Asking for a reference is so, so easy to do! So why do the majority of recruitment companies avoid or forget to do it?  Are they scared of what they might hear?

I am always of the opinion that I would rather know, than not know “what the person is really like”, “is their CV 100% correct”, “can they actually do the job for which they have applied”.

I ensure that all the team at Project Resource are trained on the importance of taking references on everyone we represent to our customers, this is basic quality control, you wouldn’t sell a car if you didn’t know the engine would start would you?  We also take references on every person we employ into our business, to ensure we and the interviewee has made the right short and long-term decision. After all, it takes 5 minutes to take a good reference which can save hours of wasted time and money hiring the wrong person.

Of the people I have recruited for Project Resource to work as Recruitment Consultants, that regrettably did not make the grade, or did not make it through the recession, or decided recruitment was not for them, I would say we have only been asked for references on a few occasions.  I know many of these people have gone to work for other recruiters, when in our opinion they should probably have not.  Why did you hire them without taking a reference?  Why take the risk?

It seems like the worst recruiters are recruiters who, when it comes to following best practice for their own business, fail to take such basic steps.  I am proud to say we have a clear interview and recruitment process, which all the interview team follow, we ensure that prior to making any new hire we have documentary evidence to support the hire.  I like to think this is why the team that we have are a great team and positively stand out above other recruiters working for competing recruitment agencies.

Enough of this, I just don’t get it.

What made me pose the question in the first place, was that while I was canvasing recruitment consultants within the driving/logistics market, I was amazed how few were actually using Linkedin or any form of social networking. I can understand that there will be very few lorry drivers who have a profile, but there are a few thousand decision makers!

So I decided to look at a sector that would be more suited to using LinkedIn and decided to focus on REC members who specialise in accounting staff within the NW. As it turns out there are only 25 companies to look at. It may not be a huge sample but given the specialism I thought it should be a good industry given their profile to test, rather than IT or construction sector.

So with all the hype about LinkedIn for recruiters, I was expecting at least 90 % of these recruitment companies to be utilising the site to its full potential, but in truth the reality couldn’t be any further away.

Of the 25 recruitment companies only 7 had a company profile and just 8 had more than 500 connections. What was even more surprising was that there were 9 companies with no representation at all on LinkedIn! I thought I cannot believe it given the benefits, so I thought I would have a quick look at the healthcare sector and within minutes I was getting the same results, well to be honest worse.

So going back to Accountancy recruitment I thought I would see how many accountants were actually registered on Linked in in the NW (25 mile radius to be exact) and I came up with just under 4,000

I have to admit I was dumfounded and interestingly the companies that did have a profile were the more successful organisations.

When you think that LinkedIn is free and is probably one of the best ways to show case your abilities, it beggars belief that less than 30% have a corporate profile.

I do not think I need to say much more to be honest, except that maybe I shouldn’t have let out this piece of news!

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…These social media names have now become rather nominal as they effectively altered the way we perceive our online communication and interaction. Indeed, they say “it is not official until it is on Facebook”, a statement many would have found preposterous just a few years ago. Nowadays, however, social media has perpetrated not only individuals’ personal, but also professional lives. It is no secret that one can successfully use social media to look for and apply to jobs directly. Moreover, companies often tweet their internal positions on Twitter and one can also follow companies on LinkedIn in order to learn of job opportunities and much more. While certainly a great resource, social media needs to be approached with caution as once ‘social’, we are always ‘social’. It is, hence, my goal in this article to highlight our social media experience here at Project Resource and discuss both advantages and some incurred hurdles.

Project Resource Limited is a dynamic and fast-growing specialised recruitment agency, serving the construction, civil engineering and infrastructure industries. As Project Resource aspires to be the leader in its field, we realise that using social media can contribute to our success. As such, we now have active accounts on all of the main social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Each of these helps us achieve different goals, jointly contributing to the main message we seek to convey to both employers and job seekers. This message is clear: Project Resource was set up to be the most successful and professional recruitment business in the UK and we believe we are achieving this goal daily.

