But, I don’t like the recruitment industry. It is such a closed industry that is devoid of any entrepreneurial spirit or innovation. There are a number of people that I have met in both a face to face and social media sense who I think really understand what needs to happen for the ‘recruitment industry’ to survive.

There are people out there pushing massive innovation in technology and having been lucky enough to watch the entire #recruitinginnovation conference recently, I have to say that it’s amazing what is happening in the World of recruitment, it’s just a shame it isn’t aimed at the Agency model.

@FishDogs for example, showed how you can use Geographical Apps such as FourSquare or Gowilla to build talent networks. It makes perfect sense; you know where your target audience work and you know they drink Starbucks…so go to Starbucks.

It’s amazingly simple, but uses the technology to help you harness the ability to communicate with your next placement. Or the amazing use of technology by the guys at Hodes who showcased the ability to use Alternative Views that shows a person stood outside an office how many vacancies are available in that office.

This type of technology is not only changing recruitment but it’s changing the world we live and operate in. Agency recruiters have to learn how to build the new relationship.

So, with anticipation I attended an event (well, half an event) organised by the knowledgeable @louisetriance of UKRecruiter. The event in question was designed exclusively for decision makers in the agency business and was there to showcase Technology in recruitment. I have to confess that I didn’t make it past the first half so my points might not be reflective of all exhibitors.

The showcase was lead by Gary Watson, current CEO of Investigo who gave an overview of the last three decades of recruitment (of which he spent 24 years at Michael Page). We travelled from the rolodex to the CRM, and discussed the importance of the telephone to the agency business model more than once. Gary is clearly a successful guy who is head of an incredibly successful recruitment based business, but it scares the life out of me that figure head speakers at an event aimed at showcasing technological advancement still believe that the phone is the most important asset a recruiter has. I agree, more than ever that your relationships are your most valuable asset, but recruiters are dealing with about the only product in the world that cannot be created or improved.

Recruiters can’t create candidate 2.0 in the same way that Apple make a new iPhone or a car manufacturer that constantly improves their cars design. We are dealing with the same information over and over again and candidates are controlling the flow of information like never before.

Candidates/Job Seekers do not like agencies, they never have, they never will. I mean they know the score right? You can’t make £5,000 – £35,000 out of someone and them not feel a slight resentment to you. I know that the fee is not reflective of that actual process; it pays for the time, the effort and the investment made to ‘win’ the client and for all of the placements that don’t happen for whatever reason. Does the candidate understand this? I don’t think so; one bit…all they see is a commission lead sales person with a desire to be your best friend for as long as it takes to pay for the next vacation. When the job’s done most recruiters simply move on to the next candidate and start the process all over again.

So the event yesterday? I am not going to run through the companies I saw yesterday, but one deserves mention because I think it shows a real lack of understanding of the very industry you’re trying to assist. Innovate CV is a great looking product, and I like the standardisation of the look as there are some truly horrendous CVs out there.

But I don’t think for one nano second my clients want to receive a URL that sends to a branded portal that holds the ‘new CV’. We live in a world of mobile communications; iPhones, BlackBerry, iPads, Laptops and recruiters need to make it as EASY as possible to review the information you send over. I fail to see how this solution will increase the chances of a client short listing my candidate over another and instead will make the clients life more difficult, and surely that is the whole point of investing in new methods, tools, technology or ideas? Surely true innovation would involve a solution that didn’t require a CV at all? I certainly don’t think including a photocopy of a candidate’s passport to confirm eligibility to work is a selling point at this stage of the process.

A recent tweet that caught my eye was the story that showed a new trend with Chinese Graduates who are sending 140 word Microresumes. They are hard hitting, they cram your story into an easy to review paragraph. As of last Friday there were than 17,000 Microresumes posted on Weibo.com website. This is innovation, it’s exciting, and it’s different.

I think the agency business needs to wake up; it’s selling itself short and taking on companies driven by RPO, Procurement and efficiencies.  Whilst as a recruiter I don’t like this, it is a fact of life.

