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Welcome to our December newsletterThe Recruitment Matters International team wishes you a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Our thanks to all of you who supported us and made it such a successful year for us in 2011. We very much look forward to building on our relationships in 2012 and beyond.This is our December 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. First, a quick reminder that if you’ve recently taken on new recruits or are planning to in the New Year, we’ve got our very popular Two Day Introduction To Recruiting course running each month in London and Manchester during Q1. If you want to get 2012 off to a great start, look no further than our half day course Recruiting In A Tough Market with the first date on Jan 5th. For more on our future plans please read the ‘Recruitment Matters News’ section of this newsletter. So, Chancellor George Osborne says the UK prime minister blocked EU treaty changes to protect Britain's financial services, but Labour says the move achieved nothing that would help the City. What is the impact of the veto going to be on the UK's financial sector? Good move/bad move – what do you think? What do our European readers think about Britain’s economic & political situation now? We’d love to hear your views and how you think that it may affect us in the recruitment industry. We report later on further mixed messages for the recruitment industry based on some recent surveys, including relatively positive news in some overseas markets including the US, India & Japan. The latest contribution from Greg Savage’s blog is as controversial as ever – this month Greg argues that women make better recruiters. Do you agree? Can’t offer a pay rise? Training and career development offers employers a valued alternative.
Elsewhere, one of our regular contributors, David Lyons, MD of eBoss Solutions, offers some advice on using Google Analytics and similar tools to help you analyse the numbers behind your website, and the benefits of using the information to market your website better. Jackie Barrie, copywriter, trainer & author at Comms Plus, offers some simple but effective advice on how to write headlines, subject lines and tweets that get clicked. This month, our ‘Marketing Mentor’ (and associate trainer) Alastair Campbell comments on the necessity for recruitment companies to embrace modern technology and social media tools, and looks at some of the benefits of LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube & MailChimp. Our own trainer & MD, Warren, has two more tips for you this month – the second part of ‘getting past the gatekeeper when headhunting’ (look out for the related FREE MP3 link) - and another where he shares his philosophy on making time for family and friends over the festive period. And finally, Alexia Leachman, Personal Branding Coach at Blossoming Brands shares her thoughts on enhancing your personal brand at Christmas. Here at RMI, we have a terrific line-up of courses scheduled right through until March, so please have a good look at our new training schedule as well as reading our news section before hanging up your Xmas stocking. 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 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 CompaniesContributor: Alastair Campbell, The Marketing Mentor Programme. NOTE. See our schedule for the latest dates of Alastair’s new marketing course for recruiters, exclusively developed in conjunction with RMI. Embrace the inevitable When I was a child, one of the tasks that I had to perform in the Campbell household was to operate the newly installed VHS machine from Radio Rentals. My parents felt that the mastery of such complex technology was beyond them and I quickly learned how to record TV shows when we were out for the night or that were broadcast past my bedtime. It could even record (miracle of miracles) a TV show on one channel whist we watched a programme on one of the other three channels. How things change. Twenty five years later there are very few TV shows that we now watch ‘live,’ with our Virgin Plus box normally containing over 100 hours’ worth of films or TV shows that we have recorded to watch back when it suits us. It also gives us access to hundreds of older TV shows and films that we can watch whenever we want to. What’s more, the operation of all this multiple recording is so simple that even my parents could handle it with ease. Change is all around us in all areas of technology and it is important to recognise that nothing remains constant. If you are marketing your recruitment company in the same way that you were doing 10 or even 5 years ago then you are missing out on a great deal. Ten years ago Facebook didn’t exist, whereas now it is used by almost half of the UK population on a regular basis. Twitter has not yet reached its 5th birthday, yet today Google