Expect Talent

Fixed Price Recruitment: How Does It Work?

2012-03-01T14:30:00.001Z

Could you save money on your recruitment costs?

Most people think that it is expensive to use a recruitment company, so many small businesses opt to try and do it themselves to save money which is totally understandable.

The recruitment industry is going through significant changes, with new technology and the accessibility of candidates through social media, there are now new ways of finding the perfect candidate without any interaction with a traditional agency.

The idea of fixed price recruitment is not a new one, and there are a range of options available to clients looking to use this model. However, these can still range from upwards of €800 per vacancy and this is still a stretch especially for a sole trader or small limited company.

Expect Talent's mission is to change the way the world does recruitment, by helping small businesses to get hiring again with job creation at the forefront of everything we do. This week sees the launch a brand new Fixed Cost Recruitment model to the Irish & UK market with prices starting from just €295.

So how does Fixed Cost Recruitment at €295 Work?

1. Submit Job Description - The client submits their Job Description (if they need help in creating one we will create it for them)

2. Post & Advertise The Job - We will submit the job to the most relevant job sites across Ireland & UK on the client's behalf

3. CV's Received - We will handle all of the administration involved in receiving applications from interested candidates, saving the client lots of administration time

4. 7 Day Turnaround - After 7 days, the client receives one simple file with all CV's of people who have applied for the role

5. Select, Interview, Hire - The Client then chooses from the applications and interviews the candidates themselves and hires who they want for the job. Simple!

Fixed Cost Recruitment is easy, accessible and affordable. We are making it even easier for small businesses to engage in job creation and hope to help more job-seekers to secure employment in these challenging times.

For clients who are tight on time or want support on screening and interviewing we have other packages to suit. There is a full list of packages available on this link. It is time that the recruitment industry changed for the better, and this simple, easy pricing model can only help towards achieving this.

We would love to hear your views on this and hope that you feel compelled to spread the word about this new cost-effective approach to an industry that has to change.

Employee Engagement: What's It All About?

2012-02-01T10:39:00.000Z

This week I am delighted to present the first in a series of guest blogs from a leading expert in the field of Talent Management Strategy. Simon North from Position Ignition specialises in helping companies through the transition of Senior Leadership Team Members at Executive Level.

I would like to personally thank Simon for the support he has given to Expect Talent to date, it is a real pleasure to deal with him and his highly talented team of HR experts.

Employee Engagement: What's It All About?

In a job market where the war for talent is making it tough to find good workers and where key skills are likely to be getting scarcer, the need to treat people well increases every day. It’s vital to make sure your workers are engaged and fully invested in what they’re doing.

Employee engagement is about honesty – particularly in uncertain times. Your colleagues want you to be clear about what you’re saying to them and they want to be engaged on a regular basis. Regularity is contextual, whether it be every so often or weekly. The important thing is that contact is open and is as honest as it can be.

Systems that focus on people need simple processes. Employees absolutely hate performance management systems that have no human touch and are computer-based processes that require them to connect with loads of people to get facile comments which lead nowhere and bear no resemblance to anything important in their lives.

Instead, listen and tune in to every individual on a regular basis. This does not have to be formalised and structured as part of the standard appraisal process. This is much more about day to day management and supervision.

Avoid over-measuring --whilst it is important to measure outputs and performance, over-measurement can be a real irritant to high-performing individuals and may reduce their level of engagement with what it is that they do. An employer or manager might think that micromanagement shows the worker that they’re cared about and not ignored, but because micromanagement isn’t about listening and respect, too much of it will prove counter-productive.

It is far better to have regular input sessions on being clear about the future and the team’s performance, followed up by frequent shorter feedback conversations both one on one and in small groups to check that the individual and the team are going in the right direction. If it sounds simple that’s because it is. One of the biggest mistakes that we can make is by over complicating what is really a simple humanistic process based on personal relationships.

Good leaders have high touch, high personal integrity and connect on a one-on-one level as well as on the group level regularly and sincerely, both in imparting information and finding out how people are feeling. Systems and processes built around such simple, intimate processes can be more powerful for employees than super sophisticated HR systems.

Finally be fair.

The above points relate to being fair to your employees. It’s all aligned to how people feel about their engagement and there is nothing as powerful as the information that workers share with one another and that organisations and leaders rarely find out.

Guest Post by Simon North: Simon North is the Founder of Position Ignition, which specialises in helping organisations and HR with the challenges presented by a maturing workforce. They focus on creating and ensuring smooth employee exit paths for talented and valued employees. Simon a renowned expert in HR and career transition work, with a focus around the older worker and how best to manage the later stages in our careers effectively. Visit their HR Blog for more thoughts and advice on the latest HR challenges.

What is RPO?

2011-10-03T12:17:00.000+01:00

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is becoming more and more widely used as organisations experience rapid change and exceptional growth, particularly in the technology and online sectors. Flexibility and scalability are critical to any business, and RPO gives companies a solution to ever-changing hiring demands.

The Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association defines RPO as follows: "When a provider acts as a company's internal recruitment function for a portion or all of its jobs. RPO providers manage the entire recruiting/hiring process from job profiling through the onboarding of the new hire, including staff, technology, method and reporting. A properly managed RPO will improve a company's time to hire, increase the quality of the candidate pool, provide verifiable metrics, reduce cost and improve HR compliance."

The biggest distinction between RPO and other types of staffing is Process. In RPO, the service provider assumes ownership of the process, while in other types of staffing the service provider is part of a process controlled by the organisation buying their services. RPO Providers work seamlessly alongside HR to provide a high-volume solution to staffing.

The RPO Alliance, a group of the Human Resources Outsourcing Association (HROA), approved this definition in February 2009: "Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a form of business process outsourcing (BPO) where an employer transfers all or part of its recruitment processes to an external service provider. An RPO provider can provide its own or may assume the company's staff, technology, methodologies and reporting.”

In all cases, RPO differs greatly from providers such as staffing agencies which provide contingent/retained in that it assumes ownership of the design and management of the recruitment process and the responsibility of results.

What to consider when selecting an RPO partner:

Track Record - ensure that there is proven history of success with other clients, preferably in your industry. Talk to the clients which have been serviced by your shortlist of RPO providers, learn from their experience and ask them to provide references. A companies client list on RPO can tell you a lot about their ability to handle your project.
Candidate Reach - make sure that your RPO provider has experience and knowledge of how to source and recruit outside of your geographic location. If the talent is not in-country, then you need to be confident that they can go and find it for you.
Recruitment Process & Automation - RPO is all about process, look into detail at the processes and way in which the company handles applications from high-volumes of candidates, and how they get from volume to quality hires.
The People Behind the Process - It's all very well having the processes in place, but the people running the project, from the management team down to the administration and recruitment team are critical to the success of the RPO.
Your Core Values & Culture - It is vital that your RPO provider 'gets' your business. They must truly understand your values, your people and your culture in order to implement are highly effective RPO solution which exceeds your expectations.
SLA's in Place - Always ensure that you agree Service Level Agreements which are metrics driven in line with your company standards to keep your RPO provider accountable. These could include time to hire, fill rate, quality of hire, retention, attendance, performance etc. and will vary depending on whether you are bringing in RPO for contract staff or permanent staff.

There are many benefits to RPO:

Scalable solution to support the ebb and flow of hiring demands; with an RPO provider you can manage staffing for a seasonal business or ramp-up quickly when a new contract is won and increased headcount is needed. One of our clients we provide RPO for increases headcount by in excess of 700 staff in the lead up to Christmas in UK & Ireland. Our role in this is to source, select, screen, assess, hire, onboard and pay the staff and then manage any disciplinary procedures for the duration of the contract. We provide onsite staff and work seamlessly with the HR team and management within the business.
Cost-Saving - What is the cost saving for a business in using RPO? A large IT company in the US saved over $1m per annum, representing 40% of their costs. Initially companies may look to RPO for cost reasons, but they also make long term gains. Outsourcing is better for efficiency, better service, employer brand reputation and a host of other reasons. Once corporates engage in dialogue with the RPO provider they start realising the value in other areas. Cost brings RPO to the table but its not why people sign up and stay with RPOs.
Large or Small Business? - It’s just not just large corporates who are turning to RPO, start-ups who have just taken on VC funding are looking to RPOs as a quick and effective way to get scale quickly. They focus on what they do best and outsource areas such as recruitment and HR from the get go.
Expertise & Industry Knowledge - An RPO provider can hit the ground running, they can start building a pipeline quickly
Your Employer Brand - An RPO provider can give your company more exposure and more credibility in the marketplace by representing you really well to jobseekers and potential talent. Their reach in the market will be greater and many RPO providers will advertise on your behalf with your branding, as well as running social media campaigns to attract only the best people. Their networks in many cases can take you further afield and build you a great reputation in the marketplace.
Strategic Focus for HR Teams - Bringing in an RPO provider allows key internal HR resources to refocus on higher level organizational competencies.

I hope you found this explanation useful, I am regularly asked this question so I thought I would share my thoughts and ideas and point you in the direction of resources that can help you decide if RPO is right for your organisation.

Other Useful Links:

Webcast: What Benefits Should I Expect to Gain in an RPO Engagement

How to Become An Employer of Choice & Attract the Best Talent

2011-08-29T17:50:00.037+01:00

Top talent is hard to find. Fact. Despite the increasing number of people out there who are looking for work, attracting the best people is increasingly more difficult. Those who are in employment are reluctant to make a move in the current climate, so being able to find, attract and engage passive candidates (those who are working and not actively looking) is more and more important. There are some key factors to consider when you are searching for top talent, especially if you want to become an 'Employer of Choice'.

Have a Clear Message About What you Offer

You only have a short window to impress a potential candidate, so think about "What's in it for Them" when you are approaching potential candidates. Most of the time a candidate will consider the opportunity with you based on a few criteria such as Salary, Location, Title and Company. It's up to you to get beyond these basic facts and convey "Why You?". This is vital with passive candidates, standing out from the crowd makes all the difference.

Use Your Existing Networks for Referrals
Your existing employees will all have fantastic networks, so having a strong candidate referral scheme will help to engage your staff in actively work on your behalf to find new employees. They will all be very active on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media so this should always be the first place to look. Uncovering great talent can be made easier by working with your internal employees.

