Colin has contacted me to see if any of my readers could help with an article he is writing at present on How to Take Your Recruitment Business To The Next Level if you can Colin’s email is at the bottom of this entry
Many recruiters are happy with what they have got. Business is running smoothly enough, and life is good. But what about those more driven recruiters who want to develop their businesses by opening a new branch, moving into a new area of the country, expanding into an additional sector of the market, or more ambitiously still buying a rival?
The article would look at what is involved for recruiters who want to take their business to the next level.
Issues covered would include funding, and staffing, and how to decide which expansion strategy is best for you. (Is organic growth, for example, better than acquisition?) Also risks, such as taking your eye off the ball i.e. your existing business, and generally over-extending yourself. (Research shows that a common reason for business failure is that firms expand to fast and run out of money.)
Another issue is that in running a bigger company an owner may have to adapt to a different and unfamiliar role, something not everyone can do. The article would include helpful sources of information and advice.
I would be interested to hear about recruiters experiences. What difficulties did you experience? How did you overcome them? What planning did you do? How did it affect your working life day to day? How did it change the staff, and the culture of the company? What was the reaction of clients? Was it worth it? In what way would you do it differently? Would you do it again?
If you think you can assist, please contact Colin Cottell at ColinMCottell@aol.com or ring him on 07811 050623.
The most important asset we have as a recruitment consultants is our database of contacts. Unfortunately we do not protect this data adequately, in fact I am confident that you like me, do not back up this data as regularly as we should or even have a copy at another location, incase of fire.
Now finally with the advances of broadband it is now possible to upload your database of contacts and cv’s onto a web based server, without it taking a day to achieve. In addition it is not only cheap, it is secure with encryption coding to counter database theft.
Although this may seem the worst thing to do with our sacred data, it is in fact much safer than on your own computer. If you are not convinced then just consider the fact that you are probably already using an online database storage system, for confidential information with the likes of Hotmail or Yahoo, with some of us now uploading photos on to flickr as another example.
So if you don’t already have online storage in place, then I suggest you do so as soon as possible. If you have your own website then you can up load your data onto your own server using ftp software, or you can use a dedicated site for storing data such as xdrive or omnidrive, and I have just come across Box.net, Inc., if you use Arithon recruitment software then this it is included (excuse the plug) plus the additional confidence in knowing that the data is automatically backed up.
So by having your software stored on a web based server you will know that if ever your office is destroyed by earthquake, or your computer spontaneously catches fire (Remember Dell Laptops) or your data is wiped by a virus and you need to contact a candidate within the next hour, because their interview has been cancelled. You can confidently contact that candidate by loginnig onto your data from another computer, rather than wait until tomorrow, for the IT guy to tell you that you have lost all your data.
It may seem obvious but when you start your recruitment business, the money you put aside is never enough, but with careful house keeping you can get it to spread much further, particularly as Banks are not keen to help in your first year.
Apart from salaries and advertising one of the biggest costs will be office space. It isn’t so much the cost you need to worry about; it is the contract that you sign. I have a huge warning here, avoid contracts that tie you into more than 3 to 6 months you could live to regret it, I learnt this the hard way.
The best strategy is to work from home when you start, and with recent advances in technology and the common use of virtual offices, there really is no need to have a office. OK you may feel the need, but you will be putting the company under a huge strain. Wait 3 to 6 months, get regular business and increase the revenue you have on deposit for a rainy day. When you have built this financial reserve, it may then be worth looking at offices, but consider serviced offices at the start such as Regus. as they enable you to rent office space on a month to month basis, without a huge deposit. Obviously working from home is difficult but if you are motivated to become a successful recruitment consultancy, this shouldn’t be a distraction.
Company brochures, letter heads, business cards a couple of years back were necessary, but with emails and your own colour printer you can avoid these printing costs. I don’t think I have ever had a business enquiry from a brochure, in fact when I started I decided that I wouldn’t buy any letter heads until I sent my first invoice.
So apart from the cost of setting up the company with the accountants and organising relevant company insurance, the only other cost you will have is a computer, a printer, broadband connection, database software, Skype, fax and a phone.
In regards to Skype you can have your own number so that you never miss a call, as it can be redirected wherever you are. I used to use a virtual office to do this, but they took so long in answering and not passing on the message, it was safer not to use them, and of course I saved money in the process. There are alternatives, but I have only used Skype and I have been more than happy, although the quality could have been better for mobiles. Saying all that the fact you can manage calls and see who is calling you certainly makes you more efficient.