In particular, all of our recruitment consultants from both our Reading and Solihull offices have extended profiles on our LinkedIn page, which allows them to stay in touch with other professionals and colleagues. LinkedIn is an excellent resource for getting professional contacts and recommendations and also attracting skilled individuals to use a company’s services. Twitter, on the other hand, is ideal for posting live job opportunities that we currently hold. Once a follower, one can easily stay up to date with as many as 20 jobs that we post daily. This is really convenient for anyone looking for jobs in the industries that we specialise in. Lastly, our Facebook page is used to help build both professional and social connections. Facebook I find to be both the most influential and yet the most difficult to utilise. When creating our Facebook business page, our goal was to primarily attract individuals to come and work for us, i.e. our internal job vacancies. As such, within a couple of months we were able to get our first 50 fans mainly through word of mouth and posting entries on other relevant Facebook pages. However, our growth has been limited since. Having spent quite some time trying to figure out the situation, I came to realise that people are generally reluctant to joining small or less-known companies on Facebook mainly because they fear it may be scam. Indeed, as impressively large of a community as Facebook is, unfortunately, it seems to have little control over the pages that are being created on it. Therefore, we continuously strive to remain both professional and approachable. Luckily, during what I refer to as the second phase of our Facebook development (upon receiving our initial fans), we started getting more fans from outside of our original network. Individuals looking for jobs have now become fans, thus getting an opportunity to stay up-to-date with the multiple internal job vacancies that we post. In fact, one can now simply click on ‘work for us’ tab on our page to review and apply for our open job vacancies directly on Facebook. To foster further engagement, we also regularly run career-related contests. Our first contest featured a short quiz about Project Resource. Having answered all questions correctly first, the winner got a chance to get her CV professionally edited by one of our experts for free. Our second contest is soon to start, so keep an eye on it on our page. Certainly, we have many more plans in mind as we continue to develop and internalise our social media. We continue to hungrily explore online and other opportunities to bring you the latest news, opportunities and ideas, all of which can be found on our blog.

There is no better time to join our professional service be it for seeking a job, career advice or staying on top of recruitment views and news. For all this I am a fan of Project Resource, are you?

With the recent confirmation that the government are to axe the retirement age this morning, I received virtually the same time this study on 3,000 employed workers on their views of the changes in retirement. So it seemed very fitting to post here on Recruitment Views, mind you I am not sure if I want to work till I am 70 but of course we may have to given the short falls in our pensions of course.

I would be interested to know other people’s views so feel free to comment below, in particular how it will impact on the recruitment industry.

The Government has announcement its intention to scrap the default retirement age of 65 but plans to extend the state pension age have been met with dismay by the majority of the British public. In fact, 65% say they can’t imagine anything worse than having to work until they are 70, according to research by distance learning provider Home learning College*. This sentiment peaks amongst 45 to 54 year olds, with 73% rejecting this idea.

‘Three score years and 10’ was once deemed the average life expectancy in western countries. This has increased to 80, according to World Bank figures, but that still only leaves 10 years for most people to enjoy the fruits of their labours.

Men are slightly more likely to welcome the idea of an increased state pension age, with 38% saying they would love to think they’ll still be working at 70. Only 32% of females shared this attitude. However, given the choice, 52% of men would like to retire by the age of 55, compared to just 44% of women.

Further research by Home Learning College suggests that having a new professional focus could make the idea of retiring later more attractive. Almost two fifths (39%) of those surveyed said they would want to change career if they thought they would have to work until they are 70.

“It’s never too late to start a new career,” says Dave Snow, Academic Director at Home Learning College. “As we progress through life we gain a wealth of proficiencies and experience that can be transferred to other roles. This knowledge can also be enhanced through targeted vocational study.

“Our own figures show that a strong interest from older students who wish to update their skills and re-training for completely different roles. For example, a quarter of people on one of our popular web design courses are aged over 55. Accounting and bookkeeping courses are also in high demand among this age group thanks to the opportunities for flexible working available to professionals in this sector.

“Clearly, a large number of people are investing in continued learning in order to stay competitive in today’s challenging economic climate. It is this attitude and commitment to further study that will make working beyond the official retirement age tolerable and hopefully even pleasurable.“

For details of all Home Learning College’s professionally accredited home study courses please visit www.homelearningcollege.co.uk

*Research conducted amongst 3,000 British adults in employment

ENDS

About Home Learning College

Home Learning College is the largest vocational distance learning provider in the UK, and is accredited by the National Union of Students (NUS), allowing its 65,000 students to enjoy the discounts and services available with the NUS Extra Card.

All Home Learning College courses lead to professional CV-enhancing, employer recognised qualifications, including AAT, Sage, CompTIA, Microsoft, ICB and CIW. Subjects covered include book-keeping, accounting, IT and computing, web design and many more.

