In this month's newsletter...

Welcome to our September newsletter

Best wishes to all from the Recruitment Matters team!

This is our September 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, news from ourselves at Recruitment Matters about our training courses, products and services.

You may remember that in our July issue, the 10 week countdown began to Recruitment Matters’ 10th Anniversary. Thanks to all of you who took advantage of our great promotional offers. That’s it now, we’re officially 10 years old – time to open the bubbly….. But it’s not the end of our celebratory generosity – see the Recruitment Matters news section at the end for information on some outstanding new ‘Bring A Friend’ rates for our Successful Head-Hunting and Recruiting In A Tough Market courses.

Featured below are three articles that we’ve compiled from recent news reports about the collapse of the banking sector and the troubled construction and travel industries. At the time of writing, it has just been announced that the USA’s largest High St bank Washington Mutual has collapsed overnight and been ‘rescued’ by JP Morgan Chase – where will it all end? However, from a recruiting perspective this means that there are many talented executives who are becoming available in the marketplace – the smartest and most proactive recruiters with the sharpest interview skills and search techniques are likely to do quite well out of the situation, we feel.

Still on the subject of interviewing, do you know what the most popular interview question now is in these credit crunch times? Read the report by Rory Fidgeon, principal consultant at A & DC to find out.

Although the market situation isn’t easy anywhere right now, the world is a big place, and thinking and networking globally can undoubtedly pay dividends. Read how Australian recruiter, Jason Elias has made 25% more placements this year by becoming part of NPA - Worldwide Recruitment Network. The article is clearly a bit of a pitch for more business, but we feel that if it results in a few more of you making more placements, too, whether via NPA or your own industry contacts, or by thinking a bit more laterally, then it’s a worthy feature in this newsletter.

Elsewhere, we have another fine contribution from our networking expert, Will Kintish, with the first of two articles on giving and receiving referrals. Our research expert David Steel is back from his holiday, this time with an entertaining article on the benefits, or otherwise, of having a famous name – if we have any ‘celebrities’ amongst our readers, we’d love to hear from you… As ever, of course, we feature tips from our very own trainers, Warren Kemp and Matt Wilson. For more of our tips and advice, please visit http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/free.php .

We like this to be very much an interactive newsletter and we welcome your comments and feedback and will be happy to feature your contributions on important industry issues and your advice on how to improve the success and professionalism of our marketplace. As you now know, in return, we show our gratitude by featuring a link to your company, as a contributor to this publication.
We at Recruitment Matters 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.

How I made 25% more placements this year

Ever had to knock back work because it was out of your area of speciality or geography? Wish you had access to more quality candidates? Want to share jobs/candidates/experience with other recruiters you could trust?

The NPA - Worldwide Recruitment Network provides recruitment agencies with placement opportunities they would not otherwise realise on their own. NPA is a global network of professional recruiters working together to facilitate split-fee placements. The network enables members to better serve their clients through extended geographic reach, greater access to industry specialisation, and improved operating efficiencies. In the process, NPA members benefit from increased profitability and a stronger competitive position. Every NPA member firm is a part owner of the network, giving each a proprietary interest in the long-term success of NPA. NPA’s purpose is to help boutique recruiters make more money.

We are particularly interested in speaking to boutique recruiters in the UK and Europe.

A few interesting facts:
1. Over the last three years, the average Return on Investment for NPA members was 750%.
2. Average shared revenue was $8.8 million per year, with top firms producing $100,000 to $800,000 annually from NPA split-fee placements.
3. Founded in 1956, NPA has been a leader in split-fee placements for more than half a century.
4. Highest ethical standards. NPA holds members to high professional standards that foster trust and co-operation between trading partners.
5. Additional revenue. NPA creates placements that would not otherwise happen.
6. Global reach. There are NPA members on six continents, creating a worldwide recruiting network for members who know the language, culture, people, and industries of their home country. Conversely, corporate chains and franchises often staff international offices with transplanted personnel who have fewer regional connections and limited local knowledge.
7. Better service to clients. Today’s global companies have international customers, supply chains, and production capabilities. Recruiters without NPA’s worldwide connections are missing out on profitable international split-fee placements.

If you are interested in finding out more, contact Jason Elias at jason@eliasrecruitment.com or call +61 2 9264 5513 and visit www.npaworldwide.com.

Travel employees stay put – given the choice

Candidates are stalling on career moves in the travel sector due to the economic downturn, a travel recruiter has claimed.