Protect Your Reputation

If you are recruiting, then ensure that you go back to every candidate who applies to work with you, leaving a good impression on them about your company, regardless of whether or not they secured the position. Companies who leave it days and days to get get back to people, even candidates they want to hire, are always going to lose out on the best talent. We see it on a daily basis, and always encourage our clients to get back to us quickly on great candidates so that they don't miss out.

Becoming An 'Employer of Choice'

Being an 'Employer of Choice' is about much more than having a funky workplace, free meals and a gym, it is about having an organisational culture and a set of core values which engages employees in ways that few companies manage to achieve. One such example would be Zappos, others which immediately spring to mind are Amazon, Google and Apple to name a few. It is important that employees buy-in to the companies vision, and that the culture is one that every person in the company lives and breathes.

Here is a list of questions you can ask of your own company that will help you to review how you currently rate as an Employer of Choice. The more 'Yes' answers the better:

Checklist
- Do you have a clear company vision and mission statement?
- Is your company’s vision & mission statement clearly understood by your employees?
- Does your Leadership Team visit employees, at different sites, or in the field?
- Do your Senior Management listen to employees input and follow up with action?
- Do you conduct regular employee surveys to assess employee satisfaction?
- Can your staff easily access information about products/services, HR policies, and operational procedures?
- Do you have a formal training and development program?
- On average, how many hours of training per year does each employee receive?
- Does your new-hire training program equip new hires with the necessary skills and resources to do their jobs well?
- Do you solicit employee and management feedback on what works well and what needs to improve in employee training?
- Do managers and supervisors know how to give effective coaching to employees?
- Are your managers and supervisors rewarded for growing talent?
- Do you offer internal promotions and make it easy for employees to apply?
- Do you have a formal performance management program?
- Are managers held accountable for reviewing employee performance regularly?
- Do you offer flexible work arrangements & benefits that meet your employees needs?

There are many factors that come into play when someone decides to join or not join your organisation. On first glance candidates will only be attracted by a few details about the job, however their final decision will be made based on their view of the organisation, its culture and the opportunities that it will present for them if they decide to make the move. Having a clear strategy for attracting the best, and enticing them to your brand through effective employee engagement is one of the best ways to become an Employer of Choice in this competitive candidate market.

Sabbaticals for Staff helps Productivity & Retention

2011-07-28T16:43:00.000+01:00

For those of you who read this blog regularly and know me personally, I value the happiness of my staff as much as I am passionate about wowing customers. The fantastic team at Expect Talent are what make this business, and I am very proud of our 100% retention within the recruitment division. Our very first hire Margaret is about to celebrate her 4th anniversary with Expect Talent. Shortly followed by Julia, who last year was promoted to the role of Operations Manager and is a key member of the management team.

A number of weeks ago Julia came to me to let me know her plans for 2012 were to go travelling, this was nothing new as she usually takes a 3-4 week trip annually. But when I heard that these plans were for a 4-6 month period I had a bit of a shock...

My goal is to ensure that I help every single member of the team achieve their personal and business goals. So I knew I needed to see how I could make this happen. The answer was to give Julia a sabbatical. She had been worried about how I might react to her plans, given that we are experiencing major growth in the business and she plays a major role in the delivery of our results.

The way I look at it is this, if I had said "No", she would have been very unhappy and much less productive and may have decided to leave the business anyway to go travelling. By saying "Yes", she is much happier already and I know she will work really hard between now and when she leaves to ensure that the business will run without her. I can only imagine the level of productivity, commitment and happiness she will feel after taking an extended break. So I have started to look at the other benefits that this sabbatical will bring to the business:

1. Opportunities & Personal Development

The first is that we can now give an opportunity to Margaret, who during the time Julia is away will take on a covering role as Operations Manager. Margaret will spend the next few months training and up-skilling to take on this position in Julia's absence.

2. Streamlined Processes

Our systems, processes and reporting will be streamlined and improved before the sabbatical to ensure that the business can continue to run effectively, with Margaret overseeing operations.

3. Improved Staff Happiness

The rest of the team here at Expect Talent now know that I am willing and able to give sabbaticals to employees, and I have now decided to add this as a benefit to long-serving employees of 4 years or more.

4. Less chance of Burn-out and Stress

After 4 solid years of hard work and contribution, some stress and worries can creep in, especially in a position of responsibility and leadership. The last thing I want is a team who are unhappy, stressed out and at burn-out. A sabbatical would do anyone good!

On the flipside what could be the challenges, especially for a Small Business?

1. Disruption of Workflow

Of course having a key member of staff out of the business for an extended period is going to disrupt the normal workflow. There are a few points to consider - I would recommend that you get at least 3 months notice of any proposed sabbatical. Also make sure that you have the right structure, reporting, process and systems in place to make a sabbatical a reality.

2. Risk of No Return

What if an employee decides not to return? Of course this is a risk, but if they are happy in their job, you have looked after their personal goals by offering the sabbatical in the first place and have kept their job open for them on return you will minimize this risk.

3. Loss of Revenue

Depending on the role the person is doing, the chances are that a whole piece of expertise, skills and knowledge will be missing for the duration of the sabbatical, this often is related to the revenue generated in the business. Putting a solid plan in place for handover, training and up-skilling of the person that is going to cover the role for the period of the sabbatical will minimise this potential lost revenue.

Having spent a great deal of time thinking about this, researching and understanding what it means for me, the business and the team, I am very comfortable with the idea of sabbaticals becoming an integral part of my business. Work/Life balance is critical for every staff member and plays an important part in every business. You can see a list here of some very well-known companies who in 2011 are offering sabbaticals on YourSabbatical.com. What is your view on sabbaticals and would you take the plunge in the interest of your staff?

How to Boost Online Reputation with LinkedIn - Part 2

2011-07-22T09:15:00.000+01:00

This week I am staying with the theme of online reputation, again focused on LinkedIn, actually this is the third post in a row on this subject, but as you will see there is a lot to cover. If you are reading this post without having read the other two, I recommend scrolling down to read my two previous blog entries with great tips to help you.

Having a great online reputation is ultimately the key to generating business through LinkedIn. Over 100 million people are now on LinkedIn, but how many are actually getting the results that they want from it. Everybody knows that it is important to be there, to have a profile, to be visible. But unless you have that instant credibility in the first place then you will not secure that job, close that sale or generate the leads that you need your profile to deliver for you. There are a number of ways to build credibility, some of which I talked about last week, but today I am going to focus on the more interactive elements within LinkedIn, which allow you to elevate your profile to new heights.

Tip 1 - Groups

You can join up to 50 groups on LinkedIn. Yes, 50! After reading this, why not check how many you are actually in? Groups are a fantastic way to raise your profile with the people who you want to gain visibility with. Whether you are a job-seeker, a business owner, a recruiter, a manager or a sales person. You can search the groups available by going to the top right-hand search box and adding keywords for Groups you would be interested in. Think which groups your target market would be interested in, where are they networking?

Groups are valuable for a number of reasons:

- They keep you up to date with industry knowledge

- You can find out answers from experts, and read relevant articles

- Position yourself as an expert in a group by being active in credible discussions

- Once in a group, the contacts are open to you, makes it easier to grow your connections

- You can start a group, and as group manager you can grow your network in your field

- You can post jobs for free in some groups, and access great candidates

- You are in control of how often you interact with the group, check your "Settings"

- You are more likely to be generate visibility with your target market or hiring managers

Some groups will allow you to join straight away, other groups have a screening process only allowing relevant people to join the group, so you may have to wait for approval. This will open you up to a whole world of new connections, information and at least 50 places for you to become visible, active and boost your online reputation.

Someone is more likely to accept your connection request if you are in the same group, because they will see you as being relevant to them and credible as you already have common ground, which is the start of any relationship.

Tip 2 - Questions & Answers

This is another totally under-utilised area of LinkedIn. You can pose a question, answer questions and interact in polls within LinkedIn. I was recently in the market to buy a new ATS (Applicant Tracking System), to handle all of our high-volume recruitment needs, as I wanted to update the current system we are using. I needed to find out from experienced corporate recruiters and agencies what the best options were out there, before engaging in any long sales process with multiple suppliers.

I posed a question on LinkedIn within a group which I knew had many people that would have had experience in this, a group specifically for my industry. I received feedback from many people about the best cloud-based solutions. In addition to receiving responses to my question, I also was able to look through the Answers to similar questions that other people had posted. These were unbiased opinions, not sales people trying to pitch me their product. I had a shortlist of 2 ATS/CRM systems within 1 hour of research, which told me a great deal more than spending hours on the internet wading through websites and pages of sale blurb, I could cut to the chase and I knew instantly what I wanted.

Imagine seeing a question posed by someone in LinkedIn, and you giving a credible and valid answer which helps them and helps everyone else in the group. I mean answering without selling, helping someone else through your knowledge. If you are in a group with 20,000 members, and you are regularly giving advice and help to the group through discussions and Answers in LinkedIn, your online reputation is going to fly high.

You can simply use the Search button in the top right-hand side of the LinkedIn page, and change the drop-down button from People to Answers. This will allow you to keyword search Answers, so that you can find relevant information for your industry. When you are in a Group, go to the Discussions tab and you will see all of the latest questions, blogs and posts.

Summary

Online reputation is all about Visibility and Credibility, and if you have both of these then it can only lead to Profitability. I learnt about this very early on in the world's largest and most successful referral network BNI, and this VCP® process is even more relevant when you network online. I hope you have found this series of blog entries useful and that your own online reputation is growing by the day. Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, to benefit from access my 2400+ connections globally.

How to Boost Your Online Reputation using LinkedIn

2011-07-14T09:00:00.000+01:00

LinkedIn is THE online network of choice for business professionals. If you are looking for a new position you need to be on LinkedIn. If you are looking to raise the profile of your business, you need to be on LinkedIn. If you want to be found on Google, you need to be on LinkedIn. If you are not looking for a new position but like the idea of being headhunted, you need to be on LinkedIn. If you want more sales, well you get the idea, and the list goes on. So once you have a LinkedIn profile, how can you really boost your credibility to massive effect? This weeks blog will give you some hot tips to help you:

- Network More Effectively

- Build a Solid Online Reputation

- Raise the Visibility of your Company

- Help you Secure a new Job

- Find the People you Need

- Make more Sales

Tip Number 1 - The Importance of a Complete Profile

When we network on a face to face basis, you have the opportunity to build rapport, establish common ground and make a good impression on the person you are meeting for the first time. However, when you network online, other people will judge you on your online profile and how you come across before deciding to connect with you. If you put your name into Google to check out your online reputation, the most likely number one link will be your LinkedIn profile.

