Category: Recruitment Agency

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Internet LinkedIN Recruitment Recruitment Agency Social Networks Social Recruitment Twitter

Social Networks – a threat to the Recruitment Agencies?

Social Networks are here! Recruitment and sourcing in particular is changing. Job Boards that the recruitment agencies have been relying for as their main source of candidates are getting smaller role to play today. The future for the job boards is not extremely bright either. Their dominance is being replaced by the social networks. There are more and better candidates using social networks than job boards. Recruiters had to follow the trend – moving their business of the job boards – to the social networks.

Job boards will not really die tomorrow. Job boards will still have their place in the online recruitment world. Most of them in a bit different shape or form. They will serve as repository for active jobs, and feed their data to the web sites with the high ant targeted traffic (do you recognise the description of a social network here?).

A lot of the recruiters are not extremely happy with the way that social networking sites are changing the recruitment. They feel the threatened. Why? They feel that they will be bypassed since employers will be able to source and recruit directly on the social networking web sites. Those recruiters go that far that they themselves do not use the social networks, trying to stop the wheel of change.

The change is here. And more of it is coming. Embrace it. Don’t fight it. Resistance is futile.

Online recruitment as well as any online business are changing. Changing constantly and rapidly (Microsoft: At the Speed of Light). Adoption spread and growth of the Internet fuel the acceleration of the change of Internet itself. Market penetration phase is shortening, and the market reach is growing.

Social networks are NOT the end of the recruitment agencies.

Internet brought the quick and cheap advertising to the recruiters 15 years ago in a form of job boards. Employers used them as well as recruitment agents. Both successfully. Both competed for the same candidate. Social networks are no different. Both direct employers and recruitment consultants will use them. If used right, social networks will be (are today!) extremely beneficial in the recruitment process. Does this mean the end of the tunnel for the recruitment agencies? Absolutely not! Recruitment agents have their place in the recruitment process, and will always have it as long as they add value. The tools they use will always the be the tools that are on the disposal of the employers as well. Social networks today, and whatever comes along tomorrow.

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Recruitment Agency

NRF Awards 2009

The National Recruitment Federation Awards 2009 was really a great night. It was the celebration of the recruitment industry and it was really amazing how positive it all was. Recruitment in Ireland has gone through its worst years for decades. After excellent Recruitment Conference earlier this year, the Awards Ceremony to be even more uplifting, one couldn’t really expect. It is the people in the recruitment industry in Ireland, the National Recruitment Federation members, and all their representatives present last Friday, that made it all as great as it all was.

Elaine Roddy, NRF Director deserves a special thanks for organizing it all (Yes I was there a few hours earlier to check how the things are going with the organization! :)).

Frank Collins, NRF President – made the shortest speech possible, making sure the dinner doesn’t get cold. On a serious side Franks work with the NRF shows outside of the NRF organization, making him a as respected person in the recruitment industry in Ireland as he is.

Mark Fielding, CEO ISME - NRF Awards 2009

The panel of judges were made up of Sean O’Meara, Former Chief Executive of Young Advertising; Kirsty Kirkwood, Former European Head of HR at State Street Ireland and Mark Fielding, CEO of the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, (ISME). Ex-MD of Computer People Ltd, Grainne Martin was a new addition to the panel this year as a recruitment advisor.

Mark Fielding, CEO ISME & Ivan Stojanovic, MD Employ Ireland

Photo by Ian Wortley of Jackie Brown Medical

I spent most of the evening chatting with the judging panel of the NRF. It was interesting to hear their reasoning for awarding each award. Mark Fielding, CEO ISME
Made it the most clear by defining the ‘Passion’ as what made the largest impression on him. He was amazed by the quality of shortlisted companies this year, and admitted it was really hard to choose one in each category.

It was also the eve of the Lisbon Treaty Referendum that night, and we had a chat about that. I was shocked the day later realising that Marks prediction of the outcome of the referendum was absolutely correct – he predicted the percentages exactly as the results published a day later! Well done!!!

