CONTENTS

• My Favourites (Caroline Mills)
• Article One (The Secret of My Success – An Interview with Matthew Jeffery)
• Article Two (Training Course Review – Don’t Become a Frog (250 tips for busy recruiters) by Warren Kemp Reviewed by Sarah Stimson)
• Don't Miss This (Recruitment Networking Event, 27th September, London - REC News Roundup - PR: Recruitment Confidence Index latest finding - PR: Service to help Recruitment Companies create a diverse staff workforce)
• Discussion Board Summary
• Online Recruitment Update (Hitwise Top 10 Recruitment Sites - Louise's UK Recruiter Blog - PR: JobServe expands into Asia - PR: Broadbean’s Record Targets - PR: JobsGroup.net Achieves Record 200,000 CV Registrations)
• Subscribe/Unsubscribe
• Feedback & Advertising Information

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

My Favourites

This week Caroline Mills suggests three sites for keeping you on the right side of the law, as it affects the recruitment business.

www.ico.gov.uk - If you keep people's personal data, you need to register with the Information Commissioner. This site explains the process and has lots of information on data privacy law.

www.aesc.org/article/dataprivacy The AESC code has a very clear list of the data you can and can't keep on your database.

www.cipd.co.uk - Drill down in this site for lots of good information. For example, click on "Diversity and Equality" and find helpful information about age discrimination, or "Recruitment" for the legal risks in taking references.

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: The Secret of My Success – An Interview with Matthew Jeffery 

Matthew Jeffery, is currently the Head of European Studio Recruitment for Electronic Arts (EA) http://jobs.ea.com, the leading publisher and developer of computer games, including Harry Potter, FIFA, Burnout, The Sims and The Simpsons. Matthew has been in this role for approaching 5 years. Previous to EA, Matthew worked agency side as a recruiter for TMP and Pricejamieson. Matthew started his career in PR & marketing and worked for, amongst others, NatWest. He holds a degree and a Masters from the London School of Economics, in Politics & Government. 

What do you wish you'd known at the start of your career?
Everybody in a business claims they can recruit. Boy that’s a lie. Recruitment is an art. Just because you are ‘on the Board’ or an ‘Executive’, does not mean you have the people skills to recruit and convey your company’s employment brand. Throughout my experience I have often heard HR leaders and professionals believe that they are great recruiters and claimed that recruitment is one of many skills an HR professional uses. Also I hear how HR is a career and has the professional qualifications, eg IPD, and that recruitment does not. Let’s be clear, successful recruitment can make or break a business. Attracting the highest quality staff affects the bottom line. Most HR professionals just don’t get recruitment. That’s a plain and simple fact. Thankfully, EA’s HR leaders do, hence we have the support and freedom to innovate with our HR Partners. Recruitment is not just about ‘post and pray’ web / trade press adverts and briefing recruitment agencies. Boy oh boy, no. The best candidate for a job, is not always the one looking at job adverts or on a recruitment agency’s books. They need to be directly approached and relationships formed. Recruitment is all about relationships and trust. 

Which person within the industry has influenced you the most?
That’s easy. Cindy Nicola, EA’s Director of Talent Acquisition. Cindy is a rock star in the world of recruitment. She quickly identified the Global War for Talent and set about a fundamental reorganisation of the recruitment business model. How many businesses can truly say that they are building predictable talent pipelines ahead of demand? How many businesses can truly claim to network and keep in touch with star candidates, even when they are not recruiting? How many businesses can truly claim to embrace web 2.0 for recruitment purposes and be recruiting using podcasts, blogs and a host of web networking sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook? Very few. Cindy introduced all this into the EA recruitment model, which must be seen as cutting edge. Due to this vision EA won the www.ere.net Award for use of Recruiting Technology last year.

Is there a person in recruitment you’d most like to emulate?
Firstly, there are very few innovative/great recruiters in the UK. Of course, there are heads of recruitment agencies but very few people I would wish to emulate. However, in the US, Jeff Hunter is a legend in the world of recruitment, particularly his understanding of recruiting technology. Take a look at his recruiting blog, www.talentism.com. I recommend any recruiter to look at his views, which often challenge the status quo of recruitment norms. He just gets recruitment full stop. Thanks to his drive, EA introduced a CRM (candidate relationship management) database, (salesforce), well ahead of the curve and modified it to an extent that EA’s recruiters can manage ongoing relationships with both present and future EA candidates. That’s awesome.

