How to Use a Recruitment Consultant Effectively

Updated post. A good recruitment consultant can be an extremely valuable resource in a job seeker’s journey. They often have long term relationships with their clients and know and understand the role and requirements of individual employers. Recruiters have, at times, been the subject of harsh criticism, sometimes warranted, but often the result of a lack of understanding of the role of a recruiter and how to use them effectively when looking for a job. A recruitment consultant can assist you in building relationships with potential employers. They can be a conduit to help you get the position you really want by providing opportunities for your career. It’s important that you communicate and put time into building a relationship with your consultant. Good recruiters work towards long term relationships. They may place candidates who, in future, become clients who return to recruit candidates for their own vacancies. The following points may be useful in assisting a job seeker to utilise a recruitment consultant more effectively: Recruitment consultants usually specialise in a role type Even in the large generalist agencies, consultants usually  specialise  in an area, such as sales, IT, accounting etc. And within those broad categories, consultants can specialise in narrower role types. For example, within  IT  a consultant may focus just on network infrastructure, or only on SAP, etc. If you’re an accountant registering with a consultant that only specialises in IT Sales you’re probably not going to get the response you’re after. It’s important to do your research before developing relationships with recruiters to ensure your skill set and experience match the types of roles the recruiter specialises in. Once you’ve established you’re registering with the right recruiter then ask for a meeting. It is possible the recruiter will prefer to meet you when he/she has a role that is a good match for your profile. This is not because the recruiter isn’t interested in you; it’s just that there are limited hours in the day. Keep in contact with the recruiter especially if you see a role advertised that you believe fits your profile. It’s not a good practice to send a blanket email to numerous recruiters, it’s always better to personalise your approach. Some candidates communicate that they are on the job market to numerous competitive recruitment consultants in the same email (not blind copying). This is not the best practice, a consultant isn’t encouraged to put the time into a candidate that has openly approached every one of his/her competitors. A recruitment consultant is not a career councillor It’s a common misconception that a recruitment consultant’s main job role is to council candidates on career choices. Good recruitment consultants are certainly open to assist in this area however it’s important to remember the consultant is in a commercial position and is paid by a client to find the best candidate for their company. Is the very best candidate for an IT Sales role an individual that is really unsure about whether he/she wants to stay in sales? The answer is no. The best candidates are those who are sure of their career path, know their strengths and sell their experience and skills to match a vacancy of their choice. Someone who is passionate about what they can provide to the client company is certainly a more attractive option. There are outplacement agencies that specialise in career counselling and if you are a candidate in career transition and unsure of your next move it is advisable to seek out a career councillor to assist. This way you will be able to approach the job market with purpose and confidence. In summary, it is not a recruitment consultant’s job to decide on a job seeker’s career path. Opening correspondence with … “I’m unsure of what I want to do, I really just want a job”, is likely not to provide the desired outcome. Conversely, a focussed and skilled candidate who can present a clear match to an open client position or is marketable for specific roles within the consultant’s area of  specialisation  has a much higher chance of securing a role through the consultant with their client company. An agency recruitment consultant is paid a fee by a client company to find the best match candidate for their role and their business It is a recruitment consultant’s job to care for both the candidate and client with the same amount of attention and respect. Be mindful that the consultant is obligated to find the absolute best match candidate for the client company. That fit includes: skills, experience, cultural match, values alignment, industry knowledge, possible longevity in the position and a long list of other potential considerations dependant on the client job brief. So even though interested candidates could believe themselves to be the right fit, it is the consultant’s role to assess the match with consideration of the full brief; this is the service the consultant provides. It’s advisable not to register your interest in a position with the recruitment consultant and then register with their client directly to cover both avenues Double representation of a candidate is not good for anyone concerned. It is vital to be honest with the recruitment consultant if presentation to the client company has already occurred, as a consultant will often be unable to assist if the presentation occurred within the previous six months. When a recruitment consultant is engaged to fill a role by the client it may be that the client has already attempted to recruit the position through their own channels prior to contacting the consultant. If this be the case, the client may have advertisements running on their own websites or on  online job boards . Should a recruitment consultant interview a candidate for a position and reveals the client they are working for, it is not then advisable to apply to the company directly. This creates a representation conflict and can be detrimental for the candidate, as often in this situation the client company will question the candidate’s integrity and decline to interview the candidate. A recruitment consultant strives to place the best match candidate in each position and is continuously working towards that end. A consultant is driven to provide the candidate with  a great recruitment experience  and the points in this blog may assist the job seeker to develop the relationship with some understanding of the recruitment consultant’s perspective.

