Her begging letter promised she’d change…

 

It’s been more than a month since I stormed out of Twitter’s life, leaving a note of disgust and despair on the kitchen table.  She was a “lying whore”, I’d exclaimed, having promised me social benevolence and a world of new friends.

Having taken some time to reflect on our split I’ve decided to give our relationship another go.

Check out the letter I found in my post box this morning…

 

 

Read the infamous “whore” letter and see how I broke up with Twitter in the first place.

 

I think I always knew I’d be back.

How are recruiters landing the lolly?

 

There are a whole host of different techniques that people employ to generate new business, though some clearly more effective than others.  A recent survey conducted by recruitment training & business consultancy, Innergy, highlighted that recruiters tend to gain most wins through referral, which, in an era where building networks is essential, should not necessarily come as a surprise.

Behind referrals comes cold-calling – you can’t knock the tried and tested – then marketing, with social media (a form of marketing) hanging on the coat tails.

Here are the full results for the best methods of generating new business:

 

If you aren’t winning new business through referral or feel your referral strategy could be improved, consider these pointers, as noted by Innergy director, James Osborne:

1. Set a target.  Set a clear goal, such as a 10% increase in referral business over the next 6 months.
2. Create a top-20 list.  Not all customers are referral candidates. Find the top 20% that are engaged by your service and ask them for referrals, ensuring that
   their network includes the types of client you want.
3. Give and you’ll receive.  Give your clients extra service and follow-up support before asking for referrals. When you give willingly to your customers, they will return the favour.
4. Customer demographics. Inform your referring clients of the type of customers you can help. Provide a clear picture of the customer demographics will help your referral marketing.
5. Build a rewards programme.  Provide special rewards to your referring customers on a regular basis. If a customer provides you with three referrals that
   turn into sales, offer them something special in return, such as a discount on their next order with you

 

Whatever approach you take to new business development, ensure you are exploiting a number of options at once and tying up your processes into one defined strategy so that you create greater consistency and effectiveness in what you do.

How displaying decent job copy increases applications

 

I found an article recently by freelance copywriter, Aubre Andrus*, which succinctly highlighted the benefits of writing compelling job copy, a subject I am passionate about.  Nothing infuriates me more than poorly-written, lazy job advertising.

So I thought I’d share the piece with you, which, with a few amendments, is summarised below:

 

When it comes to a career search, jobseekers are not the only ones selling themselves. As a recruiter servicing your clients, you must also showcase the greatest features and opportunities if you want to attract the best.  And while job boards and social careers sites provide a platform for displaying employment brand, the job postings must look as good as they sound to make the most of the time and cost of advertising with them.

There are thousands of marketing-related jobs listed online, and it’s just as easy to click away from a bland or confusing posting as it is to click away from an unwanted ad or a rambling article.  Here are a few common oversights that may be keeping the best talent from seeing your jobs:

1. You haven’t provided remuneration details. When reading news articles, people want information as quickly as possible. For jobseekers, salary and location details are top of the agenda.  It’s a factor that may make or break someone’s interest in your job listing.  If you don’t provide this info you could be wasting valuable time for you, your client and your prospective candidate.
2. SEO wasn’t considered. Your client’s internal jargon is exactly that – internal.  And jargon.  It’s not what job seekers are searching for.  When listing a job, change job titles into conventional phrases that people understand and will type into a search engine. For example, instead of ‘Digital Strategy Project Director’,” try “Online Marketing Manager’.  Also, avoid the newfangled use of ‘ninja’ and ‘guru’.
3. There are no faces in your branding. A picture captures people’s attention and brings words to life.  It’s no different for a job listing.  Of course, you can’t – and don’t want to – put your mug-shots on the job copy but statistics prove that branding your jobs with company colours, banners and videos attracts more applications from the ‘serious’ and ‘discerning’ jobseeker – the ones you want!
4. Your layout isn’t user-friendly. Ever looked at a post online and thought, “Too many words!?” You don’t want potential talent skipping over a great-fit opportunity because the post was too long or too confusing to read.  Stick to the key points, making them relevant and interesting.  Job descriptions must be divided into clear, easy-to-read sections. Break up blocks of text with bullet points, spaces and images, and use a font that’s large enough to read.

With these simple and easy edits, you’ll be attracting new talent before you know it.

Cracking stuff!

 

*Aubre Andrus is a freelance writer and official word nerd based out of Madison, Wisconsin who specializes in creative copy with a fresh and fun kick. This word warrior has championed all types of written wonders as a tech blogger, social media consultant, web copywriter, national magazine editor, and reporter. She’s acted as the voice of much-loved brands including American Girl, EXPRESS, and WIRED.   Follow Aubre via @aubreandrus

Why I’m flying the nest from from this sexy bird

 

After literally minutes of deliberation and soul-searching I have decided to split-up from Twitter.  To many this will come as a shock, especially given my often public eulogising of her.  But all good things must come to an end and after three years I’ve decided enough is enough.

