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Welcome to issue 406 of the ukrecruiter newsletter. If you want to write an article or review for the newsletter please drop us an email at contact2@ukrecruiter.co.uk. As well as helping out the rest of the UK recruitment community you will get free PR for your own company! Also, we have a great offer from Recruitment Juice for those of you planning to attend the networking event. More details in our Don't Miss This section |
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CONTENTS
Visit http://www.ukrecruiterjobs.co.uk for the latest recruitment industry jobs. |
Weekly Tips - If I've learnt 3 things in recruitment 1. That people are very complex so empathy is key to their situation or scenario 2. Don't get annoyed at people just because they are not how "you think they should be" 3. Never treat anyone the way you would not wanted to be treated yourself Provided by John McManus @ GSA Techsource Ltd
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Article One: Being on the Receiving end of the recruitment industry by Bill Geddes This February for the first time ever I found myself looking for a job. Plan A was self employment but first I thought I would see what was out there in recruitment job land. The usual online sites were looked at and over a month I applied for about 60 positions being prepared to relocate nationwide. What is fascinating is just how (almost) universally dreadful the recruitment industry is at dealing with candidates and over the next few paragraphs. I will describe some of these experiences – whether it be with the employer directly or through Rec2Rec intermediaries. Firstly you really should be shocked to learn that most recruitment companies simply do not acknowledge applications. Over 70% (seventy percent!!) of all companies simply do not respond at all – not even an automated reply – nothing – not a sausage. Of these almost all have little or no way of dealing with a telephone chase up with responses varying from, could you resend it; if we’ve not replied then we’re not interested; the person handling it is in a meeting (but no message offered to be taken), and so on. Messages when left were on no occasion returned. Poor though this is it is nothing compared to the treatment I received when a company did show an interest in me. The general view seems to be treat them mean and keep them keen which as a recruitment philosophy is all a bit Gene Hunt-esque for the 1990s let alone the 21st Century. Let me list some experiences: • two lengthy telephone interviews and then nothing – not even an email; • an interview in Birmingham cancelled by the company just as I was pulling in on the train from 90 miles away; • an interview at a company’s office in Manchester which I was on time for but the interviewer was 20 minutes late for and offered no apology and thought I was someone else; • an interview where the opening question was “so tell me why you think we should offer you a job” – this from a 20 something who had replaced the original interviewer who had double booked; • an interview with a Director/founder of the company with a huge diamond encrusted watch and several large rings who didn’t have my CV and lounged in his chair avoiding eye contact; • a 2 hour interview and then a letter saying no thanks because I lived too far away (12 miles as it happens); • and worst of all 2 companies who wanted me to put together a business plan showing who my clients were and how much revenue I could bring in in the first 6 months – this for the first interview! I could name and shame but prefer to say that the above include some fairly well known names in recruitment and if you read the press on one of them they have just won an award for the excellence of their standard of service. Amongst this sorry melange roughly one company is worth commending and that is JAM – so hats off to Sarah McKie-Jones who does a great job representing that company. If this is representative in any way of how a large part of our industry treats candidates then there must be change. There are dozens of recruitment websites I have looked at that talk about excellence and ethics and integrity but they are simply not walking the walk. I offer you a simple recruitment philosophy – look after the candidate and you look after the client. If you want to know what I eventually did feel free to drop me a line at bill@integrated-search.co.uk |
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Opinion Piece: Using Video to Engage, Attract and Retain the Best Talent It’s hard to imagine that it was only 10 years ago that recruiters and the corporate world advertised vacant positions in the newspaper, listed their postal address and or fax number and waited a week to see what the response level was like. The Internet and E-mail have now changed the way in which recruiters go about their daily job and 24-hour turnaround times are not unusual. The newspaper, as a means of sourcing candidates is dwindling, and the fax machine is something that is only used by people who don’t know how to use email and attach documents (if you’re reading this then you’re unlikely to be one of those). We moved down this path because it was faster and easier to produce results and far more cost effective. It’s a new world that we live in today compared to 10 years ago. iphones, webcams, Blackberrys, Skype, Google (and all that comes with them), digital cameras and micro projectors are changing the way we view things and seek information. Youtube, Google, Hulu, are just some of the sites that people are flocking to, to watch all types of video productions across the Internet. These sites are not only market leaders, they are growing at a pace that is hard to comprehend. People’s thirst for video content via the Internet is unprecedented. Video is taking over the Internet as a means of enhanced engagement and product placement and many industry segments are already on board. People are now able to view not only TV shows and the latest news, companies are now producing video compilations of their products and how their company operates internally, the famed Employer Branding or Company Profile video. People no longer are satisfied with simply reading about a company on their website, they actually want to “see” what it is that they would be doing and buying into. They want to see the work environment, the layout of the floors and the general vibe of the staff. A written company profile is extremely useful, however people today want their information fast, exciting and relevant. A 30 second video can sell your company or vacant position far faster then a 5 paragraph written job ad or “About Us” page ever could. If a candidate “buys” into your company far before they start working for you, your retention abilities would undoubtedly be higher. How else can you “show” a candidate your company before they walk in the door? It is strange to think that only 5 years ago, a company without an “About us” page on their corporate website was falling behind, now it is a video profile that is taking over to add greater value. The candidate of today doesn’t just want to see a thrown together video, they want to see what makes your business special, how the company supports staff development, encourages staff input and also how they support the local community and environment. We all remember the great TV ads that are funny, outlandish, or just plain clever. They have a tune or rhyme that we simply can’t get out of our heads. They turn viral, and the word of mouth advertising that is generated from this is priceless. This surely must be the aim of the business world when creating a video to attract candidates. There is a lot of hesitancy in the recruitment market place regarding video of any nature. Many see candidate videos as greater potential for discrimination, whilst employers believe that a video advertising their company, would add little value. If the latter is to be true then I hope these companies also don’t utilise TV advertising to sell their products or services. You are after all trying to “sell” someone the vacant position you have. The marketing philosophy is the same. Video has arrived to the Internet and is here to stay, 12 billion minutes per month of viewed video is proof of that. The increase in broadband access globally and an candidates want for a more entertaining and attractive job advertisements demands something different. They will only read the same styled 5 paragraphs for a job ad for so long.
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Online Recruitment Update Hitwise top 10 Recruitment
Sites, week ending 30th May 2009 Louise's UK Recruiter blog Discussion Board Summary |
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Advertisement UK Recruiter - Recruitment Networking Event, 18th June, London Our sponsors for this event are VAT PAY, 1Job.co.uk, Intelligence Software and HBRIDA. They will be providing the first drink on the evening. The next Recruiter's Network evening takes place from 6.00pm on Thursday the 18th June, in central London. As usual we are taking bookings on a first come first served basis and it's free for recruiters to attend the event. We look forward to seeing you there, so please reserve your place by following the directions via this link http://recnet.eventbrite.com. If you need any further information email contact2@ukrecruiter.co.uk
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Recruiter Plus Press Release: Boorman to Launch
Talk Show for Recruiters and free Webinars Press Release - International recruitment consultancy is named as one of the top 20 'Great Places to Work' in Britain. Press Release: Launch of AspireEnergyCareers.com |
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Regards
Louise Triance
UK Recruiter http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk
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