Advantages of using Recruitment Agencies

For the candidate:

One of the advantages of using Recruitment Agencies – especially ones that specialise in your field, will recognise and understand your expertise. You may think that agencies only know about recruiting – you’re wrong. They are constantly liaising with companies from different sectors or industries, obtaining information to pass to candidates like yourself.

They can give you initial feedback on your application and how to promote yourself to the employer. They may be able to advise you on certain things that you would not want to ask in a first stage interview.

They will also have a good knowledge of the market place and working environments. This will give you a heads up on what to expect for both interview stage and more importantly moving forward. A job has to be right for you, just as much as you have to be right for the job.

They may have excellent contacts that could be of interest to you, either now or in the future. Even a recommendation to a company is sometimes enough to secure you an interview.

They save you the time of searching for job opportunities. Once your CV has entered the system, you immediately become available once a suitable job arises as opposed to trawling through job boards searching for the right job and hoping to receive a call back.

For the Employer:

In business, time is money and a recruiting agency is a huge time saver. In today’s economy there is an increased amount of job seekers due to cutbacks at many companies. Posting a job on a popular Job board will result in hundreds of applications. An agency will have access to a much larger pool of candidates and shortlist only the most suitable candidates for you. By outsourcing this responsibility to a recruiting agency will save you a lot of time.

In addition to shortlisting a number of candidates from hundreds of applications, a recruiting agency will also have access to the best talent available. This includes access to talent that is currently employed elsewhere. Recruiting agencies have their own database of qualified applicants that they can source from. Therefore, when you provide a job specification to them for a vacancy, there’s a good chance they will have candidates already on their books ready to interview.

When using a good recruitment agency such as Very Important Personnel, you can have peace of mind that when you are sent a CV, the candidate will have all of the necessary skills and experience required for the job. This makes meeting them a lot easier knowing that they have already been pre-qualified by the agent – again saving you time and making your final decision easier. Choosing the wrong employee to work for you can cost you even more time and money down the line. Working with a recruiting agency will help make your decision feel more assured.

Once you have established a good working relationship with an agency that you can trust, your future recruitment process will run even more smoothly. The agency will be aware of the qualities that it takes to make the right fit within your company and what you expect from them. The next time you have an available position, you can fill it quickly and satisfactorily.

Apprenticeships

As the world of work continues to evolve, there is growing demand for skilled and experienced professionals. But what if you decide that University or College isn’t for you? How will you be able to learn a skill or profession without them? Well there are other ways of doing it which may suit you better. Ever considered being an apprentice?

Apprenticeships are work-based training programmes which provide you with the opportunity to learn on the job and earn money whilst working towards a nationally recognised qualification and unlike college or university, an apprenticeship is designed around the needs of employers.

Many people think, apprenticeships are just for those people looking to work as a plumber or Electrician, when in fact there is an abundance of schemes available covering pretty much every industry sector you can imagine. There are over 100,000 Employers in the UK currently taking on apprentices.

Earn and Learn

Unlike university where you could be confronted by a weighty bill at the end of your studies, apprenticeship schemes pay you while you work and you don’t even have to pay your course back once you have completed it.

Employers will often pay their apprentices more than minimum wage, an average salary being around £170 per week. Your apprenticeship could take anywhere between one and four years to complete depending on the level of the Apprenticeship. In many of the schemes, wages will rise throughout your service, normally every year or based on your individual ability and the industry sector in which you’ll be working.

All apprentices are employed for a minimum of 30 hours per week with most of your week spent in employment, as the majority of the training will take place on the job. The rest of your study and training will usually take place at college, where you will be expected to attend just 1 day each week. As for the cost of your training, that is fully funded by the Government.

So as you can see, there is often more than meets the eye when it comes to apprenticeship schemes and the barriers to entry and virtually none-existent. With one in five UK employers taking on apprentices – 80% of whom say that they make their workplace more productive as a result – and this number expected to rise thanks to a number of recent Government initiatives, the opportunities for you will only increase.

Interview Preparation

Interview Preparation

Before the interview…

Find out exactly where the Company are based.

Is there parking available?
Do you need to call ahead in order to get past security for the building?
Do a trial run to ensure you leave in plenty of time to get to your interview at least 15 minutes before the time state More importantly, this will give you an indication of how long you will be travelling on a daily basis and if this will fit with your personal circumstances.

Find out exactly who you will be meeting and their position within the Company.

Find out if they are on LinkedIn/ Facebook so you have an advantage over other candidates and know what to expect.

Do your research on the Company!

Get as much information as you can from your consultant; previous candidates they may have placed at the Company, their background, what is good about the working environment.

