Handle Recruitment
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Posts Tagged ‘Recruitment’

Are you in a relationship with your career?

Monday, February 28th, 2011

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that any ambitious professional is in want of the perfect job! Yes, passion for what you do is an absolute must have for almost any position, and when you’re job hunting it’s important to put your all into every application and every interview.

However, job hunting can also be a difficult and discouraging process. With the right recruitment agency, of course the stress can be seriously lifted, if not eliminated, but in reality there is no guarantee that you’ll get that one job you really want.

So when does passion become emotional dependency? How do you keep up your enthusiasm and your motivation without treating a job with the same emotional attachment you might approach a relationship?

Here are a few indicators that you might need to take a small step back in order to convey the right amount of enthusiasm for your job hunt and a few handy tips for handling these understandable worries. (more…)

What does your email address say about you?

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

With stiff competition for jobs, candidates that use an unprofessional email address on their CV face jeopardising their chances. That’s according to a snapshot poll that we carried out.

We asked HR professionals and recruitment consultants whether or not an unprofessional email address would deter them from shortlisting a candidate. 89% of respondents stated that it would be a factor affecting their decision.

Some claimed that it would definitely stop them putting a candidate forward with responses including: “With it being so easy to go out and get free email addresses these days I would say yes. It shows poor judgement and a lack of professionalism” and “to me it is like showing up for an interview in shorts and a T-Shirt”. Others believed that the email address wouldn’t be the only factor affecting the shortlisting process, but may contribute: “For me an unprofessional email-address is not a killer but it won’t help the applicant climb up the list”.

We see handfuls of CV’s every day, and our job is to send only the very best to our clients. Competition, particularly for entry level roles in the media and entertainment industry, is fierce at the moment and the CV is the one document you have to convince an employer that you’re worth an interview. Most people wouldn’t reject a job seeker purely based on an email address, but faced with two CVs, an employer will choose the person they deem to be most skilled and professional, so don’t let something as small as an email address damage your chances.

Be social and use the web to find a new job

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

Recruiters are increasingly using the internet to find candidates who are different and stand out from their peers.  Forget the traditional job board approach; they are now using a range of social media platforms to find candidates. So in a candidate market which is becoming saturated how do you ensure that your ‘brand’ stands out and gets noticed?

Here are some of the ways you can do this…

Twitter

See our previous post about Twitter and how to get started. Other than that, make sure you have built up a relevant network of recruiters/hiring manager/companies that you want to work with/for and begin some interaction with them. By following them you will also gain an insight into the culture of company, the way they work and what they are looking for in an employee. (more…)

Fancy having your boss over for dinner?

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

We’ve all had job interviews, some good, and some bad.  But what happens when you have to have your interview at home having cooked a meal for your potential new boss? Well this is the latest Reality program to hit our screens courtesy of Channel Five. The Boss is Coming to Dinner features candidates battling it out amongst each other  in various different tasks,  the first of which is an interview over dinner.

I’ve  only watched it a few times but found myself reading an article in The Times recently on this very program and it got me thinking about different recruitment techniques.  As a recruiter I have seen many different types of processes used by clients, and as the author of the article points out some you see are very odd!  B &Q once required candidates to do a dance to ‘Blame it on the Boogie’  by the Jackson 5– maybe this was some sort of exercise to loosen candidates up and make them feel at ease? Who knows?  What is clear is that there are some pretty eccentric techniques being used and this new series is no exception!

So is the programme aimed at finding  great fits for the employers it features, or is it simply a bit of PR for the company, a spot in the limelight for the candidate –  and entertainment for the audience? The proof of the pudding as they say will be in the eating ( no pun intended!)

What interesting recruitment techniques have you heard of?

Is your job spec fit for purpose?

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Obviously effective recruitment and talent attraction has to start way before the interview stage. You can’t really evaluate a candidate’s suitability and capabilities if you have not thought through and clearly identified the objectives of the role.

