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    “Buckle Up and Ride the Economic Storm” Says Veteran Recruiter 

    As the UK heads towards yet another recession, the common mistakes business leaders make are the knee-jerk reactions of lowering headcount, freezing hiring, and sticking our heads in the sand when it comes to finances. All of which are a sure way to hinder future business growth and undermine overarching business goals. Of course, human beings’ fight or flight mode exists for survival reasons, but these tactics are a very temporary fix to a very long-term problem.
    While we are all guilty of receding to our safe place in times of trouble, business leaders should be buckling up to ride the economic storm to the best of their abilities, with the ultimate aim of coming out the other side ahead of competitors.
    Protect your assets
    While it may be tempting to knee-jerk into headcount reduction during tough economic times – especially with inflation hitting a 40-year high at 9.1 percent – this may end up being more damaging to businesses in the long run.
    Now more than ever, employers should be doing all they can to protect their most valuable assets – their staff. History has taught us time and time again that those who recognize this will be the ones who benefit later down the line. As the market recovered from the 2008 crash, reports showed employees felt their employers had ‘lost sight’ of the support they needed and subsequently, left en masse once things improved.
    Don’t let your talent pipelines dry out
    Staff retention should be a priority during rocky times but hiring managers should be seizing the opportunity to look for talent while the rest of the competition’s heads are down. Ensure that your job adverts are appealing to the correct audience, put some money behind LinkedIn advertising or use the services of a recruitment partner.
    Anything that you can do to raise the profile of your business, communicate your messages with your networks and demonstrate yourselves as an attractive employment prospect, will be crucial to future-proofing your business. It may seem counterintuitive now, but when your competitors are clutching at straws on the rebound, you’ll be thriving.
    Mind out for salary inflation
    The cost-of-living crisis’ grip is tightening, and as such, it may be tempting to raise pay for your staff to offset costs. Triggering a ‘wage-price spiral’ should be approached with caution, as inflationary pay rises are inflationary in itself – and companies will only raise consumer prices further – becoming a vicious cycle we may never venture out of.
    The recent news of management consultant giant PwC announcing a 9 percent pay rise for thousands of staff to offset the costs of living is setting a dangerous precedent. A popular move with staff, of course, but once other businesses follow suit there’s no sight at the end of the tunnel. PwC may well have the best intentions at heart (although remember they are also fighting in the war for talent), but it is a major player, and where it leads, others are sure to follow.
    Understand your finances
    Ensuring that you fully understand your income and expenditure is crucial to remaining in control. In a recession, remember that cash is king. Watch costs like a hawk and ensure that your business has sufficient liquidity to operate for longer than you would expect in normal times.
    The challenge during a recession is always to balance your costs and revenue to ensure that you can still generate profit as well as nurture and protect your valued clients and staff. This may require looking at different outlets for your products or services or mining existing relationships more intelligently (more likely a combination of both).
    What’s next?
    While it’s difficult to predict what the next six months have in store for us, especially with the ever-unstable government, there are already signs in the US that inflationary pressures are beginning to ease. One might expect a leveling off or even the beginning of a decline in inflation in the last quarter of this year.
    Of course, nothing about this economy and the job market is easy. The financial challenges are completely new to some, and ‘yet another hurdle’ for others, but the strategy remains the same. Be cautious but buckle up for the long term. The last thing you want is to emerge from your bunker in six months’ time to find your business landscape decimated.
    If the last two years have taught us anything it’s that we can be agile in the face of uncertainty but also that risks may be well worth taking. After all, it should be a walk in the park compared to navigating through the uncertainties of the pandemic.
    By: Dominic Wade, co-founder of specialist HR and Finance & Accountancy recruitment firm, Wade Macdonald. He founded the firm in the early 90s and since has weathered three financial crises and a pandemic. 
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    How Can Job Seekers Make Themselves More Attractive to Recruiters?