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How to Get the Job You Want While Working – Up-Skilling

The most successful people know that to achieve their career goals it’s important to be proactive and constantly increase their work skills. So while we can all gain experience and pick up new techniques on the job, there is a vast difference between this, and actively reaching-out to gain additional new skills, expand your knowledge base and upgrade your qualifications.   Luckily, you don’t need to leave your current role to embark on new training and learning programs. If you’re wondering how to get the job you want, a promotion or a pay rise, there are several approaches you can take to upskill at work.   Volunteer There are two ways you can use volunteering to upskill. One is volunteering for a larger project at work that appears as a “stretch goal”. Put your hand up to do something outside your job description and learn as you go along. A good manager won’t throw you in the deep end. You can learn new skills from the experts at work, and that experience can be added to your resume. The other way is to volunteer at various institutions that are aligned with your work goals and passions. Volunteering forces you to get outside of your comfort zone and work in a new environment, with new objectives and team cultures. You will interact with different people, learn new approaches and gain new insights, whilst also giving something back. Many prospective employers view volunteering favourably.   Mentoring Again, there are two ways you can use mentoring to gain more skills while at work. The first is the classic mentor and mentee relationship. The mentor is usually a senior, more experienced person in your organisation, who can teach and guide you to develop a range of skills they’ve taken years to acquire. The second is to mentor someone yourself. Imparting your knowledge to someone forces you to hone your communications skills and, by talking to others in your organisation, you may understand more about the business in general. You might understand various pain points for staff members or you could identify an efficiency of the business that can be improved. Importantly, as you explain your work, skills and experience, you may identify an important skills gap that needs filling.   Hit the Books, Podcasts and Online Tutorials It may sound obvious but thanks to our online community there are literally thousands of courses you can sign up to upskill at anytime, anywhere. Moocs or Massive Open Online Courses are offered by some of the most prestigious educational institutions in the world, including Oxford, Harvard and MIT for free. Yes for free. You’re welcome. You can also gain new skills closely aligned with your industry and role, with a range of specialist online educators.  For example, there’s Udemy for courses as diverse as teacher training to photography, or General Assembly , that offers online or out-of-hours and weekend courses on all things digital. There’s also Lynda , an entire learning platform powered by LinkedIn with video courses produced by current experts in their field. Podcasts are another flexible and easy way to access knowledge, news and insights from any industry.  Turn the dead-time commuting to work into an information superhighway. In fact, any new source that can enrich your understanding of your chosen industry with relevant updated news, should be bookmarked on all your devices. Being able to talk the talk and have a strong grasp of the industry issues and hot topics, will help you identify future job prospects and opportunities.   Blogging Running a blog related to your profession is one way of announcing to the world that you are an expert in your chosen field. Whether you are or not might be debatable, but it will set you apart from your peers. Blogging is a discipline in itself, it shows a level of organisation, thought and technical skill, and employers see this as a plus. A keyword rich blog will also help you be discovered by recruiters searching for people with your skills and drive.   Networking While it’s not strictly upskilling, networking can introduce you to some inspiring people working on projects that excite you. Networking helps you see clearly, the “end goal” of where you need to be in your career and the people that can help you get there. Understanding the path of others can raise questions about your own career path and give you special insight into your industry needs, compared to the skills you currently have. Attending regular networking events will also help you keep up with industry demands and trends.

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Hiring Processes for Building and Retaining a Diverse Team

By now most Australian companies are aware of the benefits of having a truly diverse team and how it impacts productivity, performance, team morale and the bottom line. A  study  from management consultancy – McKinsey & Co, revealed that gender diverse companies are more likely to outperform others by 15%, and ethnically diverse are 25% more likely to outperform. Just these two aspects alone, show the great improvements an organisation can make by strategically creating a broad and diverse team.   So how does a manager build and grow a diverse team?   1. Shout it Out Ensure your company’s diversity policy is in the spotlight. Ensure that it’s easily accessible for all your team to be aware of it, become familiar with it and live its values. Schedule quarterly open discussions about how it is being implemented, and importantly,  how it’s being measured . If you make your diversity goals a shared focus, this will enable your team to become invested in the program professionally and personally. Their input will usually result in real practical initiatives to alleviate areas of concern and encourage behaviours that actively support your respective diversity program. For example, Facebook is taking a real lead on ensuring its diversity strategy is highly visible. In 2015, Facebook reported that 68% of its employees were male, and in technology-related roles, males made up 84% of its workforce. Realising it had a diversity problem, it created a training program to manage unconscious bias and they’re encouraging other companies to get on board, by putting the training and videos online for  everyone to access .   2. Make Changes Big & Small You should ensure that you review and continuously assess your hiring processes from top to bottom. It’s not enough to keep hiring a diverse team of people, you have to keep checking it to see if its having a positive impact. Like a garden, you need to nurture it carefully to have it flourish. So while a diversity strategy is a large undertaking, its implementation is often a series of small changes in hiring, language and behaviours.  We notice the small, nuanced changes in day to day work that can make for larger positive, on-going changes for some time to come. For example, Buffer, the social network management site, increased the number of women developers applying for technical roles when they simply cut the word  “hacker”  out of its job descriptions.   3.    Check-in on Your Culture & Behaviours Implement “no-interruption rules” for your meetings to make sure all ideas from any member of the team can be heard.  This will provide an environment that encourages people to speak out, have engaging conversations and positive outcomes. Again, minute behavioural changes have impact. This one sounds obvious, but treat your current diverse team well. Some teams members may not feel they can bring their “full selves” to work. Don’t be ok that they are quiet about it. Talk to them about sharing their knowledge. That is why we need diversity in the first place –  to share knowledge and different insights. Ensure your diverse team members are cared for and included. Appreciate their contributions, and where applicable, assign them to highly visible projects and include them in all meetings. Make sure there is a career path for them. While this should apply to all team members, particular attention has to be paid to your current focus team members so that any potential old cultures and perceptions can change.   4.    Flexible work arrangements Most organisations in Australia have implemented some kind of flexible working arrangement with their staff. This stems from the idea that not all of us have a partner at home looking after a household, while the traditional 9-5 hours can be maintained by the “working partner”. Flexible working arrangements acknowledges and respects the needs of parents, carers and people with a range of different needs and circumstances. Not all staff need this, but many of them want it too.   5.    Socialising & Groups Remove ‘forced’ social meetings. Socialising is important for colleagues to bond and form good working partnerships and friendship groups, but it has to be on terms that suit a wide range of individuals within the team. Drinks after work can intimidate a range of people who are suddenly deemed “not fun” because they don’t drink. Get creative. Have other types of social meetings to discuss great things that have happened at work, or find something the team love to do as a group and encourage inclusive behaviour. We don’t all have to be best buddies but just need to form good working relationships.   6.    Mentoring Mentoring is a great way to build strong work relationships within an organisation and to understand each other’s needs and pain points. Mentoring can also instigate unlikely friendships and connections when we start to realise, “we are all in this together”.