We submit via online portals, people we don’t know or speak to make decisions on shortlists and communication is conducted via email and automation.  Dressing up a dog and teaching it to meow doesn’t make it a cat, and unless we start to see real leaders and pioneers deliver real solutions to the agency model then I simply don’t think the Permanent recruitment market will last through 2020 in a lot of cases.

Cost per hire is expensive, inefficient and  in a lot of cases if you were to ask nearly any HR contact if they could find a way of recruiting themselves without paying agency fees, I think you’d be horrified at how out of date your business is.

From what I’ve seen, there is no ‘new’ technology in the agency business and whilst the corporate world invests heavily in talent attraction, retention, and development the agency model is trying to find easier/simpler ways to conduct the same business.

If you want confirmation just read the recent blog article from @RecruitGal who tells you to your face that they’ve had enough and she’s not the only one.

It’s sad, but I don’t think Recruitment Agencies can say they haven’t had their fair share of warning shots.

On a personal note, I’d like to thank @LousieTriance and whilst the event wasn’t for me it was a great location and was very smoothly run.

Any views, opinions or critique would be welcome

I’ve decided to attempt to follow on from my blog last week that was concerning the complete unwillingness of recruitment lead firms to engage in social media. It somewhat divided opinion via the various resources (Blog, LinkedIn, Twitter) on whether I was right or wrong…oh, how I love to divide opinion!

There are of course the firm believers that are adamant that recurimetn as a service lead business will continue to survive in one form or another and there are recruitment 2.0 experts who feel that without social media the whole (recruitment) world will collapse and of course, those in the middle.

But, it did get me thinking. Maybe we need to all stop worrying about how we find the candidates/job seekers/future employees and instead focus on developing the most efficient, time effective, cost sensitive solution around, by creating a platform that allows in-house, online and agency to work in harmony.

If candidates come from referral (to an agency) does it matter to the employer? Does it matter that this person was targeted for the role over an active job seeker who registered on a CV database? Does it actually matter that by utilising Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn you find the right person for the role or should it solely be about the quality, suitability and individual fit of the person within the organisation.

So what comes first the method or the outcome?

His post, however, got me thinking… more along the lines of recruitment agency businesses and I thought I’d take some time out of my day to consider and review how agencies are coping and adapting to the rise and rise (and rise) of Social Media.

We read every day about massive successes from all out marketing campaigns run on Facebook (and Twitter). Companies that engage customers and potential customer to huge success.

One recent case study that won me over was run by Gillette, a friend of mine had ‘Liked’ them on Facebook and followed up with a Status to tell us that if you ‘Like’ them they will send you the latest version of the Mach 1.43.521 razor saving me a tidy £543! (OK, I jest but point made!) Shortly after an email arrived in my inbox to tell me that I was (shock, horror) a winner and that my latest Gillette Razor would be on my doorstep in less than 7 days!

That’s the power, they engage, they bring you in, they have something you may want and they open discussion, from asking Jonny Wilkinson any question you like to feature in their next TV Advert, it’s all there on a daily basis.

So, back to recruitment… and the agency side of the business. I think we’re all in agreement that the agency business model is dying, HR professionals (@recruitgal in particular) have told the business loud and clear that they’re not going to be pals for much longer as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter is coming along to kick the ass of an already struggling industry.

Big firms are investing, and investing heavily in Social Media to rid the requirement of the agency. They are producing Pages that allow people in their thousands to ‘Like’ and agencies sit on their backsides and incredibly watch it happen. They are able to talk to potential employees as they enjoy their breakfast or their quick glance whist the wife is watching Emmerdale. It’s there every day, in their pocket, in their five minute sneaky peek at work, or on the bus waiting to get to work. The opportunity is endless…But here are some findings that just blew my mind:

Michael Page International, arguably one of the highest regarded recruitment firms on the planet has 835 Likes. 835… Not even in their thousands, and that page is taken from Wikipedia via the Community Link. No office addresses, no email, no website, no information about anything….other than the firm was formed in 1976 and the last CEO left some time ago.