Recruitment Software is really worth the investment, as it will save you at least 2 hours per day, even against a general contact database such as ACT or Maximiser and it doesn’t need to be expensive. I used to use Arithon, which at £50 per month, makes it very easy to budget for. (Please note having used Arithon for the last 2 years, I am now their Sales Manager)
The only other big expense is advertising, and it can be so easy to waste money if you get it wrong. I will assume that you will have some idea what works, as an ex Recruitment Consultant or Manager, but what I do suggest is you look at other means of advertising without spending a penny, as it will make you a better Consultant at the same time.
So to finish the only area you should spend as much as possible, is on telephone calls, as this will directly relate to money in your pocket and don’t forget if you look after the pennies the pounds will look after themselves.
As it is Friday and as a "The Office" fan, I came across this video, which I believe Microsoft are trying to ban.
Still it is vintage Ricky Gervais, in a staged interview at Microsoft called "office values for Microsoft" and was purely for internal training use, although I am not sure where the training comes in. Like so many things these day it has got out onto the world wide web.
Its a relatively long video just over 20 minutes in length, where Dave Brent manages to critique is his own unique way Steven Hawkins, Nelson Mandela while covering key issues of sexism and poverty.
Having written the previous article on why a Recruitment Blog I thought I would just check out Scobleizer’s Blog, whom I referred to. I now realize he has just left Microsoft and interestingly, I do not want to include myself in the same breath here I see he is joining Podtech.net, as vice president of media development. I wonder how much of that is related to the work he has done on his Blog at Microsoft.
What would interest me is to find out if he actually had an interview or was he just offered the position. I ponder this because of the amount of information about Robert Scoble is on the net, with his blog and in particular his resume on wikipedia and Linkedin. Did podtech just call Robert and offer him a job or was their a shortlist of relevant candidates searched buy some high flying head-hunter, one can only wonder Niall Kennedy’s Blog post gives us an insight and some repercussions of Robert leaving.
A while back I made reference to resignation letters and speeches but I believe that Roberts Blog entry would be a fitting addition to the list.
First, I love Microsoft and Microsoft did not lose me — at least as a supporter and friend. I am not throwing away my Tablet PC or my Xbox or my other Microsoft stuff.
Second, my management team is awesome and I don’t have a beef with them at all. They have ALWAYS supported me. I have, in my pocket, a corporate American Express card and they never have questioned any of my expenses. The reason I shared rooms with other blogger’s is because I always treated Microsoft as a startup. I don’t believe it’s proper to waste shareholder resources if you don’t need to.
Third, I wasn’t, and am not, frustrated at Microsoft. I’ve never had more opportunities available to me. In fact, I am due to spend a day with ImagineCup contestants and Bill Gates later this month.
Fourth, believe it or not, but no one at Microsoft has complained to me about my views for a very long time. In fact, the harsher I got the more support I got. Friday I visited with Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems. Management at Microsoft didn’t say a thing about that. Imagine if your employees went to your fiercest competitor and had a very public lunch, wouldn’t you be up in arms? Not at Microsoft. At Microsoft I am encouraged to change the world and make things better for our customers.
Fifth, I’ve never been told not to travel to any conference by anyone at Microsoft and my travel expenses were always approved. I was encouraged to meet with developers wherever they lived. And, it is my job to go around to Microsoft offices worldwide and interview employees about the technologies they are building. At many conferences, where I was speaking about non-Microsoft stuff, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to charge our shareholders for those expenses. That was my decision, not my boss’s.
Sixth, how do you know that the company didn’t move heaven and hell to keep me happy? They did. I have the best job in the tech world. Bar none. I got to meet and interview and influence the best people in the world. Career decisions are personal and opportunity and growth require thinking about a lot of different things, not just one or two. I’ve turned down quite a few offers for more money than I’m now making.
Seventh, there is a lot more positive PR to come out of my mouth about Microsoft. It is the best big company in the world (and I’ve been lucky to meet and study quite a few of the world’s best companies lately).
Eighth, I’m not the only blogger at Microsoft. There are about 3,000 of them here. They are not having the plug pulled on them. They changed the world. I just was the cheerleader.
So, what about the other news? This is a rapidly-evolving part of my life. I just made this decision and it got out before I was completely ready to talk about it. I invite you to meet with me at the VLoggerCon tomorrow evening at 3 to 6 p.m. in San Francisco where we’ll talk about it further (and I’ll post again tomorrow about what’s going on in my life and why I made this decision).