credits it with almost 100 million backlinks and growing. As for TV channels, not only do most of us have access to hundreds of them instead of the four of my youth, but we can now create our own branded TV channels on YouTube. No doubt one day they some of these companies will go the way of the VHS recorder. In the future, we may look back and smile at the old fashioned way we used Facebook and what a primitive looking affair it was back in 2011. But what is important for now is that we don’t pretend that this is just a passing fad. If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to take a serious look at how you are marketing your company and incorporate social media as a part of what you do. If you’ve not already made a start, make 2012 the year that you pay serious attention to the technology that’s out there that can help your company. If you are not sure where to start, here are my three suggestions. LinkedIn/Facebook? Ideally both, but if you are recruiting more senior roles then I’d suggest Linkedin. If it’s more general or for junior roles, then perhaps it’s best to start with a company Facebook page. YouTube Video content is not only becoming more important to your Google rankings, it’s also a good way to communicate with people in a hurry. As broadband is now the way that most people access the internet, compressed video files can be quickly viewed – plus it’s still a novelty. MailChimp If you have a group of prospects that you want to warm up or a group of customers you want to keep in touch with, there are many great e-mail systems out there. In my opinion, MailChimp is the easiest one to use and offers the most comprehensive feedback, but there are several other excellent similar services out there. By the way, Recruitment Matters offers a first class training day covering social media which I can highly recommend. Perhaps it’s time to give social media some serious consideration in 2012. It’s certainly not a miracle cure for all your marketing or PR shortcomings, but as part of a targeted strategy it should now be a key component. 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.
Can’t offer a pay rise? Training and career development offers employers valued alternative
Do you know your numbers?Contributor: David Lyons, MD, eBoss Solutions The numbers, the bottom line, the placement fee, the refund fee, the CV’s to interview ratio, the costs, the numbers? Most of us in recruitment will know these important numbers and be able to make some forecast as to the health of the business based on them.But what about your website? Do you know your website numbers? Visitors, time on site, bounce rate, conversions, goals, etc? Do you know how many people visit your business online every day and how many of those make an enquiry and go on to do business with you? Did you know that having an impact on the website metrics will improve all those other numbers you hold dear for your business? Let’s talk about the ratio of visitors to enquiries. How many visitors does your website get? And how many of these convert into enquiries, an enquiry being a call or a contact form? Let’s say for every 100 visitors you get 5 enquiries, a very respectable 5% conversion rate. Of those 5 enquiries you speak to you can place one of them, resulting in a 20% enquiry to placement ratio. OK, so now we know that 100 visitors = 1 placement = x fee. Let’s say the fee is £1000 - so for every 100 visitors you get to your site, you place 1. 100 visitors = £1000 - so each visitor is worth £10 pounds. Based on a visitor being worth £10 we can now look at how much it costs to get a visitor to your site; for example if you were using Google cost per click ads, then it would be a reasonable investment to spend £1 for a click, knowing it was worth £10 to your business. You can tweak your conversion rates and try lots of different strategies to improve this rate and reap the rewards. So, to start enjoying a scenario like the above, we need to first make sure we have the tools to record the activities on our site - remember you cannot manage what you cannot measure. So let’s talk about measuring. Google Analytics is the most popular tool and it is free. Go to google.com/analytics to set up your account. You will need to verify you are the owner of your site by uploading some code to the pages you want to track. Once verification has been completed, you can start to see your visitors activities within hours. Google Analytics will tell you how visitors found your site, how long they spend on each page, the pages they enter and exit from and will allow you to set up specific goals to be recorded. Now you have your stats, you can get to work on testing and tweaking and by knowing your numbers you can make wise decisions on where to spend your marketing budget. Season’s Greetings and a Prosperous New Year to everyone! ©2011 David Lyons. Contact david@eboss.co.uk or call 020 7183 0675.
