The Recruitment Landscape for 2011: View of an In-House Recruiter

The state of Recruitment for 2011

2010 has certainly proven to be a challenge for us all.  The jobs market improved and the final quarter saw a sharp increase in contract employment.  Things were starting to look up on the recruitment front.  However the latest report published yesterday by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation paints a much bleaker picture for 2011.

The report found that only a fifth of businesses said they would take on new staff next year, nearly a third said they would     grow their temporary workforce hinting that employers were still nervous about hiring permanent positions.  5% of employers said they were expecting to cut the size of their workforces in 2011, the survey of 600 reporters showed.  A further two fifths of public sector organisations expect the cuts to have a “direct impact” on jobs, leading the REC to forecast that unemployment will rise from 2.5m to 2.65m by the middle of 2011.

The CIPD predict a 17 year high in unemployment; As many as 200,000 jobs could be shed in 2011 in what is predicted to be a “worse year for jobs” in 17 years, an analysis revealed.  Raising fresh doubt over the pace of the UK’s economic recovery, a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warned 80,000 private sector and 120,000 public sector jobs will be lost next year.  Any jobs that are generated are likely to be part-time or temporary, while workers can expect to endure below-inflation pay rises of just 2%.

Totaljobs predicted recruitment to stall in 2011 and warn that competition for jobs will be increased as we struggle with external influences such as the VAT increase and instability in the European markets set to hit both employer and consumer confidence.

John Salt, director of Totaljobs.com, said: “We expect a contraction in job supply at the beginning of the year as businesses wait to see how the UK economy performs. However, although the labour market is likely to be uncertain in the first quarter in 2011, we see it recovering later in the year, with key service and support sectors such as sales and administration and PA roles leading the upturn.”

Employer challenges for Recruitment

So, with the imminent economic turbulence and predicted rise of unemployment, employers are faced with further challenges for recruitment.  In such times, it may appear that employers will have a better pick of candidates and applications fly in by the dozens.  However, employers are likely to shift their priorities and place greater influence on the quality rather than cost of candidates.  With particular industries and sectors being hit, the talent pool may become flooded with candidates of a particular skill set, but in sectors such as Sales, it may be tougher to find the right caliber.  Good sales people are likely to stay put and may consider moving roles risky in such an uncertain jobs market.

Employers should be set to invest in the training of good sales people and should be prepared to develop individuals and encourage loyalty to the organization in such times as it will become a very competitive landscape as employers move to attract and entice candidates from competitors.

As the In-House Recruitment Consultant at RSTO, a business process outsourcing organization based in Edinburgh’s vibrant Shore district, we are looking at our recruitment and training plans to prepare for a tough 2011.  We are looking at how we can continue to attract top sales and technical talent to a rapidly growing organization. 

2010 saw RSTO bring on new partners such as Amazon to add to the list alongside online heavy hitters Google and BT amongst others.  We grew our workforce by 35% across all areas of the organisation and have successfully reduced our churn.  Going into 2011 we expect similar growth and are in fact expanding our office space to accommodate all the new talent we hope to employ.

Over the year, we will be looking to grow our profile within the employer market and hope to raise our profile as a leading sales and Web Development recruiter in Scotland.  We are hoping to launch into the graduate market and want to target leading sales professionals and offer second to none training and a long career in web and technical sales, Web Design, Web Development and a variety of Operational and Admin roles.

For information about current vacancies and RSTO, please visit www.rsto.co.uk

Social media not a seismic shift for recruiters

Below is an excerpt from Netcan’s latest newsletter.  Guess there’s still hope for the traditional recruiter yet.  However, I can’t help but feel that at the very least, recruiters should be on the ball about Social Media and heed the fact that it is simply another tool for them to utilise to attract and engage with candidates.  Only time will tell if there will be a seismic shift, do not forget that most people under the age of 25 spend most of their time on Social networks!

The rise of social media is not a seismic shift for recruiters, Jon Porter, managing director of TMP Worldwide, told a Recruitment Society meeting in London.

Speaking on Wednesday, Porter said that while social media sites such as Facebook allowed recruiters to target their brand at an individual, they still had to find those individuals first.

