Build your own talent pool – excellent case study

Reading the Recruiter magazine this morning I was delighted to see an excellent example of a company building their own talent pool, without having to use ‘traditional’ external sources. The Park Plaza (Westminster Bridge) due to open early 2010 has been attracting candidates through its own career site where all vacancies are advertised. They are looking to recruit c800 staff and to date have received 4500 applications through its own website. They also held a jobs-fair which saw c650 people attend. This has been led by HR Director, Sarah Hegarty, who has also been building a pool of fully-trained casual labour made up to students and local residents to cater for big events.

Sarah says “There are a lot of people out of work at the moment and it is important that we have a real core base of people from the local community for our key positions. At breakfast, you need people ready for 5.30 in the morning who can get to work in all kinds of weather.”

Despite their career site not being the most user friendly and I would personally make many changes, I’d have to say hats off to them for looking to secure their new personnel through direct routes.

CareerSiteAdvisor.com “Careers Cast” - December 2009

Watch a panel of experts in the latest edition of 'Careers Cast' on careersiteadvisor.com.

"Even with the unemployment rate slowing, it’s still forecasted to grow next year and a large number of people will use the web solely to find a job. Equally many will be using the internet and social media for the first time as a way to find work. CareerSiteAdvisor.com runs its 4th successful web based TV show offering expert advice to jobseekers to help them find a job. The show brings together a panel of experts from the recruitment, internet and social networking industries."

This month’s show covers topics as wide ranging as:

"Taking stock of your situation”: making time to determine what do I really want and want can I really do next. Guest - Elaine Hewens (Finely Balanced)

“If the interview is a about Two-way Communication then why so many stupid questions.” Guest - Janet Davies (Newlifenetwork.co.uk)

"Working with my Recruitment Consultant: what should you and your consultant agree to do to help you find your next job. Guest – Bill Borman (Bill Boorman Consultancy).

Well worth a view if you have been made redundant

Senior Secretarial Manager Job, Exeter

1 week left to apply .... Well established key regional law firm with 4 offices across the South West are looking for a robust people manager with top-class communication skills, able to demonstrate an ability to deal with a diverse group of lawyers, secretarial and support staff. You will oversee the provision of fee earner support across all sites, providing HR advice, supervisory skills coaching and mentoring to Secretarial Managers; directly managing two Secretarial Managers and working closely with Legal Managers to manage the performance of their secretaries.

For full details and to apply please go to our main e-recruitment website

Basic salary of up to £30,000 doe + 25 days holiday, contributory pension scheme, death in service cover, discounted gym membership and childcare vouchers. Location: Based in Exeter, with travel to Taunton, Plymouth and Truro as required

Are you ‘grave’ enough to do these jobs!?

I couldn’t resist writing a quick blog-post regarding these morbid careers that hit the headlines at the weekend. If you are considering a change of career I am sure that dealing with dead bodies isn’t top of your list! You may change your mind considering financial rewards;

- Gravedigger. The average salary for a gravedigger is £27,500. Gravediggers usually work 9-5 with possible weekend work and are usually responsible for grounds maintenance as well as digging graves. You will need to be physically fit.

- Embalmer. The average salary for a typical embalmer is £30,300. OH MY GOD – this is one job I definitely couldn’t do, they very thought of it makes me want to vomit. Yahoo news reports “The easiest on the stomach is washing and drying the body and applying cosmetics to give them a "life-like" glow. The less appetizing duties include draining blood and using a pump to replace it with embalming fluid, removing other body fluids and wastes, sewing shut lips and putting cotton behind the eyelids so they don't sink down.”

- Coroner. The average salary for a coroner is £30,300. Are you interested in law and court proceedings? Coroners coordinate autopsies and perform them. They organize pathological testing and are called to crime scenes to remove bodies. Coroners testify in court concerning the circumstances surrounding the body when it was found, and the discoveries made through the autopsy and subsequent testing. They are barristers, solicitors or medical practitioners of not less than five years standing. For more details visit the Coroners Society of England and Wales website

- Funeral Director. Once trained, salaries in excess of £20,000. Funeral directors have to be multi-skilled from being good communicators, to highly organised and great sympathy for the grief of others. This is not an easy job. There is a lot of info on this website, The Bereavement Services Management Centre, detailing the profile of a funeral director.

- Crematorium/Cremation Technician/Cemetery Worker. Senior staff in supervisory roles can earn £20,000+. Can you stand the heat!? Cremation, or crematorium, technicians are responsible for making sure the body is the correct one and for storing the ashes after cremation is complete. Read this interview with a Cremation Technician. His response to what skills/qualities required to work in your role? “The most important skill is dealing sympathetically with people who are in mourning and experiencing one of the most difficult times in their lives. It is necessary to understand how the cremation equipment works and you need computer skills for logging all the information.”

- Forensic Pathologist. Topping the salary list, with a whopping average salary for a forensic pathologist is £142,000! A pathologist is the senior doctor responsible for the performance of autopsies and for the determining as to how an individual died. This particular role within the forensic science sector is a demanding and sometimes harrowing job, which is not for those faint of heart. The position requires a medical degree, so be prepared to invest in this career. In fact, be prepared to spend up to 15 years studying, being a resident and then doing a fellowship before you can even take the exams!

