CONTENTS

• My Favourites (Johan J. Ingles-Le Nobel from Strategies)
• Article One (More Attraction Strategies for Success by Gaynor Lowndes)
• Survey Results (Perriam and Everett's Survey into The Recruiters’ Recruitment Experience)
• Don't Miss This (Press Release: The Book of Happiness - The Recruitment Society; Talent Management or Mis-Management event - £100 discount on Telesales Skills Workshop - EREC 2006 update - Press Release: Employmentbillboard.co.uk - Press Release: Clarkslegal launches new "employmentbuddy" website)
• Discussion Board Summary
• Statistics (Hitwise Top 10 Recruitment Sites)
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe
• Feedback & Advertising Information

Visit http://www.careersinrecruitment.com for the latest recruitment industry jobs.

My Favourites

http://news.bbc.co.uk - The beeb. Whew, what a fantastic site, always up to date and always brimming with interesting stories.

http://slashdot.org - Techie news. Catch the word on the street about the latest technology trends and the thoughts of the geeks.

http://www.firebox.com - Boys toys. If I ever feel that my wallet or bank account are too full I find very easy remedies here.

Johan J. Ingles-Le Nobel is an account handler at Strategies, responsible for customer liaison for jobweb

Why not submit your 3 favourite web sites. See the guidelines at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/articles.htm

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Article One: More Attraction Strategies for Success by Gaynor Lowndes

There are many strategies for attracting quality candidates and I have discussed them in articles over the past couple of years. In this article, I want to focus on attracting quality candidates through advertising, both print and internet advertising. 

I am continually amazed when I ask the question “how much time do you spend on writing adverts?” The response I normally receive is that the advert was written five minutes before the deadline expired. You are all complaining about the lack of quality candidates available, yet one of the most effective sourcing mechanisms is left until the last minute! My belief is that an advertisement is really a sales document and therefore you should spend time thinking creatively about the sort of person you want to attract.

Preparation

Before putting pen to paper or hitting the keyboard, actually think about your ideal candidate. Where is he/she? Who does he/she currently work for? What personality style is he/she? What generation is he/she from?

Once you have this information, you will find it much easier to create a compelling advertisement.

One of the tricks I learnt early on in my career was to keep an advert book. Basically, it is a scrapbook where you can stick in adverts that you particularly like – whether the language, layout or job attracts you, if you find yourself reading the advert, then so will passive candidates. These can be adverts from your own agency or indeed competitors’ adverts. Over time you will build up a valuable resource that you can tap into when your creative juices are far from flowing.

Generational issues

I recently read a great book on generational issues XYZ the New Rules for Generational Warfare by Michael Grose. Whilst reading this book, I got to thinking about how different generations will be attracted to different language and why and then how that affects us as recruiters.

Baby Boomers (1946-1961) believed in “jobs for life” and are very security focussed. Middle age saw the introduction of the internet and some have taken to it better than others. Baby Boomers will respond to language that suggests a secure opportunity in a secure company. You will need to use more formal language than for the other generations. They will prefer to respond to an advertisement by telephone rather than e-mail. Many executive recruiters take full advantage of this by taking telephone response over the weekend.

Generation X (1961-1976) were the first generation to “bring themselves up” as a result of their parents enjoying no fault divorce and both parents working outside the home. This generation is very “self” focussed and many define themselves by their career. They are interested in “getting ahead” and look for roles that will provide status and financial benefits. Having said that they also seek the elusive “work/life” balance so that they can enjoy better relationships with their children and more personal time for themselves. Elusive because many of them work for older style managers whom had a spouse at home to look after the children. Gen X will respond to power 1980’s type language.

Generation Y (1976-1991) are the “net generation”. They are non-committal and techno savvy. They seek opportunities that will “challenge them” but still give them time off to do other things! They respond to casual and short language and will almost always respond to an advert via e-mail in the first instance. Use words sparingly with this generation or they will loose interest in your advert and therefore won’t respond.

Personality issues

There are many measures of personality from DISC profiles to Myers Briggs analysis. An effective advert writer will take into account the personality style of the candidate most likely to succeed in the role. In fact many personality profiling tools now offer the opportunity to profile the role as well (Check out www.myprofile.com.au). This means that you can write your advert to attract the sort of person whom would succeed in the role. Use words that encourage your candidate to respond. For example, as a high “D” type personality (DISC & Myprofile), I will respond more to adverts that are short sharp and to the point. Words like persuasive, self-starter, like challenge, ambitious will encourage me to keep reading. Understanding the personality style of the ideal candidate will allow you to construct your advert using language that he or she will respond to.

Finally

By taking your time and doing some preparation BEFORE you start constructing your advert and then utilising the language and style that would attract “the best candidate”, you will be in a much better position to attract the best person for the job every time. Remember that in the current candidate short market, you need to do everything you can to attract quality candidates. Utilise your advertising budget effectively and spend time preparing and writing quality adverts and I will guarantee you that you will get a quality response.

Gaynor Lowndes, the Managing Director of The Recruitment Training Company, has over 18 years recruitment experience, gained in both Australia and the UK. If you liked this article, consider Gaynor’s highly successful book “The Art of Recruitment”. Visit www.trtc.com.au to place your order.

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For information email Louise at contact2@ukrecruiter.co.uk

Survey Results: Perriam and Everett's Survey into The Recruiters’ Recruitment Experience

Perriam and Everett recently sent an online questionnaire to 785 experienced recruitment consultants to find out if the recruitment/search industry practices what it preaches when it hires its own staff. The consultants work across different professional recruitment sectors and have between three months and ten years experience in recruitment.

