When the job market recovers who will be left standing?
Recruitment Agencies – no room for rookies?There are thousands of recruitment agencies in the UK; the high-street chains, managed vendor suppliers, retained search firms and specialist job agencies to name a few. But as the jobs market starts to recover they will all start to fall into just two camps -
those who can survive and those who can’t.
Evidence of this division is already becoming apparent. Whilst a number of generalist recruitment agencies have frantically been cutting back and shedding staff to counter the economic downturn, many well-respected specialist agencies are actually reporting an increase in their business. The reason? Simply put, these recruiters attract more client and candidates because they actually know what they’re talking about. They have years of experience in very defined fields and a clear understanding of the sorts of issues, the terms, the working conditions, locations and rates that relate to their specialisms. Being highly attuned to the specific needs of clients and job hunters enables them to attract and build a niche talent pool as well as having the latest and best vacancies in their field.
“Now, more than ever, agencies need to prove that they are a class act. A good agency should provide professional advice, they should know the market and perhaps more importantly, they should know their candidate and their clients. A good consultant is an expert in the their field, has a wide range of contacts and a proven track record in making successful placements.”
Nick Walrond, MD at Sanderson RecruitmentAccording to research the cost of mishiring an individual is 4-14x of their base salary and costs the UK economy dearly, estimates put the cost of managing poor hires at over £24 Billion (Future Foundations Report). The best recruiters are not born, they are made and developed and at no time is that development more important than during periods of recession. The days of mainstream recruitment agencies, with average recruiting staff, are numbered but there will always be a need for highly skilled recruiters. Those who manage to prosper despite the floundering economy are those who invest in developing and refining their recruitment skills.
Job Boards – the end of an era?
Online job boards kicked-off a mass migration of advertisers and job seekers to the highly efficient internet, offering additional benefits of speed, timeliness, reach, number of jobs, and ease of applying. But with these benefits came its own set of problems; a lack of relevant jobs that turn up in searches, vague job descriptions that don't identify the employer, poor service and non-existent client/candidate relationships. Meanwhile, recruiters started getting bombarded with vast quantities of cv’s from unqualified candidates. The features that initially made them so attractive -ease of applying for jobs - has actually now made them a bit of a nightmare for both parties.
Many are now predicting a complete job board meltdown in the face of social media recruitment using networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and blogging. But the reality for some job boards is that social media has actually come at just the right time to save them. Competition is fierce and savvy job boards are looking towards social media to promote their brand’s authenticity and transparency by providing them with the means of building relationships and conducting discussions on how they can improve their services.
And while the first-generation boards may be coming to the end of their reign, a new type of interactive boards is now emerging. These job boards are incorporating web 2.0 to engage with their market in the hope of securing a longer future. A good example of this new breed is The IT Job Board. As well as pioneering the
first blog specifically aimed at the IT recruitment industry they also recently launched an iPhone application, helping candidates to search for jobs from the palm of their hand.
“The IT Job Board has embraced the use of social media to engage with the candidate market, utilising the new wave of communication channels to create ongoing dialogue and debate about the topics that matter to the IT community.”
Jamie Bowler, Head of Marketing at The IT Job BoardAny decent job board is run by people who understand their communities and those with the best services and content will be the ones who ultimately attract more clients and candidates.
Social Media – will we run out of time?One of the best things about social recruitment is that it costs nothing but time. But could this mean that an up-turn might actually herald its own downfall? Last year many recruiters had lots of time and no budget. And it is likely that this has helped social recruitment grow. But what happens when these recruiters need to fill 50 vacancies instead of 2? Will they keep on chatting on twitter with every potential candidate?
Recruiters have been increasingly looking towards social media as a channel to engage and attract talent. The emergence of online social media has provided us with seemingly endless routes to new connections and nowadays we can find almost anyone on social networking sites, blogs and discussion boards. Although none really knows how to make a consistent return on the investment they make in social media, it has already become an important part of "the mix".
Greg Savage, CEO of International recruitment company, Aquent, and a regular keynote speaker at staffing and recruitment conferences across the globe said,
"Those people out there who think it's the total future of sourcing candidates are deluded. It is not the total future." Rather, it is a channel that allows recruiters to reach a large amount of people but it takes discipline, resources and time to make it work for you.
“You might get a candidate to express an interest, but the real skill of a recruiter is to try and convert that interested talent into a proper recruit for you or one of your clients. That is an age-old skill that has got nothing to do with social media; it's got to do with recruitment consulting skills." Says Savage.
And the Winner is?… Agencies, job boards and online networking sites all have their own strengths and weaknesses and while there is still room for all three to happily co-exist within the market place, I predict that will be a lot of casualties along the way. When the economy recovers it will be the innovators who thrive. The biggest winners will be those who can successfully combine and harness the key strengths of these mediums to successfully reach, build and retain talent whilst providing an efficient and quality service.
Yes, we're in a downturn but the reality is that life goes on! People will continue to want to move jobs, many companies will continue to recruit and there is still plenty of scope for turning a profit in the recruitment industry. Recessions make all companies more efficient, part of which involves employing high quality staff. In an ever-changing marketplace this is a classic case of move on, adapt or die and there are no exceptions.
Stuart Adams - Senior Consultant & Team Leader - Software Development 
He has recruited interim business change directors for some of the UK’s leading financial services companies and manages some of Sanderson’s largest accounts. He has been with Sanderson since November 2000 and manages a team of eight Senior Consultants. Specializing in Business Change, Transformation and IT recruitment, particularly within financial services. Read my blog
Charlie Ten-Broeke - Senior Consultant – Infrastructure and Service Management
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