Incredibly Michael Page UK has 25 followers. To put this into perspective The We Love Nick Griffin Page (of BNP fame) has 33. That is 8 more than the whole of Michael Page in the UK.

I thought I’d try again, at the other end of the spectrum and conducted a Facebook search for the ‘Leading’ High Street Agency – Office Angels. Owned by Adecco, the World’s largest Staffing Services firm with a turnover of Billions (I mean, surely they’d get it right?). Wrong.

It appears that bored consultants or CV preppers got so disenchanted with their day job they thought they’d set up a page for their branch. The search shows that there are pages for some branches (Bracknall, London, Preston) some are pages, some you have to ‘Friend’ as they have (against the rules outlined by Facebook) entered the branch as a person.

What appears to be their official Page has 550 Likes but has no jobs, no branch finder; it also has some photos of a fancy dress day and some photos of pink balloons. What makes you think that a job seeker wants to see your photos of you drinking in the office and dressed in ill fitting leggings with pink socks?

I think the industry has to wake up.

Social Media is here, and it’s getting bigger.

Job Boards appear to have totally forgotten that Facebook probably has every candidate they have on their database but chooses to not engage them AT ALL on Facebook. I can’t find the Monster page, Total Jobs appears to have a Wiki fuelled page with 12 Likes. 12?!?!?!!!?!?!?? You are a technology company that manages the data of thousands of CVs a day and you don’t think it’s worth while to invest in a page that talks to people in their social (media) time?

I sat back and heard the tales of the disbelief when the recession came along and crushed (in many cases) really good recruitment firms, because they didn’t see it coming, but lets be real guys.

Facebook has been here for a few years now, and his friends Mr.LinkedIn and Mrs. Twitter aren’t too newbie any more, but you sit back with your feet up thinking that it’s all going to come back to normal, but listen to people like @recruitgal and take note.

It ain’t going to get better. Only worse.

Reed’s own index of vacancies fell 2% in comparison to March which was itself down against the figures supplied for February.

I’ve long been a fan of the Government’s plan to reduce the wage bill on the Public sector, however, I do feel that they need to do a lot more to stimulate the Private sector.

Visiting the Reed.co.uk website to view its homepage will itself highlight the extent of our ‘Private Sector’. We are so dependent upon  such a small number of firms to engage our Public sector workers that I fail to see how the two will marry in the middle.

I know that jobsites are not the greatest way of judging employment trends, but I think that Reed in particular showcase the problem brilliantly.

Their sponsored home page clients include:

Lloyds TSB

Churchill Insurance

Santander

Tesco

Direct Line

Nationwide Building Society

Now, I don’t think you have to be an employment trend expert to realize the problem with our ‘Private Sector’ it’s basically all linked to big, big companies who wish to grow their businesses even further. We’re talking the Big Supermarkets, the Big Banks, the Big Utility firms (Water Companies, Electricity, Gas)

Where are the great firms that we were promised would be born out of the recession? Where are the next big names coming from? Where are the firms that in five years time will be employing and creating opportunity for 5,000+ people? If we are to remain completely dependent upon Tesco and the ilk picking up our public sector fall out then surely we have to review the system?

The ex-Public Sector workforce present big problems for potential employers, in many cases the public sector workforce don’t get the Private sector, they don’t understand how it works and when you consider many people are going to be in their 40s and onwards its going to be a difficult lesson to learn.  They need to showcase commercial acumen, and embrace the values and the brand of their potential new employer.

I hope that Reed’s findings are only relevant because of the obscure nature of Easter and the Royal Wedding and we return to some normality, but I really home that we begin to see Leading Employers of the future, soon. Very soon.

I’m currently working on a number of retail related projects and came across their website and of course, more importantly their (careers website). First impressions are it’s a bit much, but that’s down to design and marketing experts.

