Recruitment Matters International

Help with marketing your recruitment business

2012-01-26T12:33:00.000Z

MARKETING, BRAND BUILDING & PROMOTING YOUR RECRUITMENT SERVICES

Straightforward ways to win and retain more recruitment business in 4 hours a week on a limited budget

Overview

Finding the time to create an ongoing marketing strategy can be a challenge. This is a 1 day seminar for busy people with a responsibility for winning new business, marketing and promotional activities. It shows how for less than 4 hours a week you can keep control of your ongoing marketing to help achieve short & long term growth within your recruitment company. It includes how to use social media and online marketing as well as more conventional marketing activities – from PR to direct mail - and how to create a powerful ongoing marketing campaign for your recruitment business.

Course content

The day covers the 4 marketing areas that generate the best results for recruitment companies. You’ll learn how understanding these 4 areas can help you win, maintain and expand your client base.

Generating enquiries from clients & candidates. How can you make the phone ring, e-mails arrive and get people to walk through the door? This session tells you how and includes the following topics:

Creating press releases

Raising awareness through article pitches

Being seen as an expert

Creating a USP

Search engine marketing

Niche marketing

Better brochures

Converting interest into business. It’s great when enquiries regularly arrive - but it’s only when that enquiry turns into business that your company really benefits! This session covers ways to turn passing enquiries into firm orders and includes:

Creating case studies

Systems for gathering testimonials

Branding

Using PR (from the first section) to build trust

Writing great job adverts. Every recruitment company needs to know how to craft advertising that delivers results. This session takes you through what works, what to avoid and why this skill is so important.

Headlines

How to write persuasive copy

Design guidelines

General do’s / don’ts

Prompting action

Keeping and looking after clients for the long term. The easiest person to sell to is somebody who has already bought from you. In fact every successful company is only a success because they know how to look after their clients. This session looks into how to build up relationships, how to stay in touch and how to win new business from your existing client base and covers:

Loyalty programmes

Utilising feedback

Newsletters

Up-selling / cross-selling

Referral systems

Who should attend
It’s suitable for owners of recruitment companies, anybody working in the industry with a responsibility for promoting and marketing aspects of their recruitment business.

The seminar is interactive and will be focused on getting real life results. This is not a dry academic seminar but an interactive day where real life examples are discussed and ideas traded between those attending. Just think – any one of the hundreds of ideas discussed could be THE idea that improves the fortunes of your business!

The event comes with a 100% money back guarantee if you cannot see how these ideas can be applied to your recruitment business.

The Trainer

Alastair Campbell has worked in the advertising and marketing industry for almost 25 years and is the author of ‘The Marketing Launchpad.’ He has worked with and run seminars for over a hundred recruitment companies across the UK and has also spoken at business seminars at the NEC and Earls Court. For more information visit Meet The Team

Open Course Dates

Feb 1st - London

Feb 6th - Manchester

Mar 19th - Birmingham

Mar 27th - London

Apr 16th - Manchester

Investment £299+VAT

'Bring A Friend' £259+VAT

Contact ken@recruitmentmatters.com via email or on 01529 410586

In order to optimise your learning experience, this course is purposely run with small delegate numbers and is capped at 12. Book now to avoid disappointment!

Two Day Introduction to Recruitment

2012-01-09T17:00:00.000Z

This is fast becoming one of our most popular courses and a great barometer on the stability of the recruitment sector. 2011 was a record for us in training new recruiters and 2012 is showing early signs of topping that.

Course Overview

Background

There is an old question that goes "What if I spend money on training my staff and they then leave?" and the answer is "What if I don't and they stay?" Too many new recruits don't get the help and guidance they deserve when they first join a company – it's the quick whirl round the office meeting a few people, getting shown the basics of how the database works, listening to how their new colleagues make a few calls and then they are let loose. If you want your next hire to make a positive contribution early and to consistently deliver good results in the months and years to come, then giving them quality training in their first few weeks is vital. A well thought out and structured introduction to recruitment is key to future success.

Training is a big investment of your time and money. Recruitment Matters International believe that in order to get the very best out of training, attention and concentration is everything. That's why we've condensed our induction programme into two days. Any longer, and minds can wander and money and time spent isn't fully optimised. Experience has taught us that a maximum two days in a focussed learning environment really works. In the current climate having grounding in what's needed to succeed in recruitment is simply crucial.

Who should attend?

'Two Day Induction' is an introduction to the recruitment process and the key skills involved. Ideal for those entering recruitment for the first time or recruiters with limited experience who wish to formalise their initial learning. Suggested experience level : 0-12 months

Content

The recruitment process

Overview of legislation

Planning, preparation & time management

Telephone skills including scripts

Candidate attraction, retention & control

Winning new business including overcoming objections

Client attraction, retention & control

Interview skills

Writing effective job adverts

Taking a clear job order

Dates

Jan 10/11th - London

Jan 18/19th - Manchester

Feb 14/15th - London

Feb 28/29th - Manchester

Mar 7/8th - London

Mar 29/30th - Manchester

Investment

£495 + VAT

In order to optimise your learning experience, this course is purposely run with small delegate numbers and is generally capped at 12. Book now to avoid disappointment!

How do I book? Please complete the booking form and email, post or fax it to info@recruitmentmatters.com or fax number +44 (0)1529 309801. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call 0800 0749289/+44 (0)1529 410586 and ask for Julie or Ken.

Call us for an inhouse quotation. Inhouse courses can be tailored to your specific market and we will work if appropriate with the recruiting tools you currently use.

*Optional telephone support/follow up: £69 for 2 x 30 mins

A time for everything and everything in its place

2011-12-23T11:27:00.000Z

A time for everything and everything in its place

I would like to take the time to thank each and every person who attended an RMI training course this year, all the readers of our newsletters and mailshots, anyone who bought a product or visited our website in 2011 and especially those of you kind enough to recommend us to others within the industry. It’s at this time of the year when thinking of things like this, that thoughts extend to family and friends and spending quality moments with them over the festive period. I know I batter on about hard work making you better and more productive and making the most of downtime to work on your knowledge and skills etc. However as my headline says there is a time and place for everything. Please take the opportunities (however small) you are presented with over xmas and new year to switch off from work when you can and recharge your batteries. 2012 is likely to bring its own challenges so a fit mind and body will stand you in good stead. The biggest thing you can do over the all too short close down is to spend quality time with those that mean most to you. If that’s difficult then phone or email them. Spend time with people that want to be with you. You can’t get back memories that don’t exist so go out and create some fantastic ones that will last a lifetime. Wishing you all peace at xmas, Warren.

Recruitment Tip

2011-10-19T14:34:00.000+01:00

Tip – “Can I have one more question before I go?”

‘Market Intelligence’ is becoming more and more important to recruiters. Yes I know we need to know what’s happening – but it’s vital that we can relay that information to our clients (and candidates) ….. so they know that we know what’s happening.

The recruitment canvas is changing. Budgets are becoming tighter and people are being held more accountable for results. Therefore it stands to reason hiring a recruiter to fill a vacancy is a bigger decision than before. Let’s step into a client’s shoes for a moment. If you had a choice between working with a recruiter who called every two weeks whether asked to or not and one who cut to the chase to find out if you had any vacancies - or - working with a recruiter who called you in a cycle that you had agreed, dropped you an odd email with market information and when called, spoke about relevant interesting information that would help you and kept check on your hiring strategy along the way – which one would you use?

So where’s this market intelligence going to be gleaned from? Well as Chris Tarrant was prone to suggest to his game show guests – ask the audience. If you asked one more question per client (and candidate) and noted down the responses, you will be armed with market intelligence, facts, figures and industry specific intellectual property. Imagine asking 20 people a day 5 days a week for two weeks the same question. Now explore for a moment how you could utilise the findings.

Asking the audience isn’t a difficult thing to do – just make it part of your process every time you speak with someone you haven’t asked that particular question before.

So the tactics become “give to get”. Share something you have learned and ask a question in return. Your calls will soon be welcomed and you will be spending less time dialling numbers and more time having conversations, building relationships and ultimately bagging the business.

Help with overcoming client objections and more

2011-09-22T13:36:00.000+01:00

If you had £1 or a Euro for every time you heard someone say "We have a PSL" you wouldn't need to fill any vacancies - right? Well unfortunately that isn't going to happen and the good old PSL isn't going away any time soon. So here is a little help for you at no cost - an MP3 ready to download that addresses all the main objections & reactions you hear day in day out from your business development conversations with clients. Please click here: http://bit.ly/RMIMP3ClientObjections
While we have got your attention and perhaps honing your skills is on your mind, then take a look at some of our latest courses. All of them are available as an open course as part of a group of recruiters from a variety of organisations, or can be delivered in-house just for you and your people.

For more information on courses and our other services and products, visit www.recruitmentmatters.com, email info@recruitmentmatters.com or call Emma or Ken on 0800 0749289 or, if you're overseas, 0044 1529 410375.

Contact us

Recruitment Matters International

2 Oakfield Road

Coventry CV6 1ED

UK

Tel: 0800 0749289/0044 1529 410375

Fax: +44 (0)2476 591326.

Email: info@recruitmentmatters.com

Time Management & Excellence Recruitment Training

2011-09-19T13:34:00.000+01:00

Part One: Time Management

What time are you reading this? What day of the week is it?

I’m wrote this tip at 10pm when the office is long since closed for the day. It’s being written after I also spent an hour updating our website, tweets and doing a few things on Linkedin including accepting two more invites. Incidentally my Linkedin network is growing at over 18,000 people a day.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m no anorak or workaholic – I’m sitting here with a glass of wine and have great music playing (Laura Marling if interested) and took some time out earlier when my kids came round after school, helped them with their homework for an hour, then we had a roast dinner and played a game of cards after – BUT – I’ve grabbed the chance to get some work done of a proactive nature rather than sit in front of a square box and get nothing positive from it. Heck if there was any good stuff on the television on a Monday at this time I could even tape it.

Talking of television though I remember vividly watching Will Smith being interviewed a couple of years back. When asked why he was as good as he was, Mr Smith simply said “I work harder at it, think about it more and try and improve my technique more than other people in my industry”.

Please don’t put work before your family or your health. Everything has its place but there are some big parts of the week that you, me and everybody can utilise better. Don’t hang around the office for the sake of it. Do go home and chill. However if you want to really make serious inroads then work harder at your chosen profession and work harder than your competition at getting better…..just choose the time to do it that makes sense. Cheers!

Part Two: Excellence

Excellence isn’t a natural gift.

People talk sometimes about someone having a “natural talent”. Maybe it’s the guitarist who can play almost any tune after one listen. It might be a tennis player who makes certain shots look so easy. It could be an artist who can sketch a portrait with almost lifelike accuracy. So is it a natural talent or is there something else in the equation?

