Will Social Recruiting Take Over?

Social media is a phenomenon that has rapidly percolated the English language and culture. But what will its real impact be on recruitment? Another revolution, or just a fad with a short shelf life?

Let's start with the advantages of utilising social media in recruitment. Firstly, it is more efficient. Organisations can use social media to find potential recruits much more easily by advertising vacancies and searching for recruits on LinkedIn, for example. However, LinkedIn and other social media applications can be used as much more than just a job posting site. Indeed, social recruiting can be used to increase effectiveness and forge new and deeper relationships between employees and employers. Rather than simply recruiting the person with the best-looking CV, social media can help a recruiter learn more about the candidate's personality and whether that person is the best fit for the company.

Technology is essentially being used to provide better quality links to potential employees and developing and maintaining relationships which can be tapped into at a later date. Social media is also being used to rate and compare employees, determine cultural fit and extend internal initiatives, like the referral scheme, to an external audience and more and more companies are now using it to compliment their hiring process.

It is interesting then, that despite the number of employers who screen a candidates' online profile, how many job seekers continue to make mistakes or fail to clean up their profiles, particularly at a time in the market that is so competitive.

A difficult dilemma

While social networks are undoubtedly here to stay - whether they become a more central part to the hiring process or not is yet to be proved. Either way, they are a resource that needs to be handled with care, using common sense and appropriate practices to avoid legal entanglements.

While the practice of using social networking sites to help screen candidates is littered with legal dangers there is nothing wrong with rejecting a candidate due to personal characteristics. However, if this information is obtained through a social network it is impossible to ensure whether all the information uncovered will be job-relevant.

In my opinion, the best employers and employees will stay on top of the evolving trends because social media is reshaping our business and having leading-edge technology is crucial. But it is also important to remember that the real value provided by quality recruiters will never be replaced. Screening, evaluating, persuading, assessing, negotiating, advising, consulting and acting as an advocate for employers will always have tremendous value. Bad recruiters will use technology to avoid connecting personally with talent, when in fact the real advantage of technology is to get much closer to many more quality candidates.

Certificates and Qualifications – Are employers missing the point?

Project Management qualifications are often overlooked, as most contractors generally have ten years plus practical experience and at least one of the major industry certificates. However, this issue was brought to the fore recently, when I had a candidate rejected for not holding a formal Prince2 Practitioner Certificate. This is something that I have rarely seen over the years and led me to wonder which are the best formal qualifications and which ones are the toughest to achieve? Also, have qualifications really become more important than time served experience?

Prince2 is definitely the most popular and most requested qualification. However, is it really the one that employers should look for above some of the others? I remember one or two friends gaining their Practitioner certificates within months of graduating, which to be honest isn’t exactly a great advert. I am not saying that it's easy to pass or a bad qualification but surely something that employers take so seriously should have a level of exclusivity reached only by battle hardened project managers?

This is why I would argue that APMP or PMI Qualifications are actually ones that employers should look for when hiring contractors. Project Managers need a certain level of academic and practical experience to pass them and surely this is better than something that can be taken by anybody, regardless of whether they have delivered a project. Again, I am not saying that Prince2 is not important (as it has become a bit of an industry standard), but just hiring people on that basis is a dangerous business! Things such as ISEB, MSP and ITIL are, in my mind, a bit different, as they are geared more towards specific skill sets and industries rather than generic Project Management.

This leads me to the question of whether these qualifications are really more important than time served experience? I would strongly argue that they are not - how often does a project really follow such strict guidelines? Too many things can happen on a complex project to always follow each and every step, so surely someone that knows how to deliver inside (or outside) of the box is the most successful Project Manager.

I would be interested to know everyone’s thoughts? I am by no means an expert in these things and would love to hear your views and experiences within this particular minefield!
Thanks,
Will

2010 Elections - Make your view Count

As election fever starts to grip the nation what will the reign of the next government mean for the recruitment and the professional contractor market? Would a change of government really help the labour market? Or do we need time to let the dust settle from what have been pretty tough times for us all?