Launch of Redundancy Support for Businesses

We are delighted to announce the launch of a new offering - our Redundancy Support Packages For Businesses.

We provide effective, practical assistance for your staff when faced with redundancy, acting as their redundancy buddy. This is usually conducted on-site and offered to your staff on a one-to-one basis, helping them secure a new role in this challenging job market. We also provide ongoing telephone support where necessary. Our redundancy support includes;

- A chance to step back and review exactly which way they wish to take their careers
- Updating and producing a quality CV that increases their chance of getting an interview
- A look at how to apply for jobs online and maximise the channels available to candidates seeking work, including social media and business networking sites
- Interview tips and preparation

Demonstrate commitment to your employees in this stressful time by ensuring that they are given every opportunity to gain future employment. We appreciate each company has very different needs so we always provide completely bespoke redundancy support packages tailored for your industry and personnel. To discuss your needs and our pricing structure please call us on 01985 219590.

TOP 50 organisations for talented women!

Out on the 7th October The Times' TOP 50 provides insightful information about 50 of the UK's progressive employers. "Women can now research and compare organisations based on their own needs and interests before choosing where to work."

The full List can be found on the 'Where to Work' Website and includes a number of law firms, retail giants and public sector firms.

Top Tips for Unemployed Jobseekers

Looking for a job can be a daunting task and even more so when you feel under pressure as you are not currently working or earning money. It can feel like a bomb slowly ticking away and if it explodes it will take with it all your hard-earned gains.

Being unemployed can be one of most ego-smashing things a person could ever experience. It can be seen as ‘rejection’ and people can end up in a very unhappy place. We at e-recruitment buddy don’t want that to happen to any jobseeker so we decided to bring together some of our top tips to help you through this stage of your career. Prior to actually applying for jobs there are several processes to go through.

ONE: Read this highly practical 4-point-plan. You need space to think, take the time to review your career and start planning! Let the fact that you’ve been made redundant be an ‘opportunity’ rather than the worst thing that can happen. Step back – take stock – don’t fall into a period of ‘desperation’, it wont help your cause.

TWO: The last stage of Janet Davies’ above plan includes having a good quality CV ready for approaching potential employers. Your Curriculum Vitae is a crucial selling/marketing tool when applying for jobs and in today's employer-driven recruitment market it is vital that you take time to prepare it. Clients can literally ‘cherry pick’ the best candidates against their criteria and if your best points are hidden, or even worse not on your CV (!) then you will be rejected. If you need any assistance with this, then our sister company http://www.e-cv-buddy.co.uk/.

THREE: Don’t do it ALONE. Pool upon your family, partner, friends, ex-work colleagues and neighbours!! Talk to them about how you are feeling, get their input on how they see you and discuss your thoughts of what route you want to take your career. Perhaps even get yourself a job-search ‘buddy’ (I would probably choose my hubby), that you speak with at least once a week about what jobs you’ve applied for, what you’ve done in your job search activities and any interviews you have lined up. Your job-search buddy can give you a sense of purpose and achievement.

FOUR: Clean up your online profile before you start applying for jobs. Have you ever googled an employer before an interview? Yes of course - the issue now is that companies are researching potential candidates to gain information about them prior to short-listing for an interview. This can be advantageous but often not – it’s well known & documented that social networking sites, blogs & forums are easily searchable and may throw up something that strikes you off the short-list. Be wary of what you and your friends post online – ‘un-tag’ yourself from any photo’s you think may jeopardise your career!! We know that employers need to use this information with care to avoid any hint of discrimination in their decision-making, but in many cases it wont stop them. Also – get yourself a dedicated job-searching email address - you need to give a professional impression from first contact. An email received from lazybones@hotmail may not be the best approach!

FIVE: Time to start applying for Jobs – before you start … don’t apply for jobs that you don’t actually want or that you don’t have the skills to do. I know that may sound daft but many people believe that catapulting their CV into cyber-space will somehow land on the desk of their next employer – it won’t! Be completely focussed in your job-search; target employers that you want to work for, register with agencies that actually have jobs on their books that match what you are looking for and register with job-boards specific to your industry & skill-set. Always follow-up on applications.

SIX: For more in-depth tips covering everything from LinkedIn to Twitter to aid in your job search, we at e-recruitment buddy recommend that you download a free copy of Andy Headworth’s ‘50 Top Tips for Job Seekers Guide’

Don’t let your job-search be chaotic, stressful, depressing or negative in any way – give it some structure, plan exactly what you are looking for and go for it via every route available to you. Be positive and when you secure a job give yourself a huge pat on the back!!

Dispatches: Struggling Executives in the Recession

Did anyone tune into Channel 4 on Monday evening and watch the ‘not particularly enlightening’ dispatches program? It did predominantly focus on a select number of medium-high earners (60-90k bracket), along with a few Graduates (Adam and Thomas!) and how people are struggling to secure a job in this tough economic climate.