Steve Newbold, director at Dome Recruitment, which has been trading for ten years, comments “Some candidates are dubious about moving into an airline driven industry, where a lot of the news is about oil prices and aviation tax. When they go home and have the discussions about mortgage repayments and getting new jobs, unless there is a substantial amount of money for people to move jobs it’s getting trickier."

However, many travel workers may well not have much choice but to move on as travel agents continue to close High Street outlets, and some airlines also either close down or merge e.g. the proposed merger between BA and Iberia is undoubtedly a cost cutting measure that will cause large-scale redundancies, says another travel recruiter.
According to Gail Kenny, managing director at Gail Kenny Executive Search “There is no doubt that one of the key drivers behind this merger is cost reduction, and they won't need two marketing departments, IT departments, finance departments, etc. From this perspective there will undoubtedly be large-scale redundancies. This will be on top of the current BA voluntary redundancy scheme that is running presently. BA will be the dominant party in this merger if it goes through, so to some extent they will call the shots, but it wouldn't be ethical to keep all the departments in the UK and make all the redundancies in Spain. In any case, it's likely that Iberia's labour costs will be lower than BA's. Large scale redundancies are inevitable, but these are part and parcel of consolidation, which has to happen within aviation in order to avoid more airlines going to the wall."

Share some love on the training course

Most UK workers claim training boosts their marketability in the jobs market, according to a new survey.

The survey, from Learning and Skills Council (LSC), shows that 80% of people feel more happy and confident having learnt a new skill. It added that over 85% feel more creative and are prepared to try new things upon beginning a course.

Training can also improve your love life - as the survey also found that just under two thirds of learners admit to having found love while on a course, while nearly a quarter of them have gone on to form lasting relationships.

(Editorial Note. No wonder our trainers, Warren and Matt enjoy their job so much!)

Chris Banks, chairman of LSC, said: “Not only does research show that gaining a new qualification can increase your annual income by £2,000 - £3,000, but learning will also improve your confidence and the way you feel about yourself. It’s about taking the future into our hands and improving ourselves and with so many ways to learn, there’s something to suit everyone."

Construction industry still offers opportunities for recruiters

The number of new construction jobs may be halved this year, but the industry will continue to need new recruits, executives of the Careers in Construction job board told a London audience recently. “The industry is still growing - even in challenging times, there are still opportunities," said Neil Campbell, head of digital sales recruitment for the job board’s owner, Emap Communications.

According to the construction industry skills council ConstructionSkills, 42,000 new recruits will be required this year, instead of the 88,000 originally forecast. “You can never have enough good people," said Simon Middelboe, chief executive of Emap Inform, the publishing group’s magazine business and recruitment arm. “If you’ve got 10 brilliant people, you can always have 11. I think we sometimes forget that."

Experience of previous downturns will be a critical differentiator in success or failure during the current season of challenging economic times, Middelboe said: “It’s pretty miserable what the industry is going through at the moment, but it doesn’t matter how bad it is, there are always winners and losers."

Recruiters’ Guide to handling researchers

"You'll never guess who I’ve just head-hunted!"

I approached John Lennon for a new role recently. He was interested. We exchanged contact numbers and email addresses, and I couldn’t hold out asking him any longer – what was it like being called John Lennon? He’d obviously been asked a million times before and almost shrugged down the phone, “You get used to it," he sighed.

Of course, Mr. Lennon isn’t the first ‘celebrity’ we’ve approached before – I’ve seen them all; Gordon Brown, David Niven, Joan Collins, John Wayne, Kate Bush, to name but a few. Owning a fairly celebrity-based name myself (though granted, my namesake is hardly one for the tabloids or celeb gossip pages anymore), I can appreciate the eye rolling when one is asked: “David Steel? Not *the* David Steel, surely?!", though I always laugh, react politely and pretend it’s the first time I’ve heard it. (For the information of some of our overseas readers, he used to be quite a famous politician).

Having a distinctive name can have its advantages in the world of research and recruitment. Having identified John Lennon as the person I wanted to speak to in that particular company, his name screamed at me whenever I looked down the list of 40-odd names of targets I was going to approach. I showed colleagues his name on the list and we made the predictable Beatles puns. “Is he a tax man?" one of the team jokingly asked, though I had to be a pedant and point out that it was Lennon we were talking about, not George Harrison.

When I subsequently went to approach John, I was as curious as could be; what would he sound like? Would he make reference to his name before I did? Would he throw a Beatles joke in at any point? In truth, he sounded pretty normal, made no reference to his famous name, made no Beatles-based jokes and was certainly not overly surprised when I brought his name up in conversation. That said, he’s a good candidate and he certainly made an impact on my client when we ran through the candidate long list.