It is so important to ensure that you have a 100% complete profile, including a professional photograph. Your profile should OOOOZE credibility. It is much more than an online CV, although your work background will be listed. The summary is what counts. Really go for it and highlight all the reasons why someone should hire you, work with you, give you business or connect with you. Remember your online reputation is at stake here, put lots of thought into what you say and how you say it in the summary.

Tip Number 2 - Recommendations

Again credibility points start to rack up if you have strong recommendations. It is very easy to get a colleague or a friend to say how lovely you are but it is much more credible if a client has written a glowing testimonial about your account management skills, or your sales ability or your customer service. Recommendations from Managers or Directors in companies you have worked in previously will also boost your credibility. You can choose which recommendations you show/hide in your profile so you are in control of which ones appear to any profile visitors.

A minimum 10 recommendations would give you a good basis for any LinkedIn profile. If you do a few different roles both in and outside of work then you may have a selection from the various areas of your professional life. This is a fantastic way to build your online reputation, and every time you receive a recommendation your network will see that in your home feed.

Tip Number 3 - Your Connections

You can check out your Network Statistics on LinkedIn, by going to the Contacts tab. This will tell you how many people are in your network, but most importantly how many people in total this connects you to in total indirectly. At the time of writing this blog, I am connected to 2370 people as 1st connections. You can view my profile here. This gives me access to a total network of 12.4 million LinkedIn Profiles. So why might that be important?

Every time I search LinkedIn for a specific keyword, I am searching 12.4 million connections. The chances are that I am going to find who I am looking for with that kind of a network. From a business development point of view, I can put in a search term and I know that thousands of profiles will come up of people in my target market. From a candidate perspective, if I am looking for an Inside Sales Specialist with the keyword German, the chances are that I am going to be able to find the right person for my client.

Simply put, the more connections you have, the more credible you look and the more people want to connect with you because you know a lot of people. Groups can be a great way to boost your connections. Keyword searches will help you to connect with people and LinkedIn has a great tool called "People you may Know" under "Add Connections". This is a list of people who you have mutual connections, and gives you the chance to invite people who you probably know or know of.

Tip Number 4 - Your Status Updates

Your status updates should be content driven, with frequent updates to keep you visible, whilst providing useful articles which benefit your network. The updates should always be about adding value to your network, the more interesting your updates are the more frequently your profile will be seen and visited by others. If you are the "go-to" person for all the latest news about High-tech or Green Energy or the Automotive industry you are raising your profile and online reputation as someone in the know about this topic. You can easily find articles to share on the LinkedIn Today tab. Sharing interesting news or topics is a one-click exercise and very easy to do.

If you are constantly making your updates all about you, or your business you will be constantly seen as selling and that is not going to do your online reputation any favours. Be useful, be interesting, be creative and be credible. If you are regularly providing your target market with helpful tips and useful articles you will be raising the bar and making a difference to those people in your network and it will be notices. I recommend that you update your status at least three times per day to gain the most exposure and to keep visible. You can also link your LinkedIn account to Twitter so that you can spread your message further to a different audience.

Tip Number 5 - Your Skills & Keywords

This is so important if you want to be found. LinkedIn is keyword searchable like any search engine, and it is really important that you include the keywords that others might type in to find you. This applies whether you are a job-seeker, salesperson or a business owner. Ensure that you use the Skills section to add specific skills that you have as a list, because people like me in the recruitment industry will use this to find you and offer you fantastic job opportunities. From a business owner perspective, your potential clients may just be using LinkedIn to find your type of product or service.

A great way to generate ideas is to run a search for your type of business or industry keywords and see who comes up on page one. These are the people who are competing with you for the same job or same type of business who are ahead of the game, with profiles who help them get found. I recently sat down with a business owner who specialises in Occupational Health & Safety and First Aid courses. When we searched for this in LinkedIn, all of his competitors came up and he was on page three. A quick change to the Skills and Keywords now sees him competing on Page 1 in LinkedIn searches and this will make a difference to his business.

There are many other ways to raise your credibility and build a solid online reputation so there will be more to come in the next blog entry. For now, enjoy updating your LinkedIn profile and I hope that you have found these tips useful.

A Recruiters 5 Top Tips for LinkedIn's Mobile App.

2011-07-04T00:13:00.000+01:00

Every recruiter knows that LinkedIn is a phenomenal place to source amazing talent, whether the candidate is actively looking for a new position or not. So not surprisingly, most people in the recruitment industry are pretty good at LinkedIn. Very few share their secrets with clients, and seeing as how we do everything the exact opposite to the rest of the industry, I thought I would break from the pack (as usual) and share some top tips to get the most from LinkedIn on the move.

These tips apply to those people who have already downloaded the LinkedIn Mobile App onto a Smartphone. If you have yet to do so, you are missing a trick! Download it now...

Ready? So once you have LinkedIn in the palm of your hand, how can you use it to grow your business, increase your online reputation and/or find the best talent?

Tip 1 - LinkedIn Today - "News" button in the LinkedIn App

This is truly amazing! LinkedIn is now the gateway to incredible content, relevant to your industry. This helps you to provide interesting articles to your target market. You can choose to follow any industry, then read and share the hottest topics with your network on LinkedIn. Click on "News", then follow topics ranging from Staffing & Recruiting, to Management Consulting, to Internet, to Social Media to Financial Services. That will then feed relevant and great content which you can share with others, before anyone else.

You can become the "go-to", in the know person in your network, your profile is seen more often and you look fantastic! Simply find an article you like and click to read more, then Share. The even better feature with this is that you don't need to do anything other than make a remark about it before posting, a synopsis and image are automatically there for you. You can read and post articles anytime and anywhere, I often do this when I am waiting to meet someone, or if I arrive early to a meeting. It takes less than 30 seconds to post an article but it looks like you spent ages finding it. It makes you both visible and credible. If you don't want to post them all at once you can choose to save for later.

Tip 2 - Reconnect - How to add 20+ people to your network per day

The reconnect button on the LinkedIn Mobile App is a goldmine of contacts. LinkedIn places all of the connections who you have a strong mutual connection with into this list. The even better aspect of the "Reconnect" button is that you don't have to spend ages identifying to LinkedIn how you know this person. LinkedIn already knows that you might have a connection with them, so simply go to the "Reconnect" button on your mobile and start inviting people in the list. You will not have to supply an email address for them, or say how you know them. That means connecting with 20 people takes literally 20 seconds. You will already know a lot of people in this list, as your network grows this list will become more extensive and give you a much wider network.

Tip 3 - Connect with every new person you meet - "Search" and Connect

When you are at a networking event or out meeting candidates, clients, referral partners and business contacts, you always have LinkedIn with you in your pocket, on your phone. Follow up is critical when building relationships, so why not save time and invite your new connection to connect with you on LinkedIn there and then before you even finish the meeting or event! You can simply go into your LinkedIn App, click "Search" at the top of the screen and find that person. I usually ask their permission to connect and guage their level of knowledge and use of LinkedIn. Where possible I share my knowledge and give something back by showing my new contact how to do this too. If the person has a common name then search with their first name, last name and company to find them. Again, inviting is easy with no complicated and time consuming "How do you know this person?".

Tip 4 - Stay in touch with what's happening in your network

The "Updates" section in your LinkedIn App, allows you to see in one place the full feed of messages and status updates within your network. You can comment, like or share any status update that resonates with you. If a connection of yours on LinkedIn has placed a blog or article to their status update you will get to see it within the "Updates" section on the App, also known as your "Home Feed" on the main LinkedIn site. Everytime you connect with someone or change your status you are appearing in this feed, so your visibility instantly increases.

Tip 5 - Inbox & Invitation Management on the move

You can easily see your new inbox messages and new invitations to connect from the Mobile Phone App. Make life easy for yourself and use these features to save time and effort later. If you see 3 new connection requests on your Smartphone then you can simply click and add them in seconds. Same with inbox messaages, why wait until you get back to the office to respond through the emails. Impress people by keeping an eye on these two sections and reply through the Mobile App.

Imagine the increase in your profile and online reputation if suddenly you are connecting with 20+ people per day, plus you start providing your network with the information they need and use in their business or role by posting 3 relevant articles per day. Always remember the Linkedn Golden rule, never sell, build your reputation first and gain credibility first so that people know, like and trust you. Everytime I show someone the power of all of the features in the LinkedIn App they really start to get involved and become more visibile and credible to their audience and most importantly their target market. Are you really maximising the power you hold in the palm of your hand?

No Commission for Recruiters!! - are you serious?

2011-06-08T15:53:00.000+01:00

This was the reaction I got recently when I attended the National Recruitment Federation's (NRF) conference. A very good recruiter in Dublin, who is now a good business contact, Charlie, introduced me to one of his colleagues in an agency he used to work in. She was typical recruiter profile (no comment), and when Charlie explained to her that we are completely changing the way that people think about the recruitment sector she naturally asked how?

When my response was that we don't pay any commission out or incentivise the recruitment team to place candidates she nearly hit the floor! She looked me up and down, rolled her eyes and said "Well I hope you're paying them a very high wage!". It happened that one of my fantastic team was with me at the time so I said "no actually I don't, but why don't you ask one of them". To which Julia replied with an answer which was gushing about how she loved our company, the team and working for me and Expect Talent, despite the fact that we don't pay any commission.

It was a very strange situation to be in having to defend our decision to operate under this non-commission structure, but the fact is that our clients and candidates love this about our business. It is the one USP that hardly any other recruitment companies can say that they have and it means that we are placing people for the right reason. It is all about the customer at the end of the day, and to be passionate about WOWing customers you cannot be focused on the money and the commission.

In my opinion, it is one of the reason's why the recruitment industry has such a bad reputation, it is full of aggressive, commission-hungry sales people, who actually when it comes down to it, don't care about who or how they place. All most seem to worry about is where their next pay-cheque is coming from and it means internal competition for candidates, a selfish approach and a non-client or candidate friendly process. This of course, does not apply to every recruiter out there, but in many cases this is reason for people having a bad experience of recruitment companies. Something I intend to change in our industry.