In many ways I’m an old-fashioned sort of a guy so rather than packing up my stuff and splitting, I left a note on the kitchen table for when Twitter returned from her gym class.

Click on the letter image below to read how I ended the affair…

 

You can now find me mainly hanging out on LinkedIn.  My profile.

Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs

It’s a topsy-turvy time right now but marketing recruiters are rising to the challenge

 

For recruiters in the marketing, media & advertising sectors, 2011 has been an immense year.  Amidst political and economical turbulence the digital revolution has ensured the overall number of advertised marketing jobs has risen since 2010. 

The opportunity to seize a piece of this developing market has witnessed the birth for an increasing number of new start-up recruitment consultancies, many of them spin-offs from established brands.  Free from bureaucracy and nimble to change, these ‘boutique’ agencies have adopted models far removed from the traditional high-octane KPI-driven environments, with relationship development now a focal ethos.

Of course, the social media juggernaut continues to demand that recruiters become more visual, transparent and accessible, which, in turn, has forced a game-change amongst business owners.  This means better metrics for clients and improved services for jobseekers.

Whilst disintermediation remains the Holy Grail for employers, smart agency recruiters are either building their own talent communities or joining existing ones, ensuring they keep pace with the transforming HR departments.

Indeed, 2011 has been a year of adaption and adoption.  And these are my highlights: 

 

Social development

Today, any recruitment consultancy without a LinkedIn profile, a Facebook page and a Twitter account, might as well pack in the whole jamboree and do something else.  Or so they say.  Whether you agree or not, there has been an astronomical rise in social recruiting and those that do it well are beginning to see tangible returns on investment.  Expect social media to become even more prevalent in 2012.

More knowledge

In 2009 the events industry was on its knees.  Then companies fathomed the fantastic PR opportunities hosting events presented.  This year has witnessed an unprecedented number of conferences, seminars and networking opportunities, allowing recruiters to become better informed about their industry, building real knowledge around their clients and candidates.

Customer service

For all it’s many annoyances, the one brilliant thing about America is customer service.  From muscling your bags from the hotel lobby to your room on the 109th floor to layering more mayo on your oversized burger, the Yanks can’t do enough for you.  And slowly but surely that mentality is finding its way into the recruiter conscience.  Forget making a quick buck; it’s about service, service, service.  Scribble it down.  Swear by it.

Branding

Recruiters that don’t adopt a structured branding strategy will die.  A world juxtaposed between pre-eminence and apathy demands that we are easily identifiable and whilst social media has encouraged us to each develop our personal brands, it’s been brilliant for company promotion, too.  But social is just one channel.  Smart recruiters are beginning to see the value of low-cost niche job board advertising, who themselves have had to adapt to clients demands and offer more than a job listing service.  A good job board can offer recruiters fantastic branding opportunities.

In for the long haul

The days of number-crunching are gone.  If you’re a KPI-driven recruitment agency you need to change.  Now.  Your clients don’t want it and your candidates don’t respect it.  The successful recruiters this year started building meaningful relationships twelve months ago.  Living for today might land you a deal but it won’t land you a long-term contract. 

It’s who you know

No doubt about it, better business is done and more opportunities present themselves when you meet someone face-to-face.  Forward-thinking recruiters got off their bums this year to mingle with industry folk, impart some knowledge, learn from others and build their networks.  I’ll be surprised if more don’t follow suit in 2012.

Recruitment is a career, not a pastime

At last!  It’s taken years to get here but finally we are witnessing recruitment as a career choice, rather than something we happen to fall into.  I’m not sure recruiting into the IT, engineering or construction industries would provide the same energy and excitement but when I meet recruiters within the marketing industry I see passion and professionalism.  The recruitment evolution has sparked a new sense of purpose and a clear path to achieving personal goals.  The marketing recruiting industry is beginning to earn respect.

Recruitment is a profession in which intelligence is rewarded.  The days of bashing out CVs are over.  That shit don’t stick no more.

 

 

How else has the recruitment industry changed in 2011?  What’s new for 2012?  Leave a comment below.

 

Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs | Connect with me on LinkedIn

Where’s the menace? Have recruiters gone soft?

 

A recent LinkedIn poll asked respondents to cite which single trait they felt was most important to be a successful recruitment consultant.  The results, from 540 votes, are below.

But isn’t there a key trait missing?  Like the ability to sell?!

Whilst I don’t deny any successful recruiter must be able to establish rapport and be an effective listener, I would have thought proactive persuasion far outranks reactive responsibility acceptance.

