Welcome to issue 290 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. 

CONTENTS

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

My Favourites

http://www.just-food.com/ - Business information about the food industry.  Also has an interesting blog.

http://www.tradecomms.co.uk - For everything you want to know about the grocery industry. There's also a link to all the grocery trade associations

http://www.bookcrossing.com - Share your books with others via this site.  You leave a book somewhere, register it on the site, someone else picks it up and reads it, then leaves it somewhere else, and so it goes on. 

This week's favourites are provided by Julia Hill from Search Focus


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: CV Database Review – Justconstruction.net by Louise Triance

Site Name: Justconstruction.net

URL: www.justconstruction.net

Site Statistics:
Sectors covered: All construction
Typical candidates: Engineer, Project Manager, Site Manager, Management, Civil Engineers, CAD Technicians and Foremen.
Number Of CV's held: 16,000
Geographic split of candidates: 94% UK
Site Launched: 2004

Cost to recruiters: Either £1150 per quarter or £3550 for annual package.

How it works:
After logging in you can either go straight to the candidate search function or go to the “look who’s looking” section. The “look who’s looking” section allows you to view the details of candidates who have logged in, updated their details or registered in the past 1 to 7 days (you choose the time period). 

When you come to do a candidate search the search screen is quite basic. You search by keyword(s) and can select from drop down fields such as number of years of industry experience, geographic region and date registered. You can also tick to select certain sectors (eg, civil engineers, health and safety, planners, etc) 

An overview of matching CVs is displayed giving the candidate name, date registered, location, salary range, home and mobile contact numbers and “main skills”. From here you can click to view the CV in word or web format. You can also click the email icon to send a direct email to the candidate 

The database is cleansed every April with candidates who have not used the site in the past 12 months deleted from system.

Strengths

  • The Look Who’s Looking section is a nice little feature. It may stop you missing a candidate who has the sort of background you could be interested in but who hasn’t used the “right” keywords for your searches. It also allows you to contact the newest candidates on the market. 

  • Opening Word documents can be slow when searching a CV database – but for many recruiters a Word format document is useful. Having the option of viewing a web version of the CV makes selecting candidates to “shortlist” a quicker process.

  • Being able to see the candidate’s name on the search results page will mean you avoid “wasting” time on candidates you already know of.

  • The Word version of the CV is the candidates original document rather than a registration form completed for the site.

  • You can save a search to run again at any point in the future.

Weaknesses

  • It would be useful to be able to search by salary requirement and to select multiple geographic locations for job seekers.

  • The overview returned from a search isn’t always comprehensive enough to make a judgement on whether to view a candidates CV. This is because the candidate can choose to put as little as one or two words in the “main skills” field when registering. Conversely some candidates have entered paragraphs of texts that don’t make for quick scanning. It would be useful if candidates were required to enter an optimum amount of information.

  • Whilst it’s great that you can email individual candidates via the database, the option to create an email campaign and send out a job spec to a number of candidates that match your criteria would be good. 

  • The web version of the CV is useful but lacking in formatting.

  • When you return a search with lots of possible candidates it would be useful to be able to shortlist a number of them to review at a later date. 

Summary
The search functionality is adequate but not totally comprehensive and it is fairly easy to work with the results of searches. However, there a number of features which if added could greatly improve the usability of the database. The site has a good number of candidates within its market niche. The cost is quite high when compared with other niche sites I’ve looked at so far. However the price is for any number of consultants within one firm and covers unlimited job posting. The feedback I got from Mark Bell (Senior Consultant at Technical and Management Resources Ltd) was that the site is great value for money.

Louise Triance is the Editor of the ukrecruiter newsletter. This article is the 7th in an ongoing series of CV database reviews.  We have reviewed CV-Library in issue 273, Monster.co.uk in issue 275, Constructionjobsearch in issue 277, Jobsite in issue 279, Jobs in Credit in issue 281 Executivesontheweb.com in issue 284.