Every time I meet other recruiters I come up against this disbelief that we could have an entire recruitment team, delivering results, working together for no commission. It is not about getting, it is about giving, and that is my take on the industry. Flipping the whole recruitment model on its head for the benefit of our candidates and clients. I would love to hear your views on the industry and leave a comment if you feel that the recruitment industry would benefit from being much more commission free than in currently is. Commission free recruitment, is this the future of our industry...

9,500 Recruitment Firms in UK...make that 9,501!

2011-05-25T18:55:00.002+01:00

Last week I attended the NRF (National Recruitment Federation) conference in Dublin, where guest speaker Ann Swain, CEO of APSCo reported on the global trends in the recruitment industry and the overall state of the recruitment market. A highly impressive speaker, engaging and very knowledgeable.

Ann talked about key markets, and new "hot to trot" locations where recruitment is a growth sector. Her advice was not to set up in the UK. So what are we doing this week... setting up in the UK. According to Ann, there are 9,500 recruitment companies in the UK, now with the addition of Expect Talent UK Ltd. make that 9,501...

Before you think we have completely lost the plot, Ann also added, "don't set up in the UK unless you are following a client". So we are setting up our business in Edinburgh as a result of a 4 year client relationship in Ireland. This is a very exciting growth phase for Expect Talent and we are delighted that we can start up in the UK with such a high profile recruitment project, which will help us launch our business in the UK in 2011.

The last 3 weeks have been spent planning with a very short lead time before we go live, as a key partner for a high-volume recruitment project for a customer service centre which will create 900 jobs in city centre Edinburgh. Our highly talented team have gone into action to make it all happen, and our networks in Scotland (thanks to BNI) have meant that finding local contacts has been easy.

My advice for any business looking to start in the UK. Plan, plan and plan again, whilst leveraging every key contact you have to help you. Where possible, help others and give opportunities to local businesses who in turn will help you back. Hire the best talent to represent you and always have a Plan B, C and D. I write this blog on a ferry on the way to Scotland. Ash Clouds won't get in the way of making this happen, so we had a Plan B, go by boat!

There is no better time to look outside of your local market, wherever you are reading this from. Small businesses in 2011 should be focused on delivering exceptional customer service, as well as doing things in a unique and engaging way which adds value to the client. Its all about activity levels, regardless of your industry. If you triple your activity levels, you will triple your results, and then some! Far too many people focus on all the negativity, but when you focus on success and positivity you attract more of the same.

I look forward to bringing a new and innovative approach to the UK recruitment market, as we continue to change the way the world does recruitment. I would like to thank everyone who has helped us along the way so far in the UK, and to my team, you are all amazing and I could not drive this business on without you. UK here we come... Expect Talent UK Ltd. is born!

Leveraging Your International Networks in Recruitment

2011-04-19T17:10:00.001+01:00

I have just returned from an international BNI conference, where 300 business owners from around the globe came together over 3 days to share ideas, be motivated by great speakers connecting with colleagues across the world, which inspired todays topic.

In the recruitment industry, our networks are becoming more and more important, both online and offline. Over 60% of my time as Managing Director is now spent on networking, client meetings and building relationships with referral partners who recommend us to companies and candidates. The great part about the international aspect of my role is that now, many of these conversations are happening on an international level, as we explore new markets, new opportunities and international relationships. Global webinars, Skype, International Power Teams and regular Speaking and Training opportunities outside of Ireland is opening up a whole new world of connections and networks for our own recruitment business. It is easier than ever to do business on a global scale.

Clients often wonder how we can source candidates from across Europe when they have been trying to do it themselves for weeks and yet we still manage to tap into untapped talent pools, reaching further into European candidates markets due to the way in which we leverage our international networks. For example, this morning we cemented a relationship with a French recruitment company with the same ethics and approach to the recruitment industry as ourselves. This relationship was established at the BNI Directors conference and will be an ongoing and long term arrangement which will help us to tap into new French speaking talent across all industries. We have this type of partnership in place across many European countries and can delight our clients by filling roles that no-one else can. That is really leveraging international networks.

This week I will be delivering an in-house training to our team of recruiters here in Expect Talent on how to leverage our online international networks, focused on LinkedIn and Facebook as well as Twitter and Ecademy. As I am sure those of you reading will agree are all great resources for sourcing candidates. If you combine the networks of all of your colleagues and employees as well as friends and family, how many thousands of people do you know as a company? I am a huge fan of LinkedIn as many of you reading this will know, and right now I have access to over 10 million people through my connections, just by building up my international networks. Add to that the connections of my staff and referral partners and the opportunities are endless.

The top tips below will help you to leverage your international networks in recruitment,or any other industry for that matter! This week my tips are solely focused on Linked In (more to come on all other social media in future blogs).

TOP TIPS FOR LINKED IN

Join your max. allocation of 50 Groups in LinkedIn, for your industry
Connect with people through Groups, no email address needed
Use advanced search features: Search for your target market/candidates
Learn about "Boolean Strings" for keyword searching (ask me!)
Become active in discussions - carve a niche as an expert in your field
Sign up to free webinars to educate yourself about LinkedIn
Go to as many international conferences as you can and connect
Update your status daily - become visible to your connections
Credibility and Reputation online are critical
Make sure your profile is 100% complete including photo
Ask for recommendations and try to have at least 10 on your profile
Ensure that you are not selling but providing compelling content

For ideas: You can view my LinkedIn profile here

How to spend less time and achieve more on Social Media?

I highly recommend that you use the LinkedIn App which is available on all smartphones. You can connect, invite, read news, post updates and see what is happening in your network whilst on the move. I check in when I have a spare few minutes on the move. All of the other social media tools have Apps too. Much quicker to use and free to download.

I also recommend tools such as Hootsuite to bring all social media updates into one place, this can include Facebook Personal, Facebook Fan Page, RSS Feeds, LinkedIn, Blogs, Twitter and you only have to post one update and you can send it out to all or some of your social networks without having to constantly log in and out of all the different websites.

Leveraging your international networks in recruitment is absolutely paramount, online and social media is the future of recruitment and regardless of whether you are an in-house recruiter, hiring manager, CEO, HR manager or Recruitment Consultant in an agency, now is the time to invest in your future success and learn how to make your international networks work for you.

What is Volume Recruitment & How Does It Work?

2011-03-27T16:37:00.001+01:00

Volume or high-volume recruitment can also be known as the following: Seasonal Recruitment; Ramp-up Recruitment; In-house Recruitment; Onsite Recruitment or Bulk Recruitment. A high volume recruitment project would typically happen when a company needs to hire large numbers of candidates in a stipulated time. Therefore to lessen the workload on HR and other departments of the company clients outsource the project to specialist recruitment providers.

Essentially any hiring project which involves between 5 and 500+ staff, at one time, would be considered a High-Volume recruitment project. This is an area which very few recruitment companies are capable of delivering. It is not simply about numbers, it is also about quality, as the learning curve of new hires is fast and they need to hit the ground running in their new position. The selection process needs to be rigorous to ensure that the right people are being taken on regardless of whether it is 20+ people or 200+.

In most cases, the client’s Recruitment/HR team, need help and support to make a project like this happen. Handling volumes of CV’s, interviews, Assessment Centres, Reference Checks and all of the administration that needs to happen on a requirement of 350+ staff is both challenging and significant. Recruitment companies with this expertise have dedicated Project Managers who specialise in this. Back office support teams are used to handling volume, they have the ability to make a high volume project happen fast.

Situations which might lead to a high-volume project:

- Seasonal headcount increase – for example, a company may be forecasting a peak in their busiest quarter of the year, so an increase in headcount could mean a high volume recruitment solution. This would be key for online retailers, gaming companies, travel companies etc. This is usually for contract or temporary positions.

- Winning a major client – a company which is bidding for new business, without the staffing levels in place needs to be quickly ramp-up staff when the business closes and go-ahead is given. This would be relevant to outsourced call centres, where staffing levels can fluctuate significantly.

- A Company arriving into a brand new country – for example, a company may be

relocating to a new country such as Ireland or UK, and they have plans to establish a new Facility or European Shared Service Centre, in many cases this will involve a high-volume project, usually for permanent positions involving multiple languages and disciplines.

The recruitment partner on a project like this will often perform tasks right from sourcing candidates through to final assessments, so choosing the right company with a track record and a solid approach to this type of recruitment is essential. Mobilising teams quickly to be able to handle high volumes of CV’s and a volume driven recruitment campaign is critical. In most cases, there will be an element of onsite or in-house recruitment, where members of the recruitment agency project team would be working out of the clients office, to speed up the process and build a strong partnership with hiring managers.

Selection of one or maximum two recruitment companies is vital, there will be a limited number of candidates in the market and each agency would be able to tap into a wide talent pool. You will usually get a better price if you offer exclusivity to a recruitment company, although you would need to have a high level of trust in your recruitment partner to do so.

High-Volume Recruitment provides peace of mind for the client in mass numbers in a stipulated time period. It helps save time and money for both the client and the agency. With this kind of services the agencies ensure good growth and development for the company and help to represent their client as an Employer of Choice, selling the opportunity to prospective candidates.

If the project is for contract or temporary staff, they will usually be on the payroll of the agency, and an hourly rate will be agreed. If the project is for a ramp-up project for a new company coming into the local market, then rather that a % per head fee, you should look to agree a total project cost for the completion of the whole project. Build in milestone bonuses with your recruitment partner, so that they are fully accountable for reaching all of the recruitment goals and deadlines. Your project cost can work out much more cost-effective and everyone knows where they stand on budget from the outset.

Many recruitment companies will claim that they can deliver high-volume recruitment, but you will find that only a few of them are actually able to make it happen. Always look for experience and expertise where high volumes have been involved, and speak to clients that they have previously worked on ramp-up campaigns for recommendations. Always ensure you go through their recruitment procedures, ways of working and case studies of other similar high-volume projects before selecting your partner. High-Volume recruitment is not for the feint-hearted, but it is great fun and always a rollercoaster ride!

Tips for Selecting the Right Recruitment Partner

2011-03-15T22:26:00.000Z

How can you be sure you are working with the right company when it comes to selecting a recruitment partner? The answer to this question lies in the way in which you qualify and screen the agency to find out how they operate, and how they will add value to your business.