 “So does it represent a seismic change? No. But I believe that the market is getting faster and faster, and we are delivering a more and more sophisticated message to a more and more sophisticated audience,” he said.

Geoff Newman, chief executive of Recruitment Genius, added: “There was an element of hype about social media in recruitment, with many people having inflated expectations. I believe it works for technically savvy people — good examples are Cisco and Dell, but it doesn’t work generally.”

Wade Burgess, UK director of sales at LinkedIn, said that the professional networking website had difficulties penetrating blue-collar markets, with LinkedIn usage among such workers at 3-5%. However, he added: “Once it hits 8% penetration it takes off.”

Linkedin – The Recruiter and Brand Me

I was approached a while back by Suzanne Shinnie, Vice President of JCI Edinburgh about the Social Media Academy JCI wanted to run in collaboration with Civic, a leading Digital Agency based in Edinburgh.  At that time, I was unable to find time to help organise the event, but was given the opportunity to speak at the event on how employers use LinkedIn, what they are looking for and how that differs from direct recruitment and give the insider tips  to get the job or the staff you want.

In both my previous and current recruitment roles, Linkedin has been an invaluable tool to search for and communicate with potential candidates and clients and I am more than happy to give advice and tips on how to utilise Linkedin to improve recruitment from a company point of view and for individuals to build their personal brand to become attractive to potential employers.

Before we look at how you can improve and build brand ME, it’s worth looking at Linkedin key stats:

There has been real hype around the growing number of employers using social media to connect with recruits and to gather additional information about potential candidates.  It is true that linked in users are not joining to look for a job per se, but to interact, ask questions, build your profile and essentially market brand “me”.  However, the implications and scope this has for recruitment is endless.

Despite the evidence presented, I’m not saying by any means that Linkedin can be a replacement for traditional recruitment and would still very much encourage job seekers to look at ads in newspapers, on job sites and through agencies, but I would highly recommend using Linkedin as an additional method to secure your next role. 

One of the biggest advantages of LinkedIn over traditional recruitment is the fact that people who are not necessarily looking for work but are in demand are picked up.

“Only 10% to 20% of LinkedIn members are actively looking for work, but businesses that are looking want access to 100% of members”, Ariel Eckstein, Managing Director, Linkedin, European Recruitment Services.

The Recruiter & Brand ‘ME’

No matter how happy you are in your current role, chances are that at some point in the future, we are all going to be looking for a new role and fresh challenge.  Traditionaly, job seekers would begin their search by looking at newspaper ads, classifieds, shop windows and use Recruitment Agencies.  More recently, job seekers are looking at online job boards, uploading their CVs and advertising themselves using Social Media.  JCI Edinburgh and Civic have opened the Social Media Academy to educate and encourage people to use social media to build their personal and company brands using a variety of social media.

Linkedin is the place to go to build your personal brand, advertise your services and connect with useful people within your industry.  It’s therefore an obvious place for employers to go when recruiting for potential candidates and vice versa.  The cartoon below may seem far fetched, but it does illustrate how Linkedin can work.  Your profile can basically act as your CV and so long as you ensure all your details are kept up to date and are visible, then it can be out there working for you and it may be that a recruiter will stumble across it and get in touch about potential job opportunities without you having to do very much at all.

Linkedin differs from the likes of Facebook and Twitter in that it is essentially a ‘professional network’ as opposed to a social network, with over 75 million members, Linkedin truly is the largest online database of professionals.  A profile is created approximately every second on LinkedIn.  It is therefore no surprise that it is now the most popular employment/ training site, but also the most popular social media network for recruitment.

                     

Below are some helpful tips on maximising Linkedin for jobs.

 Top 5 Tips to Finding a Job on Linked In. 

1. Build your Profile
If an employer or recruiter is searching Linked In for potential applicants, they will not waste their time (or money) sending inmails or referrals to people who have no contacts, a hidden private name and no information on their profile.  Aim to get your profile status to 100% by building a professional and informative profile and then demonstrate that you are using the site by joining discussions, updating your status, connecting with people. 