Take a look at the Company website, particularly the “About Us” and “Careers” pages. Make sure you have some information so that you are able to demonstrate your interest in the Company.
Research the Companies competition

If you already work in the industry speak to existing employees and ask them why they like working for the Company.

Go through the job specification with a fine tooth comb!

Pick out the key words in the specification and prepare examples of when you are demonstrating these skills in your current role.

Are there any points in the specification that you have not covered before or do not have experience of? Be prepared to answer questions related to this in your interview.

Know your CV!

Make sure you know your CV inside out; dates, reasons for leaving each role and most importantly your achievements in each position.

Be prepared that if you felt it important enough to put in your CV- they will find it important enough to ask you about it at interview!!

Find out the structure of the interview:

Will it be an informal chat with the line manager?
Will you be meeting the Director if you are successful?
Will the interview contain Competency based questions?
Are there any tests involved?

Do you need to prepare anything specifically for the interview? And are there any materials you use in your current role which you could present in your interview to demonstrate your skill set?

Ensure you have prepared answers to all standard interview questions. Think of some questions to ask them.

As well as researching the Company, try to look at any recent news articles and changes to the Company so that you are able to ask your interviewer what effects this has had on the business/ industry.

Questions the Interviewer may ask you…

Strengths & Weaknesses
Why do they want the job?
What do they know about the company?
Examples of Customer Service and how they have handled situations
Aspirations / Where do they see themselves in 5 years?
If they were an animal what would they be and why?
What do you want to achieve in life?
Why do you want to work for this company?
What did you learn most in your last job?
If I obtained a reference from your last employer what would it say?
How do you spend your free time?
Of all the jobs you have done, which did you enjoy the most and why?
What has been the most difficult career decision you have had to make?
What is your greatest achievement to date?
What motivates / demotivates you?
What makes you angry / frustrated?
Tell me about yourself
How would you deal with an irate customer?
How would you persuade your current Manager to spend money on new equipment?
What major challenges did you face in your previous role? And how did you overcome them?
What are your salary requirements?
Tell me about any issues you’ve had with a previous boss?

For our downloadable interview tips and preparation, Click Here: http://www.veryimportantpersonnel.co.uk/InterviewTips.pdf

GOOD LUCK!

The UK Recruitment Scene

The UK Recruitment scene is on the verge of a huge growth spurt as the economy has dramatically improved this year which has urged employers to be a little more adventurous. This change is great news for both employers and employees. This means job activity is on the rise for the very near future and this goes for most industries as opposed to the decline back in 2008/09.

So what can we expect to happen?

The truth is that it is highly unlikely that enough good candidates are out there to meet demand. If employer attraction strategies and recruitment processes don’t change then employers can expect to face a far tougher future. In a hotter market, these shortages will become more severe; because as employers find recruiting more difficult, it becomes more tempting to simply invest in current resources. The buyback, where an employer tries to entice a current employee to stay at the point of resignation, was a rarity in recent years but is now very much in the spotlight again.

To get ahead of a rapidly rising market, employers are going to need to alter their ethos significantly and be prepared to make big changes to their attraction, selection and on boarding processes.

What does the changing landscape look like?

Job boards and social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, have significantly changed candidate attraction strategies; yet most employers aren’t prepared for what happens when these become less effective for attracting the best talent.

High calibre candidates are looking for employers to come to them. Even if that initial sell which draws them into the process is persuasive, most employers’ recruitment processes are reminiscent of a recessionary mentality and have the bureaucracy to match. If an employer really thinks it can win the war for talent by asking prospective candidates to fill in forms, wait for weeks for feedback, attend lengthy assessment centres and then accept lowball offers, they are mistaken.

Employers need to be more responsive. Having processes which attract and select the best talent is an out-and-out no-brainer, mainly due to the fact that many candidates realise how they are treated through the interview process which is an indicator of how they’ll be treated as an employee. UK employers need to be smarter, more decisive and more flexible if they want to get the best candidates on board. It is much better to focus on the one superb candidate and put them in front of the CEO after a first meeting, rather than gear up expectations, both internal and external, to a lengthy ‘robust’ process with many interview stages and paperwork only to obtain a mediocre hire at the end of it.

Candidates are now looking to engage with their employer in a very different way than they did previously and are expecting a relationship which is more personal, flexible and equal than ever before. Take Sir Richard Branson and his new “Flexible Holiday Entitlement Scheme”; a huge reminder to all UK employers that valuing an Employee’s needs is key to retaining and attracting staff. A big advertising budget, slick processes and improved technology will all help, however if an employer can successfully engage with its potential employees, then they can look forward to a brighter future.