I didn’t particularly learn anything from the program, it just made me shout at the telly and now I want to vent a few of my frustrations in this blog.

One of the job seekers they followed was Matt Webb, ex Marketing Director* of Hamleys, made redundant some months ago. He did seem particularly down-trodden but was still managing to spend 5-6 hours per day searching for a new job, mainly online. He said that he’d applied for c30 jobs over the last few weeks with not one response ? I do have a degree of sympathy from him. However – it is no surprise that he was struggling to maintain his 1k monthly mortgage, 12k per annum private school fees for 7 year old Darcy and all his other bills. I do believe he used the words “to take Darcy out of her school, it would be a nightmare.” I could get shot down in flames for saying this but pleeeaaasssseee give me strength!! You may have been earning shed loads of money but now you don’t, the lifestyle you have/had cannot be maintained – ‘a nightmare’ would be having no roof over your head, no food to eat and having to walk 50 miles in bare feet to get fresh water – OK, a bit extreme, but downsize, get your children to a state school, go & work stacking shelves at night in Asda, get your wife to work for Avon or offer an Ironing service in the local area – do whatever it takes to keep some income rolling. Oh … and give up the fags!!!

With just under 2.5 million people currently unemployed and seeking work, finding a job will be the hardest job you’ve ever had to do!! Keeping an income in whichever way you can and being ahead of the game when applying for jobs – it’s 24/7 with no rest until you’ve secured a new job. It’s a whole new blog post to cover top tips for job-seekers but the number one tip would be to make your CV the best document your possess! For any help regarding this do visit our sister site, http://www.e-cv-buddy.co.uk/

* From our research Matt was officially ‘Head of Marketing’ @ Hamleys, but only appointed in that position following the departure of its marketing director Stella Hartley in August 2008. The press release said “Webb is very new to the company and it is too early to comment on the role. We will announce our marketing roadmap for 2009 and our advertising strategies in the coming months." It was also reported in March 2009 by MarketingWeek that Hamleys had parted company with Matt Webb after just 5months. Odd – as I got the impression he had been there for 12 years?

P.S; If anyone wishes to discuss opportunities with Matt Webb, his LinkedIn profile can be found here; http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattwebb1

Oddest Co-Worker Complaints

I am registered with Talent Revolt – split fee recruiter network – and read with joy this list of ‘co-worker concerns’ in their latest newsletter, taken from a survey conducted by CareerBuilder. I wanted to be able to share this with you on the basis that I am sure you’ve worked with someone who annoys you – whether that be on a daily, weekly or hourly basis!! My pet hate is whistling – cant bear it, I also worked with someone once who used to grind their teeth – aaarrgghh!! Not sure I would make a complaint though.

According to a survey by CareerBuilder where HR managers listed complaints as varied as co-workers being ‘too sun tanned’ to the employee ‘breathing too loudly’! The survey of 2,600 HR managers in the US listed a wide variety of concerns including;

• Employee has big hair.
• Employee eats all the good cookies.
• Employee is so polite, it’s infuriating.
• Employee suspected co-worker is a pimp.
• Employee is trying to poison me.
• Employee’s body is magnetic and keeps de-activating my magnetic access card.
• Employee was annoyed the company didn’t provide a place for naps during break time.
• Employee only wears slippers or socks at work.
• Employee’s aura is wrong.
• Employee smells like road ramps.
• Employee breathes too loudly.
• 8:00 a.m. is too early to get up for work.
• Employee wore pyjamas to work.
• Co-worker reminded the employee too much of Bambi.
• Employee spends too much time caring for stray cats around the building.
• A male employee keeps using the ladies’ room because the men’s room is not as tidy.

Lots of laughs! Read what CareerBuilder have put together as the Top 10 Most Annoying Colleague habits: http://www.careerbuilder.co.uk/Article/CB-207-Workplace-Issues-10-Most-Annoying-Colleague-Habits/

It’s a PIG of an excuse

Has it ever crossed your mind to fake swine flu just as an excuse to not go to work???

You would have to be living on Mars over the last 4 months to have avoided hearing about swine flu. With confirmed cases stretching from New Zealand to Iceland the chances of catching the virus seem high. Now most of us sensible, reliable beings would just hope not to contract it and go by our daily business with extra vigilance when it comes to cleanliness. Sneeze into a tissue, throw it away and clean your hands. Heaven a five year old child can master the basics!

However a recent survey by employment law firm Peninsula Ireland reported that employees have been calling in sick claiming that they are showing signs/symptoms of swine flu, but that bosses are all too aware that they are faking. Whilst most employers are resigned to fact that a small percentage of their workforce will actually contract swine flu, it is also considered as a given that a number of employees will pretend to have caught the virus.

The difficulty lies in where to draw the line and who to believe, with doctors now asking patients not to visit the surgery in an attempt to reduce the spread of the virus, without an actual swab to confirm someone has swine flu – it is a bandwagon that some less conscientious employees will jump on! Is it a coincidence that the highest jump in cases of Swine Flu came the week that the NHS website went live and you could diagnose yourself without a visit to the doctors?