If you would like us to review a CV database you are considering using please contact Louise at contact2@ukrecruiter.co.uk

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Article Two:  How to Measure Financial Success to Aid Performance Management by Bill Boorman 

In the previous articles I have written for the newsletter (see issue 287 for the last one) I have, so far, downplayed the significance of financial measurements as yardsticks of success, mainly as they are too often seen as the only way to measure it. Using my methods will improve this area, but it is not a stand alone goal. Using activities and efficiencies as measurements are crucial to the success of an all round Performance Management system. Don’t be blinded by pound signs, they could be misleading.

Ok, so far I have shown the kinds of measurements required to assess your volume of work and your throughput - now let’s see just what you’re getting for your efforts in monetary terms. Financials can be used to reward your Consultants efforts; by making them aware of the financial value to them of each activity they undertake you will be able to get them to increase their efforts, month on month.

By identifying a financial value to all of the work undertaken your consultants will be motivated to increase this. I measure financials in two ways, for perms I look at the average revenue that has been charged to the client (fee) and the average fee value (which is the percentage charged). For temps I look at the average timesheet value and the average invoice value per client and then I can calculate the average margin per placement. By looking at these figures the Consultant can see their objectives as having a tangible value to them i.e. increased bonuses.

Perms can be motivated by starting out with their average booking fee – say £1500 for example. That fee was generated through a series of actions, the initial call, getting the vacancy, interviewing candidates and so on. Each of these steps has a part to play and has a value. If the Consultant had conducted 10 interviews for this post, then each of these would be worth 10% of the total, which is £150. That’s not a huge amount, but if the Consultant repeats this 20 times in a month successfully and is on 10% commission that would net them an extra £300 in that month alone. Surely that is enough to motivate them to keep finding candidates to come in to be seen? Similarly we can look at how many phone calls were required to net a vacancy. If the fee comes in at £2000 and average dials were 10 then each dial would be worth £200/10 which is £20 commission.

Temps figures tend to look smaller than perm, but this is because I calculate their figures weekly, not monthly. I start out looking at the average timesheet value. For example an average timesheet value of £80 can generate a final dial value of 50p – so each dial is worth 5p to the Consultant. Yes, that’s it, just 5 p. But now let’s look at it another way. If a member of staff is making 4 of these final dials per candidate that’s £2.00, which if multiplied by the booking length, say 20 weeks, suddenly becomes worth £40. So the Consultant now knows that each candidate placed is worth an extra £40 in their bank account. Those final calls suddenly seem far more attractive. There are a myriad of ways to implement this approach which you can tailor to suit your particular measurements.

These figures show the Consultant a clear link between their every action and the net end result – their bonus. Let’s be honest, the benefits to the company may be wonderful, but it’s what is in their monthly pay that an employee values. Job satisfaction and positive management combined with financial gain is the best way in which to drive your Consultants to consistently smash through their targets: in this way nobody loses. If this is achieved regularly then staff loyalty becomes stronger. It is by retaining a happy staff who are able to exceed expectations that a company grows - keeping existing business as well as creating new and exciting opportunities for both the business and the Consultants whom it employs.

Work Smarter – Not Harder

Performance management provides the solutions to the problem that I outlined in my very first article - how to get your Consultants to perform. In my experience it’s all about being transparent, being open to questions and leading by example. Drawing upon your own experiences to help your staff formulate solutions to potential problems is an important part of the whole process. By using the review and evaluation process effectively in tandem with keeping accurate measurements you will be creating a bright future for both your staff and your business. Then sit back and enjoy it.

Summary
Financial measurements are only part of the story of success
Consultants need to visualise tasks as having a price, or value
Demonstrate that low value tasks can be seen differently if volume increases
Commission payments boost productivity
Performance Matters!

If you have a pressing issue regarding this subject or wish to receive a full key note outlining the subject please email billboorman@btinternet.com 


Bill Boorman specializes in management development performance management and helping recruitment companies to achieve business growth. He has 22 years recruitment experience, 12 years as Training Director for a large UK recruitment Company. Visit www.performancemanager.co.uk for further information on specific events Bill is holding. 