And on the subject of traits missing from this poll, where’s passion?  Change the subjective meekness of ‘goal-driven’ to overtly explosive ‘passion’ and I would be surprised if this trait wasn’t vying for top-spot.  It does in my world.

 

Of course, I understand our industry has evolved from the cash-thirsty barrow-boy patter that used to echo around the boiler room walls but recruiters still need to do some convincing along the way, don’t they?  Surely not every candidate works exclusively with one recruiter and do clients now see every candidate that lands in their inbox?  Does every agency work at nothing less than 25%?  Is everyone managing large accounts, taking clients out for lunch every day? 

If so, I want my old job back!

 

Which traits do you consider most important to be successful in recruitment?

The harsh treatment of recruiters

 

I read a post recently in one of LinkedIn’s UK recruitment groups that made me smile.  The piece was entitled “Harsh Treatment of Consultants” and in it the author regaled the story of an incident he witnessed in a recruitment agency where, to encourage more calls, a consultant had his phone sellotaped to his head.  I found this amusing on two levels:

1. The image of someone’s face cocooned in a sticky head-piece
2. The fact that the author was so shocked by the act in the first place.  He’s been in the recruitment industry for 10 years!

The post’s author described this practice as “bullying”, but I’m not so sure it is.  Having worked in the recruitment industry for many years now I have witnessed and, indeed, partaken in, many pranks designed to test boundaries, encourage competition and build team performance.  And this is the way I suspect the ‘sellotape incident’ was meant.

Yes, times have changed and new-age recruitment doesn’t lend itself to phone-bashing and so this element of competition has lessened.  But recruitment is still about making placements and turning these into cash.  Galvanising your team through alternative methods is part of the job and if I were still a recruiter I don’t think I’d be comfortable working with people who didn’t get the banter.

All this has reminded me of a trick we used to pull on consultants reluctant to make calls: simply unplug the ‘victim’s’ phone from the BT socket and set a timer.  The phone still looks as though it’s plugged in so it is rather amusing to watch the puzzled consultant attempt to work out what’s happened to their phone in the 20 minutes since a last call was made!  With the rest of the office in on the joke it ensured that person was never embarrassed in that way again!

I wonder if japes like this still occur..?

Harnessing old-skool values for success in a contemporary world

 

Recently, Jack Barton, one of recruitment’s finest exponents and someone I admire enormously, blogged about the ‘recruiter experience’ and the importance of ensuring your team are both motivated and happy.  An obvious statement, indeed, but Jack’s premise raised some points that resonate with me, mainly because of his retention of traditions that not only make his businesses successful, but, to me, are the cornerstone of what recruitment is all about:

Recruitment is graft

No, recruiters don’t dig holes all day and nor do they spend weeks at a time underground in mine-shafts but the pressures and expectations are vast.  However, most recruiters work long hours, delivering quality services to demanding candidates and clients – often without recognition from either.  So if your inclination is one of apathy, procrastination or delegation, GET OUT OF THE INDUSTRY. 

Unfortunately, for all it’s many virtues, social recruiting (finding talent through social media) has made many recruiters soft.  Email is the preferred method of communication as phone bills recede.  Whilst cost-reduction is of course welcome, the irony is that most recruiters are better at speaking than they are at writing.*

Recruitment is competitive

Some recruitment agencies don’t set their consultants targets, preferring instead to reward company bonuses for ‘exceptional work’ or ‘customer service’.  I find this strange.  And I’m not knocking these agencies, per se, because I know some highly successful businesses that operate this way.  But in the main recruitment is driven by sales people, those that thrive on personal targets and the desire to outwit and defeat their compatriots.

With this point I am in danger of antagonising those that deem recruitment these days to be an ‘account management’ function or ‘talent identification’ practice (and other such curious recruitment titles).   Sure, recruitment evolution dictates a new breed of recruiter but no business can function on reactive service alone.

Recruitment is passionate

Or at least the people in it should be.  When I was hiring recruiters the key trait I looked for was passion.  You can teach the job and the skills but you can’t teach passion and, for me, this is the single biggest ally in any recruiter’s make-up.  Passion heralds knowledge and it exudes confidence – two of life’s most natural aphrodisiacs.  Embrace passion – don’t kill it off with process and protocol.

Recruitment is rewarding

In Jack’s blog he eulogises about rewarding his staff with “quarterly bonuses, holidays abroad, experiences, meals at top restaurants, personalised gifts etc.”  Fantastic!  Jack’s teams work to the ethos that rewards follow success and this keeps them motivated, challenged and interested.  To overlook this is to undervalue the importance of the recruiter role, whether viewed internally or externally.

Recruitment is a results-driven business.  Not fundamentally.  Entirely.  Treating your staff is what keeps the results coming.

 

Cheers for your blog, Jack, which raised a few issues I hope more than not agree with.

 

*No actual research was undertaken in the assumption of this statement!

Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs

A short video to show recruiters how to make the most of search results

 

LinkedIn is a great tool and for many recruiters has revolutionised the way they find talent.  But in a bid to force members to pay for premium services, the site is reducing free account accessibility . 

One of LinkedIn’s recent changes has made messaging to group members harder.  In particular, the ability to send messages to a fellow LinkedIn Group members is no longer one click away.  If you are not in the biggest, most relevant groups, connecting with people is incredibly difficult.

This is not ideal for recruiters.

The latest restriction means that where once users could send messages directly from the LinkedIn user profile, this function is now an obscure ‘button’ behind the scenes.  The ‘Send Message’ button has been replaced with the ‘Send InMail’ option and ‘InMails’ are obtainable only via a paid account.  The ‘send message’ option was there as recent as 7th April, 2011.

The cheeky LinkedIn blighters.

But never fear because as always Only Marketing Jobs is here to save the day.

Here’s how to work around the new restriction:

1. Join the biggest, most relevant groups on LinkedIn – NOT those oversized, American-driven, spam-u-like groups.  The best place to start is the UK Marketing Lounge, which, with 27,000 UK marketing members (at the time of writing) is the biggest, most relevant group on LinkedIn for UK marketing professionals.  And this, of course, makes it the most relevant for recruiters.  In fact, your network is reduced by up to 50% if you are not a member of the Lounge.  Join the UK Marketing Lounge
2. Watch the short video below to see how you can still send free messages to people in your search results, connect with them and build your network.  As you were once able to do!

 

 

 

Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs

Video produced by Mark Lennox | Only Marketing Jobs

Recruitment evolution could spell the end of contingency recruitment

 

Client-paid advertising is not a new concept but it’s a more viable option now than ever. With the emergence of cheaper online advertising and the realisation that ‘print for show’ doesn’t work, there has never been a better time to offer your client this essential value-added service.

 

Traditionally client-paid advertising has been the reserve of corporate recruiters with established contacts across offline – and recently, online – industry mediums.  Michael Page leaps to mind.  But offering your client the chance to maximise exposure to the market either in conjunction with standard search & selection services or, indeed, as a sole campaign to attract key new talent, is becoming more prevalent amongst the smaller, ‘boutiques’.

Selling advertising to your client base offers a number of compelling benefits to recruitment agencies:

 

1. Clients want it

The demand for marketing jobs is rising.  It hasn’t looked this good since 2008.  But there’s an absence of talent out there: digital, analytical, campaign management…Maximising brand exposure almost guarantees increased applications and, with it, better quality.  Employers no longer need to pay fees for sub-standard recruiters but they will pay a premium for the ones offering value-added services and a greater chance of success.

2. Your clients will go elsewhere

The day of the traditional contingency recruiter has gone.  Clients now expect to work with agencies able to offer integrated campaigns.  Falling short here will soon result in your client looking elsewhere.

3. Increase placement fees

Every job advertising website worth its salt will give you a greatly discounted rate, allowing you to offer your client a premium service, which includes a healthy margin.  Plus the client helps fund the expense.  Win-win.

4. It builds confidence

Make your client believe you have the media (offline trade press, job boards, online networking channels etc) in your pocket and can leverage this to offer them a great, cost-effective, service.  It identifies you as a ‘recruiter to know’ and an expert in the field.  This power is a turn-on. 

5. It makes your job easier

If the job is advertised and you’re handling the response, what could be easier than topping up a pre-made shortlist with traditional recruitment methods?!  Fishing from more than one talent pool will increase placement rates.

6. It provides commitment

If you’re placing the advert and responsible for the response, your client has made a commitment and is less likely to use alternative channels to fill their vacancy.  The recruitment process is tighter, more secure.

7. It shows innovation – standard recruitment has moved on

Client paid advertising and integrated recruitment campaigns are the future of recruitment. Forward thinking, innovative recruitment agencies will differentiate you from the competition and ensure you stand the test of time.  Evolving your recruitment offering will attract clients that don’t currently deal with you.

8. It improves your relationship

The very nature of handling an advertising campaign for your client will provide an opportunity for you be more consultative, working closer with your client to forge longer-lasting, tangible relationships.  They are more likely to recommend you, too.

 

A carefully planned and well-executed client advertising campaign will result in significantly higher placement rates than following the standard ‘job on the net’ approach to recruitment advertising. What’s more, your relationship with your client deepens as you involve them in the campaign development process and build strong bonds that last well beyond the completion of the advertising campaign.

 

Put this theory into practice via the award-winning Only Marketing Jobs website, which now offers enhanced client-paid job advertising features.

For more information contact Mark Lennox on 08452 011552 or email mark@onlymarketingjobs.com

 

Simon Lewis & Mark Lennox | Co-founders | Only Marketing Jobs