Posts Tagged ‘ agencies ’

In-house Recruiters – behaviours and ethics, improvements needed

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Whenever in-house recruiting practitioners come together online or in person you can bet your house the conversation will soon turn to the use of recruitment agencies and soon thereafter to how bad or unethical they usually are.  Some of the more entertaining discussions in the online communities I am a member of are full of anecdotes of bad practice, lack of integrity, stupidity…..well the list goes on. Sadly the comments are all too true, frequent and similar in nature, so it is hardly surprising that all agencies good or bad tend to get grouped together as bad.

 

However on a number of occasions recently I have been party to some discussions and comments from the other perspective; those made by recruitment agencies about the issues they have with HR, in-house recruiters or hiring managers.  Some of them are the expected moans about an inability to sell, usually coming from a blatant lack of understanding for their customers and not worth the consideration, others however deserve much more.

 

Whilst the in-house recruiters might enjoy “agency bashing” as a frequent activity, the agency sales people do have some genuine reasons to “bash” back.    I give you a mashup of a couple of incidents from earlier this year, as an example of one of really poor behaviour.  Sadly the in-house recruiters involved are members of The FIRM and yes they still are, in the hope that they will learn from others.  Discussions have been had.

 

An agency is briefed on a role by an employer about a specific vacancy, asked to find suitable applicants and submit CVs accordingly.  The agency supplies CVs to the inhouse Recruitment Manager as requested, in accordance with procedures.  The Recruitment Manager contacts the candidates directly and attempts to bypass the agency. 

 

Because this is a mashup of incidents, much of the detail from each is omitted, including the names of all parties, but you get the gist.

 

Let’s be clear on this, if the agency has been asked to provide CVs for a particular role and responds accordingly I cannot think of any justification why this kind of behaviour is acceptable. You should be ashamed. 

 

I’d be interested to hear if anyone can try to justify it.  This is also I am sure, just one of many moans or genuine complaints that could be aimed at in-house recruiters.

 

Many in-house practitioners generally take the high moral ground when it comes to ethics and professionalism and become quite partisan in either promoting or defending that position, myself included, yet I am all too aware that there is merit in what the agencies say and based on the above I am sure few would disagree.   A couple of years ago I presented to an audience of over 100 inhouse recruiters and used the words “you are not as good as you think you are”.  I had learned that at the time as a result of my own, then recent, job hunting experiences. As a result of the growth of the in-house recruiting function in the last two years I believe this to still be the case today, more than ever. 

 

To be able to do our jobs properly we have to act with integrity. This is true when dealing with everyone in the candidate supply chain, no matter how they are sourced.  To behave any other way is not only a mistake, but so damaging to your recruitment brand and to your own personal reputation.  Even if you don’t have your own personal code of conduct, your company should without doubt. 

 

I am not saying you have to deal with recruitment agencies, however I am saying that if you chose to, then doing so with the highest levels of professionalism and honesty can only be a good thing.  I would hope that members of The FIRM think and behave the same way. 

 

I welcome all comments and thoughts on this one

2012
09/08
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CATEGORY
Recruitment
Uncategorized
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LinkedIn – Blank Invites to Connect …………why?

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I must get between 10 and 20 invitations to connect with people I don’t know each week on LinkedIn. Many of them come from recruitment agencies. I am okay with this; after all it is what LinkedIn is for.

What I don’t understand however is why nearly all of them have no message in them. They offer no reason or qualification why the connection is relevant to me or to them for that matter. I can make assumptions but………………..

It doesn’t take more than a few seconds to write a quick note. LinkedIn even makes it straight forward by limiting the number of words for those literarily challenged.

Is there a logical reason for this? Am I missing something? Lazy, rude and spam?

2011
11/26
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CATEGORY
Recruitment
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Recruiters – What are your 3 Burning Questions?

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A month or so ago Emma and I were invited to present at the End of Year Recruitment Conference held this last week and organised by The Recruiter Network. This would be the first time we had stood up as The FIRM in a public environment and wanted to do something that was in keeping with our core values – we chose “sharing knowledge”.