If you see swine flu as an excuse to call in sick – think again, your employers will be onto you and with many already struggling to keep their heads above water during these tough economic times – if you’ve faked it just to have a few days off, you may face strict disciplinary action & ultimately lose your job! The virus can’t be caught twice so what happens if you really contract the illness – how are going to explain that?

Michelle Heywood

Social Media and Job Hunting

Starting A Job Search: How To Use Social Media To Get A Job

This is a natty little video from Video Jug explaining how to go about using social media when you are job hunting. It explains the process of exploiting social networking/media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to find jobs. The tips are all good ones, cleaning up your profile or at least locking them down. No drunken photos of that Stag Do in Prague. Also add some keywords into your profile, job titles, interests and even clients you have worked with. Treat it like an interactive CV. They mention linkedin as well and its importance in building professional networks.

They also talk about using Twitter to look for jobs and build relationships. The core of the issue is building a strong personal online brand. To do this takes some time, effort and creativity on your part but it is worth pursuing. This is a neat article about it here – building your brand online. Get started on building your brand today. You never know if your dream job is just waiting for you!

And then there were 2 …. It’s the FINAL tonight!!

If you are an avid Apprentice fan then I am sure you have put everything that you would normally do on a Sunday night to one side ready to tune in to watch the delights of Kate and Yasmina battle it out to become Sir Alan’s next Apprentice!

Last weeks interview sessions were by far my favourite viewing of this series – how could Yasmina not know her company accounts can be accessed by anyone, why did James crumble under the pressure and why did Lorraine keep slipping back to her Irish roots!? There were some extremely awkward moments throughout the interviews and I was also shocked to hear James call Jo Brand one of the ‘Ugly Sisters’ on the BBC2’s after-show – if she had actually heard what he’d said I am sure she would have taken the mickey out of him more.

The interviewers this year were the usual - Karen Brady, MD of Birmingham City Football Club, Bordan Tkachuk, CEO of one of Sir Alan’s firms Viglen and Claude Litner, Sir Alan’s former “global trouble-shooter” – and replacing the one that has gone bankrupt (!) was Alan Watts, a city litigator.

If you are currently looking for a job there are some basic lessons to be learnt just from last weeks show;
- James commented that he didn’t think that he’d get to the interview stage and as such made some less than professional comments on his CV/application – which when sat in-front of a panel of interviewers made him look like a joke and let him down big style. Take your application, CV and interview seriously – yes be light hearted when it is appropriate but don’t be a fool.
- Another one lying on their CV – have they never watched the show?? Well, actually maybe as Lee McQueen was the one hired last year after lying on his CV they thought it was a good move? Poor Lorraine could not cover her employment dates (extended by a year!) as a ‘misprint’ – you should always triple-check your CV, get someone else to check it and ensure that every part of what you have written is true and can be backed up! E-recruitment buddy have a CV Writing Service available to candidates so perhaps check out what we can offer you before you apply for jobs.
- References; is it just me or did Debra almost delight in what her previous Manager and work colleagues said about her!? One of them claimed she is ‘'loud, obnoxious and inexperienced, swearing and telling colleagues to F*** off”!! {I am not sure if it is illegal for giving an ex-employee a bad reference? I think you are on ‘dodgy grounds’ and if you don’t have a good word to say about them it is best to just confirm dates of employment, reason for leaving and sickness record, otherwise you could end up in court. Either way give a reference contact as someone who you have had a good relationship with and who isn’t about to ruin your chances of getting the job that you want.

I appreciate this is a TV show, they have to be brutal and rub the candidates up the wrong way, and of course it makes great viewing & gets us all talking. So do you think Kate will triumph to complete her as little miss perfect or will Yasmina storm through?

One last thought – did that interviewer (was it Claude) really not know what an SLA was!??

The best job advert in the world

Tourism Queensland has pulled off a PR coup by pursuing a radical e-recruitment policy. They spent $1.7 million on advertising "the best job in the world" and gained an estimated $100 million dollars worth of publicity. Now that is a super smart recruitment and marketing synergy.
The job is to live in a luxury villa on the island of Hamilton for six months. The job entails exploring Hamilton and adjoining islands and writing about them on his website blog with a view to attracting tourists to Queensland. The successful candidate was Brit Ben Hamilton, a Charity Fund Raiser from Hampshire.

The campaign was centred on a website created by Queenland Tourist Board. The online recruitment process was a huge success attracting 34,684 applications from 200 countries.

Wanted Sheep Shearing Violin Playing Modern Dancer

I know the headline reads like a nightmare act on Britain ’s Got Talent but it demonstrates the current shortages in the UK jobs market. The recent report by Migration Advisory Committee has highlighted the current shortfalls in the UK labour market. They have outlined the roles that even in a recession with rising levels of unemployment are required to meet the UK skills shortage.

Modern Dancers, Classical Musicians, Sheep Shearers and Computer Animators are all areas where employers may have to look outside of the EU for staff. The news isn’t so good for those seeking work as Quantity Surveyors or Site Managers in the construction industries. The massive increase in unemployment for these jobs (up 500%) has resulted in them being removed from the list of roles that non EU citizens can be employed legally for in the UK .