Getting past the gatekeeper when headhunting (part two)Following on in this mini-series of tips on gatekeepers, this time let’s visit the subject of PA’s and Personal Secretaries. When headhunting a senior executive, the chances are that even with the receptionist's blessing to pass you up the line, you will still have to address the PA. So do you try and bluff your way past, do you make up some daft story or do you tell them the truth? Well allegedly “telling the truth never hurt anybody” so let’s explore that route first.My advice when approaching senior executives (whom you are calling cold with no point of common reference or referral), is that you would get far more out of the call if you engage them in conversation, build rapport and trust and then build on things for the future with them (short, medium and long term). So I would be far more inclined to approach them seeking advice on the best way to secure first class candidates for the role than asking them outright if they have an interest in moving on, or in the role you are presenting. That way doors are kept open and relationships are struck up. There are too few of these guys around to be a one trick pony by asking them whether they would consider a move. And of course, if when you outline the role to them they show interest for themselves – fantastic. So given that we now want to genuinely seek their advice, the information we can offer their PA is honest and open and a more mature way of recruiting. We can now tell the PA that we would appreciate 5 minutes of their line manager’s time as you would welcome their advice on a confidential role that you are sourcing for, and hope that their boss might point us in the right direction due to their knowledge and standing within the industry. This article was provided by Warren Kemp, MD & 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.
New MP3 'Getting Past The Gatekeeper'Good news – here’s one last opportunity to download Warren’s latest MP3 FREE (normally £19.99) – download Getting Past The Gatekeeper now. To review the other MP3's and PDF's we have available, please visit our Products page.
US, India & Japan outlooks healthyWhile jobseekers can expect a slow start to the year in terms of new jobs and hiring intentions, 31 out of the 41 countries surveyed in the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey show a positive outlook for hiring in the first quarter of 2012.The US, India and Japan are looking especially positive, according to the survey. In the US, hiring intentions were improving slightly or remaining stable in nine of the 13 sectors, with the headline news being that nearly a quarter of leisure and hospitality employers are planning to hire. Nonetheless, in 30 countries, hiring intentions are weaker than they were three months ago, but they are either stable or improving in 16 countries when compared to a year ago. India, Brazil, Taiwan, Panama and Turkey are the best places for new jobs, with half of firms in the Brazilian service and transportation sector looking to hire, although its manufacturing sector is not a strong as it has been previously. Greece, Hungary and Italy were the worst places for hiring intentions, with the survey also noting that European neighbour Germany’s hiring intentions remain strong, with the finance & banking service sector the healthiest industry. Jeffrey A Joerres, chairman and chief executive of ManpowerGroup, adds: “We see employer hiring plans in China slow considerably from this time last year, due to government measures to cool the economy and declining demand from its biggest export market — Europe.” A time for everything, and everything in its placeI 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 who 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. 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, telephone 0800 0749 289/ +44 (0)1945 461561 or email warren@recruitmentmatters.com. Follow Warren on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WarrenBKemp
Permanent job vacancy growth at 25 month lowNovember saw the growth of permanent job vacancies has reached a 25-month low, while for the 28th month in a row, billings for temporary and contract staff rose, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG Report on Jobs.Reed reported contrasting findings that its job index is at a 23-month high, suggesting signs of the UK economy ‘rebalancing’. The KMPG/REC study shows that the rate of increase of temporary billings was weaker than in October, and while pay for both permanent and temporary vacancies rose, it was at a 10-month low. Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, says: “The government has done as much as it can in the short term to remove restrictions to employment and stimulate demand. However, if confidence doesn’t return quickly to get the jobs market moving again, the government may need to take more radical action in the New Year.” Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG, adds: “This month’s Report on Jobs makes grim reading - time will tell if recent interventions are enough to reverse the worrying trend of the last few months. If so, we should pick this up in our statistics over the next few months.” Brown adds that strong and growing demand for IT and computing, executive/professional and secretarial/clerical jobs staff were “bright spots in an otherwise gloomy data set”.