NRF 2009 Disco

As a true night out – National Recruitment Federation Awards 2009 ceremony culminated with a live music and dance… With most of the cameras way out of focus to capture any of that!

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Recruitment Agency

NRF Awards 2009 Winners #nrf2009

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Recruitment Agency

National Recruitment Awards NRF 2009 (Twitter: #nrf2009)

Jobs Blog is only about 2 years old. And web site about the online recruitment in Ireland. I write it, when I catch some time (from my ‘real job’), and when there is something interesting to write about. National Recruitment Awards 2009 was last Friday. A superb event. I mean it. A SUPERB event!

I will write about it. I will write quite a lot actually! Yes, I have some photos from the event as well, and will publish those as well. If you want your photos to be published email them to IrishRecruiter [at] gmail.com.

Right now I really cannot write more about the National Recruitment Awards Ceremony 2009, since my ‘Real Job’ is a priority. (BTW it reminds me of a company I used to have called RealJobs.ie).

Here is just the first picture I took – more to follow:

Pamela Flood NRF

Pamela Flood opening the National Recruitment Awards Ceremony 2009 in Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin on Friday 2nd October 2009

Twitter: #nrf2009

Categories
Career Interview Microsoft Recruitment Recruitment Agency

Martin Cerullo

martin_cerullo1Martin Cerullo, Director, Resourcing Communications, Alexander Mann Solutions is presenting in two events later this week in Dublin. First is the event organised by Microsoft Ireland: The Future of Recruitment conference on the 7th of October in Westbury Hotel, Grafton Street. The second is the Bringing Consumer Marketing Techniques into the World of HR in The Penthouse Suite at the Morgan Hotel, 7-12 Fleet Street, Dublin and will run from 8.30am to 10.30am.

I asked Martin what he is going to talk about in Dublin:

Martin Cerullo: On The Future of Recruitment conference I’m going to be talking about how we are embracing the world of technology to improve financial and quality performance throughout the whole recruitment lifecycle. I’ll be covering everything from employer brand to attraction as well as assessment and onboarding. As the recently voted Global Leader in RPO (HRO Today Magazine), I think we come at this from a unique perspective due to the different types of organisations we work with, the geographies we cover and the technology neutral position we occupy.

Martin Cerullo: On Bringing Consumer Marketing Techniques into the World of HR breakfast event: In a tough financial climate, many organisations struggle to gain investment for employer branding activities. Come along to this event where we will explore the business case for building a strong employer brand and the return on investment it delivers.

About Martin Cerullo
Martin has worked for Alexander Mann Solutions since 2006, and is the Director responsible for the global resourcing communications practice, which manages all employer branding, sourcing and recruitment innovation across AMS clients. Martin has 12 years experience of working in the recruitment sector, with a major focus on employer brand management and development, recruitment advertising, website development and sourcing strategies. Martin has also built and managed solutions in outsourcing of graduate recruitment attraction and selection. Before Martin joined AMS, he spent the previous 6 years working for Euro RSCG Worldwide, one of the world’s largest global advertising groups. As a board director of the Riley division, Martin had responsibility for 2 advertising agencies as well as the development of strategic services such as employer branding, diversity and digital recruitment and managing relationships with clients including Morgan Stanley, British Airways, BP, Airbus and B&Q. Twitter: @martincerullo; LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/martincerullo

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Blogs Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency Twitter

NRF Recruitment Industry Awards 2009 Twitter #nrf2009

The National Recruitment Federation (NRF) Recruitment Industry Awards are only a week away!

The gala awards ceremony on Friday, 2nd October 2009 is at The Four Seasons Hotel. Get your dresses ready ladies, and have your suites pressed gentleman! Besides the NRF Annual Conference, this is the most important gathering of the recruitment industry professional in the calendar. Where the national conference is more as a presentations and the status check of the industry, the Gala Awards is where most of the recruiters will tell you – the real staff happens. The more relaxed evening atmosphere usually gets recruiters to ‘open up’ to each other. For Seasons Hotel is a great choice of the venue to build the atmosphere – Well done NRF!