There are many ways in which standards can be raised for hiring managers, recruiting practitioners working in-house and for sales people working at agencies; arguably the biggest of these is by gaining an understanding of how we all work. It is probably fair to say that very few agency staff know what it is like to work in house or what the roles and responsibilities of recruitment or HR practitioners are and the challenges they have.  There are guesses; some right, some wrong, but rarely known

With this in mind we felt a little information sharing could go a long way. If the in-house function is performing well, has the sophistication, resources, competencies and desire then the use of agencies will be eliminated in that organisation. However, I doubt very much that this model is widely adopted and that the vast majority of companies will chose to use the services of agencies for one reason or another. Let us remember though that the vast majority of companies do not have a dedicated competent in-house Rescouring teams and as such companies choose to use agencies. Hiring managers who manage their own process typically won’t have a clue how to resource properly, despite what they themselves will think and as such will tend to use an agency or worse, multiple agencies for expedience. Nothing wrong with that if it works well for all parties.

So to our presentation. The idea was to ask agencies what their Burning Questions are and discuss some of the reasons the questions needed to be asked and hopefully provide answers and insights.

1. What are the 3 Burning Questions you, as a recruitment consultant, would like to ask your customers (hiring managers)?

2. What are the 3 Burning Questions you, as a recruitment consultant, would like to ask HR or Resourcing teams at your customers or prospects?

3. What are the 3 biggest issues or frustrations you have when dealing with HR or Resourcing functions?

The questions were posted on Surveymonkey. Using Twitter and the UK Recruiter newsletter we invited agencies to ask away.

We were given a 50 minute speaking slot at the start of the conference and as such unfortunately we couldn’t discuss every question asked. Some were just too stupid anyway.  These are the ones we addressed or at least we tried to on the day. Thanks to the discussion in the room amongst the delegates we sort of ran out of time.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Question 1. What are the 3 Burning Questions you, as the recruitment consultant, would like to ask your customers (hiring managers)?

  • What is more important, cutting costs or finding the right candidate?
  • What would be your ideal Agency/Customer relationship?

Question 2. What are the 3 Burning Questions you, as the recruitment consultant, would like to ask HR or Resourcing teams at your customers or prospects?

  • Do you have favourite agencies/recruiters and why?
  • Why do you block access to hiring managers, even when we are a recognised and trusted partner?

Question 3. What are the 3 biggest issues or frustrations you have when dealing with HR or Resourcing functions?

  • Feedback …………or a lack of it
  • Poor job descriptions or briefings on the positions
  • Not responding to telephone calls (messages) or emails

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From many of the questions it is clear that some agencies really do want to learn in order to help their customers. It was also clear from some of the reactions in the room to the answers we were giving that agencies simply do not know nor can they comprehend the scale of some of the challenges in-house people have – there were gasps after Emma gave one example of what her teams are dealing with on a daily basis. It is also clear that many companies would do better by engaging more with their suppliers and teaching each other how to work together.  Better results for all I suspect will be realised.

I welcome further questions

I welcome further answers

If you would like to discuss any of these questions or any others that you have please let me know. My contact details can be found here.

2011
11/06
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Recruitment
The FIRM
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An old post: Will I Win? or I Will Win!

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Originally posted 23 September 2009

I read a very good article this morning, one that made me think hard about behaviour, rationale and the power and control of my own mind

In the article by Peter Bregman in the Harvard Business Blog showed how simple mind games can have a very adverse affect on our personality and our lives. It is a great article and really struck home how much control we give to our imagination and creating fantasies that can all to easily become reality.

In describing the two scenarios; his own personal anxieties after being stung by a number of hornets and the behaviour and actions of his friend in the work place I am sure Peter has outlined situations that we can all see ourselves doing in our daily lives. I certainly can – it is only human nature surely.

Will I Win? or I Will Win! Exactly the same number of letters, the same number words. All that is different is the order they are in. The first has doubt and insecurity running all through it, whereas coming at the same words from a different perspective and using them slight differently they become full of certainty and confidence.

So by taking control of your imagination and reeling in the fantasy before you start living it you’ll have better options. Positive Mental Attitude is what it’s all about. And we can control that! I’m neither an evangelist nor an expert on the issues at all and don’t intend to preach but I read this article and it reminded me that by taking the positive “I Will Win!” stance is actually more enjoyable and relaxing than asking the question.