How to write headlines, subject lines and tweets that get clickedContributor: Jackie Barrie, Copywriter, Trainer & Author at Comms PlusLooking for inspiration for your next ezine, blog post or tweet? Then take a tip from Cosmopolitan magazine, which is inhabited by some of the world’s best headline writers. Just adapt their words to suit your own product or service, and watch your click-throughs soar! To give you some idea, here are the Cosmo headlines from one day, with my suggested tweaks in italics, for various occupations: 1. Health news you need to know now? Accountant: Tax news you need to know now? Plumber: Plumbing news you need to know now? Coach: Leadership news you need to know now 2. Pretty hairstyles to try this party season? Graphic designer: Lovely logos to suit the autumn? Insurance: Effective ways to protect your business during an economic slowdown? Retailer: Perfect gifts for that hard-to-buy-for person at Christmas 3. Why online dating may be harder than you think? Mechanic: Why an annual car service may be harder than you think? Event organiser: Why arranging your wedding may be harder than you think? Independent Financial Adviser: Why choosing the right mortgage may be harder than you think 4. Five new tricks for dropping lbs? Dentist: Five new ways to protect your gums? Photographer: Five new ways to restore lost image files? Marketeer: Five new ways to launch a product to market 5. This will put you in the mood (for the holidays)? IT expert: This will put you in the mood (for implementing a backup strategy)? Web designer: This will put you in the mood (for updating your website) Electrician: This will put you in the mood (for having your wiring checked) 6. Celebrity fashion that makes us sad? Window cleaner: Windows that make me sad? Copywriter: Sales letters that make me happy? Composer: Music that makes me sad 7. Adele opens up to Cosmo!? Hotel: Our Chief Exec opens up to [Name]! Charity: Our Patron opens up to [Name]! PR: [Any celebrity] opens up to [Name]! 8. Take our quick poll!? This is the odd one out. Anyone can use this heading, unchanged, anytime. 9. Relationship #Fail: Worst stories ever? SEO: Google #Fail: Worst stories ever? Printer: Print #Fail: Worst stories ever? Telecoms: Telecoms #Fail: Worst stories ever So, what’s Cosmo’s secret? For one, they really know their market. The above headlines cover only three topics because that’s what their readers want: Sex/Relationships (3, 5 and 9), Appearance (1, 2 and 4) and Celebrities (6 and 7). For another, they use the word YOU more than the word WE, US or OUR (it’s obvious in 1, 3 and 5; implied in 2 and 4). And finally, a couple of points to note about no. 9: - ‘#Fail’ has crept into the language via Twitter - Top tip: Language is constantly evolving and you need to keep up-to-date, especially if you are writing for a youthful audience - People will read ‘world’s worst’ headlines more than ‘world’s best’ headlines I hope this quick’n'easy approach to headline-writing helps you. When you get used to it, it’s a doddle! To be honest, I found it harder to pick the example occupations than I did to write the adapted headlines! I would love to know what you think. Jackie Barrie writes without waffle for websites, blogs, newsletters, brochures, leaflets and speeches, in fact, anything to help your company make more money. She is the author of ‘The Little Fish Guide to DIY Marketing’ and ‘The Little Fish Guide to Networking’. Find out more at www.comms-plus.co.uk or 0845 899 0258
Sorry guys, women are better recruiters than men
Contributor: Greg Savage, The Savage Truth blog
What I do know is that I recently announced the Top 10 Billers worldwide for the 2011 year to date for Firebrand Talent Search. The gender split? Seven women, including the Top Three Billers in the world. And three men. About The Savage Truth. Based in Australia and written by Greg Savage, The Savage Truth is a resource of insights and ideas for anyone interested in recruitment and staffing. To contact Greg please email: gsavage@aquent.com
Your Personal Brand At Christmas: A Time For ConnectingContributor: Alexia Leachman, Personal Branding Coach at Blossoming BrandsAs you peruse your diary over the next few weeks and wonder if your liver will survive what you’re about to put it through, console yourself by thinking about all the good that will come from the social side of Christmas in terms of your personal brand. You don’t believe me? I know it’s a stretch, but bear with me. The festive season is a great time of year to nurture and expand your network and the great thing is that you have a ready-made excuse and plenty of ways to go about it. You also have the added bonus of not looking like someone who’s just ruthlessly building their network for the sake of it. Instead, you’re more likely to be seen as someone who’s thoughtful and considerate. And that’s never a bad thing. The first obvious one here is