This is certainly not the place for me to air my own political views but one thing I believe is vitally important (regardless of who forms a new government) is that several key points which affect our industry are discussed.

I received an email from REC yesterday issuing a “call to arms” to recruiters. They have produced a manifesto laying out 3 key objectives that I believe should be championed over the next few weeks:

• Creating the right economic climate - The next Government must avoid increasing taxes on business to encourage investment and job creation. In the public sector, efficiencies must be delivered without reducing service to the public.
• Removing Barriers to Growth - Businesses can drive growth and create employment if the regulatory environment is supportive. The next Government must remove barriers to growth by reducing and simplifying regulation and by championing the UK’s flexible labour market.
• Delivering opportunity and jobs - Our jobs market is open, dynamic and flexible; this provides our economy with an international advantage. We must nurture this by building a highly skilled workforce and by harnessing the contribution of recruitment professionals in providing guidance for job-seekers.

From a recruiters' point of view, it is difficult to argue with any of these points and I certainly believe that any contractors who have an active interest in their own destiny should also champion this manifesto.

Commenting on the aims of the Manifesto and the role that recruiters can play over the coming five weeks, REC Chief Executive Kevin Green said:

“The Manifesto articulates the action we seek from the next Government and champions the role of the industry in creating prosperity and delivering job opportunities. Regular jobs market data and high profile initiatives such as the Youth Employment Taskforce and the Agency Work Commission have helped to position the industry as a major voice on employment and labour market issues. There is a real opportunity to build on this over the coming weeks.

One of the main objectives in developing the Manifesto is to enable recruiters to play an active role by helping to drive the industry’s own ‘campaign trail’. The run-up to the General Election is an important time for our industry to come together and ensure that our voice is at the forefront of some of the major labour market and economic debates.”

What's your view? Do you think the manifesto is spot on or a bit misguided? Are there any key points you think the REC has failed to pick up on? All comments welcome!

Agent / Contractor Relationships

Following on from my blog about writing a CV, I thought I would pen my thoughts regarding a contractor’s relationship with their agent. I know that we are often put in the same bracket as estate agents, lawyers etc (i.e someone you have to deal with, but would really rather not!) but I genuinely think that the most successful contractors have taken an altogether different approach. A good agent can be crucial for a contractor and an open and honest relationship can be hugely beneficial for both parties.

Meet your Agency

If you haven’t already done so whilst looking for a job, I would always recommend that contractors meet their agent and establish a face-to-face relationship. From a recruiters point of view, getting to know someone is a great way to get a good understanding of what they are like and which clients they would be suitable for. I have placed many people over the years who’s CVs didn’t stand out but after meeting them I have been left with an altogether different impression. It also makes things much easier if any slightly difficult issues need sorting or anything needs to be discussed further down the line.

So much of recruitment these days is faceless and conducted solely through the internet and job boards. Any recruiter worth their salt would use a meeting with their candidate to get the information you don’t otherwise get, like culture and team fit, aspirations and motivations, and use it to find the role that best suits. I source a lot of candidates who are not the 'perfect fit' on paper but actually bring amazing insights and open up new business streams through a more personalised recruitment approach.

Stay in Touch

Once you’ve submitted your CV, follow this up a few days later with a phone call. Recruiters receive lots of CV’s – contacting them adds a personal touch, it’s professional and means you make more of an impact. Agencies generally respect proactive people. They are typically determined and proactive people themselves – it’s the nature of their business to keep pursuing and pushing things through.

If you’ve sent your CV to a recruitment agency you need to be proactive in following up and keeping in touch with them. Try to build a good relationship and keep in regular contact to let them know you are still interested and still looking for a job. Once you’ve registered, keep in touch. Calling them regularly (but not excessively!) will keep you at the forefront of their mind. Also, remember to keep them updated with any changes to your circumstances or requirements.