    Just as the labor market changes quickly and unexpectedly, so too does the recruiting industry. As the workforce rebounds from COVID-19 and unemployment rates continue to drop, job seekers have more options from which to choose, making hiring increasingly difficult for employers, and sourcing top talent more challenging for recruiters.
    Though job seekers may have more options than in the past two years, this doesn’t mean they will all be viable. The Great Resignation has made qualified candidates a rare commodity, making it even more important for both active and passive job seekers to showcase themselves in ways that make them attractive to recruiters when their skills are a match for open positions. Let’s look at some areas job seekers should focus on in order to ensure they appear on recruiters’ radars.
    Prioritize Personal Brand
    A strong personal brand is always an asset to a job search, and for some jobs, it’s essential. Recruiters want to see that candidates maintain a professional online persona. While most job seekers know to optimize their LinkedIn page for their search, if their other social media pages are filled with self-indulgent photos or negative or offensive content, this could be a red flag for recruiters who may be hesitant to submit such candidates to their clients. Similarly, it could be a turn-off to employers who may feel such online behavior shows immaturity or irresponsibility and doesn’t match their values. Despite the common belief that everyone should be free to express themselves, particularly on non-business-related sites like Facebook and Instagram, job seekers should take extra care to send a message of professionalism across all social media platforms.
    Focus Efforts
    It’s not uncommon for recruiters to receive dozens, if not hundreds, of applications for each of their open positions. Job seekers should be sure to only target those positions for which they’re qualified, and not inundate recruiters or employers with resumes for any and all positions to try to gain their attention. This approach may attract the wrong kind of attention, causing the candidate’s name to be remembered for always being unqualified. Instead, job seekers should focus on positions that relate to their skills and experience, and customize their resume for each position they apply to by including relevant keywords from the job description and supporting numbers and accomplishments. Also, candidates who don’t hear back from recruiters after applying should limit their follow-up to one time to avoid coming across as too persistent or aggressive.
    Demonstrate Knowledge
    Job seekers who use their spare time to share news, information, and knowledge with their networks will automatically have an edge over their competition. As recruiters scour the internet and resume databases for top talent, the more choices there are, the more they look for something in candidates’ profiles that makes them stand out. Those who write blogs, share articles, are active in LinkedIn groups, or network and interact with others in the industry make a far better impression than those who only appear interested in having fun online. While not all online activity has to be work-related, job seekers should try to maintain a healthy balance in order to send the right message to recruiters and potential employers.
    Stay Up to Date
    Few things are as frustrating to a recruiter as an interested candidate who has neglected to update his or her contact info. Depending upon whether there are ample qualified candidates to choose from, recruiters will either take time out of their busy schedule to source the candidate’s contact info online or just move on to the next qualified individual. Passive candidates with rare and in-demand skill sets may be indifferent to losing out on an opportunity or creating extra work for recruiters. But for job seekers with a greater sense of urgency, should ensure their contact info is updated and they are easily reachable and quick to respond.
    Continue Learning
    One sure way job seekers can endear themselves to recruiters and prospective employers is through a record of continuous learning. In addition to hiring for education, skills, and experience, most employers also want to hire candidates who are always looking to acquire knowledge. This may be more difficult for those currently employed in a demanding field. However, for job seekers needing to break up the monotony of a full-time search, taking a class or working toward a certification could give them an edge when competing with a number of other qualified candidates.
    Volunteer
    Regardless of industry, every recruiter and employer looks favorably upon volunteerism. During the hiring process, recruiters often take note of what candidates do in their spare time in order to determine how they may fit with a company’s culture. Those who donate their time to charitable causes while listing their volunteer activities on their resume or sharing them on social media show recruiters that they share values with employers committed to community involvement and that they’re interested in helping others and working for something greater than just a paycheck.
    The recruiting industry is constantly evolving. As decreasing unemployment rates have made sourcing top talent more difficult, applicant tracking systems, big data, and artificial intelligence have attempted to streamline talent identification, while also causing recruiters’ roles to change in the hiring process. In response, job seekers must ensure they remain adaptable as well. Though knowledge and experience will always be in demand, candidates must focus on those skills and attributes that will make them stand out among others with similar backgrounds, and how to showcase these to recruiters. Regardless of changes to the job market or recruiting technology, job seekers who do this will have the greatest success transitioning into the workforce.
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    5 Ways Recruitment Leaders Can Transform Their Email Marketing Content