Which lesson has taken the longest to learn?
That jobs specs are not needed in recruitment. Think about it. How many job descriptions accurately convey what a person actually does in a role, or the skills they bring to it. Job specs are the security baby blanket for recruiters to use to post and pray on web sites and send to candidates. The best candidates, who can make a difference to a business, may not get in because of the job description that has been put in place, and sometimes the stringent experience and qualifications may preselect the best out because they don’t fit certain criteria. Wow, would a company knock back an Alan Sugar or Richard Branson because they lacked a University Degree? Yes, many would because they cannot see outside the blinkers of ‘easy’ recruitment. Recruitment may mean looking at the best people in a function / the up and coming stars and then making space for their skills into the business and harnessing their potential, rather than straight-jacketing a candidate into a role to fulfil a job spec. Recruitment is often about being creative and taking risks. Few do it.

What is the biggest mistake a recruiter can make?
Let’s look at this from both agency side and in-house. If you work in a recruitment agency, don’t get mesmerised by targets. The key goal is to make your overall billing target. How you get there needs to be driven by you. Live and die by your own actions. But agencies complicate matters by adding in other targets like the number of interviews per week, number of cv send outs per week, number of business development calls etc. I can remember making my billing target but getting told off because I did not interview enough candidates in a week or send enough speculative cv’s out. That’s just rubbish. Building successful relationships with clients is about building trust and showing that you can qualify candidates successfully and only send through the best people. That means sending fewer but higher quality candidates. Why send candidates to clients speculatively in the age old ‘hit and hope’ that one will stick. It just hacks clients off. Pure and simple. Same with interviewing. Why waste time interviewing candidates that you cannot do anything with just to meet targets? Spend that time sourcing new candidates for roles that you can exclusively win over and place. For in-house recruiters, I recommend just get off your backside and realise that you can ‘sell’ your company better than recruitment agencies and you should directly source yourself. Web 2.0 puts the recruitment power back in your hands. 

What cliché do you think is true? 
Expect the unexpected. Recruitment is about dealing with the most irrational of all things: humans.  No placement or hire is a given. Things can go wrong, even on the day of joining.

What Cliché do you think is false?
Recruitment is not a rocket science. I have heard this so many times, often stated by moronic people who just see recruitment as something as simple as advertising and briefing agencies. Let’s look at the current market. We are operating in a market where there is a global war for talent. Candidates are mobile and will go to where a company offers them the best opportunities. Companies now have to be savvy and focus more than ever on their employment brand and how they retain their employees. Recruitment is not easy. A great recruiter now also needs to be great at marketing, PR & sales…..oh and recruitment!!!!!!

What words of advice would you give to someone starting out in recruitment?
I strongly recommend that recruiters have to believe in themselves. Look at the best billers in your agency or the most successful in-house recruiters and identify what makes them successful. Then look at how you can build on their skills and differentiate yourself. The strongest recruiters are those who are natural and who can build up their own networks. It really is true, ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’. Recruiters should never just fall into the sheep syndrome and follow what others tell them to do. If you do, you will fade into being one grey face in a crowd of mediocrity. If you go down the route of hard sales, you may get some short term hits, but ultimately people will lose faith in you, see you as pig ignorant and pull their business away. Hard sales should be left to the east end market stalls. Lastly, know your product. Knowing your product gives you credibility and wins confidence in you. We all go to the shops at a weekend. It’s the major time for shopping. But think how many shops just have dedicated weekend staff, who have no clue of their products. I was in Currys at the weekend buying a new LCD TV. The shop assistant was all over me, but when I asked a question, they just looked blank, read what was on the label describing the product and asked if I would like to buy the product now at discount or spread over easy payments. Wow. You guessed it, I walked out.

What is your favourite interview technique?
My advice here is be natural. I have seen many recruiters fall into the trap of preparing lists of questions or full blown competency interviews, that are so robotic that the candidate just maintains their ‘interview face’. Lets face it candidates come to interviews, having rehearsed in their mind what they want to tell you. Those interviewers who focus on following a cv in backward chronological order often fall into this trap of moving from job to job and then the candidate controls their answers. By getting a candidate to relax, in an informal meeting setting, means that the candidate often lets down their guard and offers across information that they otherwise would not do. Recruitment is about relationships. Win over trust and get a candidate comfortable in what they tell you, and you move away from the pre-rehearsed theatre interview rubbish.