The main ingredient why certain people stand out from their peers isn’t natural talent or a “gift” for that task. It is much more simple and achievable than that. It is HARD WORK. For a moment think back to something you have done well, something that you are proud of, really proud of. It might have been making a great presentation, passing a particularly difficult exam, overcoming a handicap or gaining a promotion. So now tell me how much effort, preparation and hard work went into achieving that result. Nadal isn’t a world class tennis player just because of natural talent (which of course at that level has to play a part). He is world class because of the hours and hours of practise he has put in. Eric Clapton isn’t one of the world’s top guitarists just because he has an ear for music, he dedicated his teens and twenties into practising and playing for more hours than most people put into a whole career.

So if you want to be a better recruiter, better listener, better presenter, better cold caller, better at overcoming objections, better at selling a role …..there are no short cuts. It is about putting in the effort and time practising and doing it that will make all the difference. If you can be guided and coached by someone who is already great at it, if you can read books by people that know their stuff or you can watch videos or attend training sessions on your topic of focus it will push your results forward much quicker for sure. But there is no easy road to consistently high performance. Take two rookies joining a recruitment company. Rookie number one picks up the phone to make business development calls for 1 hour per day. Rookie number two averages 3 hours per day. Does rookie number two get more vacancies and better results because they hit the phone three times as much as their colleague? Of course they do – but not simply because they speak to three times as many people. It is because they are learning their trade, practising different tactics and techniques and experiencing situations three times as often as their colleague. Or to put it really simply it will take the first rookie three years to get as much experience under their belt as their harder working colleague. Put the time in and the results will come – because you put the time in.

http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/

and here's a freebie:

http://recruitmentmatters.com/docs/25_Ways_To_Grow_Your_Business.pdf

Recruitment Training Tip Warren Kemp

2011-08-29T16:18:00.000+01:00

Benefits & Consequences

When I wrote that headline it did make me think it could be a good party game, but as this is a recruitment tip I better stick to the script!

When speaking to clients and candidates, always have benefits & consequences in mind. As human beings we take action and make decisions based on those two things. If you can let your contact know (and appreciate) quickly the benefit of speaking with you or taking a certain action with you then you are off to a great start. Let’s look on the flipside – if there is no benefit for your contact they won’t do it.

That’s all well and good a lot of the time if it’s a small step they have to take or they already are committed to finding a solution to their issue. Sometimes, however, that is not enough. And that’s when you pull out the big guns – consequences. What are the consequences for your contact of NOT speaking with you or NOT taking that action? More often than not that will be the key.

Let’s take the scenario of a candidate semi-active in the market, looking for work. If you can uncover the reason for them considering a move e.g. let’s say they are lacking promotion prospects, decent training where they are right now and they would like more money. Then the benefit of talking with you and considering your vacancies may be a strong enough pull for them to take that action. But let’s say despite early interest they have failed to send you their latest CV, as promised by the end of the week. Now you could argue that they are not keen enough and don’t push it. Or, maybe they haven’t appreciated the consequences of not doing it. That’s whenyou re-contact them and explain that the choice of taking the next step is obviously theirs but you feel it important to explore things a bit more with them. Fast forward 6 months – if 6 months further down the road they still haven’t found a job with genuine promotion prospects, they still haven’t been receiving quality training and they haven’t got that increase in salary how would they feel then? The answer to that question will decide whether you have a candidate you can work with who will take action, or not.

http://recruitmentmatters.com/ Recruitment training Tips

Training Dates

2011-08-29T16:16:00.000+01:00

RECRUITMENT MATTERS INTERNATIONAL: September – December 2011 Open Training Schedule

Attending an open course is not only a highly cost effective way of learning, it also gives you a chance to interact with your peers from other organisations, taking on board their viewpoints and experiences.

In order to optimise your learning experience, most of our courses are purposely run with small delegate numbers and are generally capped at 12. Book now to avoid disappointment!

NOTE: All our courses come with a 100% money back guarantee if not fully satisfied. If an individual books for a 'refresher' session on a previously attended one day course, then the cost is just £85+VAT.

RUNNING AN EFFECTIVE TEMP DESK – New!

Sept 22nd – London

Sept 28th – Manchester

Oct 25th – London

Oct 26th – Birmingham

Nov 24th – London

Nov 29th – Manchester

Dec 6th - Birmingham

Investment £299+VAT

‘Bring A Friend’ £229+VAT

Link

CANDIDATE INTERVIEW & SCREENING TECHNIQUES (one day) – New!

Learn how to screen potential candidates from a long list & then interview both face to face and over the telephone. Significantly improve your candidate to placement ratio!

Sept 13th – London

Sept 14th – Birmingham

Oct 13th – London

Oct 19th – Manchester

Nov 3rd – London

Nov 10th – Birmingham

Dec 8th – Manchester

Dec 15th - London

Investment £299+VAT

‘Bring A Friend’ £229+VAT

Link

MARKETING, BRAND BUILDING & PROMOTING YOUR RECRUITMENT SERVICES (one day) – New!

Oct 12th – London

Nov 17th – Manchester

Dec 12th – Birmingham

Investment £299+VAT

‘Bring A Friend’ £229+VAT

More info soon

SUCCESSFUL HEAD-HUNTING (one day)

Europe’s No 1 course on executive search

Sept 15th – London

Oct 4th – Dublin

Oct 12th – Manchester

Oct 20th – London

Nov 2nd – Birmingham

Nov 18th – London

Nov 22nd – Manchester

Dec 15th – London

Investment £299+VAT

‘Bring A Friend’ £229+VAT

Link

RESEARCH TECHNIQUES & METHODOLOGY FOR RECRUITERS (half day)

“It’s not the client who pays your fee. He only writes the cheque. It’s the candidate who pays your fee”

Sept 20th – London

Sept 30th – Birmingham

Oct 11th – Manchester

Oct 27th – London

Nov 25th – Birmingham

Dec 7th – London

Dec 13th - Manchester

Running time 9:30am – 1:00pm. NOTE. In August, same dates as our half day ‘Interview & Screening Techniques’ – come along to both and make a day of it!

Investment £179+VAT

‘Bring A Friend’ £129+VAT

Link

MAXIMISING THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE NETWORKING (one day)

Build a candidate & client base using social media learning best practise for Linkedin, Twitter and a variety of other outlets.

Sept 6th – Bristol

Sept 23rd – Birmingham

Oct 5th – Dublin

Oct 18th – London

Nov 23rd – Manchester

Dec 2nd – London

Dec 8th – Birmingham

Investment £299+VAT

‘Bring A Friend’ £229+VAT

Link

SELLING EXECUTIVE SEARCH & WINNING RETAINED AND EXCLUSIVE ASSIGNMENTS (half day)

Being able to headhunt is one thing – knowing how to sell it to the client is quite another.

Sept 20th – London

Sept 30th – Birmingham

Oct 11th – Manchester

Oct 27th – London

Nov 25th – Birmingham

Dec 7th – London

Dec 13th - Manchester

Running time 2:00 – 5:30pm.

Investment £199+VAT

‘Bring A Friend’ £149+VAT

Link

TWO DAY INTRODUCTION TO RECRUITMENT (two days)

‘Induction for new recruits’. Get your new hires off to a confident winning start

Oct 6/7th – London

Oct 13/14th – Manchester

Nov 15/16th – London

Nov 29/30th – Manchester

Investment £495+VAT

Link

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT SKILLS (one day)

“Maximising on existing relationships & How to open up new profitable accounts”

Sept 7th – Manchester

Sept 8th – London

Oct 5th – Birmingham

Oct 6th – London

Nov 8th – Manchester

Nov 9th – London

Dec 7th – Birmingham

Dec 14th - London

Investment £299+VAT

‘Bring A Friend’ £229+VAT

Link

INTRODUCTION TO MANAGEMENT (one day)

Getting the best from your team while still running a desk

Sept 9th – London

Nov 11th – London

Investment £299+VAT

‘Bring A Friend’ £229+VAT

Link

For more information on these courses and our other services and products, visit www.recruitmentmatters.com, email info@recruitmentmatters.com or call Emma or Ken on 0800 0749289 or, if you’re overseas, 0044 1529 410375.

Contact us

Recruitment Matters International Ltd

2 Oakfield Road

Coventry CV6 1ED

UK

Tel: 0800 0749289/0044 1529 410375

http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/ Recruitment Training courses

250 Tips for busy recruiters

2011-06-13T13:35:00.000+01:00

http://bit.ly/250Tips A copy of my book "Dont Become A Frog" available for you here as a free download.

More available from http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/

Free Training via MP3

2011-06-06T17:04:00.000+01:00

We have just gone live with our MP3's on our site at http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/ available to download and purchase.
Here is a free one for you on dealing with client objections such as "We have a PSL"

http://bit.ly/RMIMP3ClientObjections

Idea - Question of the week

2011-04-22T21:01:00.000+01:00

Question of the week

How much do you know about your market? How up to date are you with what’s going on? It’s a fact that clients will be keen to keep in touch with someone who knows the market (their market) inside out. So on an ongoing basis let’s make sure you know what’s what and who’s who. One of the easiest and most consistent ways of doing that is to ask peoples opinion and advice (while you have their attention anyway) when calling them as part of your regular contact. Let’s say you talk to 50 clients a week and you have 3 colleagues.... 200 contacts on tap to ask a “market intelligence“question of. That information will help you add to your ongoing market knowledge and help you establish yourself as an industry expert. Forget the old saying “It’s not what you know it’s who you know”.... use what you know to get in front of who you want to know.

Recruitment Training @ http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/

Copy of our Newsletter

2011-04-15T11:04:00.001+01:00

For those of you who are not yet subscribing to our newsletters - I thought you would appreciate the chance to review some extracts from one:

Welcome to our Spring newsletter

This is our Spring newsletter featuring a mix of industry news, helpful information from recruitment industry experts, tips to help you improve and grow the profitability of your business and, of course, lots of news from ourselves at Recruitment Matters International about our training courses, products and services.

We'll start off with a quick ‘newsflash' that as result of unprecedented demand, we're already fully booked for our next Maximising The Use Of Social Media & Online Networking course in London on May 11th. As a result, we've taken a decision to add a new date on May 4th. If you haven't already booked, now is your chance! Certainly, feedback from those of you who have attended so far has been very rewarding – we'll quote just one delegate here: "It is a whole new world out there with endless possibilities - I feel very excited about it! Thank you for a very enjoyable day."

Several weeks have already passed since Chancellor George Osborne's Budget which, particularly for those in the private sector has been generally viewed as encouraging. In fact, two out of three businesses say it will have a positive effect on their business, according to research from Reed Finance.
The research also shows that more than a quarter of businesses (28%) think that the Budget will have a positive effect on their staffing levels.
Tim Vye, divisional director of Reed Finance, says: "There is a lot for businesses to be positive about in the Budget and our poll of senior finance professionals shows that it has created some optimism, which is crucial for a buoyant jobs market. However, businesses remain nervous with only 12% believing that the measures in the Budget will succeed in making the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business. Employers need to have confidence in the UK economy and their business's outlook before signing off on any hiring plans."