    Every day, four billion email users are tapping into email marketing – a low-cost but highly effective digital comms tool. And for recruiters, it’s not only an easy way to engage with candidates on a one-to-one level, but it can also open up doors to new opportunities.
    However, that doesn’t mean to say that each piece of content landing in a jobhunter’s inbox will be acted upon or even looked at. There must be a compelling reason as to why they should interact with what they’ve received and ultimately place their career search in the hands of specific recruitment professionals.
    What that means today is, it’s no longer best practice to send out hundreds of bland emails to a bunch of prospective candidates – containing an irrelevant message that’s loosely received by all – in the hope that an individual might take up the offer presented to them. It’s about providing comms that are valuable and helpful to ease the strains of a monotonous job search.
    The good news here is, there are a multitude of ways in which email marketing can encourage candidates to engage, and even if they’ve never previously interacted with the recruiter too. Here are five areas recruiters should focus on if they want their next comms campaign to be a raging success…
    1. Always opt for clickable subject lines
    If a job hunter isn’t interested in the first line they see, they’ll be highly unlikely to open and digest the content – regardless of how carefully crafted the content is. After all, 50% of a user’s decision to engage with an email is all to do with the brand itself. The other half? The subject line. So remember:

    Get straight to the point: Examples such as ‘Junior PHP Developer Wanted: Near Newcastle’ or ‘Experienced B2B Copywriter Needed’
    Think about verbs: What should the recipient do? Will it be ‘Read Our Top Tips Guide On Job Interviews’ or ‘Learn How To Create A Cover Letter’
    Don’t forget the proof: In a nutshell, ‘88% Of Candidates Want Hybrid Working’
    Could there also be a question? To provoke debate – examples include, ‘Are You Tired Of The Commute?’ or ‘What Would You Do With A £45k Salary?’
    Then there’s the urgency: ‘Hurry, It’s The Last Day To Apply!’ or ‘Be Quick, Send Your CV Today!’
    And remember to personalize where possible: This is ideal when it comes to adding an ultra-individualized touch. For example, ‘Hi [name], I Was Impressed With Your CV’ or ‘[first name], [company name] Was Mentioned Today…’

    2. Be clear with what the recipient needs to do
    Once someone has engaged with the subject line, what should a recruiter do next? Here’s where the nurture comes in – and it’s easy to do.
    Simply split up valuable email content over a series of email sends to truly keep a candidate interested throughout the journey. Plus, this technique provides recruitment professionals with even more opportunities to say what they want their readers to do without it coming across as aggressive or a ‘hard sell’.
    A 10-word headline and focused call to action work well. Not only is this a succinct way of doing it, but there also won’t be any confusion as to what the end goal is. For example, ‘Book An Appointment’ or ‘Download Our Guide’.
    And never alienate people with jargon-heavy language or tiny text that’s impossible to read on a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. Think about font size, colors, and the overall sentence structure to ensure candidates are provided with ultimate accessibility to all the relevant information.
    3. Ever heard of the ‘Squint Test’?
    If not, do it now. Sit back and squint before reading the email headline, call to action, and viewing the main image.
    Does it still read well and look engaging?
    If elements are spaced out, sized nicely, and are still able to stand out – that’s gold dust! Plus, the recipient is more likely to interact with the comms because they’re not trying to figure out a clunky sentence or being taken aback by a sea of color clashes. Simple and effective is the way forward.
    4. Think about including ‘trampoline’ email content
    Whatever sits below the email headline and call to action is what’s referred to as the ‘trampoline’. Why? Simple – it’s designed to bounce the reader back up to what they should be clicking on if they want to access more detail.
    If recruiters are still unsure as to what this copy might entail, think about including reviews and testimonials to invoke trust and authenticity, or reference related products and articles such as ‘You Might Also Like…’
    5. Personalization, personalization, personalization
    For every piece of content that’s heading into a candidate’s inbox, always hyper-personalize the comms. The easiest and swiftest way to do this is by plugging in an intuitive marketing automation platform that’s built to enable users to send targeted, ultra-individualized emails specifically to segmented groups. And it’s more than a ‘Hi [first name]’ introduction – it’s all about sending the right message to the right person, at the right time.
    These are only some of the ways in which recruiters can drive a greater level of interaction and get to know candidates on a much deeper level. Having a relationship built on trust – and which is beneficial to both parties – can be powerful, and that’s before considering how much it can positively impact a professional’s conversion rate.
    By Adam Oldfield, CEO of marketing automation platform Force24
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    3 Reasons Why Recruiters Should Invest in Marketing Automation