The government is looking to advertise for the shortages overseas in an attempt to attract applications. It seems if you want job security in this volatile market then you should learn to dance, play a classical instrument or create you own computer animations. It’s a strange jobs market at the moment!

The Apprentice Predictor

This is really good fun. You can log on and see if you can guess who is going to get fired. The earlier you predict the right candidate the more points you score. The way the program is often edited it seems as if the winning team is going to lose and vice versa so I guess it’s not as easy as it seems.

You can play the game here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/about/predictor.shtml

Apprentice Review – Philip in the Lead

So the Apprentice 2009 is now entering week four and we are starting to get an idea of the runners and riders. My tip for the possible winner was as good as my horse in the Grand National. Poor Rocky managed to mess up the perfect task for him and was sent home with a lesson learnt!!

James is making great TV and I am sure for that reason alone he will stay in for a couple more weeks.



Having looked again at the candidates it seems as if Philip is now the front runner. He has a clear head, seems to be able to lead and is well liked by the others. The only issue is that he seems to be able to moan for England and that might get on Alan Sugars wick in the end. I would like to see him as project manager to see if he copes.

It seems even the sacked candidates like Philip:

New Office!!!

I haven’t blogged for a while – we’ve been very busy. Lots of good business things happening and the most exciting part we are having our own office space built – away from the house! This will make a huge difference to me in order to attempt to separate my home/work life and will also enable me to expand & take on additional staff members when in a position to develop to the next stage of business. I have taken a few pictures of the progress and we are still a few weeks away from being able to operate e-recruitment buddy from there. Yes it looks small but it’s a bit like Doctor Who’s tardis & I’ll take some internal pics when we’re up & running.

More Sugar - The Apprentice 2009

The Apprentice kicks off again this week and at e-recruitment buddy we can’t wait. We have been fans since the first series and love to watch the aspiring baby Alan Sugars fluff simple tasks, stitch each other up and fight for who is the most nakedly ambitious wannabe.

If the previous series has taught us anything it is that Sir Alan doesn’t like posh academics, lawyers and strong minded women. Saira Khan should have won the first series, Ruth Badger was head & shoulders above everyone else in series 2 and last year Claire Young somehow lost out to Lee “now that’s what I am talking about” McQueen who even lied on his CV and somehow still won!

Looking at this years candidates I have a feeling that Ben Clarke and Kate Walsh are possessed by the kind of hubris that could see them leave the show early. If I was a betting person then I would place a few quid on either Lorraine Tighe or Rocky Andrews as they have the sort of background that seems to appeal to Sir Alan. Roll on murder in the boardroom and back-stabbing in the house!

This is classic Apprentice, terrible decisions & Rory Lang “I am your boss!”

1000 Knock-Backs – This Guy Should Have a Medal!

Morning all! I just couldn’t help say a few words about this story from the Metro at the weekend. This job-hunter finally found a job after 5 months of looking and over 1000 rejections!! I think that would have put me in a mental asylum, despite having incredibly thick-skin I would have been so down-trodden and given up. Who knows?

42 year old Jeff Scott “went for posts ranging from meat packer to barman in the past five months in a bid to find work in Britain after being abroad for ten years. But he suffered rejection after rejection as companies laid staff off during the recession before landing a job as business development manager at a marketing company.”

It does sound like he pretty much applied for everything going but good on him and well done Jeff on your new BDM Job – far better than being a meat packer!!

Social Networking and the Recruitment Process

Can social networking and recruitment really be happy and contented partners? Is there a real synergy between them? The UK is currently lagging behind Europe when using social networking as a tool for the recruitment process.

“The 'Aquent Orange Book 2008-2009' survey found that between 2% and 7% of UK candidates and employers use social networking websites for recruitment purposes.However, 39% of German candidates, 34% of French candidates, 30% of Polish candidates and 23% of candidates from the Netherlands rated social networking sites as a preferred method of job seeking….”

There appears to be some resistance from direct employers and recruitment agencies with the use of social networks to assist in the recruitment process. The appeal of social networking sites to employers is a simple numbers game - the sheer scale of membership of sites like Facebook is viewed as goldmine of potential candidates waiting to be tapped into by recruitment agencies and direct employers. The issue is how to use social networking effectively.

At e-recruitment buddy the focus is always on the job specification and then finding social networks or forums that match the required skills of the role. There is no one size fits all rule for social networking, you want to place the job in front of the right candidates and let them make the decisions about applying. If you attempt to sell into social networks in a traditional sense you risk alienating the very audience you are attempting to attract. You need to create the right network of contacts and be aware of which sites suit which type of role.

E-recruitment buddy can unable you to enter into the social networking/recruitment space without fear of embarrassing slip ups or potential damage to your brand image. We manage the process for you and deliver passive candidates that are not registered with job boards or actively looking for work. The role of social networking sites in the recruitment process is only going to increase. Stay ahead of the curve by using e-recruitment buddy for your online recruitment.

Auditing Your Online Presence - Could Your Facebook account cost you a job?