Home Learning College students benefit from a dedicated in-house tutoring service and the Virtual Learning Community – an online learning environment which facilitates the delivery of course material and peer networking.

For more information on all Home Learning College courses visit www.homelearningcollege.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter @home_learning

Or check out student testimonials and other video content on our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/homelearningcollege

Over the last week or so I have been forwarded a number of press releases and until now I have not had a moment to sort.

So this afternoon I knew if I do not deal with them today, I never will!

The problem is if I was to write about each one then it would be too time consuming, but as I felt they would be of interest to you in regards to seeing what the competition was up to, I wanted to include them somehow. So below are short paragraphs and links to each press release.

First up is Medacs Healthcare recruitment, which really is doing what a good agency should do when it comes to cornering their market, as sponsors of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Conference. More here.

Next is Pathmotion who are looking to give lucky individuals the opportunity to meet their favourite UK business icon. More here on this competition

Roy Ripper is at it again with a superb Seminar on “the art of headhunting” on the 10th August in London, given his background it should be fact full of tips details here

A study by Vodafone has found that finally graduates are realising to succeed in finding a new job, they need work experience. More on the recruitment survey here

It’s all in the name recons Dave Way of Mark Sattin, who have decided to drop the WH with their new website launch, mind you WH Smiths cannot see a problem!! More here, but can you spot the mistake?

I may not necessarily agree with NetNatives recruitment strategy and its impact on the recruitment industry, but none the less it is important to see what the competition is up to.

I am beginning to think that reading is beginning to take a disproportionate amount of my time; I suppose as a direct result of information overload and a revived passion for reading novels has not helped, so suggesting I would do a review of “How to be a great Recruitment Manager” by Dean Gollings, was asking for trouble and in reality has taken me longer than it should!

Nonetheless I managed to finish reading Dean’s take on what managing a Recruitment Business is all about, and I think therein lies the feel of the book. It is very much a personal account of running a recruitment business based on his excellent experiences, which is not surprising really.

I for one can certainly relate to his experience of working for a corporate recruitment firm and looking back, this book would have been a godsend in giving you a clear direction in what it was I should have been doing, or even what the management should have been doing come to think of it!

I cannot say I would necessarily agree with everything he stated, but I do feel he comes from my school of recruitment and thereby I managed to warm to his attitude to our business.

What is blatantly obvious is that he says it as it is, there is no middle ground and if you are looking to take your recruitment business or division to the number one spot, then by following Dean’s steps will undoubtedly show you the way.

One particular chapter on How to recruit certainly reflects his uncompromising attitude and I am not necessarily convinced he is right, if so he wouldn’t have recruited me, who just happened to be one of the best new business consultants ever at Austin Benn. I am not really looking to blow my own trumpet, but it goes to prove that we all do not fit into the same box.

Still maybe I am being too personal here and what Dean has done is stripped down all the processes to their component parts, and as such you have a bible to work with, which will ensure your do not make any mistakes, or should I say not so many!

Looking back and even today I find myself working to rules that worked; I certainly believe that once you have the basics which this book gives you, you cannot go far wrong. Obviously you may need to tweak them, but at least you have the fundamentals to work with.

All in all I do recommend this book, which is and easy read with plenty of humour and life examples to make it fun and easily digestable, now if you combine this with “The Rules of work” I reviewed not so long ago, then you have two books that must ensure your success in getting to the top in recruitment.

And just to finish off with what I think is a gem of a quote, Dean suggests that “when at a networking event keep one hand free, so you can make an offensive gesture to the competition!!!” for me kind of sums up the book.

Below is a guest post from Gumtree for a bit of extra exposure and as the subject was light hearted I was more than happy to include:

The 6 Most Awesome Jobs in the Whole World

Brilliant jobs where people get paid to have fun.

Being stuck in a dead-end desk job can be rather depressing. Most of us aspire to greater feats, to further our achievements, to enjoy ourselves more at work…

Dare to dream of one of the six greatest job on Earth, presented here for your inspiration!

Australian Island Caretaker

In January 2009 Tourism Queensland decided to open a competition for what they deemed to be the Best Job in the World – become the caretaker of the islands of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Brit charity fundraiser Ben Southall beat over 34,000 applicants to secure the dream jobs which required the caretaker to blog about how great the islands are, exploring the glorious beaches and diving among the reef. All on a salary of A$150,000 (£70,000) for six months work.