    When the world is extremely busy online, ensuring that a carefully crafted piece of email content doesn’t end up straight in a candidate’s ‘delete’ folder, should be a high priority for a recruitment agency’s marketing department.
    But when over 300 billion business emails are sent globally every day, it can often seem an uphill struggle when trying to cut through a vast amount of digital noise. However, industry professionals can give themselves a competitive advantage and ensure they’re speaking to the right people about the right jobs opportunities when they plug in intuitive marketing automation.
    That’s because it’s designed to not only make life simpler but, in this instance, liberate marketing campaigns for recruiters who want to create and send humanized content that engages recipients with content they want to read via their preferred channels.
    Here are some of the reasons why more recruitment agencies and their marketing teams should be turning to automation if they want to interact with candidates on a more granular level and improve their overall conversion rate…
    1. Every piece of digital comms can be hyper-personalized
    With savvy technology at their fingertips, marketers can analyze millions of pieces of critical data that tell them all about a candidate’s of-the-moment job interests and needs. From this insight, they can then begin to build up a more complete picture about their recipient and know the type of ultra-personalized content they will interact with.
    When an enigmatic and energetic recruitment agency is keen to engage with a jobseeker about a relevant role, the last thing they want to do is be seen as another cold caller who sends the same tired – and often irrelevant – message to hundreds of other candidates that are ultimately received loosely by all. Not only is that a waste of time but can damage brand reputation immeasurably because those candidates will soon go to a competitor who understands their specific career requirements.
    2. Have a problem with email deliverability? Not any more…
    The latest news bulletin full of job roles has gone out but it’s received little to no engagement or had a vastly low engagement rate. If a marketing team experiences these problems, there could be an issue with deliverability.
    Utilizing automation, marketers can begin to draw out the data that links to why engagement is low – for example, it could be that bot traffic is to blame or the bounce rate is high because the recruitment agency’s CRM isn’t automatically updating ‘dead’ email addresses when people leave their jobs and move on. Being equipped with this information, and acting on it, should help recruiter brands to stop these recurring issues at the earliest opportunity and ensure they’re sending emails to the right candidates.
    3. Jobseekers feel they’re being supported throughout
    A cold email sent without thought is likely to either be deleted straight away or ignored altogether by the recipient because a recruiter isn’t taking the time to get to know them – and it shows.
    It’s important to help candidates throughout their next career move – and marketing teams can assist that nurturing process from start to finish. Not only will it build trust, but it’s an additional level of support that will endorse positive word-of-mouth and build brand loyalty.
    A great way to foster a relationship with a jobhunter is via a five-step marketing automation email sequence, which is:

    The ‘introduction’: explaining who the recruiter is and why they’re getting in touch
    Next is ‘gain’: underlining what the candidate will achieve by taking up the recruiter’s services
    Then there’s the ‘fear’ of missing out: designed to detail what would happen if the recipient did not act on the advice of this particular recruiter
    The fourth stage is ‘social proof’: evidencing other candidates’ experiences through testimonials and case studies
    And finally, ‘urgency’: requesting readers to act now before the opportunity goes to someone else.