What do you think it is that has made you so successful? 
Recognising that to be a leading recruiter means that you learn from other disciplines like sales, PR and Marketing. Self belief and self motivation have been huge drivers in my career and constantly challenging existing norms and the status quo, results in innovation and differentiates recruitment style and employment brand from others. Lastly, enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy you job, others will see right through you.

This is the third in a series of articles we have introduced to the newsletter. In each article Louise interviews someone who has achieved success within the recruitment industry.  If you would like to recommend someone for inclusion in the series please email contact2@ukrecruiter.co.uk with their details.

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For information email louise@ukrecruiter.co.uk or call Louise on 07724 197830

Article Two: Training Course Review – Don’t Become a Frog (250 tips for busy recruiters) by Warren Kemp Reviewed by Sarah Stimson

The launch of the latest Harry Potter best seller wasn’t the only interesting thing going on at Waterstones in Piccadilly recently.  Last Thursday afternoon saw me and a colleague fighting our way through west-end shoppers to the top floor of the book store to join 35 other delegates at Warren Kemp’s session on tips for top recruiters. 

My colleague had previously been to other training sessions with Warren, and rated him highly, so it was with enthusiastic anticipation that we stumbled into the room for a glass of champagne and a chat with some other attendees before the main event. It seemed a good mix of experienced recruiters and new comers to the industry with plenty of chat about how competitive the recruitment industry is and how finding new and innovative ways of attracting talent are become more and more crucial.

Cue the start of the session. Warren is a charismatic and personable presenter who engaged the audience early on and kept our attention throughout, although there was a bit of random jumping about from subject to subject That’s quite a good reflection of the book on which the course is based. Promising to cover tips on clients, candidates, relationships and “being a better human being” he launched into tips on marketing your services, followed by how to build relationships with both clients and candidates and some handy tips on managing your work load (do the jobs you don’t want to do first, don’t put them off – it’s my new work ethic). There was a fair amount of audience participation in the day asking for our ideas on what makes a good candidate, job or client and a bit of a “raise your hand if”… type approach (we discovered in one straw poll that 50% of recruiters were on Facebook, 43% on LinkedIn, 10% on ecademy and 0% on Xing, which is a good a representation as any!).

There was an opportunity for a cup of coffee and networking half way through the session (although plenty of us were on the phone or busily tapping away at emails on our Blackberries), and the chance to stretch our legs before finishing the session with some useful handouts on working out client and candidate audits and a quick sell from Warren on a training course in Barcelona (we are tempted!)

We were all given a copy of Warren’s book, “Don’t Become a Frog (250 tips for busy recruiters)” at the end of the day and I found myself reading it on the train home so the subject had gripped me enough to want to find out more. The tip on how not to be a frog is number 164 for those of you that are interested! I left the session feeling that there are definitely some tips I can implement at work and I’d recommend both the course and the book to other recruiters who are striving to make the best of their desk.  

You can find more about Warren's training at http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/

Sarah Stimson has five years of recruitment experience in the PR industry. In 2006 she joined Indigo Red and moved away from contingency back to her executive search roots. She is now responsible for management of some key accounts, business development and the PR and marketing of the company. http://www.indigored.biz/ 

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Don't Miss This (sponsored by http://www.alljobsUK.com "The UK’s Jobs Portal")

Recruitment Networking Event, 27th September, London
The next Recruiter's Network takes place on 27th September, near Waterloo, in London and places are already filling fast!  We haven't yet confirmed the final speaker line up or our sponsors, however, based on past events we expect this one to be very popular.  As usual we are taking bookings on a first come first served basis and may have to limit attendees per organisation.  If you want to come along you can register via http://recruiter.broadbean.co.uk/ 

REC News Roundup
These are links to a selection of press releases the Recruitment Employment Confederation (REC) have produced since the last newsletter was sent.  