The other day I was contacted by a researcher, who wanted my opinions on Blogging, on behalf of a leading recruitment magazine, the questions were as follows:
Why do I Blog
What do I get out of it
And did I think there was a future for more companies to include Blogs in their websites.
My initial reaction was off the cuff; as a result I thought I would take time out to put my thoughts to paper/blogroll!!
So why do I Blog,I stumbled here a little as I am sure he would have loved me to say for the love of it, to pass on some knowledge to other recruitment consultants etc, but I would have been a hypocrite although in essences it is true although it wasn’t the initial motivation, that was to earn a second income!
The funny thing is, having started with a free Blog on www.blogger.com I slowly became hooked and as a result it was the passion for my love of the job that has motivated me. This desire to help other recruitment consultants in a less formal style, while having a bit of fun at the same time has been an eye-opener. Once I realised people were actually reading what I wrote, I decided to take this more seriously, even though my writing skills are not necessarily the best. As a result I decided to take my own domain www.recruitment-views.com and treat this Blogging as a serious endeavor.
Having now concentrated on regular entries the second question was answered what do I get out of Blogging? The most obvious was to have been offered the UK Sales Managers role at Arithon, Read more
Today I just want to make reference to Steven of the Asian Pacific Headhunter, I completely agree with him in all aspects as it is an excellent post which I have copied below or you can follow this link.
What I would like to add is that I have been in the industry for 20 years and my motivation has always been to help my clients and candidates, money always came second. As a result and I am sure Steven will agree with me here, that many clients and candidates become friends. This then leads onto exclusivity which makes the job so much easier.
This exclusivity should then be treated with a huge amount of responsibility, which many new recruitment consultants miss. It isn’t about just another placement but more about having changed the candidate’s life, his family and in the process helped them get closer to their dreams and aspirations.
There is no better feeling than helping a candidate secure their next career move, a product can never turn round and say thank you.
Why Recruiters are Seedy
Last week I got asked the following question: "Why is it a good number of your peers are seedy? I’d place most recruitment agent’s morals pretty close to used car salesmen." I haven’t worked out if the question was really a hint. But I thought I would give my answer here so anyone else could let me know there thoughts too.
There are a lot of recruiters out there - some of them are trouble. There are always some bad apples in any bunch.
There are also a lot of recruiters who are not particularly experienced and often upset candidates and clients without even knowing it. I have done that, but in my own and their defense, you don’t get experience without having experiences.
There are even more candidates out there who get turned down for positions than there are recruiters. And there is no doubt that rejection is hard to take. No matter how experienced and how thick skinned we may be. Those candidates spread bad stories around about recruiters in online forums and to their friends.
There are a lot of candidates who can’t understand what recruiters do and get upset when they don’ t seem to act in the way they think they should. For example, they won’t tell them who their clients are before they know them, or they can’t seem to get feedback on issues that are important to them. I could write a whole other post on this.
So, there are four reasons. But really, I have one more which I truly believe. Most of my peers aren’t seedy. In fact I have met some of the most intelligent and caring people since I joined the recruitment industry. People who make a difference and who make an effort to go out of their way to help others. So that is my real answer. I feel sorry for my friend who has had a bad experience with whoever he met, but he was wrong to think that the entire industry is full of the same kind of people.
I have to admit I loved this series, I think it has something to do with that uncomfortable feeling you get when you watch each episode. Still as this is for an interview I thought a good excuse to put on the Blog, perfect for Friday.
What always amazed me is how it reminded me of so many characters I used to work with, enjoy!
This is an ad for a recruitment jobs board in Asia, I had to laugh as it is an extreme way to get out of not turning up for work. Mind you it wouldn’t surprise me if the odd candidate did the same just to not turn up for an interview.
There are so many books on this subject that I almost do not know where to start. I once said if you make enough calls something will happen. If only it was so simple!
In the early days it was just a case of calling as many people as possible and the law of averages would ensure success on its own. What holds us back is we all hate cold calling, so we try to avoid making the calls. So what I hope to achieve in the next few paragraphs is some hints and tips to make it less painful
First you need to have a system of canvassing, although when I started it was a card based system. Today there are many Contact Database systems and if you do not want to go to a cost of a specific recruitment package then there are plenty of alternatives such as Maximizer or ACT Then it is just a case of calling each contact individually and asking if they have any position to fill.
When you make your canvas calls it is also important to gain extra info, such as its size, how often they recruit, who is the contact, how many staff they employ etc. More importantly show an interest in their company. If you do this it is amazing how many times when they said no at the beginning, only to say “It just so happens Bob is looking at the moment” just as you are about to put the phone down.