Honeymoon Holiday Trialist

After the success of the online hype created by Tourism Queensland, Runaway Bride and Groom decided to run a similar competition to test run the best honeymoons in the world. The Irish travel agency agreed to pay one lucky couple €20,000 (£18,000) to have six months of honeymooning in Thailand, the Maldives and the Caribbean, drinking champagne and enjoying romantic sunsets. Partners are not supplied with the job unfortunately.

Chocolate Maker

If you thought Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a fairy tale that was too good to be true, think again. The real life Willy Wonka, Louis Barnett left school at the tender age of 11 to create his own chocolate. After 5 years of perfecting the art, the 16-year-old confectioner had set up his own factory and was selling his chocolate to major supermarket chains in the UK including Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.

Roller Coaster Designer

Being a roller coaster designer requires a unique blend of childish enthusiasm for thrill-seeking, along with a sound knowledge of structural engineering. German engineer Werner Stengel is such a man, responsible to some extent for over 70 per cent of the world’s greatest roller coasters. Mr Stengel is also one of the few people who can legitimately spend all day in Disney World as “market research”.

Computer Games Tester

Playing computer games is quickly becoming the dominant pastime of youth culture, overtaking watching TV and sports. Being paid therefore to play computer games is a much sought after job. With highly addictive games – such as World of Warcraft – monopolizing a lot of gamers’ time, getting paid to roam Azeroth seems like an ideal job.

Bed Tester

For those of us who find it hard to get out of bed in the morning, being a professional bed tester is the perfect job for you. Student Roisin Madigan was paid £1,000 for a month’s sleeping, testing the comfort of some of the most luxurious beds in the world. As part of the job, Ms Madigan had the arduous task of getting completely and utterly drunk to see how this would affect her sleep patterns. A tough job, but the Writing and Media Arts student stood up (and lay down) to the task admirably.

Sources:

http://www.oddee.com/item_96855.aspx

http://www.islandreefjob.com.au/about-the-best-job/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/7478773/Travel-agency-seeks-honeymoon-tester.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-502332/Real-life-Willy-Wonka-opens-chocolate-factory-aged-just-16.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Stengel

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6001095/Student-paid-to-sleep-in-designer-beds.html

Pic sources:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/darylm/95180398/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brewbooks/4019833871/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/romsrini/42505324/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/feastguru_kirti/2234043961/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vlastula/2341630232/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/snooze/2067270/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lbarreto/2783925881/

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 28 MAY 2010

Recruitment Juice Ltd (UK), leading supplier of DVD training programmes to the international recruitment industry, has launched its third title ‘Recruitment Juice LIVE’ to sit alongside their very successful ‘Juicy Bits…’ training series.

The new arrival is the filmed version of their inaugural event which took place recently in London, presented by Roy Ripper, renowned recruitment trainer along with guest speakers; Gavin Ingham – sales and motivational speaker, Dan McGuire – MD of Broadbean, Ann Swain – CEO of APSCo and also ‘Wayne Kerr’ the comedy star of the Juicy Bits training series.

The event focused purely on new business generation and successfully brought the Juice brand to life with a day packed full of fun, surprises and inspirational education. The new DVD programme provides anyone who wasn’t able to attend with the strategies and techniques that delegates took away with them on the day, and with over four hours of content and priced at only £199 (+vat & postage) the DVD is proving to be an un-missable new addition to the training library for many recruiters.

“This brand new DVD programme is the perfect tool to assist recruiter’s in making the most of the recovery, helping recruiters to grow their client base, whilst keeping them inspired, engaged and entertained!” commented Matt Trott, MD of Recruitment Juice.

For more information visit www.recruitmentjuice.com/juice_live.htm

I thought this press release from Huxley Associates is interesting, how is it the Banks can survive loosing billions and recover so quickly, hmmm oh yes we bailed them out. Still they are quick in pulling the rug from the small agencies… need I say more!

LONDON, UK, May 13th 2010

The major banks are slowly ramping up investment on recruitment, an indication that recovery for the global banking sector may well be on the horizon.

Over the past quarter, Huxley Associates, a leading financial services recruitment consultancy, has recorded an average rise of almost 10% per month in the number of placements it has made in the banking sector, across its network of offices.

This positive changing face of global banking has facilitated the opening this week of the company’s first office in Delhi, a venture that will respond to the demand from the banking community for high level banking technology professionals in the region.