2011
03/06
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CATEGORY
Recruitment
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How much visibility do you want / need when Job Hunting? – Day 32 #myjobhunt

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Since Day 1 I have been blogging frequently about my quest for a new job. When I started I did it purely to reflect on the day past. Within 2 days this had changed. The response I got from people gave me confidence and made me realize that this blog could be a fundamental tool in my job hunting activities. By the end of the first week I couldn’t believe the response and support I had received from so many people, some of whom I had already met, many I had not. It was however Week 2 that things really took off and by the end of Week 3 I had secured my first offer (Day 16). I think I have already written about how I got to Week 3 previously and will no doubt do so again in more detail, once #myjobhunt comes to a conclusion, if in fact it does before I lose interest in writing about it.

Since Week 3 and that offer I have come to realize something and it has been on my mind since. I have made my job hunting activities so open and visible to people, what will happen and what will people think of me if I don’t secure a job? Of course it is inevitable that people will start to wonder why people don’t want me. What will happen if I get a job and then it doesn’t work out? What if I can’t cope? What if …..? What if…..? So many what ifs? I have asked myself if writing this blog was the sensible thing to do in the first place and how can I stop without any negative impact.

Then I looked at the positives of the blog. The blog almost became my CV, the opportunities it created for me, not only actual jobs, but further discussions to take my career in a different direction have been constant throughout the last six and a bit weeks. Some are not for me, others have been too much for me i.e. I didn’t think I was ready or not likely to meet the expectations of role. Some have been great but the salary or rate and location hasn’t worked well. Others still haven’t mature yet and may or may not at all.

The blog has given me so many new perspectives on things; it has taught me some huge lessons about the market and the ability (or lack of) of the many practitioners in it; good and bad. It has made me think and be more reflective about what I want and what I can do. The good thing is that all of the lessons learned will be taken into my next job and built upon and shared with my colleagues, hopefully adding value at each step. This whole journey has taught me so much and no matter what, I expect I will still continue to blog in such a manner going forward.

This quest, this journey so far has been very emotional; worrying, stressful, annoying, humbling, inspiring, enjoyable, amusing. I have to this point, every step of the way enjoyed it immensely and I have made some terrific new friends.

Music of Day 32 – Daydream Believer by The Monkees – very loud and singing on the train!!! Oh yes I did! And others joined in!

How much visibility do you want / need when Job Hunting?

On Day 30 I got the call I was waiting for (and dreading!).

Today I accepted a job. I start 1st October 2010.

THANK YOU EVERYONE

2010
09/15
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Job Hunting
Networking
Recruitment
Social Media
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How do I get onto your PSL?

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If you haven’t yet come across UK Recruiter I recommend a visit and a read. Run by Louise Triance, UK Recruiter not only provides a wealth of information to all those involved in the UK recruitment market, but Louise is a big advocate of getting agencies and in-house recruiters to network and cooperate with each other.

Louise recently asked for contributions to her “Recruiter Clinic” series by asking various people involved with the recruitment business “What is the question you are asked the most often?” and “What is the answer you give?”

I was pleased to help.

This is the question I get asked the most: How do I get onto your PSL?

Answer: Many large organisations with traditional purchasing models follow complicated and cumbersome RFQ, RFI and tendering processes to select the suppliers for their PSL. There is no sure fire way of getting through the rules, weighting and scoring matrices that can be set up by procurement teams I’m afraid. This kind of process and the resulting set up, tend to leave suppliers feeling they are being kept at and arm’s length, with limited relationship potential, other than that of traditional supplier/buyer and that any quality in service is diminished. I agree. It’s a lottery and to be honest a waste of energy and time for all concerned.

In organisations where there is more emphasis on quality of service and importance placed on cooperation and understanding of the business, as well as the personalities required in the different roles, it is crucial that you build a relationship with the key stakeholders. These will either be with the in-house recruiting teams or the hiring manager.

A bit of advice, if the organisation you are trying to sell to has an in-house recruiting team, bypass them at your peril, for they can be the decision makers not only on which agency to deal with, but also on which people will be hired. You will almost certainly ruin any chance you have of dealing with that company if you try and go around the in-house recruiting team to the hiring managers directly.