The job search is a bit much as well. Having spoken to a lot of ATS experts recently this seems to go against the trend where ease of use and functionality should be the main driver.

And then there is the open invitation to connect via the World’s favourite Social Network – to take the 3 Employer Brand to the masses on Facebook. This is a great thing to do, BUT you have to do it right. And 3, I am afraid you got it WRONG.

You can not do this half hearted, open up the doors you have to expect that people will come flooding in, and flood in they did.

Here are some comments; you will see a complete disarray of lack of knowledge of who does the recruitment, who is responsible, store managers? The website? Auto responses? ‘Check the website’, unanswered (seemingly suitable candidates)

This does nothing other than damage your appeal to peoples desire to work for your firm, and you should act, and act fast or speak to anyone of the experts that I follow on Twitter who will have this sorted and fast!

3 you tried a great thing, but social recruiting when done badly can have long-term damage and side effects to your brand as an employer in the market and I’d recommend that you give your Facebook page the respect it deserves as you clearly have a lot of ‘unhappy’ customers.

Anyone have any thoughts on 3’s attempts at Social Recruiting?

I felt that now was a good time to try and get the real story behind the opinions and to try and compile facts, figures, and percentage points of what CLIENTS and CANDIDATES think of this enormous industry.

My wonderful friends at SurveyMonkey ensure that all data collected is stored and verifiable and allows a degree of accuracy. I am in no way looking to take on Monster or the REC, but I am very interested in people’s opinions (recruiters, HR people, job board owners, and job seekers).

Should anyone like to add more points that cannot be completed within the survey, please feel free to contact me on js@leadingemployersblog.com

I have tried to break down the survey into relevant components to make life easier for everyone, but if you’ve got an opinion put it in there!

So, here is the first survey – and we’re starting with the people who have the biggest say in what’s happening (in my opinion) the job seeker! So, don’t hold back all you job seekers, or recent no-more job seekers (well done, if you’ve just got a new role!) We want to know your thoughts, your feelings, your gripes, and if you feel like it name and shame the ones that should make us proud, and others that will want us to bow our heads in shame!

We’re not after you email addresses, unless of course you want to send it, so all responses will be totally anonymous! So, what you waiting for?!?!

Click here to take survey

So, I’ve been away for quite a while, been super busy on a whole host of different products. Its been on my mind for some time to put the perverbial pen to paper, so here we are. And for now, I am going to start with a question.

I’ve been working with a number of Leading Employers recently and a number of different topics have been discussed; namely the recruitment market, its current state and an increasing number are beginning to discuss the issue of online recruitment firms and their place in the market.

But, the question is – are they recruitment companies at all? I have grown up in a generation of old school recruitment. A horrible office with a window with jobs in it, and if the council would allow an ‘A’ board outside. Possible applcants would wander in to enquire about said jobs, and then the process began. We interviewed, coached, advised, dealt with offers, handled counter offers…need I say we actually ‘consulted’.

What appears to be happening now is the big media Co’s – Trinity Mirror, Associated, Monster, Reed – the back bone of the UK Online job market seem to be selling out somewhere to the new breed.

Lead by everyone’s favourite (ex-recruitment) dragon, James Caan Webrecruit seems to have an interesting hold on the market. Reports have shown that turnover has now bashed through the £2,000,000 market and from an office in the South West that’s no mean feat. But what exactly is Webrecruit?

Is it an agency? Sure they advertise jobs, and they throw out the rubbish, non-compliant CVs, they short list and then hand over the bank of CVs to their client. So do they no longer have any involvement, vested interest? What makes that more interesting is their ‘no hire, no fee’ offer proudly shown on their website.

So maybe their a media buyer? They buy up loads of ad slots on all of the big job boards and simply allocate their slots to their paying clients as and when required. Surely any trained monkey can read a CV that matches the requirement of ‘Must be fluent French’ “Tick, that ones in the ‘yes’ file”, but surely its more than that?