In the run-up to the night, the general public (a.k.a. job seekers) can nominate an agency for the jobseekers choice category. A number of recruiters have tweeted about it already. I used the twitter hashtag #nrf2009 to bring them all together. Here it is so far:

Real-time results for #nrf2009

Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: RT @BarryVickers: #nrf2009 NRF Recruitment Industry Awards – vote for your favourite agency!: The NRF i.. http://trim.li/nk/iex about 23 hours ago from TweetDeck    

  • Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: RT @CPLMultilingual: #nrf2009 NRF Recruitment Industry Awards – vote for your favourite agency …: Last year.. http://bit.ly/17lixW about 23 hours ago from web    
  • Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: RT @nuparcdublin: PLEASE vote for Nuparc to win NRF Jobseeker’s Choice Award!! Every Vote Counts!! http://tiny.cc/KmMxz #nrf2009 about 24 hours ago from TweetDeck    
  • Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: RT @gcerasi: Will Logiskills win the NRF Jobseeker Award? Vote now and help us at http://bit.ly/ZyUtT #nrf2009 about 24 hours ago from TweetDeck    
  • Ivanstojanovic_normal IrishRecruiter: Hashtag – #nrf2009 = #NRF #Recruitment #Conference #Ireland #2009 about 24 hours ago from TweetDeck
    • Categories
    Career CV Interview Job Site Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    How to prepare an electronic CV

    While many jobs can still be applied for in the traditional way, by sending a printed CV and covering letter by post to the organisation that is offering the position, an increasing number of employers now accept and even encourage the practice of sending of CVs via e-mail. There are a number of advantages to this approach – it’s almost instantaneous, it works out a lot cheaper, especially if you are applying for jobs abroad, and it reduces paper waste. In addition, some websites offer you the chance to post your CV online where it can be seen by thousands of potential employers without you having to lift a finger. An electronic CV is generally similar to a printed CV, however there are several key differences between the two forms that are important to bear in mind when producing the document.

    Perhaps most importantly, you have to ensure that your CV can be easily read on any computer, regardless of software and hardware differences. For this reason it is best to save your CV in ASCII or plain text format, as the recipient may not have the same word-processing software, or even the same version of a particular program, as you have typed the CV into. Keep the formatting as simple as possible, as indents, columns, page breaks and bullet points can all be interpreted differently by different computers and leave your CV looking like a mess on arrival.
    Although most paper CVs are lucky to receive anything other than a quick perusal, if anything an electronic CV will receive even less detailed attention. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that you keep it short and crisp. Summarise what you feel to be your strong points and avoid unnecessary detail. The primary function of an electronic CV is to grab the attention of the employer. If what they see intrigues them, then they will get in touch with you for more details.
    For the same reason it is important to make appropriate use of keywords to draw attention to the important things in your CV, especially if it’s posted on a jobs site. Given that the great majority of internet searches are keyword-based, it is important to use words and phrases that are likely to be searched for by potential employers. Use keywords that are specifically related to the industry and the type of job you wish to work in. Try to incorporate positive, descriptive terms into descriptions of your skills and experiences that you feel employers will be likely to search for. For example, an employer looking for clerical staff might search for terms such as ‘fast and accurate typist’ or ‘strong IT skills’.
    Finally, be sure to include your name, contact details and website, if you have one that you feel is worth showing to employers, along with a short profile of your career and achievements to date in reverse chronological order. If an employer is interested in your CV but finds it anything other than easy to find your contact details, chances are they won’t contact you at all.

    For jobs and career advice, visit employireland.ie.

    Categories
    Career CV CV Database Job Site Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency Social Recruitment

    How to impress with your CV

    When it comes to applying for jobs, first impressions can count for a great deal. Very often, the very first thing a potential employer will know about you will be written on the CV that you included with your job application. Having a great CV can make all the difference between being asked for an interview and being rejected out of hand.