In these harsh economic times with more and more applications for each and every role it is vitally important that you think about your online digital footprint.

Before you even start an online job search you should “google” yourself in both web results and image searches to see if anything unflattering is returned. If you find anything you wouldn’t want an employer to see then make sure it is taken down. The ability to track a digital footprint does depend on a number of things, if you have a fairly common name and live in a big city then it maybe be harder to find you. However a prospective employer armed with your CV, which normally has current and former places of work and educational details, can make a fairly good stab at finding you.

Many firms and recruitment agencies now employ people to trawl through cyberspace looking for information on potential new employees. Those stag or hen weekend photos on facebook? Are they really something you want your new boss to see? The rather cutting blog post about your old firm won’t do you any favours. You should think about possibly closing down or at least suspending your social networking accounts while you are job hunting or at least making them clean and family friendly – or use a different name! Make sure you tie down your privacy settings so that only friends and family can view your personal content. One of the issues with something like facebook is that you cannot control what your “friends” put on their pages. A prospective employer may have a quick scan through them to get a feel for your social life. Nothing to hide then fine but can any of us really claim that?

This You Tube video nicely sums up my thoughts on the issue.

Michelle Jones - online recruitment ©

E-Recruitment Buddy Born Podcast

My interview on the born podcast is now live!
Although I am no fan of my own voice I think I managed to get across my passion for the business and my knowledge and understanding of the marketplace.

Thanks to Julian Stopps for taking time out to interview me. I really enjoyed the process and its made me think I should start doing a monthly podcast of my own.

If you want to hear all about e-recruitment buddy then go and have a listen.



Born Podcast Audio Player

Quality Matters – It’s Not Just About The Fee

I've been thinking about this a lot lately - how to get across the difference between e-recruitment buddy and some of the similar businesses out there. So I have a few wise words for companies considering utilising the services of a ‘fixed fee recruiter’. I appreciate that often the motivation for turning to a fixed fee recruiter is the obvious fact that the fee is considerably lower than that of a traditional introduction fee. However, don’t just jump feet first without careful consideration. What other factors should you look at prior to signing an agreement:

- How much recruitment (traditional or otherwise) does your personal account manager have?
- In what sectors have they previously recruited within?
- Find out what they know about your industry and whether they do completely understand your needs.
- Do they offer bespoke advertising on niche boards specific to your vacancy or do they just advertise on as many sources they have contracts with and keep their fingers crossed?
- It is not about the number of sources they advertise on – it is about the quality of those sources and the relevance to your job – and of course the quality, not the volume, of candidates.
- Have they worked for a job-board in all aspects of the cycle – from the technical understanding of how the site works to sales through to marketing and candidate attraction?
- Why do some fixed fee recruiters offer a ‘pseudo’ money back guarantee if they truly believe in their service? We assume you don’t want your money back – you want to fill your role.

e-recruitment buddy offers the personal touch to each client, a bespoke tailored service to match your requirements. We don’t want to offer you a ‘deal’ or reduce our charges just to meet a sales target – we want to offer you the best service possible, at a fair rate and build a long term recruitment relationship.

We are not a pile it high sell it cheap recruiter, we don’t ‘process’ your vacancy but work on it with great attention to detail and passion gained from years of experience in the industry. My personal 12 years combined recruitment & job-board experience puts me in a very strong position to source suitable candidates. I’ve worked in high-street agencies, for big players & small niches, I’ve been a very successful recruiter and 5 years ago I set up from scratch a niche jobs board which became & still is a key job-board in the legal jobs sector. When I sold this in 2007 I had experienced the job-board industry from so many angles, which is a distinct benefit to the clients I now work with.

So why shop at Tesco’s when you can get the best at Harrods? I would welcome the opportunity to work on your vacancies and to prove what an excellent service we offer. For more details contact me directly on 01985 219590.

UK Job Prospects Are Deteriorating ‘At An Alarming Rate’

I enjoyed this Article by Claire West @ www.freshbusinessthinking.com and wanted to share it with you……

The latest quarterly CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development)/KPMG survey of employers’ recruitment and redundancy plans indicates that UK job prospects are deteriorating ‘at an alarming rate’ while the size of average pay rises is shrinking.

The winter Labour Market Outlook (LMO) survey of 892 UK employers, conducted by Ipsos Mori at the turn of the year, finds that more than one in three (36%) plan to cut jobs in the first quarter of 2009 – double the proportion expecting to make job cuts at the time of the previous LMO survey last autumn. The LMO records a negative balance of -9 percentage points between the proportion of employers planning to cut jobs (36%) and the proportion planning to hire additional staff (27%). This is the first such negative balance recorded in the five years since the LMO survey began in 2004.

The latest LMO survey also finds that employers intend to keep a much tighter rein on pay increases in the coming months. Those who plan pay reviews expect staff pay to increase on average by 2.6%, much lower than the 3.5% average increase expected last autumn. But as many as one in eight employers don’t intend to conduct a pay review at all in 2009.