So, why use WebRecruit (lets ignore the Dragon for now…), there are literally hundreds of these little beauties swimming around – from the £150 bargain basement to the higher ends at close to £650/£700. Surely if their business is to advertise on ‘The Network’ and select CVs that ‘match’ then what is the skill and why would I pay 4 times as much for the same service on the same sites as the other cheaper one?

So, I come back to my question!

Are they indeed Recruitment Agencies (as defined by the Employment Agencies Act) or are they glorified Ad sales people who are earning money for what always used to be a free service?

@GLHoffman had reposted a blog entry that I’d missed when published by Seth Godin. (For those who don’t know him, he’s one of these people that if he doesn’t know it, it really isn’t worth knowing…) and he’d written an article exclusively for “What would Dad say”

For ease I’ve copied and pasted this below, and it really is an interesting insight to how some people think, feel and act when it comes to NOT finding a job!

DON’T TRY TO GET A JOB

Don’t you dare.

There are a few reasons for this. The first is that the act of trying to get a job corrupts you. It pushes you to be average, to fit in and to do what you’re told.

The second is that this act moves the responsibility from you to that guy who didn’t hire you. It’s his fault. As soon as you start spending your day trying to please the guy, you’ve blown it.

The third is that the economy is terrible and the best jobs you’re going to get are lousy.

So, what should you do?

Today, right now, while the opportunity costs (look it up on Wikipedia) are the lowest they will ever be, go start something.

Start a business. A tiny one.

Train people in social media. Run an eBay selling business. Sell coffee from a truck every morning at the train station. Run spring break tours by bus for other college students. Start a newsstand on campus. Run a birthday cake delivery service. Train executives in public speaking. Start a dog poop shoveling business.

Start something. Run it. Be responsible.

1. You’ll probably make more money
2. You’ll certainly learn more
3. If you’re good at it, people will offer you a job
and
4. If you’re not, then why on earth would someone actually hire you? Go get good at it.

Have fun. No whining. This is your moment, go make a difference.

You can thank me later.

So, with that thought, please think before you jump!

Maybe you don’t need another job, maybe you need to take stock and create your own future!

Firstly to any followers I am sorry that I haven’t been around a great deal, however, I am now back and with even more opinions on what is right and wrong in the world of jobs, employment and at the moment the role the job hunter plays.

In the UK, our biggest selling ragtop; The Sun (ironic, I know…) has developed a website dedicated to the countries ‘leading’ employers (hence why I’ve picked up on it…).

There is an ongoing battle here in the UK to work out exactly how many people are unemployed; the official statistics say one thing, the opposition party say another and in reality it could be millions more people than we actually think.

So, imagine my surprise when checking the football scores today when I saw the following article: http://tinyurl.com/myazxo

Part of me has fury; if this is the attitude of the current ‘unemployed’ or even a small percentage of said millions then we’re in serious trouble.

So, I want to ask the following questions?

If you shop in Sainsbury’s, and you like Sainsbury’s, and it was your dream job to work in Sainsbury’s, why didn’t you go to Sainsbury’s and ask them for a job? – A job they were clearly recruiting because a national recruitment manager put it on the sun.co.uk website.

I really think we need to start to empower and educate the job seekers, there is clearly no good having hundreds or thousands of vacancies in leading employers if people aren’t prepared to get off their backside and walk to their local shop!

The ability to use ones initiative, to be proactive and to do more than sit down at a PC and send (to quote another Sun.co.uk/jobs user) ‘so many applications I’ve lost count’

Now I am glad I have that off my chest!

A story in this morning’s Sun Newspaper has highlighted perhaps a change of tide in the way that applicants will apply for jobs. Hot off the back of Twitter’s 140 characters, mobile phone firm Teimlo (http://www.teimlo.com/news/61-were-hiring-by-text.html) has set wanna be workers a unique challenge – tell us in one SMS (160 characters) why they should employ you!

Whether or not this will be a success or a spam nightmare is still to be seen, but you have to applaud any firms attempts to make their recruitment process unique and stand out from the crowd.