Archive for June, 2009
Recruiters losing their popularity
For some time now it has been clear that more and more employers have been using networking and their company websites to recruit new staff. As a result recruitment agencies, in particular, have been losing out.
This was confirmed recently by an article in Personnel Today when a survey of 400 employers showed that nearly half (48%) said that they had reduced their recruitment agency budget since last year.
It would appear that for many generalist jobs these firms have decided that they can save money and still get good quality people.
Where agencies, executive search firms and head-hunters still come into their own is where the recruitment of specialists or very senior people is required.
From a job seeker’s point of view there still remain four ways to find a job, through Agencies, Adverts, Networking and Prospecting. The key change has been in the way the internet is influencing how these methodologies are used.
Most agencies now have websites and display their advertised vacancies on them. Adverts can be found on websites as varied as Monster, Total Jobs and Executive Appointments as well as the traditional means. Networking utilises the Outlook folder and email addresses extracted from business cards; whilst prospecting is done through marketing lists and detailed research of company websites.
Confusing the world clock…
Here’s an interesting one for you, a good example as to how communications can easily get confused. A colleague is involved in organising a meeting which will have a videoconferencing input.
People who will be ‘present’ include a number from the UK where the meeting is taking place, one in the United States (on the West coast) and another based in Eastern Australia.
So what time will the meeting take place? Well the first thing the organisers have had to consider is that the time zone of the person in the United States is eight hours behind, whilst the time zone of the person in Australia is ten hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time; but the UK is on British Summer time.
So assume the meeting is at 1200 noon. The person in the States will expect the call at 0400 – 4 a.m. in the morning local time (just to emphasise the point). The person in Australia will expect the call at 2100 EST. That is EST as in Australian Eastern Standard Time.
Which raised another slight communications problem; when the notice of the meeting went out the secretary had put 2100 EST. The American assumed that this meant United States Eastern Standard time which is three hours ahead of the West Coast time.
Fortunately the confusion was short lived because one person very quickly realised what had happened and was able to correct everybody with a brief email.
The moral of the story is not to take short cuts when communicating important information. When dealing with different time zones it is best to put the name of the country or city alongside the time.
Words matter
This weekend is the biggest date in the British motor racing calendar. It is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This year it is also the point where the motor racing teams have threatened to break away from Formula One over proposed rule changes.
Be in no doubt that they will if they have to; however it will be a massive headache for people who have had to concentrate only on the racing cars, drivers, getting sponsors and so on. The organisation of the races, TV rights and broader sponsorship has been organised elsewhere.
So to threaten to break away is a big thing. That’s why reading the statement of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) was so interesting. One simple word gave the game away.
Here is the relevant part of their statement:
“The teams have no other alternative but to begin to prepare for a new championship which reflects the values of the competitors and their sponsors.
“This series will have a transparent governing body, one single set of rules, it would encourage new entrants, would willingly listen to the fans’ wishes, which includes lower admission prices throughout the world, for the sponsors and major shareholders.”
Spotted the word? Yes, it is ‘would’. If the teams were so hell bent on breaking away, they would already have their plans mapped out. In one sentence they switch from ‘will have a transparent body’ to ‘would encourage new entrants etc’.
In this case ‘will’ is in the form or an expression of future intent – it is going to happen. Whilst ‘would’ in this sense has the feeling of a hypothetical expression of something that might happen if it became absolutely necessary.
Which is why, to my reasoning, the FOTA do not really want to leave Formula One; instead they have decided to negotiate through threat, possibly because all else has failed.
The next 24 hours will reveal all.
Sir Alan Sugar’s advice
While watching the last episode of The Apprentice last night I was interested to hear Sir Alan’s opinion on the current economic situation as far as looking for a job goes. He made the point that redundancy and difficult times rather than being a negative can be viewed as an opportunity to find a new career or direction in your life. Rather than accepting that times are hard and no one is recruiting, now is the time to make sure you have done everything you can to maket yourself as an exceptional candidate.