Globally the number of placements that Huxley Associates has made has increased slowly but steadily on a monthly basis since January and looks set to continue. This thawing of the international recruitment freeze imposed by the majority of the major financial institutions is a sure sign that the sector is beginning to recover.

Furthermore, Huxley’s expansion into India at this time will enable the consultancy firm to develop its service further to global financial institutions, as Huxley Associates London Manager, Clare Russell explains:

“We have come such a long way since the company’s first office opened in the City back in 1995. This latest development will enable Huxley to continue its drive on the global scene as a recruitment specialist with local presence in multiple regions and to really excel in meeting the high-pressure needs of clients in the banking sector by placing skilled specialist staff in offices across their regions.”

This latest venture follows demand in India for a specialist recruitment consultancy that can deliver a client-focused model and source senior banking technology candidates from all over the world. While there are many high-volume, low-level staffing agencies in the country, Huxley Associates is among the first senior-level specialist recruitment consultancies with a global reach to establish a local presence in the region.

Annil Chandel, India Country Director at Huxley, said: “Our increasing global reach makes us a more serious contender at a local level and we are confident that we will soon develop a solid reputation with client companies across India.”

About Huxley Associates

Huxley Associates is a leading international recruitment consultancy in banking & finance as well as other sectors, with offices in 10 countries across North America, Europe and East Asia.

www.huxley.com

Having just finished my latest newsletter I thought I should include the details on Recruitment Views, particularly as I thought it was a useful list of tools I use on a daily basis. I have also included some links to a couple of companies, which could save you a little bit of cash as a recruiter.

I have more to add and I shall include in my next newsletter and I will of course post here too.

One advantage of including these links on Recruitment Views, is that anyone can comment. Therefore I am particularly keen to hear from anyone who feels they know of anything better or any alternatives to the products below:

Microsoft Office for Free Yes it may be hard to believe but you can at the moment download the beta version of Microsoft office 2010 and use it free till October rather than pay £400 pounds, perfect if you are just starting out.

Also it is worth noting that you can get Outlook 2007 if you have an Exchange email with a fasthosts account which costs £5 pounds a month.

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Xobni for outlook, has to be one of my favorite tools, it has become a function I cannot do without.

Basically it will find all your contacts, even if you have not added them to you contact list. You can see all correspondence you have had with a specific contact in one place. In addition if they have a Facebook, LinkedIn or have a Twitter account, then their profile is shown too.

You almost can see instantly if they are worth replying to them

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The LinkedIn add on is also an excellent function for Outlook, although I have to say Xobni has taken the number one spot for me, mind you the grab function for contacts is really useful, if you have not tried this already.

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Want to save a few thousand Pounds and be Eco friendly at the same time, you may want to test out Spindle a document management system for those who send a few hundred letters, invoices and payslips each week.

If you want to see if Spindle can save you a few thousand pounds then you should try out this down loadable Excel file, where you can see how much you can save on admin and printing costs.
If you want to find out more you can contact me direct at stephen@rocketsoftware.co.uk

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If you are based in the North West and employ less that 50 people, you may be eligible to receive a grant of £1000 if you employ a graduate for at least 4 weeks!

Sarah Bennett of Xpanse can fill you in on the deal and help you train those new graduates. You can either email Sarah at info@xpanse-training.co.uk or call 07721 417552

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Xmarks I have to admit that this add-on has been a godsend, particularly if you work from more than one computer or worse still your computer crashes and you end up loosing all you favorite bookmarks, well you will not have to worry again as Xmarks remembers them all even the passwords if you want.

If you do not have this I suggest you get it installed it is free and I am sure you will thank me for it one day.

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When it comes to using Twitter, for me there is no better tool than TweetDeck. Probably the best way to manage your followers and to commute with them direct from your PC.

It is so much easier to update with the desktop application not just to your Twitter account but also Facebook

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And finally you may also want to consider being part of TEAM, certainly for those of you who complain about how poor REC membership is. I was fortunate enough to meet a number of their members and some of the Team at the recent recruitment awards in London.

What certainly came over was the way they are more than willing to help the agencies succeed. It isn’t just about the cheaper advertising deals and the legal support but by being part of TEAM you feel you are not on your own.

To find out more I suggest you contact Trish Roberts the TEAM Director on 02392 815565 or email her direct tricia.roberts@jobsatteam.com or Liz Longman the TEAM UK Director