Hands up those that think he’s got a good chance of getting noticed when the client’s interviews take place?

Names can be a funny thing, especially if you get them wrong. I recall, a good number of years back, clearly identifying an individual in an organisaton I understood to be called Walter Cashmere. “Walter Cashmere?" I asked the department’s PA; “Walter Cashmere!" she definitely replied.

A couple of days later I approached ‘Walter’ and was put through via reception. “Is that Walter?" I asked. “No…" said a voice. “Walter Cashmere? Can I speak to Walter Cashmere?" I requested again. “No," came the reply for the second time, “he doesn’t exist, though Lotha Kasmir, which is me, does." Cue an awful silence. Gulp.

Poor Lotha wasn’t interested in what I had to say and I think my genuine error with his name certainly didn’t get him in a good frame of mind at the start of our conversation. As I later learned, the PA I had spoken to was only temping and had read his name against the right job title off an internal phone list. Sadly his name was written ‘Kasmir, Lotha’, yet she had neglected to tell me that.

Perhaps Lotha might have been more open to my call had I not made a complete hash of his name within the first 20 seconds of the call!

As for John Lennon, don’t get me wrong – if James Smith or Karen Green are right for that job, I’m sure they’ll get it, but if it came down to names, I know who’d walk away with those interviews.

And, what’s the job itself? It’s a sales manager role for a Norwegian wood business.

Not really.

David Steel is Research Director at Exacta Research, a recruitment research company who provide a candidate research service to help clients find the best possible candidates across all sectors and levels.

For further information email david@exactaresearch.co.uk, visit www.exactaresearch.co.uk or call 08000 856 618.

Banking jobs – as one door closes another opens

More than 110,000 people working in the banking and financial services sector will lose their jobs next year, according to economists.

The gloomy predictions came in a report by management consultancy Hay Group and the Centre for Economic and Business Research, which predicts unemployment will rise by 350,000 in 2009 and British finance companies were planning on cutting their staff by 1.9%.

The dire forecast was made as hundreds of investment bank staff at collapsed Lehman Brothers searched to find new jobs and billions of pounds were wiped off international stock markets.

Hay Group's associate director Russell Hobby told the Daily Telegraph: “Redundancies would be the most common form of job losses, but mergers and bankruptcy could also play a significant role."

Despite profit warnings, the report added that nearly 70% of banking bosses still intend to give themselves bigger bonuses and researchers also found that many large companies would rather make job cuts than reduce bonus payments or tackle expected wage rises of 5.2%.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom, and some financial recruitment agencies are taking advantage of the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers, for example, by signing up many of the 5,000 staff who lost their jobs after the collapse of the investment bank.

Several were rumoured to have set up stalls in coffee shops around the company's Canary Wharf UK HQ and others experienced a 'conveyor belt' of candidates coming through their doors.

Philip Seager, MD of Alan Mitchell Financial Recruitment, says that his staff have been phoning ex-employees and clients to try to place the new candidates. "Research and consulting staff are phoning people from the Lehman Brothers and a lot of people have their office phone on divert so people can still get in touch. We are phoning all our clients and running ideas past them on what we can do for them, quite a few of them are biting,

“We have spoken to a lot of people at Lehman Brothers. We are meeting a heck of a lot of guys from there and there are some really good individuals coming out from that bank. We do have a lot of opportunities for them. We are also looking at opportunities abroad. There are definitely other things from them to do. We are not shutting the doors yet."

Recruiters’ Guide to Networking

Referrals – giving and receiving [1]

This is Will’s latest article on ‘working the room.’ This month, in the first of two contributions on the subject, he shares his ideas with you on giving and receiving referrals.

1. Ask satisfied clients to recommend you to others. They will be pleased you asked as they too could be helping their contacts.

2. Ask the question! If you don’t ask, you don’t give them the opportunity to say yes!

3. Be as specific as possible. “Can you introduce me to anyone who needs my services?" is too vague. Try to specify the name of a company or better still, an individual. It’s easy when they open the door for you.

4. Use the vital networking question, “How can I know if someone I am talking to will be a good referral for you? “ This shows you are keen to help others.

5. Always thank referrers when you are introduced to prospects.

6. Aspire to help others and then remember there are two key groups of business contacts. Those you know and those you want to know. When people know, like and trust you, people will want to help you.

7. Aim to encourage the first group to introduce you to key contacts in the second!
This ensures that you have a powerful referral system.