    By following this framework, recruiters and their marketing departments should begin to build up a bank of highly nurtured candidates who are receiving relevant roles for them.
    It’s important to stress that automation shouldn’t do all of the work when it comes to the relationship between a recruitment brand and a job seeker. There have to be lots of human interaction throughout – after all it takes six touchpoints before someone is truly engaged. However, this technology should enable a deeper understanding of what every candidate is interested in at that specific moment in time while saving marketers several hours each week because they’re creating emails in seconds to strengthen their overall digital comms delivery. 
    By Adam Oldfield, CEO of marketing automation platform Force24.
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    Overcoming Burnout as a Recruiter

    Burnout is no joke. It’s an extreme state of exhaustion that can manifest as demotivation, anxiety/stress or feeling overwhelmed. Unsurprisingly, the rates of burnout have risen exponentially since the beginning of the pandemic. In fact, web searches for the phrase ‘signs of burnout’ were up 150% in 2020 from previous years, as many workers felt extra pressure to perform to help their companies navigate through the pandemic.
    Like in many industries, working in recruitment has had its challenges over the past 14 months. At the beginning of the pandemic, many recruiters found it difficult to get in touch with clients as they swapped their offices for home working and put many roles on hold overnight. Alongside this, candidates felt either disheartened while job hunting or stuck in their current roles as they didn’t want to risk moving to a new role due to the economic downturn.
    Now, as the market across many sectors rebounds and new roles are being called into agencies, it may be a difficult (and tiring) transition for many consultants as they try to keep up with demand. If you find yourself in this position, you’re not alone! Below, we’ve outlined four key actions you can take to protect your mental energy and prevent burnout over the coming months.
    Recognize your personal cues
    While chatting to Lead Consultant for Tiger HR, Aseel Ibrahim, on our Tiger HR Tales podcast, Tracey Carlton from BLME said it perfectly: “it’s so important to be kind to ourselves, and allow ourselves to just have those moments”. Part of this is educating yourself on your personal cues that indicate something isn’t right. Maybe you’re not sleeping very well, or you’re skipping the daily walk you usually look forward to. We recommend letting those around you know what they should look out for if you believe you’re in danger of becoming burnt out, as they may be able to pick up on these things before you do.
    Stand up and say “I’m not OK”
    Remember: you can only manage so much. We’re all still dealing with the effects of the pandemic, and so it’s normal to feel unmotivated or overwhelmed at times. If, however, you think you’re at the point of burning out, you need to speak to your manager. By reaching out and asking them to re-prioritize your workload, you can get your to-do list back under control. In these situations, taking a step back and assessing where you need help is essential.
    Draw a line around your boundaries
    As teams continue to work remotely or partially remotely, over-communication is key. This is also the case when it comes to your boundaries. At the very least, you should let your team know when you’re finishing up for the day and when you’re taking your lunch break. If you need to take a few hours out to finish paperwork or work with minimal distractions, block that time out in your diary and protect it like you would a meeting with a client. These healthy behaviors will demonstrate to your team the importance of separating work from home time, which in turn should help prevent overworking.
    Build a support network
    Whether it’s your desk buddy or your best friend, having at least one person you can offload your thoughts and feelings to is so important when dealing with difficult situations. Organizing regular catch-ups with your support network is essential to check in with how you’re feeling. It could be something as simple as a five-minute chat at the end of the week, or a monthly get-together over drinks. Whoever you choose, you need to give that person the permission they need to step in if they see you displaying negative behaviors. This way, they can act as a sounding board for potential strategies for coping and can get you through even the most severe bouts of burnout.
    As recruiters, we often experience times of extreme pressure. We may have to work long hours or become stressed when preparing shortlists for several different clients at once. However, when it comes to feeling burnt out, you need to act quickly in order to prevent yourself from becoming sick or unable to function. By taking steps to prevent the cause, you should be able to overcome burnout and promote healthier ways to manage your mental health and wellbeing.
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    Five Reasons Why Candidate Care is So Important

    As recruiters, looking after our candidates is a vital part of our everyday role. After all, if our candidates aren’t happy, we haven’t done our job! It’s imperative to maintain close relationships with them and inform them of any updates in their job search. You should also aim to accommodate their individual aspirations and personalities […] More