    When writing a CV, it is helpful to consider things from the employer’s point of view. They will be looking for those people who would seem, at least on paper, ideally suited to the position being offered. They may well have to read through a great number of CVs before they decide which candidates they wish to interview, so they will, naturally, be looking for the ones that really stand out from the crowd.

    While using the same CV for a variety of job applications, and changing only the covering letter, might seem a time-efficient way of applying for jobs, this approach has several drawbacks. Chiefly, it will decrease the chances that your CV is truly marketing you as a person well suited to the demands of the job in question. In addition, sending in a generic CV unmodified to the demands of a particular job, especially now in this digital age, smacks of laziness, incompetence, and a lack of desire for the job – hardly an image that you would want to project to a potential employer!

    By tailoring your CV to the job you are applying for, you can significantly increase your chances of being asked to come in for an interview. In order to do this successfully, you will need to do some research into the background of the organisation in question as well as judging the personal characteristics and qualifications that they would seem to be looking for in an applicant.

    Not only should your CV be tailor-made for each and every one of the jobs that you apply for, it should also be updated regularly to take account of any advances you have made in your education and career. It would probably be a good idea to keep a constantly updated ‘master’ CV file on your home computer, which can then be quickly customized to highlight the qualifications and personal attributes required by the jobs that you are applying for.

    For jobs and career advice, visit employireland.ie.

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    Career Interview Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    How to: Impress at the interview stage

    Applying for jobs can be a difficult business at the best of times, but for many people the most nerve-wracking and difficult part of the recruitment process is getting past the interview stage. After sifting through the various applications, the interview process offers a chance for employers to meet some of the more promising candidates for a particular job in person to try to form a more complete picture of their strengths and weaknesses. A candidate’s performance in a job interview can often be the decisive factor in the success or otherwise of their application, and as such it is important to prepare well.

    Before you attend the interview, make sure that you done your research and know something about the history and guiding philosophies of the organisation, as well as their current activities. Find out what the job entails so that you can present your qualifications, experiences, previous jobs, and personal attributes in such a way that you appear to be an ideal candidate for the position. Be sure to brush up on your descriptions and knowledge of all of these things, as an inconsistency between the facts as presented in your CV and your interview could make you seem dishonest. You also need to be prepared to answer stock interview questions such as ‘why do you want this job?’ or ‘what would you say were your strengths and weaknesses?’. It can be both beneficial and reassuring to rehearse an interview situation with a friend or relative, especially if they have any experience in hiring people themselves.

    When you turn up to the interview, it’s important that you appear clean, neat and tidy, in attire appropriate to the tone of the organisation, and that you do not smoke or chew gum. It’s better to be a bit early than a bit late, so make sure to set for the interview in plenty of time and plan your route well in advance.
    During the interview itself, learn your interviewers name and shake their hand firmly (within reason!) upon meeting them. Be well mannered and polite with everyone you meet, and speak clearly without the use of slang words. Don’t slouch or avoid eye contact, as this can be interpreted as a lack of confidence, or even worse, a lack of interest! Make sure to use body language to demonstrate your interest in what the interviewer is saying, and try to appear confident and enthusiastic without being overbearing. Ask questions of the interviewer about the job and the organisation, but avoid questions that could be answered by looking on the company website as this will smack of a lack of preparation and thoroughness. At the end of the interview, thank the interviewer and be sure to shake hands with them again before you leave.

    For jobs and career advice, visit employireland.ie.

    Categories
    Career CV Interview Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    Interview: Peter Cosgrove

    Peter Cosgrove of the NRF will hold a talk for job seekers on September 30th in the Grand Canal Hotel for up to 100 people. To register please email director@nrf.ie.

    This is a pilot test free jobseekers workshop by NRF. The presenter Peter Cosgrove agreed to meet me over a coffee and we had a short chat about the upcoming event.