Job specs are almost always based on duties, responsibilities and experience requirements but they they can be much more effective selling tools when they also define expected performance and set objectives – this gives a perception of challenge and tells the candidate what is expected of them in order for them to be successful in the role. Here are our top tips of what should be included:

• Major objectives

• Changes and improvements needed

• Problems to solve

• Technical challenges

• Management and recruitment of staff (more…)

Recruiting with the light on

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Despite various economic pundits warning of a double dip, we are finding a slow but steady return to the ‘war for talent’ in all or specialist areas. What’s interesting though is that many employers seem to have forgotten that they are selling as well as buying. Despite the proliferation of press coverage about employer branding and how important it is, many employers expect consultancies to recruit in the dark!

For the best chance of success, it’s important for them to have as much information as possible so that they can really sell the benefits of working for your organisation. So spell out the attractiveness of your company in key areas such as: success factors and achievements of the company; future growth prospects; career development paths, promotion opportunities and training; social events, teambuilding and investment in people. (more…)

From sales to recruitment – a true story

Friday, August 13th, 2010

We’ve seen several recruiters join us from a sales background. Angela Haines previously worked selling classified display ads and in field sales before moving to Handle Recruitment to recruit in our digital division. This is her story…..

“Working in sales prepared me for a move to recruiting by teaching me how to be tenacious and organised, and how to be persuasive rather than pushy. I was attracted to recruitment as it’s more of a consultative role and selling people is more interesting than selling advertising space!  I’m grateful for the background I had as the sales training you receive in modern large corporations is excellent, and many of the skills I learnt were fully transferrable.

Recruitment is a great role to come to, from sales, as you have your own business area and if you love building rapport, it’s an interesting sell. Recruitment is all about building relationships with people and establishing the best career path for them, which can have a positive effect on their whole life. That’s a really satisfying achievement. You’re dealing with people and emotional choices, as they decide whether a job is right for them and whether they’re right for a client, so if there’s any doubt or wavering, persuasive abilities combined with real listening skills are crucial and can lead to the experience being very rewarding for all concerned.

Sales experience helps when you’re persuading a client that they need to act quickly to get a good candidate, as other companies and recruiters are also in competition for them. You’re at the centre of the transaction, a facilitator as well as a salesperson, so it’s an amazing feeling when it all comes together – and you get to make commission from it too”!

Candidates back in the driving seat?

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

We thought we would share with you our guest blog on HR Zone  which was published recently, authored by our very own Gill Bell.

Now there are more jobs on the market and more talent willing to move, does this mean that candidates are finally in the driving seat when it comes to recruitment?
 A lot has changed over the past year. In the summer of 2009 we were experiencing what some called the worst recession since World War II. With budget cuts leading to widespread redundancies, suddenly the number of job seekers on the market rose to a level never seen before by many in the recruitment and HR sectors. It became very much a client-led marketplace, with employers able to call the shots; offering perhaps less than competitive salaries, having a selection of candidates to choose from and spending longer on the decision-making process. However now that we’re in 2010 and we are all hoping that the downturn is behind us, there are more jobs on the market and there is more talent willing to move. Does this mean that candidates are now in the driving seat when it comes to recruitment?

(more…)

Feel the benefit

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

Here at Handle we do like to feel as though we go that extra mile. And to prove it we decided that some of our female clients deserved just a little a bit of TLC. Cue Lisa from our Office division who organised a fantastic night of pampering courtesy of our friends at Benefit Cosmetics.

Their team of professional make-up artists arrived at our offices, armed with lipsticks, blushers and eye shadows in all colours imaginable and worked their magic! 

While we were given expert tips on how to perfect that smoky eye and achieve that healthy glow, there was also time for a glass or two of bubbly – and some delicious cupcakes from Lola’s bakery.

Our clients from from ASOS, EMAP, PPL and Creston certainly seemed to enjoy their makeovers -  cakes, bubbly and make-up – what more could a girl ask for?