Within such organisations PSL’s are built based on suppliers’ previous track record with a company, on feedback and input they get from the hiring managers. In-house teams in many of the HR departments talk to each other and compare notes on agencies, especially if they are members of The FIRM, and thus it is important that the levels and quality of service you offer is of the highest standards at all times.

If you are invited to give a presentation as part of a PSL review, be sure that you know the company you are presenting to inside out. You have to know the scope and scale of the company, which markets in operates in, who its competitors are, what the competitors are doing (in respect of sales strategy, reorgs, hiring) why they hire, how they hire, what competences they look for in the various departments, what technologies are important to that market, what is the buzz in the market, what legislation could affect them. This is more information than you can possibly get from an hours superficial searching on the internet. This is proper and through research, but it has to be done if you want to have any credibility. If you can clearly show that you know the market better than the in-house recruiters then you will be adding value already.

Hope this helps

2010
09/14
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CATEGORY
End-to-End Recruitment Lifecycle Management
Networking
Recruitment
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Job Hunting, it’s all about Commitment, Confidence, Calls and Choices – Day 30 #myjobhunt

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This post represents my feelings from last week. If I were to keep true to the trend established in previous posts it would be a summation of Day 30 of #myjobhunt, which represents 6 full weeks of job hunting. Yet, I am going to sum up my feelings of Week 6 rather than making the post about a specific day.

Having been away with a great group of people at #SocRecCamp the previous weekend the week started on a high. I was just happy to have had the experiences in Devon. As the week progressed my mood changed.

Week 6 was certainly the lowest I have been throughout my quest for work or at least that was how I felt at times. A few things started to dawn on me that made me question what I was doing, why I was doing it and what it meant for my wife and I. It also made me question what I was actually looking for. Did I want the perfect job where my competencies and experiences could be fully utilized; a job that I would feel a passion for, a commitment to and one that would give me the challenges and the satisfactions that many don’t get to realize. Or did I want a pay packet?

I was beginning to wonder.

When I first started out Week 1 caught me by surprise, the number of opportunities I uncovered and the number of vacancies that my friends and colleagues passed my way was overwhelming as was the constant support. It all looked so positive and continued to look that way for a few weeks. In Week 6 however the number of appealing opportunities had come down to just 3 positions that I had interviews for. So my pipeline was very thin, opportunities coming my way were fewer, and fewer still were appealing. At the same time others who I know were getting jobs and starting them inside my own 6 week window. So of course I had to ask myself if I had the right mental approach, as well as if I had the right approach and strategy to job hunting.

As great as it seemed to test the power of Social Media and not use agencies I still have bills to pay. When I started #myjobhunt I did not aim to only use Social Media – all I wanted was a job. Yet after a few days my confidence was such that I became the biggest advocate of Social Media as a job hunting tool or set of tools. By Week 6 my confidence was waning, in fact it started waning in Week 4, once I became officially unemployed, as the doubts and the natural concerns about the future crept in.

It is not just about me either. I’ve been in similar positions before and was hoping never to be back here again. Each of those times my wife was a rock, a fantastic support even when things got as bad as they could have done. I didn’t want to put her through the worry again. It was obvious to me that once my gardening leave and my employment finished in Week 4, her stress and worry levels more than doubled. Then after our decision on Day 26 to withdraw my application from that technology company I decided I had to make her a promise – I promised to have accepted a job by the end of September. I was confident that I could get a contract; even one that didn’t advance my career would still pay the bills. I had also resigned myself to using agencies to hunt for work. I don’t care. We need to live.

These are all issues and concerns that all out of work job hunters go through; I know I am not alone.

All these feelings despite having had a terrific interview on Wednesday and a few other leads coming my way. If the Wednesday option doesn’t pan out then I would actually be starting all over again, back to Day 1 or Day 2, and I suppose it was this realization that hit hard. Or was it just that I had interviewed for that one job that I really wanted?

On Thursday a contract position that I had interviewed for in Week 2 disappeared on me. The company concerned changed strategy and thus the need for contract support went away. This didn’t help my mood or my confidence.

The call I wanted didn’t come.

On Friday morning, Day 30, I got loads of Twitter DM’s, texts and emails from people all asking me how I was. Whilst I so appreciated the support, I was trying to get my head away from the anxiety of wanting the phone to ring by doing something else. A two mile run helped but I felt like I was a teenager again. I even Tweeted a message later in the day, “Why don’t they call?” – I got some stupid answers to that!