2. Make your Profile Available
There are an unbelievable amount of profiles on the site that have their interest set to “career opportunities” and then have their privacy settings on maximum.  How can anyone inform you of career opportunities if you do not allow them to connect with you?

3. Build your Network & Personal Brand
Promote your personal brand & build your connections by joining groups, answering questions & promoting what you know.  If a recruiter is looking at two similar profiles and one has shown in depth knowledge of the industry by answering questions, this candidate is going to stand head and shoulders above the other one.

4.  Engage with Employers and Recruiters
Find out who they are & where they are, become one of their contacts, join their company or industry groups.  You will usually find that most smart recruiters are Open Networkers and are willing to connect and with most people as it widens their network and helps them too

5.  Don’t Give Up
Linked In is another tool to help you find a job and help promote yourself to future employers. Keep active and keep up the momentum. The more you use the site and the more you engage with your connections the more you will get from it, hopefully the job of your dreams!

The Influence of Social Media in Recruitment

Having been in several discussions recently about the use of social media, particularly within recruitment, I thought I’d share some findings and look at how we can leverage it to improve our presence and influence within our target networks and online communities to reach clients and candidates.

Firstly, it’s worth looking at how effective each social media has been so far.  It is without a doubt that Linkedin proves its worth time and time again as the leading source of information on clients and candidates and serves well as both a professional social network and a candidate/ client database.  In addition, Linkedin appears to be taking inspiration from Facebook with added new functionality including ‘newsfeeds’, ‘comments’ and ‘like’ options and has also borrowed the ‘follow’ function from Twitter, making it an all round awesome tool for sales and recruitment professionals.  With most Consultants making placements through the use of Linkedin and utilising it as a business intelligence tool, it is slighty easier to prove it’s worth in ROI terms.

However, when it comes to other social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs and localised networks, it would appear that there is more skepticism around whether they are useful tools for recruitment or not?

One of the issues I have faced is working out how to centralise social media and find the time to keep everything interesting and up to date.  In addition, I wanted to include my wordpress blog in the mix and I was interested to find out how I could track stats and measure ROI. 

To me, ROI meant, “how many placements did I make using social media?”.  However, my former colleague in Digital at Harvey Nash, Derek Kelly made the point that it may not be as useful to measure “return on investment” as “return on influence”, a very interesting point and definitely food for thought!  To me ”Return on Influence” represents a change in understanding the importance social media is beginning to play across all business sectors.  The youth of today are spending phenomenal amounts of time on social (not professional) networks indicating that this is already a massive space for all businesses to be promoting and operating within.  Basically, if you are not building or have an intention to build your brand and general presence within social media, at some point in the near future, you will find yourself seriously behind the curve.

To prove my point that the Recruitment industry should not be ignoring the implications and benefits of engaging in social media, there are a number of recent developments that are paving the way for other job search engines, agencies and hiring companies.  Take SimplyHired, a well known job search engine, they recently announced that they have released new features allowing integration with user Facebook friends to enable job seekers to connect with hiring companies and recruitment agencies through facebook friends and thus uncover the hidden job market.  This marks the first time Facebook has entered mainstream job search http://recareered.blogspot.com/2010/06/facebook-becomes-job-search-engine.html

Basically, the framework is in place for businesses to incorporate social media as a key tool for recruitment and the future rewards could be massive.

Having left Harvey Nash and crossing over to In-House recruitment at a Web Design and Ecommerce company, RSTO, I have implemented an integrated digital recruitment strategy that is already showing signs of success and I will blog on this at a later date.  To see the RSTO website, please go to http://jobs.rsto.co.uk

Getting your CV up to scratch

So, it would seem it’s that time of year again when people start to feel like it’s time for a change.  In my opinion, it’s no coincidence that summer and Christmas holidays are placed where they are in the year, it appears that we are on a 6 month boredom threshold and dramatic changes in weather affect how we feel about everything.  The truth is though, that if the holidays don’t work, then it probably is time to take the bull by the horns and make changes!