Expect Talent is a proud member of the NRF, which is a voluntary organisation set up to establish/maintain standards & codes of practice for the Recruitment Industry. Representing recruitment agencies throughout Ireland, NRF Members communicate their commitment to providing quality service by agreeing to abide by a strict Code of Conduct. Some key important elements of the NRF Code of Conduct include:

The agency must have an up to date recruitment agency licence (issued annually)
Candidates must be handled with respect, integrity and privacy at all times
Candidates submitted to clients, must first be interviewed (phone or face-to-face)
Candidates must be told which clients they have been submitted to
Full candidate permission sought before submission
References must not be sought without an applicant's consent
Absolutely no poaching of placed staff
Only real jobs should be advertised

A Membership Ethics Committee ensures that this Code of Conduct is adhered to, so always check that the agency you are considering working with is a member of a professional recruitment body such as the NRF (depending on which location you are reading this). There are currently 159 agencies who are members of the NRF in Ireland, however there are hundreds more listed in business directories, so make sure you are working with an agency who adheres to the NRF Code of Conduct, where you can be sure the ethics of that agency are in line with what you would expect. The list above sounds standard to the outsider, but there are many companies out there who don't even do the basics well.

Here is a list of questions you should ask recruitment agencies when meeting with them to decide whether or not to work with them?

1. Are you a member of the NRF? (or equivalent for your location)

2. Describe in detail your selection process. (look for a lengthy, structured process)

3. What checks will be done before submission? (look for references and full interviews)

4. What else will you send other than a CV? (look for detailed information)

5. How many CV's will I receive? (look for quality and not quantity)

6. Can you provide written or verbal references from clients you have worked with?

7. What experience do you have in recruiting for this sector/industry? (look for expertise)

8. How are recruitment team incentivised? (look for NO commission or low commission)

9. Where do you source candidates from? What sourcing methods do you use?

10.When can I expect to see CV's from you? (those who give you short lead times, beware)

Ask to see material to back their answers up, look for a copy of their interview questions, internal processes and forms used throughout the process. Do your homework, and speak to peers in other companies. Usually those who are recommended or referred top the list.

I had an interesting call from a new client last week. An ex-colleague who I worked with 10 years ago, gave me a senior role to work on for his company in the Middle East, and prior to speaking to me, he had spoken to another agency. The other agency had promised him 20 CV's in an hour!! What?? Yet another example of the industry being totally commission driven with no consideration for the client. I was amazed at how someone could do this, but it unfortunately happens all the time. No wonder this industry has a bad reputation.

We would much rather take 5 working days to interview, select and write up a detailed profile a maximum of 3 of the best candidates in the market, where all 3 are considered strong enough for interview, rather than waste a clients time filling their inbox with irrelevant CV's. As a result, that client gave us exclusivity on their position and 1 week later is about to receive a small handful of the best talent in the market for their role.

When you have a vacancy for a recruitment agency to work on, make sure that you really drill them on their internal processes, their approach, their experience and philosophy to recruitment. Contrary to popular belief giving the job to 20 agencies is NOT going to get you the perfect candidate. You would be much better to select 1 or 2 key recruitment partners based on the above criteria and build a really strong relationship with them so that they get it right every time. With some of our clients, they just know that when a detailed interview profile and CV hits their inbox from Expect Talent that it will always be good enough for the hiring manager to move to interview. Establishing that level of trust with your agency is vital. If you would like help in this area, please contact me and to the NRF, thank you for everything that you do for our industry standards.

It Was Much More than I "Expect"ed...

2011-03-11T17:04:00.000Z

This weeks blog is written by 16-Year Old Aaron McCarthy, who has just completed his 2 week work placement with Expect Talent.

"I remember the day when Samantha Rathling, a local Entrepreneur, came into my business class at Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh (local School here in Cork) and taught us about the ins and outs of business. She told us the history of her recruitment company Expect Talent and shared secrets to her success.

Four months later, and I have just finished two weeks of work experience with Expect Talent. My honest opinion? It was absolutely class. Stepping into the office for the first time was like entering a new world. I have always wanted to be in charge of my own company when I’m older but, the thing is, I had absolutely no idea of what an office even looked like.

I expected to see grey walls, kind of a warehouse type building and very little sunlight. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Stepping into the Expect Talent office really was like stepping into a new world. While the employees were hard at work, they seemed to work in a sort of relaxed manner. This surprised me, but in a good way. Throughout the two weeks, I realised just how friendly everybody seemed to be. There is a really great team spirit at Expect and I was delighted to be part of it.

But, it wasn’t just the laissez-faire setup that made me love Expect. I mean, on the first day alone, I partook in an online BNI conference with people from all over the world; from America to Japan to Dubai. It was exceedingly cool. And, speaking of Dubai, I had thought Dubai was in a third-world country. And I was shocked to find out how beautiful Dubai is after I researched it. I wasn’t even here a day and already I was learning so much.

The following day, I went to a local BNI meeting; this time in Silversprings Hotel. Again, I found that this was a real eye-opener. I wasn’t even here two days and I had already decided that I liked working better than I liked school. So much for the seven dwarves complaining about having to go to work all the time!

During the two weeks, my principal role was to search for candidates for companies and I worked on a brand new online project. It was really quite amazing. I also did internet research. I also listened in when Margaret, a Talent Manager was interviewing a candidate, after which I wrote up a candidate profile. Most people don’t get to see the other side of the interviewing panel. I was learning all the trade secrets!

During the second week I went to a large multinational client, a huge call centre!! Incredible to see the size of the companies that Expect Talent works with. On the second Thursday, Expect had their annual strategy day, which started with us watching "The Secret", a philosophy which Samantha the Managing Director lives and breathes by. We then had to apply what we had learnt and set our personal goals and dreams for 2011 on paper. Then Samantha outlined the plan for 2011 and the team contributed with ideas and analysis on moving the company forward.

Today, we had “Friday club” and went out for something to eat locally as a team. It was delicious! I also did an video email with Samantha. It was my first video email, my first time with a webcam to be exact, and I found it really cool.

To put how great I found this placement down into words would be very, very difficult. I learnt more from these two weeks than I arguably did during my whole time at secondary school. I had a brilliant time. I was given many chances of a lifetime; from online conferences to trips to huge companies. I got involved with the start up of an online business, the list goes on...

I did a lot of work but had a great time doing it. The team were great, Samantha was great and everybody was fantastic to work with. I had an amazing time and learnt many things that will help me with my future plans. All in all, I loved my time at Expect Talent. But, as I said, it is very difficult to put into words how fantastic I found this work placement. I suppose, the only short and concise sentence that will work is: It was class! Thank you Samantha and the team."

Aaron McCarthy, Aged 16

Ramp-up Rathling - High Volume Talent Strategies

2011-02-28T16:07:00.002Z

Ramp-up recruitment is a niche sector and not for the feint-hearted! I am not talking ten or twenty roles at a time, I am talking hundreds! This weeks blog has been written to help those companies out there who have seasonal requirements and regularly have to ramp-up their headcount to cope with demand, such as increased call volumes, or winning new contracts meaning a spike in the level of staffing required to deliver for customers.

Expect Talent has become a leading expert in the field of 'Ramp-Up Recruitment' having recently completed a project for a global online retailer in the lead up to Christmas. Over 380 staff were recruited in 12 weeks across 3 languages, and this is a client who has retained us for the last 3 years in a row. Another project we recently worked on for Bentley Systems in Dublin, saw us ramp-up a brand new Shared Services Centre from 0-130 permanent staff across 14 languages and 8 disciplines.

My top tips for companies looking to increase headcount and ramp-up staffing levels:

Tip 1 - Know where to locate a high volume of candidates, know your market and the type of candidates you are looking to recruit. If you have a clear idea of what your target pool of candidates looks like and where to find them, you can generate a strong pipeline of potential recruits. This applies whether it is for permanent or contract roles. High-volume recruitment is about just that! Having a high-volume of people to select from in the first place. Once you have the volume you can start to select who would be best to hire. You can use jobsites, social media, forums, your networks, recruitment partners and staff referrals to name a few.

Tip 2 - Have a solid back-office system and internal processes to manage the very high volume of applications that you will receive. Ramp-up recruitment can be draining on resources, so if you plan to manage a high-volume project internally you need to make sure that you have a full team in place. They will manage administration, handle applications, responses to candidates, interview/assessment process. Expect a significant amount of workload and plan for it. Applications per vacancy are much higher in the current climate and your company reputation is critical in managing future hires. You don't want to become "the company that never gets back to people". This can impact on your ability to become an employer of choice and this kind of word of mouth can affect future application levels.

Tip 3 - Have a solid screening process from the outset. One of the ways to minimise workload is to ask candidates to jump through some hoops before you will consider them, that way you know who is REALLY interested in the job! We use a 2 page application form which over 50% of people never go on to complete. That saves our team lots of time by only working with those people who are serious about the opportunity. If the candidate cannot be bothered to complete a 2 page application form then it is a great indication of their work ethic.

Tip 4 - Assessment Centres can be a fantastic way to determine the best candidates for the position. When we hired our 380+ candidates in 2010, every single one of them went through a 2 hour+ Assessment Centre and interview process, in fact not only did these people go through the Assessment but the other 600 or so that did not make it through also went through the same process. Managing this volume of Assessments is time-consuming but essential. The quality of the candidates hired regardless of how many you are employing is of course paramount. Having a robust Assessment Centre where candidates can come along, learn about the role and company and then take verbal and written tests to demonstrate their skills is vital. We usually work with the client's existing format or can design and tailor-make assessment centres for our clients needs.

Tip 5 - Communication with all candidates throughout the project. Regardless of the stage of their application is vital to maintaining a great reputation in the market. Even if unsuccessful, it is important to ensure that all candidates are contacted with their feedback as to whether or not they are successful in the position. Those that you hire will of course be delighted and the onboarding process through to the end of their training period must be handled in the correct way, however those who need to be rejected should also be treated with care. This goes back to having a great system and great processes internally but can often get lost in the busy hiring period.

As I said at the start, ramp-up recruitment is not for the feint-hearted! It takes patience, expertise, a great project team and access to high numbers of candidates in the first place. There are very few agencies who specialise in this niche part of the recruitment sector so I hope this blog has given you some insight as to what is involved in hiring quality people in high volumes. I am starting to get myself the name "Ramp-Up Rathling" which is sticking with those who know me! I am more than happy to help advise and answer questions on this topic, even if you are not in a position to call in the experts. Please post your comments below.