cards; sending cards to your friends, colleagues and contacts is a great way to stay in touch. And staying in touch means staying on their radar. If you want to you can even let slip a bit a few details about what you’ve been up to. Don’t go overboard here, nice and brief will do — it is a Christmas card after all! Now, with Christmas cards, it’s easy to fall into the trap that everyone else does: buy a cheap pack of charity cards, mindlessly sign your paw print and post. But you don’t have to follow the herd here. Take some time to think about what you’re doing, and ultimately, what you want to be saying about yourself. First of all, Christmas is not something that everyone takes part in, either for religious or cultural reasons, or maybe they’re just big meanies. So, if you decide to send a card, remember that your card doesn’t have to be a Christmas one. You might prefer to send a Festive Greeting or a New Year card instead. The advantage with taking a slightly different approach to your card is that it will stand out and be more memorable. These two things are important for a strong personal brand because you want to be remembered! You might also want to consider including something in your card, maybe a variation of your latest business card or some relevant tips or advice for the new year or better still, go for the personal touch. Maybe a recent picture of you doing something awesome like finishing a marathon. Whatever it is, it needs to reinforce your personal brand on some level, so think it through and make sure its relevant. The other obvious one here is partying, or networking as some people call it. As your inbox fills with invites to a multitude of celebratory bashes, instead of ignoring them, just think for one moment about how great these events will be in terms of your network. Not only will you get the chance to reconnect with people who you may not have seen in a long time, but you’ll also get the opportunity to meet some new people. If you’ve heard the phrase that your network determines your net worth, then I guess you might be accepting invitations to more events in the coming weeks. But remember, it’s all in the name of your personal brand! You can call Alexia on 0845 539 0109 or email hello@blossomingbrands.com .
Recruitment Matters newsIt may be almost time for a festive break for most of us – but please consider this before you go. You have no fewer than FIFTY-TWO course options to choose from in the first quarter of next year alone!Whether you’re looking for training in headhunting, interview techniques, business development, social media or marketing we’ve something for you. And don’t forget our two day induction for your new recruits. Thank you to all of you have already booked your places on the New Year’s big event ‘Recruiting In A Tough Market 2012’ which will be coming to a venue near you in January & February – not just our regulars in London, Birmingham & Manchester – but Glasgow, Bristol and Newcastle, too. If there are any other courses that you feel we should be offering or places we should be visiting, please email ken@recruitmentmatters.com . Hopefully you didn’t miss our early Christmas present to you, a link to a FREE MP3 – Warren’s half hour special on ‘getting past the gatekeeper.’ Our in-house training activities continue to be many & varied, and it’s something that we enjoy doing as it gives us the opportunity to develop a greater involvement with our clients. Ideally, do plan a good couple of months ahead if you can. We’ll always do our best to accommodate your requirements and don’t like to disappoint if we can possibly avoid it. Remember, 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! See our latest January – March 2012 training dates below. We hope that you enjoyed Warren’s new tips for this month – you will find many more on our free tips page which is regularly updated. Finally, remember, if you can't come to us, we can come to you to deliver an in-house version of any of our courses to meet your specific objectives. Contact ken@recruitmentmatters.com for more information or call 0800 0749289 or, if you're overseas, 0044 1529 410375.
RECRUITMENT MATTERS INTERNATIONAL: January - March 2012 Open Training ScheduleAttending 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.
SUCCESSFUL HEAD-HUNTING (one day)
Investment £299+VAT
Running time 2:00 - 5:30pm.
Running time 9:30am - 1:00pm.
Investment £495+VAT
Investment £299+VAT
'Bring A Friend' £229+VAT Link
Investment £299+VAT
Investment £299+VAT
Investment £299+VAT
Running time 9:30am - 1:00pm
February / March 2012
Running time 9:30am - 1:00pm
For more information on these courses and our other services and products, visit www.recruitmentmatters.com, email info@recruitmentmatters.com or call Julie or Ken on 0800 0749289 or, if you're overseas, 0044 1529 410586. Contact us
Recruitment Matters International Ltd
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