• REC statement on trade union temp worker draft motions

• Too early to extend Gangmaster Licensing, says REC

• REC responds to junior doctor vetting claims

• AWD on the agenda of Portuguese Presidency

• REC responds to new Government jobs pledge

• Supply teacher agency the "first" on new REC programme

Press Release: Recruitment Confidence Index latest findings
"The labour market is tightening to its highest point in six years, with staff turnover expected to increase as more than eight in ten organisations (82 percent) anticipate trouble ahead in finding quality people to fill vacancies, according to latest findings from the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI), produced by Cranfield School of Management. Other key findings include Business confidence is at a near all-time high for the eight-year period tracked by the RCI, with a net percentage of +72 organisations reporting an optimistic response and expected staff turnover is at its highest level for five years, with a net percentage of +7 organisations anticipating an increase." The full report is available priced £50. To obtain a copy contact Dr Emma Parry, Cranfield School of Management on 01234 754808 or e-mail emma.parry@cranfield.ac.uk 

Press Release: Service to help Recruitment Companies create a diverse staff workforce
“Cultiv8 Solutions has launched an innovative Diversity Recruitment consultancy service, aimed at recruiters within the professional services sector. This new service is focused on offering insight and practical diversity strategies, helping recruiters to understand the impact of diversity in their roles, attract and recruit diverse job candidates for their clients and create long-relationships with employers” www.cultiv8solutions.com

This section is sponsored by http://www.alljobsUK.com "The UK’s Jobs Portal"

Discussion Board Summary

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

• Getting 'feedback' from clients

• New Web based recruitment databases

• Recruitment Research Training

• Sourcing Recruitment Talent

• Jobsites

• New to the industry - help needed!

• Fish for Jobs 

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

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 28th July 2007
The most visited UK recruitment sites last week, starting with the most popular, were www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk, www.jobs.nhs.uk, www.totaljobs.com, www.reed.co.uk, www.monster.co.uk, www.jobsite.co.uk, www.jobs.ac.uk, jobs.guardian.co.uk, www.jobsgopublic.com and www.1job.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

Louise's UK Recruiter blog
Since the last newsletter I've posted the following: 

• Are you part of a TEAM?

• Jim's reading the blogs so you won’t have to

• Email Netiquette

• Web 2.0 sites and Identity Theft

• Time for a Siesta?

• Don't Fear the Counter Offer

• Interview with a blogger - Dan McGuire

You can read Louise's UK Recruiter blog at http://ukrecruiter.typepad.com  You can keep up to date with other the recruitment blogs from the UK via the UK Recruiter blog watch page at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/blogs.htm.  

Press Release: JobServe expands into Asia
"Online job publisher JobServe today announced their launch into the Asian market with the acquisition of specialist IT job board ThaiITJobs.com, which is the leading niche IT job board in Thailand. This is one of the job boards under the umbrella of job boards run by the company Thai IT People Co. Limited, which is now a member of the JobServe Group.  Established in 2003, ThaiIT People Co Ltd has established a leading presence in the Bangkok IT sector. With approximately 1,000 clients ranging from local to multi-national companies and a strong candidate database, this acquisition is an ideal platform for expansion in the region.  JobServe’s Asian plans include rolling out two additional specialist job boards immediately following the acquisition, launching an Engineering site - ThaiEngineeringJobs.com and an Accounting & Finance site - ThaiFinanceJobs.com." www.ThaiITJobs.com 

Press Release: Broadbean’s Record Targets 
"Broadbean Technology, the job posting and applicant source tracking business, has announced a continued period of exceptional growth after a bumper first half of 2007. With only one extra sales person on the team which enjoyed a fine first half to 2006, revenues for the period are more than double that of last year.  Broadbean’s recent success is in keeping with the trend of 100% growth year on year since the company’s inception in late 2002. Their pioneering technology has won five awards in the past 3 years including two for technical innovation and in the last 30 days processed in excess of 1.3 million adverts for over 550 clients."  www.broadbean.co.uk 

Press Release: JobsGroup.net Achieves Record 200,000 CV Registrations
"JobsGroup.net, the UK’s leading online recruitment network, has announced a record 200,000 CV registrations across its ten award-winning niche jobsites. This includes 85,000 engineers registered with market leader JustEngineers.net; 25,000 construction jobseekers with JustConstruction.net; and 25,000 graduate candidates with Just4Graduates.net." Recruiters are invited to try a free CV database trial with JobsGroup.net today by calling 0845 050 2000 or by emailing sales@JobsGroup.net.  www.jobsgroup.net

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

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