On a different subject, it won't be long until the next batch of ‘wet behind the ears' graduates arrives on the job market with, yet again, the criticism that most lack the necessary job skills to make an immediate contribution. 40% of graduate recruiters say current university leavers do not have the work-based skills to secure an entry-level graduate role at their firm, according to new research from totaljobs.com.
More than eight in 10 (83%) graduate recruiters believe closer collaboration between businesses and universities is required to fill the skills gap for university leavers today. Meanwhile, 82% think universities need to take responsibility for ensuring graduates are work-ready, while 72% say it is down to graduates themselves.
Mike Fetters, graduate director at totaljobs.com, says: "We have a real chance to champion a collaboration between universities and employers which I believe can really make a difference. With just over half of graduates utilising their careers service and only 34% of those finding it useful, there is an opportunity for employers to work with careers services to better the offering to final-year students."
We'd be very interested to hear your views on one article, in particular, this month – see ‘Big business loses out on benefits of flexible working.' So what do you think – is small beautiful or big best?

Elsewhere, we report on good news if you're involved in Executive Search. Senior executive recruiting is at its third highest level ever due to a dramatic resurgence in demand, according to the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC).
We've also got some excellent sales advice from Bob Apollo, MD at Inflexion Point who says that ‘you need to sell the problem before you can sell your solution.' As Warren advises in our Business Development course, fan the flames!
We liked the views of Jason Sullock, New Customer Marketing Manager, Sage on business planning who says that the main reason that detailed business plans fail is that they're too detailed...

This month, our ‘Marketing Mentor' Alastair Campbell also shares some of his thoughts on effective selling, with the advice to focus on what your customers want, not what you want to sell.

Our own trainer & MD, Warren, has two social media tips for you this month – one on linking up your LinkedIn account with Twitter, and another on maximising your effort and therefore benefits of what he perceives is LinkedIn's ‘tipping point'.

We have another extract from Greg Savage's popular blog, this time highlighting the benefits of being strong and confident with clients – don't inhibit your billings by using language which is too tentative.
We've also got the next in a series of contributions on SEO advice from eBoss Solutions MD, David Lyons, this month on converting enquiries into sales.

And we have a welcome return from David Steel of Exacta Research with an article on the art of the referral call. Here at Recruitment Matters, we just get busier & busier, so for the latest on what we have got lined up through to June, please read our news section which is just before our current training schedule.
We very much like this to be an interactive newsletter and we welcome your comments and feedback and will be happy to feature your contributions on important industry issues and your advice on how to improve the success and professionalism of our marketplace. As you now know, in return, we show our gratitude by featuring a link to your company, as a contributor to this publication.

We at Recruitment Matters International have a simple underlying philosophy to everything that we do, and that is, by helping each other to improve, we all stand to benefit in this large, dynamic and ever evolving industry.

Please send your potential editorial contributions to ken@recruitmentmatters.com.

The 'Marketing Mentor' - Marketing Advice for Recruitment Companies .
Contributor: Alastair Campbell, The Marketing Mentor Programme

Focus on what your customers want, not what you want to sell.
The economies of the world are littered with the skeletons of industries who decided to sell to customers what they produced, rather than what the customer wanted. I recently heard a Radio Four documentary on the potteries industry. For a long time British pottery was known throughout the world for its high quality and indeed highly efficient production techniques. The documentary was focusing on one particular factory which had undergone some kind of a resurgence after being bought and brought back from the bankruptcy for the 6th time. The production manager was explaining the different types of plates and cups that they sold. He explained the process that the company underwent to decide what new items were going to be sold there. It had nothing to do with what the customers wanted, or indeed what had sold well the previous year. Instead the designers and owners of the factory decided what would go on sale that year and then the salesforce would then be told sell to them as best they could.

Sadly, for this factory and many others, this course of action led to financial disaster. It meant items that were being sold were not on popularity but on a whim and a guess. It brought a once great industry to its knees. In the meantime, overseas markets were copying the production techniques pioneered by the British and were conducting extensive market research into what customers wanted. The result was faster delivery times and cheaper dishes which suited the customers' diverse requirements. By refusing to listen to what the customer wanted, the industry was doomed to failure.

As a recruitment company do you make a similar mistake? Are you clinging to old commission structures, packages and methods from a pre-internet age? Many companies will develop products which they think are interesting without ever asking for customer feedback. Names and products aren't tested before the product is launched on to the marketplace.

Although it isn't always possible to accurately gauge public reaction, it is always a good idea to respond to public wishes. Whilst trends can be set for people to follow, it is usually a good idea to measure the mood of the public and ask direct questions to see what people are likely to demand in the future. One of the easiest ways to do that is to monitor what is currently selling well and what is selling badly. Certainly the public can be fickle, but they will tend to buy what they want and leave what they don't. It is much easier to swim with the tide than against it. If you want to make your sales team's job an easier one, find out what your clients want and get them to sell that - rather than sell what you always have.

Alastair Campbell is MD of The Ideal Marketing Company and author of The Marketing Launchpad available from Amazon. He is offering a free 1 hour marketing consultation to all readers of this newsletter. Visit www.idealmarketingcompany.com for details or call 01858 44 55 43
Converting website enquiries into sales
Contributor: David Lyons, MD, eBoss Solutions.

Following on from last month where we discussed conversions on your website and best practices to turn those visitors into enquiries, We now move into converting those enquiries into sales, when there is no face to face contact.

Here is a selection of the most effective tools we use to convert enquiries into sales.

First, the telephone, still the most effective sales tool, because it allows the sales person the opportunity to find out the needs of the client and then to tailor the product/service to their needs while they are talking to each other.

Secondly, newsletter marketing software, this allows the sales team to keep the potential client interested in their product or service and educates the client to the features and benefits of the product.

Thirdly, your database is a treasure trove of information about the history of the client's needs and interactions with your business which you can use to offer new products and contact them at appropriate times.

At first glance converting your enquiries to sales could appear to require only a good talk on the phone and the sale is closed; in practice, the result is dependent on the amount and the quality of rapport that the sales person is able to establish with the client. In fact the last word in the closing of the sale belongs to the client when he is happy to proceed, because he becomes convinced that he wants your product or service and you are the best person to give it.

How do we build rapport with a potential client? The essence of building and maintaining rapport is to keep a constant presence in the potential client's mind. You can do that by telephone and email.

The database gives you the prompts to know when it is appropriate to contact the client. The contact should include something of interest to the client rather than a plea to buy; for example send an email with a topic of interest, a review on a product of interest, a good news story from their industry and a success story of your own. It is important to note that when you are not in contact with your client, they do not have an opportunity to say yes.

If you have developed a special technique of your own for converting your enquiries into sales please let us know and I will include them in my next article.

Next month we discuss using technology to get your clients to recommend your product or service.

©2011 David Lyons. Contact david@eboss.co.uk or call 020 7183 0675

Link up with those who Tweet

After what seemed like a plethora of pointless and random tweets from a total mishmash of people from the famous to the totally unknown, Twitter seems to finally be coming of age. Corporate organisations and professional individuals alike are now being far more strategic, consistent and on song for what others want to read.

And that has resulted in some of the more traditional networking sites wanting to get in on the action. And the king of networking sites, LinkedIn has a really easy to use tool for those who tweet. It is now possible with a couple of quick clicks to not only see which of your LinkedIn 1st line connections tweet, but you can also follow them instantly too. The right kind of attention is flattering and what better way to continue to build on your business relationships than to follow your LinkedIn connections' tweets?

As said, it's straightforward. When on LinkedIn, along the top tabs there is one that is labelled "More". Click on and drop down that tab, click on the heading that says "Tweets" and then on "Connections". You can then choose to see which of your connections are tweeting and which of them you are following or not and take action accordingly. N.B. If you are not on Twitter yourself yet, then taking a look at just how many of your connections are will certainly help you make the right decision.

This article was provided by Warren Kemp, MD and lead trainer of Recruitment Matters International - follow Warren on Twitter http://twitter.com/WarrenBKemp . For more information, visit www.recruitmentmatters.com or email info@recruitmentmatters.com

Strong growth in Executive Search

Senior executive recruiting is at its third highest level ever due to a dramatic resurgence in demand, according to the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC).
Following the decline of 2009, AESC's 2010 Annual Report on the Retained Executive Search Industry reveals that the industry grew by an average of 28.5% in 2010 from a downturn of -32.5% in 2009. This is only 13% below the all time industry peak of 2008.
Peter Felix, president of the AESC, says: "A recovery of this magnitude is impressive given the extraordinary decline experienced by our profession in the aftermath of the October 2008 financial crisis. Nevertheless, it is not so surprising given the strong underlying forces that were driving the worldwide shortage of executive talent in 2008 and their immediate resumption as soon as some form of economic recovery became clear.

"Organisations around the world have been quick to realise that the shortage of talent is being exacerbated not only by the demographic shifts in the West and the demand from emerging markets, but by the nature of the tremendous tasks facing top management."

Other key features of the AESC's 2010 report include:
• Strong industrial sector hiring activity as BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and other emerging markets show unprecedented demand for high quality western manufactured products.
• Continuing demand from the healthcare sector as many societies come to grips with the rising costs of providing care and the need for talented medical and management personnel increases.
• Returning demand from the financial services sector as banks and other organisations refocus on revenue producing activities following the financial crisis.
• A continued rise in executive hiring in the Asia Pacific region, increasing 31% in 2010.
• Annual growth in average revenue per consultant (+30%), the number of new searches started (+24%) and the average fee per search assignment (+2%), in line with increased net revenues.

The Tipping Point

As the book of the same name by Malcolm Gladwell states, there comes a time occasionally... "The moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point." For many it seems LinkedIn has reached that tipping point. And when your own critical mass meets LinkedIn's then it's quite realistic to expect to see some extraordinary results.

LinkedIn in just a little over 2 years has gone from 25 million users to a staggering 100 million. How many 1st line connections have you increased by in that time or in recent months since you joined? Once you get to a certain number, the tipping point will kick in and you may well see those extraordinary results. Suddenly your searches will become easier, more key people will want to connect with you and business gets a little better bit by bit. Not sure? Well, I've increased my 1st line connections by 100% in the last 12 months and that has meant an increase in my total new connections PER DAY of c18,000.
If you haven't been convinced yet, then take a leap of faith and get stuck in to it – like those extra 75 million people in the last 2 years.