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Hiring Processes for Building and Retaining a Diverse Team

By now most Australian companies are aware of the benefits of having a truly diverse team and how it impacts productivity, performance, team morale and the bottom line. A  study  from management consultancy – McKinsey & Co, revealed that gender diverse companies are more likely to outperform others by 15%, and ethnically diverse are 25% more likely to outperform. Just these two aspects alone, show the great improvements an organisation can make by strategically creating a broad and diverse team.   So how does a manager build and grow a diverse team?   1. Shout it Out Ensure your company’s diversity policy is in the spotlight. Ensure that it’s easily accessible for all your team to be aware of it, become familiar with it and live its values. Schedule quarterly open discussions about how it is being implemented, and importantly,  how it’s being measured . If you make your diversity goals a shared focus, this will enable your team to become invested in the program professionally and personally. Their input will usually result in real practical initiatives to alleviate areas of concern and encourage behaviours that actively support your respective diversity program. For example, Facebook is taking a real lead on ensuring its diversity strategy is highly visible. In 2015, Facebook reported that 68% of its employees were male, and in technology-related roles, males made up 84% of its workforce. Realising it had a diversity problem, it created a training program to manage unconscious bias and they’re encouraging other companies to get on board, by putting the training and videos online for  everyone to access .   2. Make Changes Big & Small You should ensure that you review and continuously assess your hiring processes from top to bottom. It’s not enough to keep hiring a diverse team of people, you have to keep checking it to see if its having a positive impact. Like a garden, you need to nurture it carefully to have it flourish. So while a diversity strategy is a large undertaking, its implementation is often a series of small changes in hiring, language and behaviours.  We notice the small, nuanced changes in day to day work that can make for larger positive, on-going changes for some time to come. For example, Buffer, the social network management site, increased the number of women developers applying for technical roles when they simply cut the word  “hacker”  out of its job descriptions.   3.    Check-in on Your Culture & Behaviours Implement “no-interruption rules” for your meetings to make sure all ideas from any member of the team can be heard.  This will provide an environment that encourages people to speak out, have engaging conversations and positive outcomes. Again, minute behavioural changes have impact. This one sounds obvious, but treat your current diverse team well. Some teams members may not feel they can bring their “full selves” to work. Don’t be ok that they are quiet about it. Talk to them about sharing their knowledge. That is why we need diversity in the first place –  to share knowledge and different insights. Ensure your diverse team members are cared for and included. Appreciate their contributions, and where applicable, assign them to highly visible projects and include them in all meetings. Make sure there is a career path for them. While this should apply to all team members, particular attention has to be paid to your current focus team members so that any potential old cultures and perceptions can change.   4.    Flexible work arrangements Most organisations in Australia have implemented some kind of flexible working arrangement with their staff. This stems from the idea that not all of us have a partner at home looking after a household, while the traditional 9-5 hours can be maintained by the “working partner”. Flexible working arrangements acknowledges and respects the needs of parents, carers and people with a range of different needs and circumstances. Not all staff need this, but many of them want it too.   5.    Socialising & Groups Remove ‘forced’ social meetings. Socialising is important for colleagues to bond and form good working partnerships and friendship groups, but it has to be on terms that suit a wide range of individuals within the team. Drinks after work can intimidate a range of people who are suddenly deemed “not fun” because they don’t drink. Get creative. Have other types of social meetings to discuss great things that have happened at work, or find something the team love to do as a group and encourage inclusive behaviour. We don’t all have to be best buddies but just need to form good working relationships.   6.    Mentoring Mentoring is a great way to build strong work relationships within an organisation and to understand each other’s needs and pain points. Mentoring can also instigate unlikely friendships and connections when we start to realise, “we are all in this together”.

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