Over the past few months, a number of my good friends have discussed how they are feeling bored, downtrodden and demotivated by their job, company or both.  To add injury, the past year or so of recession and political turmoil have further contributed to feelings of dissatisfaction.  The good news is that the job market is currently enjoying an upturn and there is a window of opportunity to look for a new and better role.  So it’s time to brush of the cobwebs, dry clean your best suit and get your CV up to scratch!

On a day to day basis, I read CVs for a variety of roles and it’s interesting to look at the differences between professions.  For example, this past week I have been recruiting for a Design Assistant and have received a large amount of highly graphic pdf formatted CVs that look awesome, but the design can sometimes overshadow the content, whereas a highly experienced Developer’s CV can sometimes go into unecessary detail and read like a monotone ”War and Peace”!  So, how to get it right? 

Well, first, cast out one of the most common myths about CV writing: It should be no longer than 2 pages!  wrong, If you are a new graduate with very little work experience, then 2 pages should suffice, however, I’m sure most candidates of a certain age would struggle to articulate and do themselves justice in 2 pages, therefore make sure that you are not missing out valuable information; find a balance between saying what is relevant, but keeping it to the point!  I’d advise that your CV be no longer than 4/5 pages.  A good way to present it is to put in more detail about your current role and as you go backwards, summarise previous roles in lesser detail.  The likelyhood is that you will be going for a similar role to the one you are doing currently and therefore the more you tell the potential employer, the better your chances.  Remember, it may only take them 10 seconds to read your CV!

Secondly, appearance is not as important as content!  If you are sending your CV in to a Recruitment Agency, don’t worry too much about the appearance of your CV, yes, it should be well formatted and easy to read, but we usually brand the CVs with our own logos and therefore any fancy graphics may get lost by the time the CV reaches a client.  If sending directly to an organisation and the role is creative, then by all means go for it!  But make sure the content is up to scratch.  Also, if the job advertisments asks for samples of work and a portfolio, make sure you are sending these along with your CV and in a convenient format, for example, links to websites and online PDFs are preferable to 20MB files we need to download.  If your work is subject to an Non Disclosure Agreement, communicate this and see if you can present your work using screenshots in pdf format with any sensitive information deleted.

Finally, here are a few pointers to follow to make sure your CV is meeting basic standards:

• Don’t fudge over dates and job titles to hide the fact that you have been unemployed, switched jobs frequently or been in a low level position.  You’ll do yourself no favours by lying and will be very embarrassed when you get caught out.  Instead think of how you can reflect positively on these issues.
• Make sure you write the name of the company’s you have worked for and try to give a brief summary of what they do, the market they operate in and a bit about the company ethos.
• Try to think of some of your professional achievements and mention anything unique about you and your role i.e. if you have progressed quickly or taken on any additional responsibilities etc…
• Include personal details, such as your address and contact details, but omit things like age, marital status, family, race, religion etc… (You want to be judged purely on the merits of your skills and experience)
• If you are on a work permit, it is often beneficial to mention what type of Visa you have and the dates it is valid to and from.
• If you are looking for a change in career, then it is better to focus on your transferable and generic skills rather than specific and specialised.  In this case, employers want to see that you are flexible and can pick up new things quickly.
• Don’t write on your CV why you left your previous role or why you want to leave your current role.  Again, think up how to explain these points in the most positive way during an interview.
• If you are looking at a technical role, make sure you list all the skills you are currently using and don’t try to pass off older, rusty skills as current as you will probably get caught out during the interview process and waste both your own and everyone else’s time.

Looks cool, but would you employ from this?

For further hints and tips:

http://www.cvtips.com/resumes-and-cvs/

http://www.successfulcvs.com/GoodBadCV.html

http://www.thecvstore.net/blog/

http://www.aaronwallis.co.uk/cv_for_the_digital_age.php

Rise of Digital, Demise of Electronics

In these ultra modern times of the MP3 player, SMART phones, touchscreen devices, blu-ray and the all encompassing digital era, it’s easy to forget where the roots of digital consumer goods began; In electronics!

