Welcome to issue 231 of the ukrecruiter newsletter.
|
Researchers
Tips by Chris Malcolm of deAnsa
Once a month we give a quick tip
on managing a successful research project.
Alternate ways to find that candidate
In many industries worldwide it is getting ever more difficult for a
researcher to even identify a potential candidate, and sometimes almost impossible to separate the really good ones from the pack.
Most of the people we are looking for though, have a business interaction with someone else. For example the swaps trader at
investment bank "A" will probably know who at investment bank "B" is
his/her counterpart. Or the buyer at hardware store "C" will certainly know who is the salesperson at supplier "D" will be. Use
the logic of thinking through to who the person you are looking for would deal with on a business basis. Remember to take things one-step
further. That same buyer at store "C" will also have a view on who is
the best salesperson that he/she deals with. Now you really do have
progress. Not only a qualified name researched but an industry recommendation. Your client will be pleased to know that not only do
you have a good sounding candidate but in this case one that brings an
account with him/her.
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.
My Favourites will be back next
week. Why not submit your 3 favourite web sites. See the
guidelines at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/articles.htm
|
back to top
Advertisement
High calibre shortlist candidates - get yours today!
Would you like to really impress your best clients this month? Present them with their dream shortlist of high calibre candidates? Then it's time to have your requirements seen by many of the world's top professionals and executives.
Click here for full details.
http://www.top-consultant.com/UK/clients/trials.asp
|
Article
One: CV Screen website review by Jonathan Spybey
Company Name – CV Screen
Website Address – www.cvscreen.co.uk
Site description
A specialist IT recruitment agency with emphasis on being cost effective.
Creative design
The website implements a graphical use of colour. It portrays a youthful and slightly trendy character to the agency. Most of the content is on a black background, whilst the main navigation is encapsulated in a pea-green circle on the left hand side.
Ease of use
The use of a black background for the main content is a bold and graphic solution. Colour is used so strongly on the website that it vies for attention. The eye is sent in many directions making it difficult to concentrate on reading the body of the text. The use of colour makes the website somewhat confusing when arriving at it for the first time. Unusually, the lack of contrast in the navigation makes it less prominent than the main bulk of content. First time visitors will be more attracted to links within the content than links within the navigation area.
Relevant content
Strongly coloured links interrupt the readability of ordinary copy in this instance. The eye is encouraged to read anything but the content! This is a shame because the content often explains the cost effective emphasis the agency has to its services.
Candidate and client functionality
Of the four sections within the navigation area, the most important two - Client Services & Jobseekers - are not clickable whilst their sub-navigation pages are. Inconsistencies like this make websites awkward to use. On one page there is a map with the location of CV Screen’s offices, unfortunately, the map has not been made clickable. Vacancies are not searchable but can be found by location.
Online marketing
The website performs reasonably well through organic searches in search engines. The results are supplemented by pay per click marketing campaigns.
Summary
Poor use of colour interrupts the experience of using the website. It makes reading the content very difficult. It is a shame because the company is a good way down the road towards having a strong identity and corporate identity. More sensitive use of layout and design would aid this website no end.
Jonathan Spybey is Creative Director with Sien Web, a professional web design company offering high quality accessible websites and development services to clients across the UK and Internationally. Contact him directly at
jonathan@sienweb.com
or 020 8965 6138, alternatively see Sien Web’s services at www.sienweb.com
|
back to top
Advertisement
No time wasters – only sales professionals!
Salestarget.co.uk is a specialist sales
recruitment website from Totaljobs Group. Launched in June
2005, the site is already established as the UK’s leading source
of quality sales jobs from hundreds of well known employers. The
site covers all sales sectors including FMCG, construction financial
services, pharmaceutical, recruitment and IT sales.
For more information visit us today at http://www.salestarget.co.uk/
or email sales@salestarget.co.uk
quoting reference UKREC.
|
Article
Two: Barriers to Growth for UK SME's by Inspira UK
Inspira UK and etc consultancy have joined forces this summer to commission a business owner-manager targeted survey, entitled ‘Key Challenges For The Growing Business: Major Barriers to Growth’.
Findings borne out of this survey (from a base of 90 UK entrepreneurs) suggest barriers to growth experienced over the last three years are attributable to a combination of factors, including: the correlation between sales/profit, expectation based on the creation of a business plan, identifying new sales leads, cash issues, recruiting the right staff, the need to recruit and retain the right staff, administrative burdens and considering where business owner-managers should be focusing their attention.
Based on a response value of ‘well,’ ‘somewhat,’ or ‘not and all,’ 88 per cent of respondees confirm they have experienced a positive increase in sales, over the past three years, a comparable 80 per cent of those interviewed confirmed an increase in profits during the same period. Sales were particularly strong within the £3-£5 million turnover bracket, with 100 per cent of respondees performing ‘well’ or ‘somewhat,’ whilst 88.9 per cent of the £5 million+ turnover experienced the highest profits (75 per cent).
Independent academic research suggests that there is a direct correlation between writing a business plan and growth – good news for the members of leading UK entrepreneur’s network, UK TEN, with 77 per cent of those interviewed having a business plan in place. By comparison, statistics from a 1993 survey confirm that over 67 per cent of companies with a turnover of £10 million or less did not have a business plan in place. This shift in emphasis perhaps reflects increased awareness of the need to put pen to paper when looking at strategic corporate growth.