    Interview with Peter Cosgrove

    What is Free Jobseekers Workshop?
    The National Recruitment Federation (NRF) felt that it would be of great value to the members if we were able to help recruitment consultants in a very difficult period. Given the amount of candidates on the marketplace it is inevitable that recruiters are spending more time speaking with candidates but often therefore not getting enough time to talk with clients. This job seekers initiative is to help recruiters put candidates in touch with a free event that they will benefit, as well as giving recruiters more time to focus on speaking to clients to get new assignments for their candidates.

    Why has the NRF decided to run this event now?
    I think there is a lot of negative press out there and unfortunately recruitment consultants are getting some of this even though they are often just the messengers. This is something they can do for their candidates that they will hopefully appreciate and improve the overall brand of the NRF recruitment agencies.

    What does the event cover?
    The event is designed for all levels of candidates and is to highlight that the market is completely different and your cv and approach to finding a job has to be also. Specifically it will cover:

    • Writing a world class cv
    • Where to find the next job
    • Advice on dealing with recruitment agencies
    • Improving interview skills and techniques
    • Networking skills
    • Negotiating salaries

    Where and when is it happening and how do you register?
    The job seekers workshop will run on September 30th from 6PM to 7.30PM at the Grand Canal Hotel, Dublin 4 and will be presented by NRF Committee member, Peter Cosgrove. A cv clinic will follow the event so bring a cv. To register please email your name and contact details to director@nrf.ie but remember places are limited.

    Give one good reason why candidates should attend?
    Everyone will learn something from this event and if you are proactively looking for a job there will be tips in this presentation that I guarantee will help every job seeker get their next job!

    Categories
    Career CV Interview Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    Free Jobseekers Workshop

    The workshop will run for 90 minutes and will cover:
    • Writing a world class CV
    • Where to find the next job
    • Advice on dealing with recruitment agencies
    • Improving interview skills and techniques
    • Networking skills
    • Negotiating salaries

    The goal is to provide insight and support to candidates who are currently in a difficult job market. Free Jobseekers Workshop is targeted at all levels of candidate, from junior through to senior management.

    Where & When?
    September 30th from 6PM to 7.30PM at the Grand Canal Hotel, Dublin 4 and will be presented by NRF Committee member Peter Cosgrove.

    Register
    To register a candidate for the NRF Jobseekers Workshop or offer your services for the CV Clinic please contact the NRF office on 01-8161754 or email name and contact details to director@nrf.ie

    Categories
    Job Site Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    Recruitment Industry Awards 2009

    National Recruitment Federation (NRF) is launching its Recruitment Industry Awards 2009, a gala awards ceremony on Friday, 2nd October 2009 at The Four Seasons Hotel, will once again be presented by RTE’s Pamela Flood.

    Judges:
    Mark Fielding, CEO ISME,
    Kirsty Kirkwood, former European Head of Staffing, State Street
    Sean O’Meara, Former Chief Executive, Young Advertising
    Grainne Martin, Ex-MD of Computer People Ltd

    The Jobseekers Choice category is where you can have your say about who is the best Recruitment Agency of the National Recruitment Federation at Survey Monkey

    Here are the agencies shortlisted for the award:
    Approach People
    CaterAssist
    Clark Recruitment
    CPL Recruitment
    Elan IT
    Executive Connections
    FRS Recruitment
    Global Medics
    Grafton Recruitment
    Hudson
    Jackie Brown Medical
    Julia Ross
    Logiskills
    Noel Recruitment
    Nuparc
    Parc Aviation
    Prosperity
    Recruiters
    RecruitmentPlus
    Robert Walters
    Servisource
    Sigmar Recruitment
    Star Recruit
    Three Q Catering
    Vantage Resources

    Voting Rules:
    Only one vote per person. Participating parties cannot vote.

    The closing date for the nominations is (was) today at 5PM. So if you are reading this – sorry, you are too late for Recruitment Industry Awards 2009!