Will Kintish and his team show people how to attract more business and clients by helping them become more confident and effective business networkers. For more information, email willk@kintish.co.uk, visit www.kintish.co.uk or call 0161 773 3727.

Self Development

In the congested media landscape of today, the most precious thing you can give someone is your sympathetic attention. That implies something more than information gathering. As the old saying goes, information is not the same as knowledge and knowledge is not the same as understanding.

Boot up your internet connection and there are millions of people and organisations vying for your attention through emails. When you read your industry magazine, there is a plethora of people wanting you to read about them. Telephone marketing calls, whether selling products or services, make up a significant minority of the ones we receive.

No human being is capable of responding with equal enthusiasm to all these demands on his time. When next you receive a call or an email, remember that person is doing just what we do, which is earning a living through selling a service or product. Take the time to listen to or read the message if you can. There may well be something in what they say or the way it’s worded that you can learn from. If you sign up to the thought that “what’s goes around comes around," as I do, there may be a deeper reason why you should be more sympathetic to others too.

Warren Kemp is principal 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 or email warren@recruitmentmatters.com.

Most popular interview question in the world changes as recession looms

• ‘Managing conflicting demands’ trumps ‘stress tolerance’ as most often used question.
• “In a credit crunch, organisations batten down the hatches and aim to get the most out of the resources they’ve got, which is reflected in the most popular question."
• UK top 2 competencies match global - Planning & Organising and Problem Analysis.
• US top 2 remain as Stress Tolerance and Flexibility.

The most popular interview question in the world was revealed earlier this month, showing how the credit crunch affects organisations even at recruitment and talent management levels. According to A&DC, organisations using its online Competency Based Interviewing (CBI) tool, CBI-Smart, put the highest priority on knowing how a candidate manages conflicting demands. Six months ago, the most popular question focused on stress tolerance.

Now, as part of Planning and Organising competencies, they choose to ask, ‘Describe an occasion where you had a number of conflicting demands on your time. How did you deal with this?’ CBI-Smart offers global users a library of 800 CBI questions which assess a wide range of typical capabilities of potential employees.

Rory Fidgeon, principal consultant of A&DC, says, "The reaction to the credit crunch is far-reaching – even in interviewing processes. A year ago interviewers wanted to know about candidates' stress tolerance. That made sense – in expanding markets, organisations need to innovate, diversify and push strategic agendas.

“But in a credit crunch, organisations batten down the hatches and aim to get the most out of the resources they’ve got, which is reflected in the most popular question selected from CBI-Smart. The strategic emphasis has changed and seemingly, organisations want to make sure every one is contributing to planning, organising and defending their market position. It’s interesting that there’s tangible evidence that markets react to the credit crunch through interviewing too."

The questions on CBI-Smart are designed to find positive and negative behavioural indicators for all ‘competencies’ to provide guidance to interviewers on the calibre of each applicant. The system removes ‘gut feeling’ as a guide, ensuring responses received are comprehensive and accurate.

Worldwide, users of CBI-Smart are most interested in finding out how competent an applicant is in: Planning and Organising, Problem Analysis and Flexibility.

The UK Top Five competencies are Planning and Organising, Problem Analysis, Teamwork, Persuasive Oral Communication and Leadership.

Interestingly in the US, the top questions relate to Stress Tolerance (remains at number one), Flexibility, Independence, Planning and Organising, Openness to Change, and at 6, Integrity.

For more information, email rory.fidgeon@adc.co.uk .

"I'm just touching base"

"I'm just touching base," “It’s just a catch up call," and “Have you any vacancies?" probably make up 90% of the opening statements that potential clients receive. How inspired do you think they will be to talk to someone meaningfully after that opening?

It’s the 10% of other calls from recruiters that might provoke a positive dialogue. Before you phone an existing client or prospect, do plan ahead what your opening is going to be. Be relevant but, most importantly, be of potential BENEFIT to the recipient.

What might they want to hear? What would make them engage in conversation? It’s all too easy to blast through a list of calls that you have to make, despite business development being as critical as it is just now. However, poorly thought out and under-prepared calls would often simply be better not made at all.

Half an hour planning for one hour of calling is far better than four hours of “I’m just touching base.” The better the planning, the better the execution, and the more likely that there will be a positive outcome.

Matt Wilson is a consultant with Recruitment Matters and is offering a wide range of courses for 2008. For more information on Recruitment Matters, our training courses, services and products visit www.recruitmentmatters.com, telephone 0800 0749289 or email info@recruitmentmatters.com.