The results show that despite the recruitment industry’s continued investment in time and money to recruit talented staff, good on-boarding processes are still the exception and not the rule. Interview processes range from “extremely thorough” to “long winded” and “idiosyncratic”. Once hired, staff don’t get an effective induction and this could impact their productivity. It took most between two and three months to start generating revenue.

Findings:

• Only 62.2% of respondents said their job was as described to them in the interview process. 

• 40.5% didn’t get any induction whatsoever. 

• 75.7% didn’t know when their next training course will be. 

• 45.9% are dissatisfied by the training and development provided by their organization. 

• We asked if they knew what their company’s business goals were: 

  • 58.3% said they knew 

  • 5.6% said they didn’t 

  • 36.1% said “sort of”. 

• 22.9% didn’t have clear targets. 

• 45.9% aren’t happy with their commission structure, 8% didn’t understand it. 

The management team and the team they work with were the two most important factors in choosing a recruitment firm (73% and 62.2% respectively of the respondents said this was important to them). However often the management team didn’t articulate their vision clearly and the candidates weren’t always integrated effectively into their peer group when they started. This is critical when over half of the candidates had more than one job offer to choose from. 

Barclays Bank are hosting a breakfast seminar for Perriam and Everett on Thursday 13 July in their Oxford Street offices to look at the results in full and the conclusions that can drawn from them. Contact Zena Everett at Perriam and Everett Recruitment for more information.  Tel: 0207 405 7201 or via www.perriam-everett.co.uk 

Don't Miss This

Press Release: The Book of Happiness
"The authors of The Book of Luck, Heather Summers and Anne Watson are back with a happiness makeover to bring a smile to the world’s face. Full of the same wisdom and common sense, The Book of Happiness offers the key (several, in fact) to creating a genuinely happy life – now. Offering invaluable tips, the book quickly shows readers how creating happiness is actually possible with only a few small changes in mindset and outlook."  For more information or to buy a copy contact anne@executive-focus.co.uk or visit their site at www.switchtosuccess.co.uk

£100 discount on Telesales Skills Workshop, 2nd June 2006, London
" Make Quality Appointments with Top Clients.  We train you to pick up the phone and fill your diary with meetings. No scripts or embarrassment. Simple, naturally engaging phone conversations". The workshop takes place this Friday June 2nd, Cannon Street London.  The cost is usually £325 + VAT, however, for ukrecruiter readers there is a reduced price of £225 + VAT.  For more details and to book click here (type "ukrec" in the comments box) or call Natural Training on 0207 702 3003 quoting "ukrec". 

EREC (Executive Recruitment Exhibition and Conference) 2006 update, 21st and 22nd June 2006
The organisers of EREC 2006 ("the UK’s only event focused exclusively on Executive Recruitment") have announced the conference speaker programme for this year’s event. Details can be found at www.erec2006.com.  You can also view details of the exhibitors on the site. 

The Recruitment Society; Talent Management or Mis-Management? 6pm 29 June 2006, London
"Talent management and employee engagement are on the tongues of every recruitment and HR professional at the moment. But what's the reality behind the rhetoric, and how does this sit with the evidence of increasing employee demotivation and employers' recruitment and retention difficulties? Each year the CIPD undertakes a major study of recruitment and retention practices in the UK, along with a wide variety of other research studies looking at the links between HR practices, employee attitudes and performance. Duncan Brown, the CIPD's Assistant Director General will lead a session summarising the key findings from their just-published recruitment, retention and turnover study and lead a discussion of their implications for the UK economy and for you in your work." The evening will commence with pre-meeting drinks, the presentation will start at 6.30, and the formal part of the evening, finishing at 7.45, will be followed by networking over drinks and nibbles, with attendees leaving at 9.00.. It takes place at Times Newspapers, 1, Virginia St., London E99 1SS. For more information call Richard Taylor on 0207 917 1728, visit http://www.recruitmentsociety.org.uk or email admin@recruitmentsociety.org.uk

Press Release: Employmentbillboard.co.uk
Employmentbillboard.co.uk have launched a new service for recruitment firms advertising on their site. Clients are now able to post their own agency’s news on the site and the news item will be accompanied by their corporate logo. www.employmentbillboard.co.uk

Press Release: Clarkslegal launches new "employmentbuddy" website
"Leading law firm, Clarkslegal LLP, has launched a substantially enhanced version of its employment law website, www.employmentbuddy.com, offering an increased amount of user-friendly HR support materials and guidance notes to assist HR teams in all sectors. Clarkslegal has developed the website in response to the increasing amount of employment legislation, and the frustrations currently being expressed as a result by the market place. The site uses the tagline ‘the HR professional’s best friend’ and provides unlimited access to a large library of training materials, accompanied by practical support documents, letter templates, checklists, fact sheets and HR policies. An annual subscription for ‘Buddy’ is currently being offered at the introductory price of £365 + VAT.

Discussion Board Summary

Don't forget to visit The Discussion Board. Current topics on the site include:

Paying Commission after drop out - What do you do if you've paid a consultant commission on a placement and then the candidate leaves?
Software and website for one man band - Suggestions please?
What CV Database do you use? - This is one from me (Louise)!  I'm looking for helpers on a new series of articles
I cant send you a spec because.... - What's the legal situation with regard to "candidate contracts"?

Any postings you or anyone else makes will be included in the weekly digest. Sign up for the free digest here or hit reply to ask me to include your email address

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

Statistics

Hitwise top 10 Recruitment Sites, week ending 27th May 2006
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.monster.co.uk, www.reed.co.uk, www.jobs.nhs.uk, jobs.tes.co.uk, www.eteach.com, www.jobsgopublic.com and jobs.guardian.co.uk. Hitwise don't aggregate data from sites who form part of a network such as fish4.co.uk 

For more information about Hitwise, visit http://www.hitwise.co.uk

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