    Categories
    Internet Job Site Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    Work in Ireland (WorkinIreland.ie)

    work in irelandWork in Ireland (WorkinIreland.ie) as jet another recruitment job portal. Although it is not really publicised, it is owned by a recruitment agency called Work Direct (WorkDirect.ie). The agency is run by the Directors Philip Beggs and Sabina Frontzek.

    The Work in Ireland site is not that bad looking. Certainly not that bad as a FAS Jobs Site I wrote yesterday about. There are also about 20ish jobs advertised between two advertisers Alex Harp and Step One Recruitment.

    The site has one sole purpose and that is to create a stream of fresh CV’s for the Work Direct recruitment agency. Therefore he advertisers email address and any contact details are hidden. On the page showing a job details there is also no Apply button, but it is replaced by Register Now button. This is to force job seekers to leave all their personal details, and the copy of the CV to the recruitment agency that runs the site before the application is sent to the advertiser.

    I wonder will any recruitment agency, when they decide to make a job board, use their experience and knowledge of the industry and create something new? Something that will improve the process of the online recruitment? When will a single recruitment web site really differ from all the others? All the Irish recruitment agencies have jobs advertised on them, and all the sites are exactly the same. Same features, and quite a few actually look the same (Prosperity.ie being the exception). What happened to creativity? Is there absolutely nothing innovative the Irish recruitment agencies can come up with for more than 10 years now?

    (hint: think social media)

    Categories
    Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    CPL profits shrank 92%

    Got an interesting tweet from Anne from CPL today. Pointing to the PR about CPL. It basically says that CPL is still in black. Pretax profits dropped 92% to €1.7 million for the 12 months to June, in what it called “better than expected” annual results.

    Although he public knows them as the largest recruitment agency, they have actually laid off a lot of staff this year: from 483 to 333 over the year. A few good friends within them.

    Irish Times and RTE have their full stories online.

    Just one interesting fact. Goodbody analyst Dan Cavanagh said he was expecting operating profit of €4.9m for CPL in the year to June 30.

    How wrong was he? :)

    Categories
    Career Internet Job Site Jobs Recruitment Recruitment Agency

    Free Jobs (freejobs.ie)

    Who says there is no such thing as a free lunch?

    free-jobsI call from a client today about their jobs being published to FreeJobs.ie made me thinking. Their jobs published on the Free Jobs web site are about 3 years old. They got an application for a job advertised there yesterday. Since my client is using the multiple job posting service eRecruit, as a part of our Recruitment Marketing Manager product, they assumed that eRecruit is supplying the jobs to the Free Jobs web site, as it does to all the Irish Jobs sites (and news sites, and blogs, and niche web sites, etc…). Well in this case this was not the case. We in eRecruit have actually never even heard about a site called Free Jobs before.

    So jobs published on Free Jobs web site are taken from somewhere. And published on the Free Jobs web site, without the owner of the content – the advertiser, in this case a recruitment agency knowing about that fact. Three years after that, the advertiser receives the job application. And un unpleasant situation really – how to explain to the poor job hunter that the recruiter quoted on the Free Jobs web site does not work anymore in that recruitment agency? How to explain that the company that was actually hiring does not even exist anymore? How to explain why is the job advertised, and invites the job seeker to reveal quite a lot of his private data (in the CV) for something that is not there? Quite unpleasant, isn’t it?

    Well, that is the problem with the things that are free. No one is really responsible for the maintenance or the quality of their service. Sometimes it seems one would be better of paying 1 Euro, or some minimal fee, and receive a guarantee of a quality of service. This provides some revenue to the service provider as well, that helps funding the project. In the same time it gives the user of the service a level of guarantee that the service provided will work well.

    I like free things. We all do. But unfortunately there are inherited problems with free services. Free Jobs web site is not the alone in the scenario where a free service of advertising jobs simply failed because of the unsustainable business model.