other tools available to test IT skills although many of these are more targeted to testing at interview stage.

If you are overwhelmed by candidates for IT roles and fear you are wasting time trying to assess IT skills from CVs then give this site a go. With the seven day free trial it's not going to cost anything to test it out and £50 per assignment should be easily worth it if it increases your ratio of successful placements and saves you time.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

This year is jobpilots eighth anniversary.

Thanks to our long-standing experience and continuous investments in technology, content and marketing, today jobpilot is the leading European career portal with over 2.4 million registered users and in excess of 160.000 active CVs online.

We can help you attract the right candidates, rapidly and efficiently; allowing you more time to effectively manage your recruiting process. Visit www.jobpilot.co.uk or call the jobpilot sales team on 0208 614 7800 to find out about our great summer deals.

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

ONLINE JOB INDEX, WEEK COMMENCING 9TH JUNE 2003, ALLJOBSUK.COM
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from alljobsuk.com showing the number of live vacancies posted on the top 10 UK job boards. This week's total is 390,575 which is up 8,058 on last week. For more information visit www.alljobsuk.com/jobsites.shtml

HITWISE TOP 10 RECRUITMENT SITES, WEEK ENDING 7TH JUNE, HITWISE.CO.UK
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from Hitwise, who monitor how 8.4 million UK Internet users interact with over 300,000 websites every day. The most visited recruitment sites visited by UK Internet users last week, starting with the most popular, were Jobcentre Plus, GoJobsite UK, Total Jobs, Reed.co.uk, Fish4Jobs, Jobserve, Monster.co.uk, Workthing, Guardian Unlimited Jobs and TES Jobs. For more information about Hitwise, visit www.hitwise.co.uk

18TH JUNE, HR SERVICE PROVIDERS - SHOULD THEY WORK CLOSER? THE RECRUITMENT SOCIETY, LONDON
"Should search firms forge closer relationships with providers of HR services? Is a fresh approach required? This is the subject of the next recruitment society event. The speakers are Aine Hurley of Odgers Ray & Berndston and Rob Yeung of Kiddy and Partners. Members can attend for £10 and non members for £20. For more information visit www.recruitmentsociety.org.uk, email admin@recruitmentsociety.org.uk or call Richard Taylor on 020 7439 6288

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "What can a top rec2rec hope to bill?", "Bogus Company", and "Small business recruitment?". Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!

Issue 120

Welcome to issue 120 of the ukrecruiter newsletter.

CONTENTS
* Reviewed Site (Sophos Virus Information)
* Review (Jobsitetracker.com by Damian Routley)
* Conference Review ("World Leaders in Recruitment" by Kate Mepham)
* Don't Miss This (Online Job Index - Networking Event - UK Recruiter Discussion Forum)
* Subscription Form

-----REVIEWED SITE-----

http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/

Sophos Virus Information is a very comprehensive site giving information on new viruses, virus hoaxes and anti-virus issues. The site contains analysis of the most common and recent viruses. You can search for a virus by name or type (eg, Master Boot Sector virus or Visual Basic Script virus). For each virus there is a description of the virus, when it was first identified and instructions for removal. The site has a listing of the top 10 viruses by month. You can also subscribe to their email notifications which alerts subscribers of new viruses as they become aware of them.

This is a very useful site to keep you up to date with virus issues and to help identify what is an actual virus and what is a hoax. However, it is not of course an alternative to effective anti-virus software.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

Looking to further your career in the Recruitment Industry?

The award winning recruitment website GoJobsite, has the very latest vacancies for UK recruitment professionals. Sign up to our jobs by email service, and receive vacancies tailored to you in your inbox everyday.

Click here: http://www.gojobsite.co.uk/cgi-bin/campaign.cgi?tid=5381

========================

-----REVIEW OF JOBSITETRACKER.COM BY DAMIAN ROUTLEY-----

Site URL: www.jobsitetracker.com Company: advanSe Contact: Jerry Hoefkens, 0121 722 2535 or j.hoefkens@i2i-services.co.uk

What the site says: "jobsitetracker.com brings invaluable business intelligence from advanSe. Through a set of interactive tools our unique data will help you to choose the most effective job sites for your next vacancy based on the actual jobsite statistical data and applicant response levels from most of the major UK jobsites carrying corporate advertisements."

About the site: Using only client paid, corporate advertising, JobsiteTracker.com has collated thousands of job postings (on UK job sites), and their responses, and built up a massive bank of data. This is cross searchable to determine the best performing sites across a range of sectors. In many cases, the tracked application figures provided by advanSe are more reliable than those summarised after a campaign by the sites themselves. This is due to all the applications passing through their servers, regardless of whether the applicant makes an application online, or notes the response email address and responds at a later time.

I have been using a version available only to recruitment advertising agencies, which is linked through www.whatmedia.co.uk, a media information service. Whilst the core functions of JobsiteTracker would be similar, there are probably slight differences in functionality between the WhatMedia and standalone version.

Tools on offer:

Response Predictor - this function allows the recruiter to predict the amount of response that they will get by advertising this role on the Internet. You can search by Category (industry sector) and Location (location), and further refine the search terms by limiting the data to recent tracked adverts, and finally, salary. Once retrieved, the information contains postings, number of times the adverts have been viewed, average response and the maximum response achieved per job board. This can then be exported into an Excel file for use in media recommendations.

Source Comparator - this allows you compare up to four recommended sites against each other, using like for like information. Showing the total number of applications made, how many applications are made per posting and the percentage of UK applications (an interesting addition). You can see the response range (the most and least responses), and you can pull up a graph to show how the selected job board compares to a benchmark response rate (taken from an average of the other job boards).