Warren Kemp is MD and lead trainer with Recruitment Matters. For more tips, advice and information on Recruitment Matters visit www.recruitmentmatters.com/free.php, Follow Warren on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WarrenBKemp

Big business loses out on benefits of flexible working

Small businesses and entrepreneurs benefit from enhanced productivity by encouraging flexible working practices, according to the latest figures published by Executive Offices Group (EOG), the serviced and virtual offices provider.

87 per cent of respondents to the EOG Customer Service Survey said the greatest benefit to flexible working was an increase in the efficiency and output of staff. In fact, not only was it beneficial but for many was a key driver of service and profitability levels. John Drover, CEO, Executive Offices Group, commenting on the figures, said:
"With the recent Budget focusing on entrepreneurship as a key means of stimulating and enabling long-term economic growth, simple measures like flexible working that are already contributing to small business profitability are to be both welcomed and actively encouraged.
"There seems to be a negative perception among many larger businesses about how to offer flexible working without compromising production or maintaining service levels. There is a trust issue at play here too, both of employee productivity away from the office and the capacity of technology.
"This latest survey clearly shows entrepreneurs and smaller businesses are much clearer about the benefits of allowing a more flexible approach to work. The business case is persuasive and where innovative practices work best, they combine meeting the needs of the organisation, its customers and the individual."

Respondents to the survey, who included entrepreneurs and SMEs from the financial services, recruitment, technology, property, commodities and media sectors, also reported savings in overheads and a reduction in travel time and expenses as key benefits of a more flexible approach to work.

Recruiters' Guide To Researchers

Contributor: David Steel, Exacta Research

The art of the referral call
A conversation I had with an old contact last week reminded me of a golden rule of referring/networking and how re-shaping the emphasis of a particular question can make the difference between a potential new lead and a dead end.

Whilst approaching some previous contacts on a Sales Manager role we were handling, I had a conversation with a potentially good candidate who, as it turned out, had recently changed roles and wasn't looking to talk about any new opportunities. As ever, and in true Columbo style, I rounded off the conversation with ‘one more thing' – "I don't suppose you know of anyone to refer for this one, do you?"

To be fair to the person in question, he gave it some thought before saying: "Sorry David, I can't think of anyone who's currently looking." The words ‘currently looking' hit me. "No, no…I don't mean if you know of anyone who is currently looking for a new role, what I mean is, is there anyone like you that you know of in your industry who is good and potentially a fit for this opportunity?" The lightbulb went on and very quickly I had a couple of new referrals that this person had professionally come across recently. One was an excellent shout and became a potential.

Through no fault of their own, people will often assume that recruiters want to speak to other people who are looking for new roles. That's never a bad thing, of course, but in our game whether someone is looking or not is often irrelevant; what we're interested in is finding the ‘bullseye' and then doing what we can to tempt them to look at the opportunity in hand.
As a tip, it's often worth saying: "If we were looking for someone similar to yourself in terms of experience, skill set, etc, who should we be talking to?", which is a very different question to "can you refer someone?". I've known the latter resulting in referrals that bore no relevance to the assignment in hand, simply they knew the person you'd originally referred with and that they're on the jobs market!

Try and challenge those you speak with to think about the market/sector they're in – who do they know in the same/similar space that could be worth a call? For the more obscure opportunities, remind them of key aspects of the person spec and ask if they can think of anyone they know that resembles that.

Also, give potential referrers time. It would be unfair to expect someone to rack their brains and give you names within 30 seconds. Leave your contact number, email address, etc, and give them a few days to think about it. Remember – you're asking somebody a favour, so it's always nice to suggest that one day you'll return the favour, keep in touch, let them know next time something comes up that might be of interest to them and so on.

A number of good referral calls can often really beef out your potential candidate list, so it's well worth putting the extra effort in and not lazily rounding the call off with a "do you know anyone? No?" just because you think you have to.

David Steel is Research Director at Exacta Research, a recruitment research company who provide a candidate research service to help clients find the best possible candidates across all sectors and levels. For further information email david@exactaresearch.co.uk, visit www.exactaresearch.co.uk or call 08000 856 618

For the rest of this newsletter email Ken@recruitmentmatters.com
or to subscribe go to http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/subscribe.php

Recruitment Tips & Newsletters

2011-03-02T10:46:00.000Z

Thought I would make you aware of our company page where at any one time there are over 20 tips available for you and in addition a dozen newsletters. That's a heck of a lot of good key information to help you as a recruiter work smarter and deliver optimium results. And it's all free.

Helping your candidates resign well

2010-12-16T10:14:00.001Z

Consider sending this as a doc for them to read:

“The Resignation”

‘Feelings’

You initially considered changing companies, because your present position can no longer offer the growth potential to match your experience. It is true to say that your present company has helped you progress professionally and as a result, you may feel uncomfortable resigning. You will be leaving fellow managers and colleagues. You may even see some of them out of work as social friends. These people may have been instrumental in advancing your career. All or some of the above may make you feel uneasy, however…..

“So what can I expect when I tender my resignation ?” ~ Your company will be sorry to lose you. You have contributed to their sales and profits. You are probably involved at the moment in a project within your workplace that requires your talents. Put yourself in your bosses position. What would you do ?

‘The Counter Offer’

It is natural to resist change and disruption. Your boss will be no exception. He will want to keep you and will attempt to do so with a counter offer. In his eyes, your acceptance of a new job is definitely a mistake.

Counter Offers have many variations:

1. “ This is confidential and I shouldn’t really be telling you this, but we were looking at promoting you in the next six months”.

2. “ We will match your new offer and put it into effect next pay day. I had meant to review it anyway”.

3. “ Don’t make a decision now, have a think about it and we’ll sit down next week and discuss it”.

‘ Implications of the Counter Offer’

Of course it is flattering that your company is concerned to hear that you are leaving, so your emotions can obscure the reasons behind your decision to leave. It is natural to be apprehensive about leaving and to let that one final nagging doubt about doing the right thing grow out of proportion the more your boss tries to convince you. Stop and ask yourself these questions :

1. “I made the decision to leave because I felt the new position offered me the best environment to fulfil my career needs. If I stay will the situation here really improve just because I said I was leaving?”

2. “If I stay, will my loyalty be suspect and affect my chance for advancement once the dust has settled ?”

3. “This rise makes me expensive for the job position I’m in. How will that affect any future rises ?”

4. “I got this counter offer because I resigned ~ will I have to do that the next time I think I’m ready for a rise or promotion ?”

‘The Professional Attitude’

The professional manager will make a career decision objectively. It will be free of the emotional pressures one is likely to feel when being urged to reconsider. Advice will be offered by well meaning friends, relatives and business associates. Depend primarily upon your own judgement because quite simply you are the only one who can fully understand the implications.

Remember…..The counter offer is only a belated recognition of the contribution you have made to your company. If it had come unprompted, wouldn’t that be a lot more flattering ? Move ahead with the goal of making yourself as valuable to your new employer as you now know you were to your old.

..............................................................................................................................................................
Recruitment Matters International & Warren Kemp
"helping recruiters recruit better since 1998"
Recruitment Training & Consultancy Services
http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/

General review of the UK recruitment market

2010-11-07T22:16:00.000Z

We are well into the last quarter of 2010 and I think it timely to review where we are as recruiters as an industry, stepping out now from the deep shadows the economy of 2009 cast.

I work with recruiters from just about all markets and there is not one that isn't more confident than this time last year.

Construction, parts of Banking and Legal all took a big hit last year. Once again cranes are in the major cities, banks have just finished a major recruitment period and lawyers are once again in demand - albeit very junior or very senior ones. I mention those three industries because they are a good barometer for the economy overall.

As part of our training portfolio we run 2 day introduction courses to recruitment for rookies. This year we have run 12 with 2 more planned to year end. That will mean nothing to you until I say that in 2009 we ran zero (yes zero), 15 in 2007 and 4 in 2008.

The services we as an industry offer employers has over the last 18 months or so now become quite clear and fall into 3 camps:

(a) Flat fee, internet job board style based CV delivery with £500, £850 fees with money back guarantees not uncommon -no matter the level of the vacancy. On paper a good option for employers with a general skill based role.

(b) Contingent recruiters offering traditional services now at lower rates and with more competition. Fees have been dictated by the client getting tough and competition driven by hunger. A tough market to be in.

(c) Headhunting/Executive Search. Holding up better than the contingent mainstream market albeit again more competition (with new unskilled recruiters pushing in) and while fees have held reasonably well , there are less retained deals being done – more and more converting to exclusivity instead.

That’s been a snap shot. I will add more comment next time.

Warren

Big Biller Summit - 20 speakers

2010-10-20T20:21:00.002+01:00

Following on from my 60 minute slot at the above event - it is now available for a limited time for you here at :
http://www.bigbillersummit.com/members/speakers/warren-kemp

Webinar available here on headhunting

2010-10-11T20:31:00.000+01:00

http://recruitmentmatters.com/Gaining_an_understanding_of_head-hunting.php

How to become an ACE recruiter

2010-08-24T21:50:00.000+01:00

If there is a particular topic on recruiting that I have been asked about over the years more than any other, it is on the subject of: what attributes/personality/skills makes for a good recruiter and what stands the great recruiters apart from the rest?

To help us start to come close to an answer I would first of all like to ask you a question or two. Why do some of the world’s technically best sports men and women never break into even the top 50 in their field? Why do some of the less gifted punch consistently above their weight (no pun intended) and why do some of the most technically gifted and best athletes who are at the top of their game start underperforming by their own extremely high standards?

We all know that the right amount of knowledge and skills when combined with appropriate personality traits will make a big difference as to whether someone is technically & emotionally capable of doing any given job. So when we take the role of the recruiter, on paper you should be able to hire someone who will be able to perform to an agreed minimum acceptable standard time in and time out. But will they all? No of course not.

So is there something else that can make the difference? Something that can help us make less poor hires? Something that can help us perform better? The answer I believe is yes and it’s not just one thing but three that will make the difference. Number one is attitude. Number two is consistency. Number three is environment. (ACE)

All three need to be right for people and organisations to prosper. There are numerous examples of great recruiters flopping when they moved organisations. There are scores of examples of underperforming recruiters positively thriving in a different environment. Similarly many recruiters have good weeks and then bad weeks, perhaps a great quarter and then a bad quarter. That comes down to consistency and not just that of their own performance. And we all know just what a difference the right attitude can make (from employer and employee) to any given outcome.

So if you are a recruiter and want to be the very best: consistently show the right attitude in an environment that works for you. Find an organisation that matches your outlook on life -not necessarily for life - but for long enough so you can get where you want to be on your ladder for success. If that ends up being the same organisation for the rest of your career, then all the better.

If you are an employer or manager then as well as making sure you do the above for yourself, hire people who will positively thrive in the environment you create. Make them fully aware of what life will be like working for and with you and what will be expected of them. Be as sure as you can that you and the employee are right for each other. When they leave you wish them well knowing you have taken them as far as you can. Be far more concerned about them performing consistently well while they are with you – that way they will be a lot less likely to leave you!