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Don't Miss This

The Recruiters Networking Event
On 22nd November we held a Recruiters Networking Event after a gap of nearly three years. It was hosted by Broadbean and the speakers were Anne Swain from ATSCO, Jason Goldberg from Jobster and Dan McGuire from Broadbean.  You can see two of the speakers via Chris Toudic's blog.  After the success of last Wednesday's event we are hoping to re-establish regular networking events. Perhaps holding one sometime in February/March next year. If you want to see all the photos from the event they are up on the Broadbean networking site at . You can register for information on the next event (when we're sorted the date) here. 

Recruitment Society Christmas Social, Thursday 7th December
The Society will welcome Steve Norris to present his “Point of View” on politics, philosophy and economics, to include some pointers on opportunities for Recruitment. This is a social occasion and the event will take place at Barclays Bank’s new premises (30th Floor, 1, Churchill Place, London E14 5HP). The event starts at 6pm. The cost is £15 for members and non-members will be charged £25. For more information contact Richard Taylor on admin@recruitmentsociety.org.uk 

HR Business Directors Summit 29th & 30th January 2007, Celtic Manor Resort, South Wales
"The essential networking event for Europe’s leading HR experts.  Now in its 5th incredibly successful year, the HR Business Directors Summit is the essential networking event for Europe’s leading HR experts. The world class conference will examine nurturing leadership, change management, employment law, employee engagement and effective training, as well as many other ideas and innovations in HR. For full programme, speaker and delegate list visit www.hrevent.com"  

mad.co.uk’s Salary and Benefits Survey – Autumn 2006
mad.co.uk (Centaur Publishing) have released the results of their fourth Salary and Benefits Survey (Autumn 2006) - in the marketing, media, new media, advertising, and design disciplines.  The survey received more than 2,250 of responses from professionals working in these fields and the information gathered offers a snapshot of the marketing and creative sectors in the UK.  It gives insights into what employees really think about the issues that matter to them, such as remuneration package, job satisfaction and career moves. You can access the full survey via their website at www.mad.co.uk/jobs  

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Discussion Board Summary

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

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

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Online Recruitment Update (sponsored by http://www.broadbean.co.uk for "the UK's favourite job posting system")

Hitwise top 10 Recruitment Sites, week ending 2nd December 2006 
The most visited UK recruitment sites last week, starting with the most popular, were were www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk, www.totaljobs.com, www.reed.co.uk, www.monster.co.uk, www.jobs.nhs.uk, www.jobsite.co.uk, jobs.tes.co.uk, jobs.guardian.co.uk, www.jobs.ac.uk, and www.eteach.com. 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

Louise's UK Recruiter blog
In the past fortnight I've talked about The Recruiters Networking Event, Jason Goldberg "live" at The Recruiter Network event, Dan McGuire "live and uncut" at The Recruiters Network Event and ERE Expo 2006 Roundup  .  You can read "Louise's UK Recruiter blog" at http://ukrecruiter.typepad.com 

Recruitment Blog Watch (last 2 weeks):
Tim Elkington's blog: Online Recruitment - the bigger picture: The Age of the Search Engine, Channel Five's not that Bad and Have you got anything without the Spam
Mike Taylor's blog: Online Recruitment Marketing: Jobster and London Networking Event
Alan Whitford's blog: E-recruitment strategy: SEO importance to online recruiting, 1:00am Recollections from Amsterdam, Bill Vick and Extreme Recruiting and Kangarooster Launch

Press Release: JobServe Expands in US Job Market
JobServe, the world’s first internet employment site, has announced the acquisition of ComputerJobs.com in the United States for an undisclosed sum. Currently the second largest IT specialist job publisher in the US, ComputerJobs.com are past winners of the prestigious WEDDLE’s User’s Choice Award and is JobServe’s third American purchase, in the US this year.  www.jobserve.com and www.computerJobs.com

This section is sponsored by http://www.broadbean.co.uk; "the UK's favourite job posting system".

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Regards
Louise Triance
UK Recruiter http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk

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