Recruitment Matters news

As announced last week, we have launched a couple of terrific new ‘Bring A Friend’ offers with immediate effect. For October only, our Successful Head-Hunting course ‘Bring A Friend’ rate will be an irresistible £150+VAT! This is simply an unbeatable investment cost for Europe’s leading executive search training course. Please quote promotional code SHH10 when booking to secure this rate.

Also, we have introduced a ‘Bring A Friend’ rate of just £69+VAT for our popular half day course ‘Recruiting In A Tough Market’ – remember this includes a FREE book of your choice (worth £19.99) from the three recruiting and marketing books written by Warren.

We have very exciting news in the pipeline about three new audio CD titles that we’ll be releasing in the coming months. Look out for more details next week – the first two titles will be out just in time for Christmas!

Speaking of Christmas, why not combine business and pleasure with a trip to Brussels’ famous Christmas market for the weekend, followed by attending Warren’s Successful Head-Hunting course in this great city on Monday, December 1st? For more information please click here.

We’ve already had a number of enquiries about course dates for 2009 and will be in a position to update you on this in the next couple of weeks.

We hope that you enjoyed Warren’s and Matt’s new tips for this month – you will find many more on our free tips page http://www.recruitmentmatters.com/free.php which is regularly updated.

Please see the schedule below for all our open course dates through to December 2008.

Now, back to those 10th Anniversary celebrations…

RECRUITMENT MATTERS: October – December 2008 Open Training Schedule

To download a booking form, please click here.

TWO DAY INTRODUCTION TO RECRUITMENT
‘Induction for new recruits'
Trainer: MATT WILSON
Oct 9/10th – Birmingham
Nov 5/6th – London

Investment £495+VAT
‘Bring A Friend' £425+VAT
Link

INTERVIEW SKILLS FOR RECRUITERS
Trainer: MATT WILSON
Oct 8th – Birmingham
Nov 25th – London
Dec 3rd – Manchester

Investment £245+VAT
‘Bring A Friend' £195+VAT
Link

WINNING NEW BUSINESS
‘Telephone Skills For Recruiters'
Trainer: MATT WILSON
Oct 2nd – London
Nov 13th – Birmingham
Dec 10th – London

Investment £245+VAT
‘Bring A Friend' £195+VAT
Link

SUCCESSFUL HEAD-HUNTING
Trainer: WARREN KEMP
Oct 7th – London
Oct 14th – Birmingham
Oct 24th – London
Nov 4th – Manchester
Nov 11th – London
Nov 25th – London
Dec 1st – Brussels NEW!
Dec 2nd – Bristol
Dec 15th – Birmingham
Dec 16th – London

Investment £325+VAT
‘Bring A Friend' £245+VAT NOTE Sept/Oct only, 'Bring A Friend' £150+VAT! Please quote 'Promo SHH10' when booking.
Link

NEGOTIATION SKILLS FOR RECRUITERS (half day)
Trainer: MATT WILSON
Oct 1st – London
Nov 19th – Birmingham

Investment £129+VAT.
'Bring A Friend' £99+VAT
Link

RECRUITING IN A TOUGH MARKET (half day)
Trainer: WARREN KEMP
Oct 10th – London
Nov 14th – Birmingham
Dec 5th – London

Investment £99+VAT
NEW! 'Bring A Friend' £69+VAT!
Link

BUILDING & RUNNING AN EFFECTIVE SEARCH DESK (two days)
Trainer: WARREN KEMP
Dec 11/12th – London

Investment £595+VAT
‘Bring A Friend' £495+VAT
Link

GAINING CLIENT COMMITMENT (half day)
'Secure More Profitable Vacancies'
Trainer: MATT WILSON
Running Time: 9.30am - 1.00pm
Oct 23rd – London
Nov 26th – Manchester
Dec 4th – Birmingham

Investment £149+VAT
'Bring A Friend' £129+VAT
Link

MANAGING TEAMS AND MENTORING PEOPLE (half day)
Trainer: MATT WILSON
Oct 15th – London
Nov 12th – Birmingham
Dec 11th – Manchester
Dec 16th – London

Investment £149+VAT
‘Bring A Friend' £129+VAT
Link

For more information on these courses and our other services and products, visit www.recruitmentmatters.com, email info@recruitmentmatters.com or call Emma or Ken on 0800 0749289 or, if you’re overseas, 0044 1483 755559.

Contact us

Recruitment Matters
2 Oakfield Road
Coventry CV6 1ED
UK
Tel: 0800 0749289
Fax: 01483 761709
Email: info@recruitmentmatters.com

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