Writing and Placing Job Adverts

2010-06-16T14:42:00.000+01:00

You want fewer responses from your job adverts not more !

Here’s a quick question for you. When you place an advert for a vacancy you have, would you like:
(a)A large number of responses from all walks of life with one or two of them potentially right for the job, or (b) a small number of responses with 90% of them spot on for the job?

Ok assuming I am now talking to you having answered B then now read the sample first two lines of adverts taken from Monster.co.uk when looking for a sales position in printing. Note : these were 4 of the first 6 results I got and would suggest that these are therefore typically worded adverts.

We are a dynamic fast moving print company who has built our reputation on supplying clients with imaginative products utilising the latest advances in available technology.

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for someone to become part of a global organisation as an AREA SALES MANAGER in the printing industry. They are a growing......

Amazing Opportunity for a Field Process Sales Consultant Location. Recognised as one of Fortune magazines most admired......

Sales Account Manager, Area Sales Manager - Print Equipment – MARKET LEADER: This highly respected, worldwide organisation offers a prestigious portfolio of state of the art printing equipment....

Wow! If there are so many fantastic opportunities out there why is unemployment reaching record proportions and why is it so hard to find good people to work for you?

What’s wrong with those examples? ..... They are (over) selling the organisation and the position instead of attracting the right reader who would be capable of doing the job and fit in with the company culture.
Writing adverts that say something like:
(A) “We are a superb employer and this product almost sells itself”.... will get you lazy people with average sales ability.
(B)“Have you a demonstrable track record of consistently strong results in a highly competitive sales arena?” will cut out 75% of the wheat from the chaff almost straight away.

Have you spotted any other differences? A talks about them (the employer) ..”We are.” While B not only addresses the reader “YOU” but also asks a question making the reader internally respond with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. If the answer is ‘yes’ they will read on and if the answer is ‘no’ they will most likely stop there and you just saved yourself having to read yet another non applicable CV and having to send another “thanks but no thanks” letter.

So some initial simple rules of thumb for you to follow when writing adverts:
1. Address the reader quickly with use of the word ‘YOU’
2. Ask them to rise to the honest and realistic challenge that your opportunity gives them
3. Talk about your company AFTER you have told the reader about the job itself
4. Ask 3 or 4 questions of the reader so they can rule themselves in or out
5. Reduce the number of adjectives such as “fantastic”, “unique” etc. and explain about the role and your company instead
6. People do a job of work for their own enjoyment/sense of worth so spend more time and lineage outlining the job and less about your company
7. Always address the reader with ‘YOU’ and not ‘the successful applicant’ or ‘we are looking for someone with..’
8. Letting people know the Job title, the location and the salary (or salary indicator) will produce a more accurate response
9. Get their attention in the first three to four lines of your advert
10. Be accurate, honest and objective. Don’t let your passion for your company paint a different picture for someone who may or may not wish to apply.

If writing effective job adverts is hard enough there’s some more hurdles facing you – starting with where to place the advert. Do you go down the costly offline advert in a paper or a journal? If so which one/s, full page versus lineage, spot colour versus black and white? Or do you go down the potentially less costly but highly competitive online route? Paid for or free job board? Niche versus generalist?, Global versus local? And so the questions continue.

Placing a well worded advert in the wrong medium is as bad as placing a poorly worded ad in the right one. Taking the time to analyse and investigate where to place the advert for optimum relevant responses is crucial. So before going down a particular route make sure you challenge the paper, journal or job board to supply you with facts, figures and testimonials as to why you should place your advert with them. Do they want your money or do they want YOU to get a good result? You and I know that it’s 5 or 6 times harder to win a new customer than it is to resell to an existing one. So find out how much repeat business they get and for their bigger advertiser what their contract renewable hit rate is.

If it is the generalist job board route you are considering, an easy first place to start your research is the number of relevant jobs to yours there are on the site. More adverts and more competition for you but they are there for probably good reason. One site that can help you compile your information is www.indeed.co.uk . ‘Indeed’ searches a plethora of job boards for you in one go delivering you the results to analyse. So by placing a search for your vacancy job title and location you can find out which job boards have the most results, what salaries are on offer, what other advertisers are saying in their adverts and much more. Time spent before you place an advert will be recouped 10 times over when you get a finite number of quality candidates in return. Remember with so many poorly worded adverts out there when your well written one gets read by the right reader all your efforts will be justified.

PS If you enjoyed reading this article one the reason may just be that I addressed YOU the reader. Take a look back and count the number of times I said you ,your or yours !

Social Media

2010-05-11T14:38:00.002+01:00

Social Media course offer - 25% off your next booking

Now here's an offer you can't refuse! Just book a place on a May or June date for our 'Social Media & Online Networking For Recruiters' course and you get 25% discount off your next booking on any of our training courses!

We've got upcoming Social Media training dates to choose from in London, Edinburgh and Manchester so make your booking now while places are still available.

Here are some comments from previous delegates:
"A great course, will certainly recommend it to other recruiters."
"... another strong showing by Warren!"
"It was very informative and we have brought lots of notes back with us. Please pass on our thanks to Warren."
"I learnt a great deal in such a short time!"
"It was a really good training session and I did take away a lot of ideas and tips, so much so I bombarded my Director this morning with them all! I will certainly be recommending you to my friends within the recruitment industry."
"Many thanks Warren. A great course I would certainly recommend to other recruiters."

On this half day course you will gain valuable information on how to:

Use Linkedin, Xing, Twitter, blogs, newsletters and others to best effect.
Develop strong, profitable contacts for the long term
Find out how to use social media as a business development tool
Find candidates and build a virtual database
Use social media to get your website ranked highly by Google, Bing & Yahoo
With the ever increasing influence of social media on the world of recruiting, now is the time to invest just £129 in what may well prove to be the most important few hours of training that you will receive in 2010. To download a booking form, please click here.

Here is our current schedule:

SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE NETWORKING FOR RECRUITERS (half day)
Learn practical techniques that work and don't need a degree in IT!
May 14th - London
May 18th - Edinburgh
June 9th - Manchester
June 18th - London

All sessions run from 9.30am - 1.00pm except Edinburgh which will be 1.30pm - 5.00pm.
Investment £129+VAT
'Bring A Friend' £99+VAT

Also, wherever you are, for larger groups you may well find it more cost effective for Warren to visit you to deliver this - or any of our other courses - in-house. For further information, email ken@recruitmentmatters.com or call +44 (0)1945 461561.

Executive Search Training

2010-04-13T20:25:00.000+01:00

Some people call it ‘Executive Search’, others ‘Headhunting’ and some’ Search & Selection’. But are any of these an accurate description for the art of the direct approach?

Well, way back in 1873 when John Gabbitas started the world’s first recruitment business you can bet he found his teachers and tutors via word of mouth and recommendations. Not much has changed since then. The very best candidates are, far more often than not, already in a job and performing well. So are the terminologies actually any different from each other?

Executive Search relates more to the nature of the role and how it is sold to the client - senior level positions whereby the client is retaining the recruiter by way of payment or exclusivity to find them a shortlist of appropriate candidates.

Headhunting is perhaps more about the act or methodology of directly approaching targeted individuals for key roles. We would go so far as to say that headhunting knows no salary boundaries. A difficult to find skill set needs more than a database search, no matter the level of role.

Search & Selection more often than not relates to the combined approach of a headhunt/executive search campaign alongside a prominent advertisement. Although the direct approach may well be enough, the advert may pull candidates from companies that are off limits to the recruiter. In addition, if the client has a good brand name and would welcome the exposure and PR, then it can sometimes make sense to offer the Search & Selection approach.

We have been training individuals and organisations in the art of the direct approach since 1998. Our headhunting training course is suitable for Executive Search firms and those wishing to add headhunting to their core offering (whether you sell it as a service to the client or not). Our lead trainer and MD Warren Kemp has trained more people in headhunting and executive search than any other trainer around today.

Dates
Apr 21st - London
May 21st - London
May 25th - Coventry
Jun 17th - Manchester
Jun 24th - London
Jun 25th - Birmingham

For more details including course content go to http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/executive-search-training.php

Social Media - a Networking Revolution

2010-04-05T17:04:00.000+01:00

Everyone’s trying to win business for free

Everyone’s trying to win business for free

From Gravesend to Grantham, the East Anglia Way

From Shanghai to Swindon and onto Wemyss Bay

From Moscow to Minehead and up to Dundee

It seems everyone wants business for free

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

From Brussels to Brighton and even in York

From Galway to Galloway and back over to Cork

From Delhi to Derby and down to Torquay

It seems everyone wants business for free

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

The use of Social Media has become this year’s big business thing

Where companies want to see their name prominently on Google and Bing

Whatever happened to Alexander Graham Bell’s most famous invention?

Getting ranked number one for a keyword is now everyone’s intention

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

Andy Warhol’s prediction has absurdly become a fait accompli

Where your name can be viewed internationally on someone’s PC

There’s money to be had in all this online marketing confusion

With companies needing a business development boosting transfusion

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

With 60 million plus users Linkedin has to be onto a winner

A great place to start for the online networking beginner

If at the moment you are a small and niche service provider

Your customer reach has just got bigger and wider

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

In Germany, it’s Xing that’s the happening online place to go

Where you’ve just loaded your dice with each email throw

Offering your services or products at the press of a button

Polishing up your website to sell lamb instead of mutton

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

Ecademy is a networking site for someone more entrepreneur

Fantastic for webcasts, virtual meetings and the online voyeur

You can hold a meeting while on a train with your Wi-Fi facility

Where the only business barrier is your foreign language ability

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

Let’s not forget Facebook where friends and business come together

To cement the relationship or chat idly about that day’s weather

You can build a business fan base by setting up a group

Subtly building your brand name while keeping everyone in the loop

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

Is YouTube only a place to have some fun and frivolity?

Or can it be used to win new viewers and build customer loyalty?