I had to go out at about 1pm. This is a good thing; it meant that I would be busy and likely as not be able to get a signal on my phone. Still every time my phone rang with a number I didn’t recognise or with number blocked my stomach did some gymnastics. Each time it rang with a number I did recognise I answered but wanted them off the line soonest. It was one of those days were I was in and out of signal so that each time I got a signal I checked voice mail and returned calls only to have more calls come through and leave messages whilst on the phone. The call I wanted didn’t come through.

If you’ve read previous posts you will know I don’t get a signal at my home and have taken to walking or driving to the top of the hill about half a mile away to get one. So having left home at 1pm and not heard anything by 4pm I was resigned to not getting the call until Monday. I was actually okay with this. After all there was actually nothing I could do at this point. I was nearly home at 5.20pm and about 20-30 seconds from losing signal when I got the call.

I now have a choice.

Music of Day 30 – Nothing Else Matters by Metallica – I know, seriously I was listening to the Black album – coincidence eh?

Thanks for reading

2010
09/13
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Job Hunting
Networking
Recruitment
Social Media
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Recruiters Recruiting Recruiters – I am learning lots, are you? – Day 19 #myjobhunt

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Today I tried to get back into the mood of the first two weeks, focused on how to try and build again a strong pipeline of opportunity. I knew I didn’t have the time to focus on it today but I had to think it through. Over the last two weeks many opportunities have come along, but very few of them have actually matured into anything. Some as a result of them not being the right fit, others because of the lack of follow-up, follow through or just respond. And not on my part either. More on this later. But I had to find more to keep my options open.

Coffee machine on, laptop on, Planet Rock loaded. On Planet rock at the moment they have Alice Cooper as the morning DJ, not the best choice I must say, because he does talk some crap! Today he was playing it as well. Grateful to iTunes thought. My own coffee was particularly good this morning. I only had about 90 minutes before I had to go out for an hour or so. Emails first. Quiet though. Very quiet indeed. The first time in ages that I hadn’t a single email to respond to. Strangely Twitter was quite too. Well until about 7am and then all of my Twitter buddies woke up at the same time. Worrying that they may have all gone to #SocRecCamp a week early without me. Definitely more on this next week. Oh yes indeed.

The #earlyshift was mad for about 60 minutes and quite amusing; the rain dominating many of the conversations; stories of soaked and miserable summer holidays from around the UK. It is a shame when we had 30C degree, plus, heat through June and July.

Right, Day 19 was to be dominated by a telephone interview rearranged from previously failed attempts and a face-to-face interview, both with the same company and would effectively be interviews 5 & 6. I made sure I was in a good signal area a good 15 minutes before the call was due and waited until 20 minutes after the allotted time. No call. I must say that at this stage I was very disappointed to say the least. Shame – what to do? Do I withdraw my application or see how the afternoon session pans out? The latter commonsense approach wins out but confidence is now obviously low. Whose wouldn’t be, eh?

On the journey of about 45 mins to the interview I get a call back from one of the companies than have a position I have been very keen about for the last few weeks. Unfortunately it as bad news. It would appear that this employer wanted someone with precise experience of managing large (yet 500 vacancies per year is not large) RPO engagements. So they want someone who does that, to change jobs to do that same again. Do people jump like for like? Well of course they do but the point is there are few that will and fewer still with the experience they thing they need for this job. Many relationship management skills and experiences are perfectly and undeniably transferrable for this role. Mine in particular as a Channel and Partner Manager would be a good example. A shame as it would have been a good use of my skills and personality to manage such a relationship. I can understand their position to a certain extent, but still it frustrates, especially as the job description was a good fit and the company offered an almost perfect brand to recruit for. I expect that this is not an unusual situation that many job hunters find themselves in, yet as a recruiter it does seem to have a bigger effect as we are taught to look for and assess the transferrable skills not ignore them! It is however important to remember it is not personal, it happens and there is nothing I can do about it. It is not something that I can have a direct influence over and thus need to just put it behind me.

I had to shake it off and be ready to perform in 30 minutes. I was quite grateful for the appalling weather and the amount of rain on the roads. I caused me to concentrate fully on the road. When I got to the interview I was ready.