Mairead's Story to Help Graduate Jobseekers

2011-02-22T10:24:00.000Z

Last week I wrote about the amazing team at Expect Talent, so this week I am going to introduce you to our newest team member Mairead Collins. Mairead has written this week's blog to help all graduates out there who are currently looking for a new job, her story will inspire and motivate you to take action.

Mairead: "Let me introduce myself, my name is Mairead, the newest Talent Manager in Expect Talent. I graduated in 2010 with an honors Degree in Business and Hospitality. Graduating in the height of recession is obviously not easy, and getting a job in the field where you would like your career to progress is next to impossible or so I thought last June (2010). Like many of my peers I applied for countless positions online every day, most of them getting no response, and when I did receive a response it generally said “sorry you do not have enough experience in this area" and the famous last words “we will keep your CV on file and should a position arise that is suited to your experience we will contact you “.

By the end of the summer months I was getting extremely disheartened about this and knew I had to do something in order to get my career started. I decided to search for an internship and I was very lucky to get a HR internship with a Global IT company called EMC, based in Cork. Here I got so much experience in the area of HR and Recruitment, learning from brilliant people with great knowledge and the experience I gained was invaluable to my career.

As a result of this experience, I have now got a fantastic new position working with a great role model, and a great team, gaining even more experience in HR and Recruitment. If I was to give any graduate advice for the future, internships are the way to go. Working in an unpaid position gaining experience is one of the best decisions I have ever made as it shows future employers that you are dedicated, motivated and interested in getting gaining experience. Having this on my CV helped me secure my current position."

Mairead interviewed for the job at Expect Talent alongside 5 other candidates for her role as a Talent Manager. She was selected because of her drive, commitment and dedication shown through the fact that she was willing to work for 5 months unpaid just to gain experience in her chosen field. She also demonstrated a high level of proactiveness and a strong fit with the core values of our business. We look forward to developing and upskilling Mairead and helping her to achieve he personal and professional goals. If you have any comments or questions for Mairead please post them here.

Having a Brilliant Team - Hiring Strategies

2011-02-11T17:21:00.002Z

When I asked my team for ideas on a topic for this week's blog, they suggested I write about our fantastic team!! Brilliant, what a great idea. So I started to think about what makes them so brilliant at what they do, and how could the way that we develop our own in-house staff help others who might be reading this.

1. Hiring from outside of your Industry

Very often clients ask us to find them candidates with a number of years experience in their industry. However, this is not always the best route to finding the best talent. All of my recruitment team have previously NEVER worked in recruitment. Why? As you will know by now, the way we look at the whole industry and work with customers is so different from all other agencies that it would take far too much time to untrain bad habits, and the fact that we do not incentivise our recruitment team with commission does not suit or appeal to people who have already worked in the industry.

I always look to hire people with a passion for excellence, a high level of customer service and strong account management skills. Attention to detail and strong multi-tasking and organisational skills are critical. Attitude, Attitude, Attitude. Do you need to have industry experience to become an expert recruiter? With the right training, environment and support of course not. The same applies to many industries, companies are often missing out on great talent by only sticking to people with their own industry background. So next time you go to hire, think outside the box.

2. Win Happy

I heard the theme for 2011 of great Cork PR company this week, it's "Win Happy!", its not just about the revenue its about the happiness and fun factor of the team too. The happiness factor and the motivation levels of any team are closely linked to productivity. We have a staff happiness survey each quarter, and we measure our teams happiness factor. This for me is what makes our team so brilliant, we have fun regardless of how busy we are, its great to be around happy and motivated people who love what they do.

3. Commitment & Dedication

Over the 5 years we have built up a great team of Talent Managers and Administrators, their commitment to us as a business and their dedication to our candidates and clients is second to none. Without the team we would not be anywhere near as successful and for that I am extremely grateful. The "above and beyond" mentality of every one in the team, means that we can deliver great results and be very flexible to clients demands. This attitude is so important to any company and contributes hugely to the business.

4. Development Opportunities

A lack of opportunity for progression is often the reason people leave a company, so the development of my team is critical, giving them opportunities to learn, to upskill and to develop on a personal and professional level is vital to retaining the great talent that we have. I want to help them all achieve their goals in life, and if the business can make that happen then all the better.

5. Celebrating Success, Reward & Recognition

Each member of our team has a "Success Diary", they record their successes no matter how big or small and the first item in our team meeting agenda is each person sharing one success from the previous week. By focusing on the positive, we attract more great successes, and this keeps everyones mindset in a good place. We recognise and reward in ways other than commission, surprise vouchers, team nights out, our famous "Friday Club" - team lunch on the house every week, and social time together outside of work. Celebration of Success and feeling part of something special is what helps to make a brilliant team.

So this is my opportunity to recognise and thank all of my amazing team members - Julia, Margaret, Chris, Jackie, Pablo, Mairead, Caitriona, Lucy, Una, thank you for everything that you do, this business would be nowhere without your hard work, commitment, dedication and great talents.

How do you develop your team and would you ever consider hiring people with no experience in your industry?

How Internships Can Be a Strategy For Hiring Talent

2011-02-01T17:33:00.001Z

As a business owner, when I first started out, I was wearing lots of hats! Trying to do everything and struggling to focus on I was actually supposed to be doing to grow the business. So I hired an intern from Interconnection (http://www.i4b.eu/), back in 2005, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Dounia went on to become our first employee, as Administrator and is now a PA for a senior Director in a Cosmetics company doing very well in her career.

Many internships are funded by colleges or universites and the interns come fully insured, usually free of charge to the company. Since 2005, I have had 17 interns come through my business, from France, Spain, Poland, Germany, Austria and to date I have actually hired 3 of them! Today's blog will give both angles - one from the candidate perspective and one from the client perspective and show you why Internships are a great strategy for your career or business and a path to great talent.

There are some great organisations out there who help people with work placements and internships such as the National Learning Network (www.nln.ie), who provide training and upskilling to those people who may otherwise find it difficult to gain employment. They help people to develop the skills to move forward with their careers and are always looking for companies to take on trainees on an unpaid basis for work experience.

For Companies

If you are a company looking to grow your team, but not in a position to hire someone on a full time permanent basis, you should talk to an internship specialist. I recommend that you take on interns who are looking for a 3-6 months placement as the time you will invest in training them will be worthwhile, although some interns come for 4-6 weeks.

I have had interns in my own business help me with data entry, web research, reference checking, sourcing candidates, reporting, PA work and more... Interns are looking to learn the skills they need for the world of work, and they are looking to apply their knowledge from their education. What better way to give something back and help someone launch their career.

You may find that the person is brilliant and you can go on to offer them a job, leaving you to focus on what you should be doing! Whether you are a company large or small then Internships is a path to hiring great talent. I have just hired a fantastic new team member, who has been working in an unpaid work placement in HR, to gain experience. Now she has a great job related to HR, Careers and recruitment which is what she wants to do. You can try before you buy with an internship student or work experience placement.

For Candidates

If you are a job-seeker, then offering to do work experience or an internship with a company, even if you are not being paid is a great idea. You will get to make valuable contacts in the company at all levels, so even if they are not hiring now, show them what you can do and they may just call you back in when the next job opening comes up.

You can put the experience on your CV and you will learn new skills in any work experience placement. An internship very often can lead to a dream job, or can help you refine what career you want to pursue. You may think that you want to go into a specific industry, but the work experience will soon give you exposure to the reality of that particular field and you may decide to take a new direction.

I did some work experience in London at 18 years old, in a Marketing agency, and within a week I was being offered a dream job! This launched my career and was the best strategy to get into a competitive industry.

Has every single intern been fantastic, well no of course not, but I have learnt to really guage their level of interest in the company, the industry I am in and their reason for wanting to do the placement before accepting them into the company. If they are a match, I then align their career goals with what I can offer them and give them tasks which fit with their goals. It has to be win-win-win for everyone and you need to dedicate time to training them so that you can both benefit from the experience.

I would love to hear your own views and experience with internships and work placements, so please feel free to leave a comment below.

Multilingual Talent in Demand across Ireland

2011-01-24T23:16:00.000Z

Thanks to great efforts and work by the IDA there is still a big demand for multilingual talent in Ireland. The most challenging of languages is something we have always loved to work on here at Expect Talent.

We usually get invited to work with a client when they have been trying to recruit for an obscure language combination, and been unsuccessful through their own methods. Of course, it is not just about the languages, it is also important to secure a candidate with the best skills and experience too. Expect Talent has always been a specialist in this area, and we have proven to be very strong in sourcing high quality bi-lingual and even tri-lingual candidates which are often most valuable to a company as they can cover mutliple markets.

I often get asked how we can achieve such great success in this multilingual area, the reply is simple; Quality Relationships; Quality Networks; Quality Team.

Quality Relationships

We have formed partnerships and strategic alliances with organisations and companies across Europe to ensure that we have maximum reach. We also build relationships across Ireland with referral partners and with all of our candidates with languages. These relationships allow us to leverage access to candidate markets and constant referrals to the right talent. Both within the industry and outside we are known for being experts in multilingual recruitment so this helps us to build relationships which are mutually beneficuak.

Quality Networks

Our online and offline networks give us access to multilingual talent across the globe. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, online networks such as LinkedIN, Twitter and Facebook help out recruiters to contact candidates with languages for all types of roles. Our international network through BNI allows us to generate links in 47 countries across the globe. The BNI Global Power Team of which I am Vice President gives us as an agency, unrivalled access to multilingual talent.

Quality Team

Having knowledge of local markets in Europe within our own team is critical. Our Talent Managers and support team cover many European Languages including Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian and of course English. The ability to tap into local forums, careers centres, universities, local social networks and jobsites allows with native speakers who understand the country and local market allows us to generate an ongoing pipeline of candidates. It is important that we can respond instantly when a client needs languages. We regularly attend recruitment fairs in EU countries, so that we can be ahead of the pack and secure candidates faster for our clients.

The Future for Languages in Ireland

Ireland remains an attractive place for large corporations to run their European operation, and despite the economic climate, there are more and more companies generating jobs here. Great to see Quest Software's arrival into Cork and companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Big Fish Games and Blizzard Entertainment growing and developing their need for top multilingual talent. We fully expect this to be a great year for job creation in Ireland and based on the activity levels we have seen within our clients in the first few weeks of this year, there is huge opportunity for candidates with the right skills and experience to secure a great opportunity in this country.