Like or loathe it, that site is just about the busiest on the net

So placing a few easy to do videos is a good business bet

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

If potential customers are looking and searching the net right now for you

It’s not enough for your website to be captured by Google, Bing and Yahoo

Your personal brand is just as important, so you need to raise that bar

Registering your details on zoominfo and pipl.com will help cast your net far

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

Involve yourself with others via online discussion groups or a forum

Educate, inform and amuse but don’t oversell, as you’ll bore them

Answer important people’s questions or take part in an online poll

Become involved in the community and your business will see the good times roll

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

I couldn’t leave you without talking about the phenomenon that is Tweeting

With 1.3 billion users, there are millions using Twitter to get an online meeting

Forget Mr Fry and how some celebrities use it to build their worldwide power

It’s about direct messaging and giving others mentions that will build your own tower

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

From Bangalore to Blighty they are making it happen

From Glasgow to Gibraltar they are emailing Clapham

From Devon to Dallas along the internet freeway

It seems everyone is using sites such as eBay

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

From Calgary to Calcutta buyers are happy online

From Glasgow to Gibraltar they’re doing business in real time

From Dunfermline to Dubrovnik they are downloading audio grooves

It seems everyone wants to make online business moves

Simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, simply everyone’s trying to win business for free

© Copyright 2010 Warren Kemp

http://www.recruitmentmatters.com

Measuring where your candidates come from

2010-03-02T22:46:00.000Z

Good article once again from the Oz newsletter:

Recruitment Marketing AnalyticsAuthor: Thomas ShawDate: 12:00pm Wednesday 02
url:'http://www.recruitmentdirectory.com.au/Blog/recruitment-marketing-analytics-a260.html',
It puzzles me how recruiters are not making informed and calculated decisions on their recruitment marketing spend. Are you measuring the performance of each job advert via each source? Which sources are the best performing, provide the largest volume and have the lowest candidate acquisition cost?There is no excuse for job boards, social networking sites, recruitment websites, search engines, etc not to provide statistics on the performance of your advertising. The technology and data has always been there - we just don't understand how to analyze and interpret this information. Are you tracking candidate sources?Let's face it; there is a glut of data. First we need to understand the appropriate recruiting metrics to consider the information effective and reliable.
Metrics must be predictive and actionable. Statistics are needed to provide accurate information that can be acted upon by providing data to indicate trends.
Metrics must be tracked over time in order to generate internal benchmarks and analyze internal performance. A metric is not simply a moment in time – it must be maintained over time by tracking data to present relevant trends.
Recruitment metrics should include both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Recruitment metrics are most often focused on factors that involve only time and cost. Yes, these factors are still included in the typical framework of recruitment metrics. Time and cost obviously comprise the quantitative aspects of recruitment metrics while productivity, retention, efficiency and candidate performance comprise the qualitative aspects. So what data should we analyze? The first step is to start measuring the performance of your job ads in terms of conversion rates. These metrics will help you quickly identify bottlenecks with your current recruitment funnel and provide a simple snapshot. Then, you can start to drill down and look at the individual job advert vs source 1 vs source 2 etc. Ad Views - The number of times a job advert is viewed. May also be referred to as an "impression"Apply Clicks - The number of times the "Apply Now" button has been clicked. May also be referred to as a "Click through"Application Form Views - The number of times a job application form is viewed. This should be the same as the "Apply Clicks". If you are using a 3rd party application form, it is important to analyze the "drop off rate". There could be problems with the external application form not loading etc. Aim for 0% drop off. Applications - The number of applications processed.CPV - Cost per view $ (lower the better)CPC - Cost per click $ (lower the better)CPA - Cost per applicant $ (lower the better)CTR - Click through ratioCTR1 - % of Ad Views to Apply Clicks (higher the better)CTR2 - % of Apply Clicks to Applications (higher the better)CTR3 - % of Ad Views to Applications (higher the better)Direct URL: http://www.recruitmentdirectory.com.au/Blog/recruitment-marketing-analytics-a260.html

Sometimes you just have to say hello-so double your chances

2010-02-25T17:54:00.000Z

Keeping in touch with candidates, although somewhat labour intensive, is clearly a vital part of the recruitment process. Many recruiters feel a little embarrassed phoning to “touch base” if they haven’t got a vacancy to discuss and don’t feel too comfortable asking what the candidate has by way of irons in their fire either. A flexible candidate is going to be more likely to get a job in this tough economic climate that’s for sure. Ask the guy who has been 6 months unemployed while seeking a permanent job if he would now consider temporary, contract or interim roles. Ask the contractor who is concerned that his contract won’t be renewed if he would now consider a permanent job. Would someone now do shift work, would another take a part-time post rather than have no income coming in? At the end of that project you will have a far more flexible pool of candidates to work with. On the back of that you can then start asking your clients if they have any vacancies whether that is a one day temp need, a three month contract or a permanent post. Don’t assume a candidate will or won’t consider something and don’t assume your client knows you can service a variety of types of positions either. If your candidate base is too large to call them all then, at the very least, send out a questionnaire asking them about which types of roles e.g. temp, perm, part-time, etc. they will now consider and do also check which geographical locations they will work in, too.

For more ideas go to http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/free.php

Make your Tweets more effective

2010-02-03T16:10:00.000Z

Decent article here....... adapt her examples to your own arena... It made me think.

Are You Fun to Follow on Twitter?
8:50 AM Tuesday February 2, 2010 Comments (18)

There's an art to tweeting. And, I'm sorry to say, most people just haven't mastered it.
Twitter, for the few uninitiated out there, is a social networking site that limits your posts to 140 characters. You can sign up to "follow" (receive the Tweets) from just about anyone you choose.
I initially signed up to follow lots of people — colleagues, journalists, academics, politicians, comedians, friends and family. Over the past months, I've been steadily "unfollowing" — if that's the right term — many of the people I originally signed on behind.
Frankly, most people's tweets are neither interesting nor fun to read — certainly not on a daily or hourly basis. Many, not at all. I say this with no condemnation, since I admit mine are pretty lousy, too. And I have a theory about why.
Recently I received one of those random chain emails; it's probably circulated through your in-box, as well. This one described an experiment organized by the Washington Post in 2007. A man played six Bach pieces on a violin for 45 minutes in the Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning. During the time he played, approximately two thousand people passed through the station. Of those, only six people stopped and listened, and then only for a very short while. The greatest levels of enthusiasm were displayed by young children, several of whom tugged on their parents, asking to stop and listen, but without success.
This concert, enjoyed by virtually none of the two thousand in the station that day, was given by the renowned violinist Joshua Bell, playing some of the most intricate pieces ever written. Two days before his concert in a theater in Boston had sold out with ticket prices averaging $100.
The circulating email challenges us to ponder what we each are missing. In a common place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
I would add: Do we take time to reflect on the events of our day — to add our own interpretation? When things strike us as unusual or lovely, do we take time to note them?
These questions, I believe, are at the heart of the successful use of Twitter. Individuals who are most skilled at using this peculiar 140-character medium are those who do notice the small details of life, who capture the moments that others of us miss, who slow down to watch and listen while most race on, and who personalize the events they see.
As an example, my daughter, in her Tweets, often succeeds in capturing her world's details in ways that I find interesting and fun.
Sometimes she shares a Jeopardy-like nugget of trivia: Who knew that Brown and University of Chicago were founded by Baptists?
Or she makes me laugh by adding her own commentary to an overhead quote: The lowest cut Tim Gunn can make: "Its borderline Hilary Clinton."
Some of her tweets are strange and inexplicable — and become the basis for our next phone conversation: "He supported his family by selling wigs by day and teaching drums by night." (This turns out to be a passage from a biography of Phil Lesh, who played bass for the Grateful Dead, describing one of the group's drummers.)
She provides glimpses of how she feels about her life, often cloaked in riddles: "The history of art doesn't work in straight lines; rather it always seems to go in circles."-MM. Why my major is both pointless & relevant. (MM is her art history professor.)
And she observes the smallest actions of those around her, reporting them with her own footnote: When I left lunch today my meter still had 6 min left. I watched as the next person pulled in, got out, and fist pumped. You're welcome.
Based in part on following @k_erickso, here's what I've concluded about the art of the tweet:
Don't report banal details. Unless you're observing a true breaking news event (and note: this term does not include what you or your child ate for lunch), skip it.
Do interpret your experiences. How do they make you feel? What do they mean to you?
Do share the oddities you observe. Look for things that seem unusual, out-of-place, surprising.
Do share things you love - quotes, phrases, descriptions of events that brought joy to your day.
Slow down, enjoy. Listen to the world's music. Share the best of your experiences, but remember, 140 characters is a unique format — more like poetry or Haiku than news reporting. Using it well requires our thoughtful attention.
What would you add? What are your favorite Tweets? Whom do you love to follow?
My Twitter handle is @tammyerickson — but, I'm warning you, I'm not very good at it . . . yet.

Article available online at http://blogs.hbr.org/erickson/2010/02/are_you_fun_to_follow_on_twitt.html

Candidate advice to attract recruiters

2010-01-25T22:29:00.000Z

Good article here by Sirona Consulting..........

Make it easy for recruiters to find you
Recruiters are increasingly using social networking tools to source candidates
The huge rise in popularity of social networks has forever changed the traditional ways of finding a job. With LinkedIn and Twitter, job seekers have more ways of researching and directly communicating with companies and employers. But recruiters, too, are using these tools to source and build relationships with candidates. Rather than just expecting candidates to come to them, they are actively seeking out new talent on social networks.
Social recruiting, says Andy Headworth of Sirona Consulting can be defined as a combination of recruitment and social media: that is, using social media channels such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and blogs to reach out and engage with job seekers.
How can you use social recruiting to your advantage"Be in the conversation," says Mervyn Dinnen, who recruits for leading companies in both the private and public sector.
"Get noticed through the strength of your networks, through what you say in forums and on blogs, and brand yourself as someone able to make a difference and add value," he said.
Where before the only exposure candidates had was to post their CVs onto CV databases, job seekers can now build connections, join groups on LinkedIn, answer questions and start discussions, and keep ahead of the trends and issues affecting their sectors. They can increase their profile by following companies, recruiters and thought leaders on Twitter and being part of the community. As job boards become more 'community' based they can also participate in discussions.
Wendy Jacob, who recruits in the construction industry, says that the best way to use social media is to get yourself out there and network more. "Being active in social media allows recruiters to get to know you and understand whether you would fit into the company. Consider social media as a long-term plan. Recruiters often keep candidates who they feel would be a good fit for the company on the backburner until the right role comes up," she said.
Wendy advises job seekers to be aware of their electronic footprint. It's not ideal if the only thing that shows up about you online is a daft picture on Facebook. A blog is a good display of your knowledge, she says — even if it not many people read it. Job seekers should Google themselves and maybe even set up Google alerts for their name to make sure no-one posts anything untoward about them.
Building strong relationships with recruiters"If you have key skills, or specific industry experience or qualifications, find recruiters who specialise in your industry," continues Andy. "Be focussed on what you want to do, have a well-written and presented CV and be able to deliver at an interview."
Mervyn adds: "Know yourself. Know what you have to offer, what your key achievements are, where you have made a difference and added value, and where you have had a positive impact on processes. Follow the key players in your markets and know what they are talking about and how they view things. Don't 'nag' recruiters: if they rate you they'll keep you in mind for opportunities, but do engage with them and try to find out what their take on the market is.''
How to make sure you are found by recruitersAndy offers these tips:
Be consistent with the information you put on different social media sites.
Have a good profile, succinctly explaining what you do and containing relevant industry keywords. This will give you a better chance of being found via online searches.
Include a good clean headshot photograph.
Ensure you are on a number of different social media sites, namely LinkedIn, Twitter and Google (create a Google profile).
Remove any potentially damaging photos from your Flickr and Facebook accounts.
Don't be bashful — be pro-active! Find the recruiters and companies and start to engage with them.
Use your own network to help you find people online to network with.
Don't give up after the first week! You have to put in the hard work to get the rewards when looking for a new job, and using social media is no different.