The saving grace of the day was this interview with the Head of HR in EMEA. A very good experience to back up a very good impression of the offices, location and people I met and spoken with so far, as well as the information I know and have learned about them recently. To be fair apart from the one aforementioned potential interviewer the rest of the interviewing team have been a shining ambassadors for their brand. I have enjoyed the passion, enthusiasm and commitment to move the business forward. If they still want to see me I have a final interview next week with the global head of TA and am very excited about the prospect

Finally when I got home I had some decent email. One in particular from the professional career coach and CV writer who I mentioned in Day 1 and who had helped me with my CV. She came up a couple of ideas; one was for a company I had explored briefly three months ago, before I started #myjobhunt. It hadn’t lasted more than a couple of calls then but with another go from a different angle……..every option must be explored.

I also took some time to review the emails and the ideas that had come my way over the last 3 weeks and a list of those to follow up with has been compiled and will be acted upon tomorrow. I was also alarmed to see that there were a number of people who had contacted me, mostly in house recruiters and some I am afraid to say are members of The FIRM, who have not bothered to respond to my responses to their initial contacts. The FIRM has a goal to raise standards in all areas or recruiting, particularly our own. It is no wonder that candidates and agencies make their complaints. You let us all down by not trying to improve your own standards.

Music of Day 19 was Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet

What did I learn today? Not all recruiters are good at everything they do. Not all recruiters have the same nor keep to the same standards as I do. Over the last couple of years, I have complained about the poor behaviors at agencies. In meetings I’ve also heard agencies complain about the poor service they get from in house recruiters. I am beginning to empathise.

2010
08/26
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CATEGORY
Job Hunting
Networking
Recruitment
Social Media
The FIRM
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Job Hunting means having to say Goodbye & Thank You, then Striding on – Day 18 #myjobhunt

Day 18 was dominated by it being my last day in my current job and the day my gardening leave honeymoon period came to an end. All of the company property needed to be returned; laptop and power lead, PDA, fuel card, company credit card and security pass. Mixed feelings as you can imagine. Sad to be leaving a place I enjoyed, a job that was one of the best I’d had as well as some fabulously talent people. But then on the up side as one door closes another half dozen are waiting to be opened. New opportunities mean the new potential for excitement, fulfillment and growth.

Today I planned to drop my wife off at her temp job, then take advantage of free WiFi at Starbucks with a large black Americano whilst writing the Day 17 blog post. The coffee was free as well – my third in as many weeks at a Starbucks. Not quite sure what I am doing for these lavish rewards but I’ll take it. Thank you Starbucks very much.

Before I got on with my writing I had a phone call to make. You will recall in Day 14 I was offered a contract position. I had the most amazingly encouraging conversation with the EMEA Recruitment Manager. I was declining his offer. I was doing so purely on the grounds that it was not an enhancement of my career and it did not justify the reasons for me leaving my former job, yet we chatted like mates, sharing ideas casually for some time. He even told me that he had recommended me to another company who are looking to hire right now. I was left speechless by some of the kind and generous comments he made and must have had a smile a mile wide after that call.

With buoyant spirits I started writing and the phone started ringing. One call after another, all of them good. One in particular was from Keith Robinson. Keith has been involved in the recruitment business for many many years and is not only very experienced but is also very generous and well connected. His years in the business have not diminished his passion for recruiting. Keith produces a weekly newsletter/blog, a commentary of sorts on the recruiting market. He actually asked if he could mention the #myjobhunt blog in his newsletter. He asked! I had been interviewed in the past by Keith for The Buzz newsletter, but this was different. It meant that potentially this blog and my quest for work will be brought to the attention of tens of thousands of people. Weird. After 90 minutes in Starbucks I had only really written half a page, a couple of paragraphs. Time to go and say goodbye to the place I had worked for 4 years. I deliberately have not mentioned any names or been clear about where I work. I know it won’t take much to find out but all the same, it makes me feel more comfortable at this stage. A loyalty thing I suppose.

I was home by 1.30pm and then feeling a bit melancholy for the rest of the day I didn’t really do too much. I was overwhelmed by the support and well wishes I received from friends in a couple of online communities. These are friends, a couple of whom I have not even met yet!!!!