John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) comments:“These latest LMO figures suggest that job prospects are deteriorating at an alarming rate. The labour market outlook is clearly even worse than expected at the turn of the year. Official statistics later this week will confirm that unemployment passed 2 million at the end of 2008. It now seems sadly inevitable that UK unemployment will top 3million before the jobs market finally starts to recover”.

Andrew Smith, Chief Economist at KPMG comments: "The speed of deterioration in the labour market is breath-taking. Higher unemployment will weaken demand which in turn will lead to higher unemployment. With interest rate policy running out of room this latest survey underlines the urgent need for alternative monetary policy measures - so called quantative easing - to ameliorate the risk of a downward spiral becoming entrenched and turning what already looks like a grim recession into something even worse."

It’s Snow Joke for 1000s of Businesses

It was an ill wind that drove the snow storms across the UK adding more woe to an already suffering economy. Despite being predicted snow when it hit London & the South East on Sunday evening and Monday 2nd February no one could have predicted the chaos that followed. From all London buses being completely stopped to most tube & train lines either delayed or cancelled.

Whilst it is fun for many, having a day at home or venturing out to sledge or build a snowman – many SMES will suffer a back-lash from the fact that their workforce are absent. It is estimated that about 20% of the UK work force didn’t make it to work on Monday 2nd February. The cost to businesses across the UK due to lack of production has been estimated by the Federation of Small Business to be somewhere in the region of £1.2 bn, that figure will rise when you add in the passing trade that would also have been lost. The closure of the tubes and buses in London would cost the economy £48 million in itself. Coming on top of the recession the snow is bad news for UK business.

Monster Mistake

Major online recruitment player Monster has suffered its second major data hack in the last 18 months. On January 23rd Monster admitted that its database had been compromised and that certain details and phone numbers had been taken.

The data stolen from Monster included telephone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth and gender details. This kind of data is a goldmine for phising attacks and leaves the user open to the sly installation of malware and trojans.

Luckily it doesn’t seem that a bulk download of CVs occurred or the users would be open to identity theft as most CVs contain addresses, national insurance numbers and current employers details.

If Monster is to become the trusted brand that their advertising is aiming for, then they need tighten up the security so that job seekers feel safe uploading their personal details. Come on Monster sort it out – in a such a competitive market where candidates are in abundance, anything that will deter them from using their site will have a knock on effect on their advertising revenues.

Is your job recession proof?

Are you looking over your shoulder wondering if your job will be next for the chop? It seems since we have officially been in recession and everyone from partners at law firms to sales staff at Woolworths have been losing their jobs we have been suffering from job insecurity.

Yahoo have brought a ray of sunshine to some lucky souls with their list of the top ten most recession proof jobs.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out the top two safest jobs are those of teaching and working in the NHS but can you guess the rest of the list? If you were on Family Fortunes with Vernon could you name the other eight? Are you praying your job is on the list? Should you be as worried as Gordon Brown or Tony Adams or is your future as sure footed as The Queen? See the full list.

3 Weeks Since Launch: My Thoughts – High Five!

4th – 23rd January 2009 has been a busy start to the year for me. Work-wise I’ve successfully completed 2 recruitment advertising campaigns, visited several potential clients, quoted for numerous projects and written & distributed a press release regarding our PPC division. What else? I’ve written & secured an article regarding pay per click job advertising in the legal market to be published in at least 2 trade press.

Last night I was asked to do an interview for the BORN podcast which I’m really chuffed about. One of my competitors in the fixed fee recruitment market released PR that almost mirrored what I had written several weeks before – initially, when reading it with disbelief, I was annoyed @ the blatant copying and couldn’t believe the ‘cheek’, but then I simply found it amusing and in some way I guess a compliment. The fixed fee division of our business is just one offering to clients and all our combined elements presents employers with a ‘one stop shop’ to suit all their needs – so stick that in your pipe & smoke it Mr C!. We also achieved a number ONE organic ranking in MSN search for the term ‘online recruitment advertising’ – quite an achievement in such a short space of time. Our website has had 400 visits over the last few weeks which I am also pretty impressed with.

The icing on the cake has got to be today - 2 clients I’d pitched for business have said YES! One opting for our combined vacancy management & resourcing service, which in this case includes additional advertising on high calibre sites like theguardianjobs to pitch at the right level of candidate, and the other a fixed fee standard campaign – both clients will save a decent amount of £££ from their usual routes. Great!

From a personal point of view – I’ve visited the gym 6 times (3x less than I should have!!), lost 4lbs, turned 37, cuddled & comforted my Son for a day when he was unwell & caught up with many of my girlfriends at a party. I’ve been asked to be a god mum to my friend’s little girl, Amelia, had physio on my knees and paid a rather large Tax bill. I think that’s it …. Nearly forgot, I bought an i-phone & am loving it … Phew!

Speading The Gospel of E-Recruitment

Our First Podcast!

Its Saturday night and I was just checking the internet using my new i-phone (get me!) and noticed a podcast link with e-recruitment buddy's details on it. I clicked to the 'Broadcasting Online Recruitment News (born)' website, delighted to find a c1minute clip about the launch of our business. Born is a specialist news and information site, you can subscribe to the podcast and listen to back-episodes.