It was a few weeks ago that a friend of mine let his tongue slip and said how he feared his “Personal Stereo” might get stolen somewhere near Elephant & Castle tube station!  And then last night, I found myself asking  the same friend if he reads the back of “video” covers before watching them. I then got to thinking, would we hear today’s spotty faced teenagers talk about Personal Stereo’s, Tapes, Ghetto Blasters, Videos, Super Nintendos or Sega Megadrives?  Probably not!  But I do have to say that even although we are still seeing rapid developments in digital consumer goods, it just doesn’t seem quite as exciting as the journey us 30 somethings have experienced to get to this point!

Thus, let’s pay homage to the electronics of yesteryears:

The ipod owes it’s success to the invention and demise of the Personal Stereo.  We all know what an ipod does and appreciate it in all it’s glory, but then, we also felt the same at the introduction of the Personal Stereo!  Here are a few facts about this odd looking device (for those under 25!).  The Personal stereo hit the scene in 1979 (So yes, it’s as old as I am!) and was the accidental  lovechild of Sony, according to Shu Ueyama of Sony.  Apparently, during organisational changes, the tape recorder division at Sony were under pressure to market something new or risk consolidation.  They quickly came up with a small cassette recorder with stereo playback capability.  The invention was born from a tweaked Sony Pressman and a pair of headphones.  So the “Pressman” became the “Walkman” due to its portability!  The walkman craze began in Japan and reached the US and European markets in 1980 and enjoyed a long reign until 1986 when it’s road to demise began with the invention of CDs! http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/walkman/history.html 

Not sure how you’d cope without your Smart phone?  How difficult life must have been without apps to go and apps for everything!  How on earth could people make plans without texting, facebook apps and email?  Well, I myself have just become a Smart phone convert and held out for long enough in limbo somewhere between the original brick mobile phone and the Smart phone and I must say, I survived, but suffered unecessarily!  For a brief timeline of the mobile phone, please visit http://www.phonehistory.co.uk/mobile-phones-timeline.html 

Other devices found in the electronics graveyard:

In the end, although we look back and laugh at how simplistic and unstylish our old electronic devices were, the same aesthetic principles that attract us to our sophisticated digital devices today are still deeply rooted in our need to be entertained and having the latest technology at our fingertips, which still in many ways define our cool factor and identity.  As sad as it may seem, it is this Psuedo need that is driving technology today and it is showing no signs of slowing down, thus the shiny new 4G iphone you buy on release, will quickly join our electronics graveyard to  be forever ridiculed as useless old junk!

http://technologizer.com/2009/06/29/walkman-vs-ipod-touch/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/784243/the_death_of_the_walkman_a_eulogy.html 

HARVEY NASH: CIO SURVEY 2010 – SCOTLAND

Just in!  Interviews with Leaders in Scotland’s CIO community.

We caught up with a few of Scotland’s key people within the CIO community and asked them about some of the important issues being faced at the moment:

For full story visit http://www.harveynash.com/ciosurvey/events/scotland.asp

Harvey Nash CIO SCotland

Last night, Harvey Nash Scotland launched the CIO Survey 2010 at their annual event held at the Glasshouse hotel in Edinburgh.  CIOs from all over Scotland turned out on the thankfully sunny evening to meet with their peers and debate key issues today’s CIOs are facing.  Key speakers included Christian Torkington, Group Information & Operations Director at Standard Life and Bruce Jennings, Head of IT Strategy & Planning, National Australia Group.  On the panel were Anne Moises, CIO at The Scottish Government, Don Smith, VP of Engineering and Technology, EMEA Secureworks, Andrew Campbell, Divisional Director, Sopra Group and James Mucklow, Partner at PA Consulting.

Christian Torkington gave an excellent speech in which he listed what he feels are the necessary skills a modern CIO needs in order to be taken seriously as a business leader, while Bruce Jennings spoke about the importance of developing a strategy for change that incorporates the use of the organisation’s best talent and explained why getting the culture right is so important.

The event was very interactive with an exciting Q & A session with the panel following on from the key speakers.  Harvey Nash’s CEO, Albert Ellis was in his element and was an excellent facilitator throughout the event as well as delivering an informative and interesting speech.   The event as a whole was given a very warm reception by attendees. 

The CIO event in Scotland is quickly becoming one of the best of its kind and we are all looking forward to next year’s already.