Late in the day I had to go the “office” to get a cell phone signal, pick up messages and return calls. Two good calls resulted in progression of opportunities previously started.

I was on Twitter for most of today. On two occasions I had direct @garyfranklin approaches from over eager and poorly prepared agencies that having seen one of my tweets were aware that I am looking for a job, so offered to help. Generous of them I know but they didn’t have a clue. They hadn’t read my blog, they hadn’t researched who I am, what I am doing or looking for. One of them – the really stupid one, hadn’t even read my Twitter profile. Do we have to spell it out? Well it looks like it doesn’t it? I may be looking for a job but I am not going to trust my career to you if you do not know how to use your head, let alone know how to engage with people. You shame others who are good at their jobs………………but that is a very different blog and a fresh rant and I promise to deliver on this once my own quest has finished.

Music of Day 18 was Highway Star by Deep Purple ….the Made in Japan version!

What did I learn today? That the people who know how to behave towards others in the real world will be better prepared and able to engage with others in Social Media space. They need to be prized and embraced. Thanks to you all – I can’t say it enough. The support, encouragement and personal help you have given and offered is mind blowing and beyond all of my expectations.

2010
08/25
POSTED BY
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Job Hunting
Networking
Recruitment
Social Media
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Hunted to Hunter – tales of a hirer who needs hiring

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Today I find myself in a place that I had hoped never to return to, at least not just yet. I now have to apply myself to the recruiting merry-go-round as an applicant. It will be interesting to note if I will see in myself some of the behaviours seen from the other side of the fence. More importantly it will be very interesting to see how others react to and treat me, especially in consideration of the job am hoping I might secure.

My intention is to provide a daily update on what I find out there, who I speak to, the reactions I get and the reaction or responses that I dont get.

So this is Day 1

The target is to be in a position, earning money by mid September

Activities today, that will I hope secure me my next big adventure started with a very thorough review of my CV. I am one of these people that keeps a CV up to date as I progress throughout a year to be sure I note down the important responsibilities and achievements as they happen. Then when I need to use it, I edit it to conform to the rest of the CV. The review is to be sure that all is kept clean, the small things are attended to, i.e. typos, grammar and spelling and it is still not too long. It is hard to believe that people spend such little time on such things when the stakes are so high!

Being objective is almost impossible when reviewing your own CV and I have been coincidently fortunate to get to know a professional career coach and CV writer who has offered some fantastic help.

So with the CV primed, I am all set and ready to go.

People have stated that I am one of the most widely networked and connected recruiters in the business, however I have spoken and written that it is not how many people I am connected to that counts, but the relationships I have created and mutual trust I have established with some of them that is important. So to let people know. If they don’t know my plight they can’t help. I have no allusions that I will be a magic switch. It is all about timing and to quote two of the greatest poets of this and the last century “you can’t always get what you want” (sic)

I also wanted to update my old files on the Personnel Today site and ensure that my profile was up to date and my searches were defined for what I am looking for now. It was like pulling teeth. It was not intuitive and didn’t navigate well at all. It also kept failing causing me to start again; very frustrating when I wanted to get as much done as I could in the shortest amount of time! Deep breath! 1,2,3,4….. Then having done a search and found what looked like a fantastic result the job/page wouldn’t load. So Personnel Today not the greatest experience. Onwards – Changebord next – an easier affair, albeit it still not complete as so much to do on my part to ensure thoroughness. Tomorrow!

Then I looked on The FIRMs job listing and was pleased to see some new jobs posted, some of interest as well and needing further investigation.

Emails and Twitter DM messages sent to a number of contacts which resulted in some very good results.

Two interviews for two different roles in the diary by close

Most of the people I have spoken to online or in person over the last few days have offered help, some with sound and welcome advice. Above all and most importantly the majority offered friendship and support. I couldn’t be more grateful and spoiled. To you, Thank You.

Tomorrow is new day with a new approach to a different set of known and unknown contacts. I am committed to not discounting any opportunity at the moment with the view that if I create enough opportunities very fast then I will have control.

One bit of advice I have always given candidates is that they must always go for the offer. Without offer the candidate doesn’t have any options and doesn’t have any choices. Without either the candidate has no control over the process.

Lets see if it works, shall we?

2010
08/02
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Job Hunting
Recruitment
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