Budget Planner - the recruiter can input their budget, number of sites they want to post on, salary and sector and whether they want the most cost-effective (cost per application) or highest number of applications, and the tool will calculate the predicted response rates and cost per application. This seems to me a little basic.

As time progresses and the amount of data involved increases and becomes more accurate, the range of what the user can determine from the information will also increase.

ResponseMate - Linked to JobsiteTracker is a product that enables you to track levels of response from both press and online adverts. You can include your own campaigns to the searchable data, and eventually there will be a database of past advertising from which you can extract media on a best-fit basis.

For years, recruiters, be they corporates or agency, have relied either on user statistics provided by the job boards, or on their own personal experience. Nowadays, clients expect advertising agencies to be a supplier of information. With tools like this we can take the guesswork out of the process and appear more consultative in our approach.

Summary: For the job boards, there is nothing to be gained by being on the outside of a product such as this. I would encourage sites to allow the tracking of their advertisements. To make decisions on which is the best site it is vital to ensure that there is sufficient data, gathered in a consistent fashion, from all the sites. I would encourage recruiters to ask this of job boards too.

With over 700 job boards in the UK alone all professing that their site offers the best solution to your requirements, the need for precise information has never been greater. If you're a recruiter who uses the Internet, how can you be certain that the recommendations you give are the best they can be? I am pleased the industry is now delivering such tools and welcome independent information on job boards as they all add weight to the advice we give to clients. The market is currently saturated with online recruitment solution providers and tools like this help choose the best performers.

Damian Routley is TCS' media specialist. To discuss how they can provide recruitment solutions to your organisation, please call him on 020 7420 1800 or email droutley@tcstown.com

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

http://www.InHR.co.uk A recruitment website dedicated to providing good quality vacancies for HR professionals

* A comprehensive HR Directory * Up-to-date industry news * All the latest HR jobs

For more information contact Liora on 020 8347 7551 or email liora@inhr.co.uk ========================

---CONFERENCE REVIEW - "WORLD LEADERS IN RECRUITMENT" BY KATE MEPHAM---

The "Word Leaders in Recruitment" Conference is one the most significant dates in the staffing industry calendar. Now in its 6th year, I felt Wednesday's event was as successful as ever. The overall theme to this event was 'applying experience to challenging markets' and with speakers such as Tim Watts, Chairman of the Pertemps Group and Tony Berry, Chairman of Berry Recruitment Group the event certainly lived up to its theme. The turnout was also a success with around 200 delegates from senior recruitment professionals through to Chairmen all gathered to gain vital knowledge and information regarding the recruitment sector.

Authoritative speakers were chosen for their expertise of a wide range of subjects crucial to the success of any recruitment business. Roger Bootle, UK Economic Advisor to Deloitte and Touche started the day with what he described as his 'doom and gloom' spot, followed by jetlagged David Arkless, Executive Chairman of The Empower Group, who gave some great advice he learned through experience, put forward in an enlightening way. Other riveting speakers during the day included Tony Berry and Tony Martin (Chairman and CEO of Vedior) who announced that this would be his last conference speech before he retires next February.

As always the fantastic luncheon allowed plenty of time for networking and gossip! There were also some excellent goodies to be had from Barclays who had a stand set up. Other interesting sponsors included Recruitmate and Deloitte & Touche.

Despite going on after lunch, in traditionally the most difficult spot, Tim Watts gave a fantastic address where he talked about the key issues of loyalty of staff as well as sharing his vision of what makes great leadership. This got a great response from the audience. He also made time to talk to the delegates in the preceding break and afterwards at the drinks reception.

Pierre Danon's closing address included some thought provoking statements on engaging with the likes of BT. This left plenty to discuss at the drinks reception directly afterwards.

Unfortunately the drinks reception was poorly attended with many delegates preferring to relax elsewhere or head straight off.

I had a great day out and the feedback I heard from many other delegates suggests that the event really is the most significant day in the staffing industry calendar. My thanks go to Norman Richmond, CEO of Resourcing Software (they have recently acquired both Halycon and E-Cruitnow) - http://www.resourcingsoftware.com - who invited me to the event.

Kate Mepham is an account manager for jobpilot. She can contacted by email at mepham@jobpilot.co.uk or on 020 8614 7806.

=====ADVERTISEMENT=====

4MAT.COM's - dotVACANCY - version 2

The new RECRUITMENT WEB SITE solution from 4mat.com

========================

-----DON'T MISS THIS-----

HITWISE TOP 10 RECRUITMENT SITES, WEEK ENDING 16TH JUNE, HITWISE.CO.UK
Each issue we bring you the latest statistics from Hitwise, who monitor how 8.4 million UK Internet users interact with over 300,000 websites every day. The most visited recruitment sites visited by UK Internet users last week, starting with the most popular, were Jobcentre Plus, GoJobsite UK, Reed.co.uk, Total Jobs, Fish4Jobs, Jobserve, Monster.co.uk, Workthing, Guardian Unlimited Jobs and CWJobs,co.uk. For more information about Hitwise, visit www.hitwise.co.uk

UK RECRUITER DISCUSSION FORUM - ARE YOU USING IT?
Don't forget to visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/forum. Current topics on the site include "Managed Agency - cost effective?", "New Forum on Cold Calling" and "Can anyone help (from a trainee recruiter)" Visit the site; ask questions and give feedback!