There are always great opportunities available for multilingual talent across all parts of Ireland, especially for Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch, German and all Scandinavian languages. Whether it be for an entry level position in customer support, or sales, finance or administration. But, it can also can be a significant advantage for top level management. To find out more, contact our specialist team at info@expect-talent.com.

CV Tips - What Did You Actually Do?

2011-01-20T10:28:00.000Z

Here at the Expect Talent HQ, we receive hundreds of CV’s every month. Most of the time we are left asking ourselves this question:

WHAT DID YOU ACTUALLY DO?

Most CV’s are a list of dates along with a job description, or list of responsibilities. That tells us nothing about what you actually did! This is a common mistake by candidates, and one which, if you can get right, you stand a good chance of securing an interview. You have less than 10 seconds to impress with your CV as many hiring managers and HR departments will receive hundreds of applications for just one role.

We are currently working for a large Cork based multinational client in Cork, and we hired over 300 people for them in just 12 weeks, however we received in excess of 4500 CV's for these positions.

So what can you do to increase your chances of success?

Rather than list your responsibilities, start by listing your key achievements. Think about what you personally achieved that delivered a great result for the business or for one of your customers? Thinking about your CV this way turns a boring responsibility into something that a client or potential employer might actually want in their business!

Example 1:

TURN THIS... "Responsible for Collections on outstanding accounts"

INTO THIS... "Significantly improved bottom line by securing an additional €200,000 in outstanding monies through effective cash collection."

Example 2:

TURN THIS: "Responsible for Customer Service"

INTO THIS: "Increased customer satisfaction levels by 30%, by regularly going above and beyond, which helped the company to retain its biggest client and win new business."

Example 3:

TURN THIS: "Responsible for Admin Procedures.

INTO THIS: "Significantly enhanced internal reporting and admin procedures which saved the team 26 days per annum in un-necessary workload. My ideas for improvements are regularly implemented by senior management."

Every element of your CV should be aimed at securing you an interview. Your CV is a sales document designed to show off your talents! It should not just be a chronological history of all the places where you have worked.

If you want a CV professionally written, or you feel you would benefit from careers advice you can now contact our careers team for a free consultation with Patrick Mercie and Expect Careers. Email sam@expect.ie for more details.

Networking, Social Media & Recruitment

2011-01-12T10:59:00.002Z

This morning I was interviewed for a national newspaper in Ireland, in relation to Expect Talent and our incredible 2010, a very positive piece of PR thanks to Anne Kiely & Associates. One of the questions I have been asked to comment on is "How important has networking and relationship building been in your business, and do you think it is important for a recruitment company?".

Whether you are a jobseeker, business owner or hiring manager reading this, my answer has to be that it is CRITICAL. Your network of contacts should be one of the best sources of help, support and referrals and is absolutely key to your success. My own business has grown through effective networking, relationship building and word of mouth, through involvement in organisations like BNI. I learnt how build relationships and grow my network by educating and upskilling myself on referral marketing. I have always applied "Givers Gain" to all apsects of life and work, which is the key philosophy of BNI. By helping others to grow their business and giving something back to other people whether it be a referral, testimonial, advice or support is one of the best ways to grow your business and increase your visibility and credibility which leads to more business.

The depth and breadth of your connections in your personal and business life will always play a major role in the development of your career and your business. Any recruitment business owner who is not upskilling themselves and their recruitment team on networking both face to face and online will find it increasingly difficult to grow their client and candidate base. Why cold-call when you can learn how to effectively grow a business through relationships and word of mouth? It still amazes me how many companies are cold-calling rather than really getting to know the people around them who can help. If you want to learn how to leverage your contacts then I recommend reading "Life, Business and Speedboats" written by my good friend Iain Whyte.

I was also asked the question in my interview - "How has the recruitment sector evolved in the last 18 months?". The importance of social media and online networking has meant a huge shift in the way that companies now hire and source great talent for their business. For example, over 95% of companies now use LinkedIn for recruitment. If you want to learn more amazing stats on social media and its impact on the recruitment sector, just take a look at this video from Socionomics.

Most internal recruiters for large organisations are now trained on how to find great talent through online networking, recruiters in agencies are using these social media tools for recruitment all the time. If you are looking for a new job then make sure your profile can be found on LinkedIn, and make sure that your Facebook page is professional and represents you well, you never know who might be looking at it. In 2010 over 60% of our permanent placements were candidates who we found through LinkedIn.

More than ever, networking and social media play a massive part in the world of recruitment and job-seeking. I would love to hear how networking and social media has helped you as a job-seeker, hiring manager or business owner. So why not take action today, and make social media or networking part of your 2011 recruitment or job-seeking strategy.

New Year... Expect Careers...

2011-01-05T11:07:00.000Z

Happy New Year to everyone. I can just tell that 2011 is going to absolutely rock!

Here at Expect Talent we are focusing more and more on our customers, and in the recruitment world that is both Candidates and Clients. In this competitive jobs market, having an outstanding CV and the confidence to nail an interview is absolutely critical to your success. So as part of the 2011 offering may I introduce to you...

Expect Careers will focus entirely on Candidates, covering services such as professional CV writing, interview techniques and career coaching. This new arm of the business will help any candidate to stand out from the crowd with a brilliant CV, and will help them to secure that dream job with the best advice on how to shine at interview.

Think about this... When you need to get your boiler fixed, you call a professional. When your car breaks down, you call a professional. When you want a new haircut, you don't leave it to chance, you call a professional! Your CV and career is no different - why try and do it yourself when the professional touch will always deliver a better result. Professional CV's that stand out can make all the difference between securing that interview or not. Whether you are job-seeking for the first time in years, or fresh out of college Expect Careers can help you or someone you know.

Patrick Mercie, will be a kay part of the Expect Careers team, and he brings wealth of knowledge and experience in helping job-seekers to achieve success. His coaching style is interactive, motivational, energetic and non-judgemental.

Patrick has an infectious personality and is completely focused on positivity and getting results for every person he works with. Patrick will be contributing to the blog to help all candidates with hints and tips that will brighten any jobsearch so watch out for his words of wisdom in the months to come.

There is still more to come for this year, but for now may I take this opportunity to wish you and your family a prosperous, happy and healthy 2011! It's going to be a great year...

We don't need to reinvent the wheel, we just have to make it roll better!

2010-12-14T16:51:00.000Z

I was fortunate enough to spend three days recently with Frank De Raffele, of Entrepreneurial Excellence and this was one of the key quotes that stuck with me: "We don't need to reinvent the wheel, we just have to make it roll better!". So it got me thinking about how this applies to the recruitment industry.

There are very few recruitment companies out there who are even trying to reinvent the wheel to make it roll better. Many large companies are stuck to the traditional model of recruitment and despite everything that is going on around us, have not changed their way of thinking.

What is refreshing to see is that some smaller and newer agencies are approaching the way they deliver service to clients and candidates with a complete focus on quality and personal touch. We were one of the first companies in Ireland to not pay commission to our recruitment team, and now this is catching on, with more and more companies taking this route to increased client satisfaction, which is fantastic to see.

To those companies who are pushing boundaries and are innovating to improve the perception of our industry, I applaud and thank you. I look forward to sharing ideas and best practice as we connect and collaborate. Working together we can change perceptions.

I was very grateful this week to be given an amazing opportunity for a large recruitment project which was referred to me by a business owner in recruitment that applies the same philosophy to the industry as Expect Talent, although in a different target market. Givers Gain in action again, we help each other a lot even though we are in the same industry.

I learnt a great deal during my time with Frank de Raffele about the importance of core values, leadership skills and the real impact of applied teamwork. The concept of making the wheel roll better is fascinating and I firmly believe that by breaking from the pack and doing things totally differently to the rest of the industry we can play a part in changing the way the world does recruitment.

How are you making the wheel roll better in your industry? I would love to hear your views.

"Delivering Happiness" thanks to Smarter Egg

2010-12-01T13:35:00.000Z

"Delivering Happiness" is one of the best business books I have ever read, for a number of reasons. It now has us even more focused on delivering happiness to clients and candidates, as well as focusing on the happiness of our own team. Tony Hsieh who wrote this book is the CEO of Zappos (http://www.zappos.com/) and describes their incredible story, so thanks to Tony for his genius. I would never have been exposed to this book were it not for Aodan Enright who runs an fantastic business in Cork called Smarter Egg (http://www.smarteregg.com/).

I have been a Smarter Egg for 2 years exactly to the day, so what better day to focus my blog on this aspect of Expect Talent. I meet monthly with a fantastic group of 10 people from all walks of life and business to explore ideas and generate discussion around the latest business books. Thanks to Smarter Egg, this experience has completely transformed the way we think about our approach to the recruitment industry.

In "Delivering Happiness", Tony Hsieh outlines the 10 core values of Zappos:

1. Deliver WOW through service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and a little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More with Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10.Be Humble

What a great list, but the thing about Zappos is that every single employee commits 100% to these values, and its not just "a meaningless plaque in the lobby" to quote Hsieh. If you are intrigued by any of these then you should definitely read the book! The stories are fascinating and now you can even go on tours of the Zappos headquarters.  Some of the great ideas that I implemented from Zappos include:-

1. A library of the best business books around, now in the office (complete with beanbag seats!) available to the whole team - everyone reads or listens to a minimum of 1 book per month, upskilling the team and encouraging learning is so important to happiness at work, and the books give us all creative idaeas.

2. A Culture book, the Expect Talent team recently defined our own core values and wrote about what the culture of our business means to them. I recently heard a great quote "Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast!". Zappos now publish theirs annually.

3. We now have a Staff Happiness factor, and ask the team every month to rate how happy they are with different aspects of their job, and we ask them to come up with ideas on how to improve their experience and happiness working for Expect Talent.

4. We now hire people based on our own list of core values: Passionate about WOWing Clients and Candidates, Quality-Focused in Everything we Do, Always Reliable.

I love the hiring process that all Zappos employees go through, everyone has to be a match to their core values regardless of skills and experience. They even offer to pay every new starter $2000 to quit after their first 2 weeks!!