Can a simple # help you with SEO?

2010-01-19T23:05:00.000Z

The jury's out but it could well get you more followers on Twitter. See http://tinyurl.com/hashtag67

Googles rating your tweets?

2010-01-14T12:53:00.000Z

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 by Jordan McCollum
6
Want Your Tweets on Google? Get More (Better) Followers
Back in October, Google was second to the punch, falling behind Bing as they both announced real-time search deals to include Twitter results. (And it didn’t help that Bing was already testing live results and Google was months away from the integration.) But now Google’s real-time results are live—and they’re talking about how they’re ranking tweets.
If you thought Twitter and Google were popularity contests, turns out you’re right, according to an interview with Google Fellow Amit Singhal in Technology Review today. (Well, Singhal insists that this is “definitely, definitely” more than a popularity contest.) One of the many ranking signals they use is the number and quality of your followers:
“You earn reputation, and then you give reputation. If lots of people follow you, and then you follow someone–then even though this [new person] does not have lots of followers,” his tweet is deemed valuable because his followers are themselves followed widely, Singhal says.
However, other ranking factors come into effect, too—including hashtags (Google has apparently modeled hashtags and found them to be a negative indicator of tweet quality), and context (if you’re searching for “Obama health care,” tweets mentioning Obama and the war in Afghanistan won’t show up as relevant.)
Plans for the future include geolocation information, and further development of the “truly symbiotic” relationship between Google and Twitter (in the words of Dylan Casey, the Google product manager for real-time search).
Google also acknowledges that Twitter isn’t the be-all and end-all of real time on the Internet (finally!)—they use many different social sites and news sources for their real time results.
What do you think? Is this the best way to rank tweets in real time results?

The economy & double dipping

2010-01-07T11:05:00.000Z

Good viewpoint article on the UK & Global economy. Food for thought...

The Downturn Revisited – Preparing For Nessie

06/01/2010By Rohit TalwarOver the last couple of months we've witnessed a growing sense across the business and government sources that we talk to that we are heading for a multi-dip recession. While most of the European Union countries have officially pulled out recession, the UK is still struggling to launch and President Obama is issuing ever-starker warnings about the risk of a double dip recession.

Read it all at http://tinyurl.com/freshbiz-wk

Ssssshhh........Dont talk about recruitment

2010-01-03T21:27:00.000Z

Clients spend a small amount of their time actually recruiting and a much larger part of their time on other aspects of their business. In these troubled times they are taking more phone calls from recruiters than ever before, all enquiring about potential vacancies. Do you think they might be getting fed up by now? When the client does have a vacancy they need help with they, will call a recruiter and one that they trust. So what do clients look for in a recruiter? Well industry knowledge and competitor knowledge are high up there on any list. So, put simply, in the dealings you have with them leading up to a vacancy, you need to prove your worth as an industry expert. That means talking about the market and their competitors with them, keeping them up to date or, at very least, showing them that you are up to date. So when calling them up, give them information that will help them and things they will be impressed with, thus nudging you a few places up the rankings of potential preferred recruiters each time. You will get what you want when you help them get what they want – and everyone wants market information

10 things that can ruin your career

2009-12-14T22:14:00.000Z

Management Today magazine have an article that while it is based on some fact and much opinion it is worth taking some of the advice on board (perhaps ) eg keeping your dress sense contemporary and within your company's dress culture.
The full article is here at:
http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/969295/10-things-unexpectedly-ruin-career/

Facebook Changes

2009-12-10T19:28:00.001Z

Might work out well for recruiters who are seeking info on potential candidates I suppose but........ well you deciide for yourself.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/blog/editors_corner/article/54381/
If you've logged into Facebook in the last 24 hours you will have noticed that the social networking site has changed its privacy settings. The move, which could dramatically increase the amount of personal information people display online, has outraged digital rights groups and civil liberties campaigners.
The changes make more information, photos and videos visible to everybody on the web unless you specifically edit the settings yourself - status updates can now also be picked up by search engines.
The pop-up message that greets members asking them to change their privacy settings appears to be different depending on how engaged that person was with Facebook. We would urge all members to log on and double-check their privacy settings now, if they haven't already done so.
Facebook said the changes, which were introduced on 9th December, help members manage updates they want to share, not to trick them into revealing more information than they are comfortable with.
So why then are status updates now automatically made public unless specified otherwise by the user?
"These new 'privacy' changes are clearly intended to push Facebook users to publicly share even more information than before," said Kevin Bankston, a senior attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Even worse, the changes will actually reduce the amount of control that users have over some of their personal data."
Facebook began testing the privacy changes during mid-2009 before introducing them site-wide. The changes let people decide who should see updates, whether all 350 million Facebook members should see them, and if they should be viewable across the web.
Barry Schnitt, a Facebook spokesman, said users could avoid revealing some information to non-friends by leaving gender and location fields blank. Any suggestion that we're trying to trick them into something would work against any goal that we have," said Mr Schnitt.
Facebook is encouraging users to share their updates because, he said, that was in line with "the way the world is moving". But the important differentiator is that these changes are more in line with how Facebook wants the world to move forward, not necessarily how its users want the world to move forward.
As blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick said, this is not what Facebook users signed up for. This issue isn't about privacy for Facebook, it's about increasing traffic and the visibility of activity on the site.
Many users have left comments on the official Facebook blog criticising the changes.

Personal Brand Awareness

2009-12-07T22:43:00.000Z

Have you ever said to yourself “I’ll get this job out of the way so I can go and do something I want to do instead?” You have? Then let’s be honest – what quality of time and effort did you give the task and how good a job did you do? The end result of that task has your name, your personal brand stamped on it in exactly the same way that your best work has. Do everything you do, no matter how small or seemingly meaningless, to the best of your ability. That’s how really great reputations are made.

And your reputation is the one thing you take with you everywhere you go. What do your friends think of you, what do your enemies think of you, clients, candidates, suppliers the list goes on. But what about the person who you first meet? Let’s say you call a prospective client and the conversation goes well and you exchange contact details.... great. Now what’s the first thing he does if he is serious about using your services? That’s right he “Googles” your name and company and pokes around a bit.

What if he found you had 12 contacts on Linkedin.com? What if he found you weren’t on Linkedin at all? What if you have all of 3 live jobs on Monster.com?

Contrast that with someone who has 300 contacts on Linkedin and 45 recommendations, that they have a regular blog offering information on his industry and 165 followers on Twitter. Which recruiter would he choose?

There’s a well known quote by Thomas Fuller that “Good clothes opens all doors”. Treat the net as your wardrobe. If you don’t have enough clothes for all occasions or you wear the obviously cheap jacket then you won’t win friends or influence people. Be seen on the most popular sites, make sure that information is up to date and sells you in the best light. Two spelling errors on a hastily put together job board advert will tell the reader all they need to know and so too will having few contacts or recommendations on Linkedin. Check yourself out and make sure your personal brand is the one you want. www.dogpile.com and www.zoominfo.com are two good places to start and as a final tip (to help you look for things such as old job board postings that should be deleted) try putting in your email address into www.pipl.com. Make sure the net is giving your personal brand the exposure it deserves.

Changes to Xing

2009-11-30T22:05:00.000Z

Corporate customers, associations and organisations can now use company profiles to bolster their online presence with an individualised profile on XING, Europe’s network for business contacts.
For the first time, companies and organisations can acquire a professional online presence in the active XING community, enabling them to engage customers and other interested individuals within the XING network, and connect with more than 8m members.

Companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Bertelsmann, Continental, Hubert Burda Media, Gruner, Deutsche Lufthansa and Accenture already have individualised company profiles on XING.
“Our own online presences on XING allows us to reach our customers where they already do their online networking. We’re excited that Lufthansa is now a part of the business network,” said Hubert Frach, vice-president marketing at Deutsche Lufthansa.

This article came via :http://www.recruiter.co.uk My own thoughts are that if you are serious about doing business in Europe than Xing could be a great add on to your linkedIn account.

New option for clients & recruiters

2009-11-18T16:01:00.000Z

mmmm....not sure about this. Its been tried before. It will depend on the exposure it creates I guess.
http://www.gatszu.com/pressrelease.php
Gatszu.com
Coming Soon
Launching in January 2010, Gatszu.com, in partnership with The Sunday Times HR, Finance and IT Business Networks, is set to revolutionise the recruitment industry by fundamentally altering the way employers seek candidates and affording UK businesses access to a much wider pool of talent than ever before.
Established by recruitment experts Stuart Murray and Gary Edwards, with support from the founder of Anders Glaser Wills, former Non-Executive Director of Fusion People - a Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 company - and ex-chairman of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), Phil Anders, plus finance specialist Paul Cheetham, Gatszu.com's key aim is to simplify and streamline the recruitment process by allowing employers the freedom to set their own terms of engagement, while giving UK-based recruitment agencies unparalleled access to thousands of companies - from SMEs to blue-chips - that are actively seeking fresh talent, and who are willing to pay a fixed fee to the recruitment specialist that finds it.
Built around one transparent set of terms and conditions, Gatszu.com is a fast, efficient, straightforward platform in which employers seeking candidates maintain full control of the recruitment process while saving time and money. Employers simply register, post a vacancy on Gatszu.com, disclose the (fixed) fee they're willing to pay an agency for finding the right candidate, and sit back as the recruitment industry comes to them.
With one click of a computer's mouse employers can review a recruitment agency's historical performance and decide with whom they wish to engage. Once they have approved and accepted an approach from a recruitment agency, suitable candidates can be submitted and considered for a position. At their discretion, an employer has the power to disengage from a relationship at any time, or engage with multiple parties.
While employers can decide which agencies they interact with, based on previous performance or their database of potential candidates, recruitment specialists benefit from a previously unattainable, instant access pool of qualified vacancies across all areas of UK industry, without the need for business development or acceptance onto a PSL. What's more, recruitment specialists are guaranteed full, fixed fee payment from Gatszu.com within 45 days, affording predictable cash flow and effective management.
Employers set their own recruitment fee
Employers only pay for a successful placement
Employers fill vacancies fast by creating instant competition between agencies
Employers gain access to a much wider pool of candidates
Employers engage or disengage with recruiters with the click of a button
Employers can search recruiters who specialise in their sector
Employers pay one fixed fee, of which gatszu.com take 10%
Recruiters get immediate access to large volumes of vacancies
Recruiters receive fee 45 days after the candidate starts
Recruiters supply only committed employers who have vacancies to fill
Recruiters obtain excellent candidate tracking system
Recruiters creates a direct client relationship once engaged on a vacancy
Recruiters face no administrative burdens or lengthy negotiations
Recruiters pay no membership fees
Gatszu.com is in partnership with:
HR BUSINESS NETWORK
FINANCE BUSINESS NETWORK
IT BUSINESS NETWORK
An alliance based on business efficiency, effectiveness and evolution

Grow you Twitter following

2009-11-13T10:10:00.000Z

Great way to automatically build a diverse following.
TopFollowed grows your Twitter network through reciprocal following: http://www.topfollowed.com
You should at the very least check it out.