80s Revival: Chip Tunes

In reading the news this week, I can’t seem to escape revivals from the 80s.  It would appear that not only shoulder pads and sequence are back in fashion!  Check out some of the other 80s retro making a comeback:

I have to ask, what on earth do the Conservatives hope to achieve by digging up the Iron Lady from the back benches?  Surely all this will do is send shivers down the spines of those who suffered under the last regime and unravell the feathers of those hoping there was actually going to be change!  Also looks like she’s been raking in her old Prime Mistress dress up box again!

Next up are chip tunes.  For those who can’t remember, these are music written in sound formats where all the sounds are synthesized in real time by a computer or video game console sound chip, instead of using sample based synthesis.  The ”golden age” of chiptunes was the mid-1980s to early 1990s, when such sound chips were the most common method for creating music on computers. Chiptunes are closely related to video game music, which often featured chiptunes out of necessity.  We are now seeing the revival of such music, but with the use of more complex technology.  Incidentally, did anyone else have the same Casio keyboard?  I loved it, play along to the tape!!!  Genius!!

Chip tunes brought into 2010, more like performance art.  Check out this guy, Matthew C. applegate, a failed IT graduate now a leader, educator and inspirer of chip tune art www.pixel8.co.uk

Watch at:

If anyone else has seen other 80s revivals in the news, please feel free to let me know and I’ll add it or feel free to write a comment.  The more obscure the better!

Sex and the City 2, Review

As promised to my movie buddies, here is my take on Sex and the City 2 (SATC2).  Having been bitterly disappointed with the first feature length film, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the second!

 Until recently, it seemed that I was the only person to think that the first movie turned it’s back on the original formula that made the series such a success. Back in the day, I was an avid fan of the series and barely missed an episode.  As a fairly young and somewhat impressionable Fashion Design student, Sex and the City represented a variety of future possibilities.  It shunned the out dated ideals of marriage and babies as an aspiration and showed how 4 very different characters embraced their singledom, were successful career women who were glamorous, open and modern thinking. 

However, just when we thought the mould had been broken and the prospects and acceptance of female success and independence had been embraced, out comes Sex and the City, the movie!  I for one was bitterly disappointed that now in their 40s, all the women wanted to do was be married and have kids and live happily ever after.  What a crock of S**t!

So, as you can imagine, I was incredibly skeptical about SATC2.  Fortunately, from the point of view above, the movie manages to recover some of the original thinking of the series and I was inspired that Carrie and Big weren’t following the road most travelled and Miranda finally realises there’s more to life than being a hard faced lawyer!  Otherwise, the movie is nothing short of a travesty!  The jokes are beyond corny, they hold back on women talking candidly about sex and instead ridicule intelligence with crowd pleasing antics and successfully offend the Muslim way off life on the way.

Perhaps it’s my lack of sense of humour, or the fact that I have visited ABu Dhabi and I’ve also learned to respect other cultures and ways of life from travelling extensively.  Sure, from a western point of view many Muslim traditions are straight from the dark ages and are masoginistic by nature, but does that mean it’s OK to ridicule them in a movie supposedly celebrating Girl Power?  I think not!  I think the reason they chose to go to Abu Dhabi was purely for the glamour element, cheap laughs and to prove that in comparison, they were still modern and free!  I guess the funniest thing is that some of the more obscure jokes, such as the women wear the latest brands and styles under their Burquas are actually true!  I did also like how they referred to Abu Dhabi as the “new” middle east as this at least was some kind of recognition that it was still a Muslim state following Sharia law!

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that Hollywood should perhaps show a little more respect and intelligence when approaching the subjects of culture and religion. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic that unfortunately the mass female audience of SATC2 will laugh at the ‘harmless’ jokes and feel superior and glad that they have the freedom to drive to the cinema, wear what they choose and say what they like about it afterwards!

In conclusion, I feel cheated and not even in comparison to the poor, ‘traditional’ and downtrodden women of the middle east do the characters in SATC represent feminist and modern female thinking!

N.B.  I do like the look of Burquinis though and the fashion in the movie totally rocked!