The Zappos story, is one of Profits, Passion and Purpose. I continue to learn all the time through being a Smarter Egg, and I would like to congratulate Aodan on a fantastic two years, I feel very priveleged to have been involved in the first ever Smarter Egg "Tribe" which helped Expect Talent to "Break from the Pack", with "Creative Habit", my "MOJO" firmly back and strong knowledge of "Where Good Ideas Come From", I am confident that I can contribute a huge amount of my success to being a Smarter Egg.

Flipping the Recruitment Model on its Head

2010-11-23T10:30:00.001Z

In December 2010, Expect Talent will celebrate 5 years in business, which is something we are really proud of, not only are we still here, but we are considered one of the fastest growing recruitment companies in the country. Our turnover has already more than doubled this year and our client base continues grow, attracting leading multinational employers nationwide, and it got me thinking...

Why and How? Honestly, I can put it down to the fact that from Day 1 we completely flipped the traditional recruitment model on its head. We entered an extremely competitive market in 2005, in a booming economy and decided to break from the pack. Why do what everyone else in the industry is doing? We started by listing down all of the frustrating and annoying things that most (not all!) recruitment agencies do on both the client and candidate side of their business and decided to do the exact opposite.

I still have the notebook when I was brainstorming my grand plans to be an entrepreneur, when Expect Talent was just a dream in my head. I thought I would share today some examples of the how we flip the model on its head:

No Commission for the Recruitment Team

This to me is fundamentally one of the main reasons that our industry has a bad reputation, recruiters should be placing candidates for the right reason and not because its their next commission payment. Recruiters in our team are not salespeople and have no placement targets to meet, so their approach is consultative and in the best interest of both candidate and client, not their own.

Hire People from Outside of the Recruitment Industry

This has been one of the keys to building a phenomenal team, the approach we take to recruitment is so different, that it is much easier to train and upskill excellent account managers with passion for customers on how to recruit, than it is to un-train habits from recruiters who have previously come from within the industry, this is definitely our preference and has allowed us to build an incredibly talented team internally.

Treat Every Vacancy like an Executive Search Assignment

Regardless of the level of seniority, if each vacancy we work on is treated like an Executive Search Assignment, the search becomes completely pro-active and creates a shortlist of a maximum 3 top candidates, we will never be the fastest but we will always deliver the best quality. That's why over 90% of candidates we put forward secure client interviews, one of the highest ratios in the industry.

Detailed Interview Profiles for every Candidate

Why put forward a CV without any detailed information about the candidate? Our clients use a professional service to save them time and hassle and to secure the best talent. Unique and detailed profiles on each candidate mean that hiring managers and HR teams can make an informed decision about the person based on the competency and situation based interview we conduct before submitting a candidate to a client.

Five years ago, I believed passionately that our strategy would work, and now I know without question that flipping the traditional recruitment model on its head was the right path to take and continues to give us the edge. I am getting all nostalgic this week as I prepare for our 5th Birthday party which will be held in December in the Blackrock Castle Observatory, and look forward to thanking all of the clients, candidates, suppliers, friends and referral partners that have played a part in our success so far. Here's to the next five years and beyond...

Interview the Interviewer; Great questions to ask...

2010-11-09T09:30:00.139Z

An interview is a two-way process, and as a candidate it is always tricky, especially at the end, when the interviewer has asked all of their questions, and now turns to you and says "Is there anything you'd like to ask me?". Your preparation before you walk into an interview, could be the difference between you getting hired or not.

My advice is to write a list of at least 10 questions, and expect that ALL of your questions will be answered, before you get a chance to ask them.   There is no greater turn-off as an interviewer than a candidate who says "No. I think you've answered all my questions." This shows a lack of curiosity, and lack of interest in the job.

Here are a few questions to add in that you could ask at an Interview:-

- What are some of the skills and abilities necessary for someone to succeed in this job?
- Why do you like working here? What is really fantastic about this company?
- Who will review my performance and how often?
- Tell me about the best member of the current team and what makes them successful?
- Could you describe your company culture & the type of employee who fits well with it?
- How much opportunity will I be given for personal development and upskilling?

Make sure that you demonstrate interest in the answers, rather than just rattling off a list for the sake of having questions. Even though some of your questions may be answered during the process, you can always ask the interviewer to expand on an area that came up during the interview, and having some like the above ready for when you get to interview the interviewer.

It is also useful to know what kind of questions to avoid, these include:-

- How much will I get paid and what additional benefits do you offer?
- Why did the last person leave?
- How quickly will I get promoted?
- What are the working hours, and how much holiday will I get?

These are all great turn-offs for your interviewer, leave the questions related to benefits, salary and contract to the employer to bring up. Your motivation for the job will be poorly demonstrated by asking questions like this.  Also, make sure that you don't ask questions that could easily be answered from the company's website. This demonstrates a lack of research, and again a lack of interest in the position.

Remember, you have to make the right choice about the company you work for, in the same way that the interviewer has to make the right choice when hiring, so getting a really clear idea about what will be expected and why they are an employer of choice is an important part of the interview process.

Top Tips for Hiring: Skills & Experience not enough...

2010-11-02T09:42:00.000Z

The top companies in the world are always looking to hire the best talent, however its not just about now, its about hiring for the future. In todays competitive candidate market, just having the skills and experience is not enough.

5 Top Tips When Hiring

TIP 1 - Know what you want before you start the recruitment process

Hire for experience and specialist skills; someone too junior requiring lots of training can be a very costly exercise, even though it may seem the cheaper option. On the flip-side, someone totally overqualified may seem like a good idea, especially in the current economic climate, but will only cause you retention issues as you struggle to keep them challenged enough, what happens when the job market changes? It is important to really know what skills you need, and avoid trying to hire one person for two different jobs, if you need Administrator who will be able to make cold-calls, you will rarely find these skills in the same person.

TIP 2 - Hire for adaptability and willingness to learn

Use interview skills and testing to see how candidates cope with changing environments. What your company looks like now will most likely be very different to what the company will look like in 3-5 years time. A candidate who can adapt to changing circumstances in the business is most likely to thrive and grow with you. They will feel challenged and you secure a long term employee. New ideas and innovation can and will come from within your internal talent pool. In addition, hunger to learn is a very important trait to look for. A brilliant candidate who is trainable and responds to coaching, mentoring and upskilling is equally as important. Most skills can be learnt, so finding candidates who are willing to learn is key to future success of your business.

TIP 3 - Hire for a positive approach to work - Attitude, Attitude, Attitude!!

Leading companies will never settle for candidates who just see the opportunity as a job. They are looking for people who are constantly striving to improve their own performance and the performance of the company. They are people who see the overall picture, they see the role as being bigger than themselves. A positive approach to work is high on the criteria of many leading employers. At Google they look to hire smart and innovative people who fit well with company culture, but most importantly they look to hire candidates that want to make an impact. Someone both motivated to deliver results, as well as demonstrating total confidence in their ability to deliver the results is more likely to get hired.

TIP 4 - Hire for Leadership Skills

Whether you are hiring at a senior or junior level, it is a valuable skill to look for. It is all about the candidates potential to become a leader. They need to understand what needs to be done, and then influence and motivate others to achieve results, no matter what level of the company they start at. Ability to manage both people and tasks is critical. Many companies are now creating an internal talent pool of future leaders. Promoting from within increass morale and retention. Learn about leadership skills through the interview process and look for this potential at the recruitment stage.

TIP 5 - Look for a demonstrated ability to Network

The depth and diversity of the candidates networks can play an important part in the hiring process. A candidate who is able to network and willing to network is a vitally important skill in any business related role, even more so in leadership roles and sales or marketing. A candidate that would instantly be able to bring in new contacts, new customers and increase sales through their network can be a serious consideration for leading companies. A demonstrated ability to network both online and offline can often be the deciding factor between two brilliant candidates.

Whether you are in HR, a hiring manager or a jobseeker, I hope you found this blog useful and I would love to hear your comments.

Where does top talent hide in a recession?

2010-10-27T15:13:00.000+01:00

It's a great question, and one which many employers are currently asking. The best talent is rarely out of work , and is almost always not proactively looking for a job, so how can you tap into the best talent for your business? This video gives great insights and tips for sourcing top talent:

Key points from the video are summarised below:

1. Your Own Staff
Never overlook your internal team, grow your talent inhouse and promote from within where possible. Leverage the networks of your teams and colleagues you work with, as they may know someone you could hire that would be perfect for your business.

2. Become well Connected and Actively Network
Top candidates will not usually be actively looking for work, and will almost always be fully employed, even in a recession. Making use of online networks, industry related events and your own contacts to seek out the best talent, this is always a great strategy.

3. Be Proactive
Recruitment shouldn't be a last minute thought when a vacancy arises, develop relationships within your industry and become an Employer of Choice, build your talent pool all the time so that you can leverage a strong network when the need arises to hire. Offer internships and get to know the local graduate careers officers for young talent in your profession. Always seek out potential hires before the need arises. Recruitment can take time; securing the best talent and quickly can save you a lot of money and time.

4. Work with a professional only when you need it
Make time to brief your recruitment partner well and take ownership of the process. Identify exactly what you are looking for and hold the recrutiment company accountable for quality and retention. An outside perspective, and an expert in seeking out the top talent in your industry is often important, especially for business critical positions. It is vital to work with a partner that will understand your business, your teams and your company culture, often the cultural fit is most important, then skills, capabilities and experience follow.

Top talent is out there - FACT! However, finding the right people, attracting them to your business and keeping them is all about having a strategy for recruitment and retention of the best your industry has to offer.

Welcome!

2010-10-26T17:17:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the official Expect Talent Blog, the place to gain insights and bright ideas on recruitment, job-seeking, and hiring staff of the highest quality. Whether you are looking to hire the best talent into your company, change careers, or find that dream job having been made redundant, we are here to help. In this blog we aim to give you that small nugget of advice that might just help you along the way.

If you are frustrated by the recruitment industry then you can join the club! This was the reason why Expect Talent was started, so forget everything you already know about recruitment, here is where we challenge the typical way of doing things, and flip the recruitment industry on its head. We are changing the way the world does Recruitment and in our blog you can find out how...

So welcome to first time readers and I hope you enjoy what we have to say. We welcome your feedback, views, comments on this blog and of course look forward to helping you in some way whether you are a candidate or responsible for hiring in your organisation.

Thanks for joining us on our blogging journey, and please get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

Samantha Rathling
Managing Director
sam@expect.ie