Recruitment News from around the world.

2009-11-02T21:49:00.001Z

Australian Newsletter available upon request from info@recruitmentdirectory.com.au
has some great stuff this week including a discussion on whether it is correct to turn down applicants for a job because of their IP address !! Wow. See below

Rejecting Candidates based on IP AddressAuthor: Thomas ShawDate: 2:48pm Friday 30 October 2009

We now rely on using technology in the recruitment process more than ever. But should we place 100% of our trust in rejecting candidates based solely on their IP address?While browsing a number of job sites this morning, I spotted an interesting function on an overseas job board. The underlying job board software pre qualifies candidates based on their location (IP address).An extract of the product sheet reveals "Recruiters set a budget for each job ad. Qualified views cost only 49 cents each. When the job is filled, recruiters pay only for the number of qualified views that job ad received. For example, a recruiter will not pay for an India-based view of a job posted in New York"Okay... Well that might make sense for those job boards selling a "pay for performance" model. But isn't the main reason we use job boards is to help us distribute our ads to an audience we can't reach?I used to work in IT Recruitment and I would estimate that around 80% of the candidates that applied to my job ads had immigrated within the past 5 years.We want the best candidate, and some of the best candidates do come from overseas!How many of us travel overseas for work or on holidays? Take this example. John, a highly respected and well sought after candidate was in Australia on holidays. He saw this job he wanted to apply for but… Sorry. This employer requests that only candidates in Canada apply to this job. You appear to be located in Australia, not Canada, so you will not be able to apply for this job.I will save the technology flaws for another blog post. Has our reliance on technology gone too far or has it done its job?

Direct URL: http://www.recruitmentdirectory.com.au/Blog/rejecting-candidates-based-on-ip-address-a289.html

New.. Google Social Search

2009-10-26T19:57:00.001Z

Hot off the press.....could this change search engine rankings? Find quickly what's appropriate to your own social circle. Google launches trial : http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/introducing-google-social-search-i.html

Understanding psychometric tests

2009-10-19T16:53:00.001+01:00

http://www.practicetests.co.uk/
Check it out - gives some decent advice and background and even a sample test. Could help you or a contact or candidate. Good starting point.

LinkedIn Top Tips

2009-10-15T22:39:00.000+01:00

Ran a question in the Q& A area of LinkedIn.com .... asked what is your best tip for getting the best from it. Some great ideas & I'm collating the answers now. If you would like a copy of the findings then email me to warren@recruitmentmatters.com

Help with more website exposure

2009-10-11T22:48:00.000+01:00

Signed up to this guy Jarom Adair a couple of weeks ago. Great information about getting traffic to your website, increasing return visitors, and much more. Really like his stuff. Lots and lots for free and although I havent done it yet I imagine he has much more for his "buyers". Love the idea of how much he gives away for free.
http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=92cUp&m=1k302DSJ1t21Sf&b=hotl9uNP40WBmaBasdH6ew

Google Everflux

2009-10-06T13:12:00.000+01:00

Great article here on why your ranking for keywords on Google may well be changing more frequently and just how difficult it is to hang onto the top spots.
http://google-ad-revenue-secrets.com/internet/google-everflux-just-what-we-needed-google-on-speed/ from a guy called Titus Hoskins. Its all in the "Google Dance" !

Help with getting a job

2009-09-29T20:09:00.000+01:00

http://www.interviewexperts.co.uk/

Newsletter for recruiters

2009-09-29T20:05:00.000+01:00

http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/news/newsletter/index.html

Subscribe at http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/subscribe.php

More news and views for and from the recruitment arena

Free training podcasts for recruitment professionals - Futura rec2rec

2009-09-25T15:09:00.000+01:00

Free training podcasts for recruitment professionals - Futura rec2rec

Personal Brand Awareness

2009-09-13T15:36:00.000+01:00

Social Media - the two headed coin you can win everytime with.

2009-09-06T18:42:00.000+01:00

Social Online Networking seems to be the big thing that everyone is discussing. The net helps you do that easily with a little thought. As well as getting you more contacts for you to approach (after all isn’t that what it is about?) the flipside/upside is when used properly you gain more traffic and ranking status on your website too and get people approaching you ! I’ve got a client who ranks in the top 4 results on Google, Yahoo and Bing globally for a specific search term. They don’t even use the keyword search term on their site But because some 62 of their backlink sites mention them for those keywords they rank highly. Obviously if they then use that search term on their own site they could well jump up the rankings even higher. So social networking on sites such as facebook, linkedin, twitter and stumble can be great for gaining contacts for your business but when it becomes a backlink its a double whammy! At http://www.recruitmentmatters.com we have so far got 22 different search terms ranked in the Google top 10. I’ve come across a great free tool to check out your own backlinks and those of your competitors. A backlink is simply a site that uses one of your URL’s in their text content e.g. “For recruitment tips please visit http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/free.php “. Working smartly you can see what blogs, articles, sites and links are or can be good for you. The old adage of “its not what you know but who you know” still stands true. Just make sure they are quality sites/people/links that you associate with. The site I mentioned is http://www.backlinkwatch.com/ .

No more "Cold Calling"

2009-08-31T12:36:00.000+01:00

Decision makers and people involved within the recruitment process get called by recruiters day in day out – sometimes, quite literally, several times a day depending on the size of their organisation and the market they are in. Those telephone calls come from recruiters just like you, all wanting their share of the action. So why do some get the chance to work a vacancy and others get the cold shoulder? Why do some guys get an exclusive role at full fee and others get a “no thanks” and a “please don’t call back” response?Well, it could be the recruiter’s ability to handle the difficult rebuff that can turn things around. Yet when your contact says “We have a PSL,” do they really mean there is no way in for you or is it simply a quick put down to get you off the phone? Why do they say that, if in reality they potentially could do with some help? I’d like you to consider this:
Getting a negative reaction may have quite a lot to do with the initial impression that you create – what your opening is and how much you have done your homework. If you have a compelling opening, a good reason to speak to them and ‘sponsorship’ to call then maybe, just maybe, you won’t even get the objection or negative reaction.
So what is ‘sponsorship’ in this scenario? Well, consider this - why cold call a stranger saying “You don’t know me, I’m a recruiter…” if, instead, you can say that the reason for your call is that you have been speaking with a current or previous contact of theirs - obviously name dropping your sponsor as you do so - and tell them that the person suggested that it would be a good idea for both of you to speak? Now, you have to agree that’s a far warmer opening and, therefore, a much more compelling reason to call with that all important sponsorship. Even if you do get the “we have a PSL” reaction, you can at least be more sure that is a genuine response and not something said to fob you off.So, an ongoing project for you has to be to try to find someone who can give you the sponsorship to call a new prospect.

There are two main ways of going about this.
(At Recruitment Matters International http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/ we can go into more details but in a nutshell).......
Either find an organisation you want to do business with and explore who you might know, who has a contact there, and whose name you can use to get you in. Or speak to existing contacts as to who they would recommend you call within their business, within a different department or office within their organisation or who they know outside of their organisation.
Working hard at that may well mean that 80% of your introductory calls to potential clients have that all important sponsorship. Now, of course, that means you will get fewer objections but it also means that, if you do get one from a sponsored contact, they are more likely to be genuine. And that’s a good frame of mind to get yourself into. Whether it is a cold call or a sponsored introduction, start to believe that they would use you if they could, and it’s just circumstance, purse strings, satisfaction with their current provider or any other VALID reason. In that way when you give your response you will sound more reasonable, respectful and professional.
Good luck – go get those sponsors! For more ideas you can visit http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/free.php

Recruitment process

2009-08-27T23:59:00.000+01:00

‘There is nothing that is a more certain sign of insanity than to do the same thing over and over and expect the results to be different.’ Einstein
Recruitment should, when performed at its very best, be a simple, logical process and a process that is replicated time and time again. That way you get consistency of results and results that are measurable and tangible. A recession is no place for a maverick. Get good steady process into what you do, how you do it, when you do it. Get good steady process into what you say, how you say it and when you say it. Make sure everyone doing the same role does things the same way and says the same things. Therefore, when things are working, you can replicate the result again and again. Sure you will have a different personality to a colleague and have your own style and charisma, but the overall message will be the same.
So why is all this so important? Well, if you are a business owner, would you really want all your staff doing things their own way with mixed and unpredictable results – especially in these uncertain economic times? In a recession, can you afford to have someone cut a corner and miss picking up a role or filling a vacancy because they forgot to ask a certain question or decided not to implement some part of the process? If you are a consultant, do you really want to be winging it when you pick up the phone or do you want to follow a tried and tested formula that you know gets results - even if you need to be contacting more prospects than you did a year ago or have to work two hours more a day because there are fewer jobs around?So, what if you are still not getting the results after consistently following these processes?
Well, the good news is because you have been doing things according to process then you can investigate the various parts of what you do and say and, therefore, can change things accordingly – test a slightly different way of doing or saying something and when you test it enough to be happy that it is progress on a previous part of the process, you can then build it into your new enhanced process.
There is no need to panic. You don’t need to change your world overnight. It will be a calm, systematic change to a tried and tested process. As we all know, there are currently fewer vacancies around and you will either have many more candidates wanting certain types of work or fewer people willing to move in other specific positions, so you will have to adapt accordingly but do it with a logical, cool head. Don’t panic!

Search or be found

2009-08-24T22:53:00.000+01:00

Searching the Net
It’s confusing out there. If you are like me then every time you do a search you learn something new. I’ve very recently come across (through the joys of Twitter) a real breakdown of how to search the net using Google. It’s aimed at teachers teaching students with PowerPoint’s, notes, videos, YouTube content and explanations, so its very user friendly. It’s great to get better at searching AND if you flip some of the content then it’s a good reverse tool to teach you how to be FOUND on the web. Our own web site comes out at numbers 1,2 or 3 on page one of Google for search terms “headhunting training”, “recruitment tips” and “recruitment training” ...not bad !
Check this out : http://www.google.com/educators/p_websearch.html

Recruitment industry fighting back

2009-08-24T21:20:00.000+01:00

Spoke to 2 clients in particular on friday last week. One a banking recruiter and the other in property/estate agency recruitment. Both very bouyant. "Best 2 months this year" they said.... wow maybe the green shoots are growing.