CV Writing: More Tips For Contractors

Tip #4: Include your interests

A Programme Director recently told me that people’s interests are the first thing that he looks at when reviewing a CV. To be honest, this is often my first point of a call too and is something that is often ignored by contractors. Your potential new employer is likely to be spending 35-50 hours a week with you so knowing what you do in your spare time is not unreasonable. Again, this is something that should be kept simple but is definitely something to think about. I have seen some weird and wonderful hobbies over the years so if you indulge in a spot of UFO spotting in your spare time you might want to play it down but otherwise a couple of lines on what you do outside of work can really make an application stand out (in a good way)!

Tip #5: Check your spelling, grammar and presentation

This may seem obvious, but it’s amazing how many people fail to run a spell check on a CV or do a basic check on their grammar. I have had numerous Managers tell me over the years that they have put CV’s in the bin because they have become annoyed by basic mistakes. I always make sure that I spell check peoples CV’s thoroughly before sending them out to a client and read through what they have written.

Tip #6: Always tell the truth!

As a last point, whilst it is good to sell your self and sometimes tailor CV’s to draw out certain experiences, it’s always best to tell the truth! I have had a few instances over the years when something on the CV hasn’t been true and this almost always comes out in the end…
Let me know if you have any other tips I’ve missed…

Getting through that initial sift!

2009 was a difficult year for anyone involved in the recruitment market. But towards the closing months, I for one had already started to notice some signs of green shoots of recovery. A lot of candidates I spoke with seemed to have several options available to them in December and there was a general mood of optimism that did not exist at the same time in 2008.

I’m not saying we are out of the woods just yet but forecasts for the UK contractor market look much better for a prosperous 2010. And with January now upon us, many candidates will be starting to contact their favoured agencies and running the gauntlet of Jobserve. Let’s face it, if you finished a contract before Christmas you probably decided to write off December with an aim to start looking again in January. With this in mind, I thought now was a good time to blog on some of the do’s and don’ts of writing a CV. I know this is a well-covered topic but many are too generalist and I wanted to write one more specific to contact workers.

I would be interested to hear what contractors and hiring managers think about these points as I would like to think that after reading (probably hundreds of!) thousands of CV’s, I have a pretty good idea of what gets an interview.

Here are my first three tips….

Tip #1 Keep it simple

One of the best pieces of advice I can give is to make sure that your CV is kept simple. Use standard sized text (with no colours apart from black) and steer clear of using tables that are difficult to read or format. As I largely deal with business change candidates I rarely see big skills matrixes; but this is something that makes a CV hard to read and often a lot longer than it should be. Your skills matrix is not supposed to be an exhaustive list of everything you've ever worked with, try to keep it relevant.

Some candidates have told me that creating a long list means they show up on lots of agency searches. Sorry, but in my experience this is not the way to look for a job and often results in receiving a lot of time-wasting calls about inappropriate roles from recruitment agents who don't know the first thing about the position they’re screening for. If a manager has a limited amount of time to look at CV’s, they want to see them in a quick, readable format that doesn’t make their eyes hurt!

Tip #2: Don’t write a book

The length of your CV is also very important. It’s one thing to highlight your experience but writing chapter and verse is quite another. You don’t want to get hung up on shortening your CV so much you end up without enough information for an employer to assess whether you have enough experience either. A one page CV for a Programme Manager with 20+ years experience is not enough and however good you are, demonstrating a track record of delivery in such a short space is impossible. I tend to think three to four pages is about right and should give plenty of scope for getting your experience down concisely. I have often been told that managers tend to look at the last two or three jobs a contractor has done and I think this is an important consideration. If you are having trouble cutting down a CV, consider whether writing several paragraphs in the early 1990s is really relevant!

Tip #3: Concentre on your own achievements

Probably the most common criticism I hear about CV’s is that contractors do not talk specifically enough about their own achievements. Hiring managers do not want to hear about what you achieved as part of a team, they want to hear about what you delivered and what you were responsible for. This largely means that a CV should be written in the first person, the use of I is critical in demonstrating your own achievements. Many CV writing services may argue against this, but for a contractor it should be all about selling yourself. Yes, it is good to demonstrate you can work as part of a team but more importantly you are providing a short-term piece of consultancy that is often business critical.

What’s your top tip?

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