The three main factors holding back growth identified within the survey were new sales lead generation (17.17 per cent); cash (15.49 per cent) and recruiting the right staff (14.48 per cent). Interestingly, considerably less emphasis was placed on retaining the right staff (only 2.69 per cent) – an
area that perhaps requires due attention considering that a business is only as effective as the people running it.
Administrative burdens on the owner/manager business are biased towards employment law issues (21.31 per cent) and NI/ PAYE paperwork (21.31 per cent). Coud these issues be based on the entrepreneur’s lack of knowledge, on ever-increasing legal procedures or a resistance to outsourcing legal and financial reporting systems?
69 per cent of those surveyed confirmed that they spend the majority of their time working ‘in’ rather than ‘on’ the business. Perhaps shifting the owner-manager’s focus from internal procedures to considering the bigger picture could have a positive affect on those businesses with less than 50 employees and <£5 million turnover.
The etc consultancy and Inspira UK survey results are available as an emailable pdf report together with notes on top tips on employer branding and how to motivate and engage your staff. To receive an emailable copy please contact
prconsultancy@mirandaleslau.com
Inspira UK provides intelligent HR solutions to a cross-section of human capital and brand related issues
(www.inspira-uk.com). etc consultancy provides training and consultancy for ambitious growing businesses
(www.etcconsultancy.co.uk). For media information please contact Miranda Leslau public relations & consultancy on 020 7263 5618/0797 793 9116 or email
miranda@mirandaleslau.com
|
back to top
Advertisement
Whatever your industry, whatever your recruitment needs ...
Vacancy Central has a recruitment advertising solution for you.
As part of the hugely successful recruitment directory - Agency Central, we offer the ability to search 1000's of quality CV's with ease as well as receiving daily alerts which inform you of every new candidate that meets your requirements, saving you hours of trawling through unsuitable CV's. Save time, use Vacancy Central.
For an evaluation of the service please contact us on 01925 639100 or visit
http://www.vacancycentral.co.uk/recruiter to find out more.
|
Don't
Miss This
Free CV Search for all ukrecruiter subscribers
Agency Central ("the UK’s leading dedicated recruitment agency directory") is launching a new job board called Vacancy Central. The site has over 60 new industry specific job boards and a fully searchable CV database which already has 15,000 fresh CV's from the past 3 months. Vacancy Central has a special offer at present offering two weeks free access to its CV database to all ukrecruiter subscribers. To apply email
lee@agencycentral.co.uk
using subject ukrec. For information about Vacancy Central visit http://www.vacancycentral.co.uk/recruiter/. Terms and conditions apply.
Discounted Seminar, Managing an Increasingly Ageing Workforce, 7th December 2005
By October 2006, it will be illegal to refuse someone a job, promotion or training or benefits on the basis of age. However, a recent study of 1,500 employers by Canfield School of Management found that nearly one in three employers had no clear plans to introduce age policies within their organisation. For more information on this seminar visit
www.symposium-events.co.uk. Alternatively email Alex Ward
award@symposium-events.co.uk
or contact him on 020 7403 3990. Book by 16th September 2005 and receive a 20% Early Bird discount if you quote ukrec.
Discounted: Objections! Objections! Objections!
- How to Conquer Objections & Explode Your Sales Performance!
Gavin Ingham is rebranding the front cover off his book and as such is offering
ukrecruiter readers discounted price copies. The book is normally £17
but for this once only offer he is offering it at just £7. However, stocks are very limited...
To get a copy of the book click on this link: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=56147&ProductID=2513214
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 "Virtual
office address in London", "Hotonline
Takeover" and "The
future of 3rd party recruitment".
It is free to use the discussion board and you don't have to
register to view messages. Visit the site; ask questions and
share your knowledge
|
back to top
Statistics
Hitwise top 10 Recruitment
Sites, week ending 10th September 2005
The most visited UK recruitment sites last week, starting with the
most popular, were www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk,
www.totaljobs.com, www.jobsite.co.uk,
www.reed.co.uk, www.jobs.nhs.uk,
www.monster.co.uk, www.jobs.guardian.co.uk,
www.eteach.com, www.jobserve.com
and www.jobsgopublic.com. For more information about Hitwise, visit http://www.hitwise.co.uk
|
back to top
Please forward this newsletter on to any colleagues or recruitment friends who you think might like to receive the newsletter. It's free for them to sign up - all they need do is
complete the form below.
Regards
Louise Triance
UK Recruiter http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk
Subscribe
Don't forget to let your colleagues know about this newsletter. Anyone can subscribe - it's completely free of charge - all they need to do to receive their own copy of the ukrecruiter newsletter is complete
our simple form
Unsubscribe
To unsubscribe from the ukrecruiter newsletter please reply to this message with the subject line "unsubscribe". |
Feedback
Please feel free to email
me your comments on the newsletter: the sort of articles you like,
the sort you don't read, new features you'd like to see, etc.
Feedback from everyone is always welcome!
|
Advertising
If you are interested in advertising a product, service or internet site in the newsletter please contact
us.
|
|
If you want see back issues of
the newsletter visit http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/recnet
NOTE: This newsletter may be copied and distributed free of charge in its entirety. Individual sections may
NOT be copied or distributed without the prior written agreement of louise@ukrecruiter.co.uk.
Copyright (c)
2005, UK Recruiter Ltd |
|