Recruitment Podcast

E-Recruitment Buddy Transcript

Single White Recruitment Agency

The BBC has released a report today about its findings from recruitment and letting agencies in the West of England and the racism that lies just under the surface. “Of 30 temping agencies contacted by an Inside Out West researcher, 25 agreed to a request for a receptionist job to be offered only to white workers.“{source bbc news}. Quite frankly having read today’s news on the bbc whilst I am disgusted that people still do not follow discrimination laws I am not completely shocked by the results of the research. In a country where members of the royal family feel its acceptable to dress as a Nazi at a fancy dress party or using racist language openly is it any great surprise that this sort of institutional racism exists within the recruitment industry?

From my personal experience in the recruitment industry I have seen many inexperienced recruiters take positions that have ‘stipulations’ from the client that blatantly break the law but they are desperate to take the job on their books and therefore do not challenge the client and agree to meeting their criteria.

Does the blame lie with the recruiter for taking the job on those terms or the employer for asking for them? Well really it’s down to the recruitment agency as they should be aware of the current employment laws. A gentle reminder of the law should be enough to make the potential client back track or go elsewhere. Would you really want a racist on your books anyway, I know I wouldn’t.

Discrimination of any nature, and in this case racism, should not be tolerated. There is no excuse and you cannot ascribe it to simple niavity but sadly I feel that racism is still active in British society but just cloaked in respectability. Unfortunately iff you listen to the clips on the BBC link it doesn’t sound as if all the recruiters are junior to the industry. It’s this sort of behaviour that gets recruitment such a bad name. I hope the BBC names and shames those involved.

National Phone in Sick Day!

It has been reported that last Monday 5th of January set a new record for the amount of people not attending work due to illness. An estimated 2.4 Million employees were off sick on the first big day back at work after the Christmas break.

Although a percentage of these would have been genuine illness, as both the flu bug and NORA virus have been sweeping the nation the cynic in my feels that many people just used this as an excuse for an extra days holiday. The freezing temperatures were an added temptation for people who just didn’t fancy a slog to work in the cold.

With the economic climate in its current state I wonder why anyone would risk throwing a sickie? Sure don’t go in if you are really ill but for heaven sake make some effort to show willing it might just save you from getting the chop!

Online Recruitment

JOBS makes it into the Top 10 Search Terms during 2008

JOBS makes it into the Top 10 Search Terms during 2008

2008 Year-End Google Zeitgeist - Studying the aggregation of the billions of search queries that people type into the Google search box gives us a glimpse into the zeitgeist — the spirit of the times. This is the seventh year of the zeitgeist, and Google has compiled endless lists for more than 30 countries this year - really just the tip of its iceberg of insights into consumer behaviour. The list that e-recruitment buddy is most interest in is the ‘most searched terms in the UK’ as ‘jobs’ is now appearing at number 10:

1. Facebook
2. BBC
3. YouTube
4. eBay
5. Games
6. News
7. Hotmail
8. Bebo
9. Yahoo
10. Jobs

From BBC's iPlayer to Facebook to YouTube, many of the top searches in Britain this year have been for our favourite websites. I suspect that ‘jobs’ will rise considerably throughout 2009.

For the full details, methodology and lists visit Google Zeitgeist.

Picture Perfect Candidates with PPC

Searching the internet to look for a job is part & parcel of modern day life. The term “jobs” was the 10^th most popular search term in Google UK in 2008, placing it above the likes of credit crunch, Obama and the BBC. It is well documented that the online advertising channels available to employers is the fastest growing and most innovative form of media. As an employer you need to be taking your job vacancies online. At e-recruitment buddy we can help you achieve this.

The problem is how to get your vacancies in front of candidates in a cost effect and appropriate way. There are millions of jobs being advertised on the internet, but often the frustrating part for direct employers is actually getting found. This is where Pay Per Click ‘PPC’ advertising comes into play. PPC adverts are the sponsored listings that appear in the search engine results. They are a shortcut to the front page of the search engines and provide a perfect window for your vacancy. You can place highly targeted adverts in front of candidates who are searching for a job just like yours.

Every significant job-board, employer and recruiter will have pay per click campaigns in place to attract candidates – so why not do the same? No matter what your budget, you can display your adverts on Google, adCenter (MSN) and Yahoo! networks. Vacancy management firm, http://www.e-recruitmentbuddy.com/, recommends PPC Job Advertising. They know their ‘broad match’ from their ‘phrase match’, how to use adwords location targeting, how to achieve good click through rates and what content to place on a landing page. Michelle Jones, Managing Director of e-recruitment buddy says “paid search marketing often provides the highest ROI amongst online advertising platforms. Using our skills and experience will stop you making costly mistakes. We know how to correctly set-up and optimise a PPC campaign for maximum return.”

Your campaign can be live within a few hours of talking to e-recruitment buddy. They ensure your bids on keywords are strategic, relevant and not wasted. If you want to benefit from e-recruitment buddy’s bespoke pay per click job advertising service contact Michelle on 01985 219590 or visit e-recruitment buddy for PPC campaigns for recruitment for more details.