All the trials have been worth it!
October 18, 2006 9:12 AM
Sorry it's been a while folks, things have been rather hectic. I promise to respond to some of your comments about age discrimination when I get the time. Anyway, one of the reasons I've been away from my blog for a while is that I've been promoted, and it's kept me very busy indeed!
The joys of being promoted! What does this mean? For those of you who don't know: I've been promoted to Team Leader for the Rail Department. For some promotion is pure joy, for others it is approached with trepidation and there is no doubt a small group that feels blind panic. Personally, I think I feel a mixture of all three! What does the new role mean? More responsibility, but probably nothing I can't handle. It'll be good for me to develop this capability... character building. It may also explain why this blog is going to be only a few short sentences in length as time seems to be running away with me. One good element is that I get to spend Thursday and Friday of this week on a training course learning how to be an effective leader. Hopefully I'll live up to the expectations and make it to at least next month which will see my fourth anniversary with Advanced Resource Managers!
Dealing with age discrimination
August 30, 2006 9:45 AM
Have pity on this poor old recruitment consultant!
This last week has been frantic - I've been sorting out tonnes of interviews and have set a new office record in terms of phone calls. But it comes at a cost - I spent the weekend being absolutely knackered and not feeling too good!
I've come to realise that a work / life balance is important in any job - the key is to give full effort but hold a little back to ensure that you don't run yourself into the ground! We're no use to anyone if we can barely lift a phone I find! Thankfully the long bank holiday weekend helped me recover and I'm now back to normal!
Part of the reason it's been really busy recently is because we're preparing for the arrival of the new age discrimination act on the 1st October. This new act is being brought in to prevent people being discriminated against on the basis of their age. We see this as a positive step, but it'll be a whole new way of working for us as we won't be able to put: "must have x years of experience" in job descriptions. (And when you think about this, hasn't it always been a pretty arbitrary requirement? Why 10 years, for instance? Why not 5 years of being really good at your job?).
Anyway, this will present a new challenge to finding the right candidates and potentially make it more difficult to find the right jobs from a candidate's perspective as the criteria which define whether you have more or less appropriate levels of experience will be removed. Luckily ARM is taking this very seriously and we have been given extra training to ensure that we are fully compliant with this legislation.
The demise of an institution
July 25, 2006 1:38 PM
Sorry it's been a while since my last post - busy busy busy and all that. A good recruitment consultant should never have very much spare time on their hands!
Out of hours, however, I am into music of all varieties, and as a music fan I've been glad to see the charts occasionally troubled by a bit of retro stuff - the Zutons, for example. But with Top of the Pops (or TOTP if you prefer) increasingly becoming a window onto a market of manufactured dross, I've also been wondering how I should feel about its imminent demise. My feelings about this are strange and hard to justify. TOTP probably hasn't been consistently good for donkey's years: a sad reflection of the power of marketing in pop music, which has resulted in the domination of tweenie rubbish. When I try and think of the show's heyday, I'm not really sure that I was ever around to see it. In the eighties I watched it for the occasional good band; I did the same in the nineties, and haven't watched it for a long time now. So why am I sad to see it go? I guess it comes down to the fact that, like many people, I don't want to see the end of an institution that is in some way synonymous with my own youth - boo hoo. Is the end of TOTP a good thing or a bad thing? Let me know!
Speaking of youth and ageing and all that, you may know that in October new legislation will come into effect that makes it illegal to discriminate by age in the workplace. This applies whether you're 18 or 60. Should somebody not be considered for a senior role just because they're under 30? And should somebody with a wealth of ability and experience not be offered a job just because they may want to retire in ten years' time?
On my company's website is a poll asking people whether they've experienced or witnessed age discrimination at work - why not submit your response (it takes, ooo, about 1 second). We'll do an analysis of the full response and put it on the site before the legislation comes into effect in October.
Cheers all, remember that your ability to do a job is the most important thing, and that you're rarely "too young" or "too old". And here's to Top of the Pops, which, it seems, has officially had its day.
Interviewing Methods
June 1, 2006 8:26 AM
I was recently asked by a client about the methods we use when we interview candidates.
Some of my colleagues at ARM interview regularly, but for me it's a little different. I tend to work by locating candidates, liaising with them, and passing their CVs around accordingly, but do I actually interview?
My first reaction is to say no, I arrange interviews between clients and candidates. But the more I think about it the more I realise I do. I might not sit down face to face with them, but I do have an interview process with my candidates.
What do I look for? I've become a pro, it appears, at picking up nuances in voices. I can usually tell whether a candidate is seriously looking for a job or not (and later, whether they are going to accept a job offered by one of my clients).
I start by asking candidates about their current situation: the company they work for, whether it's a contract or perm job; notice period, and most importantly, their reasons for looking. What's going on in their job life that precipitates this move? In addition, I like to gain a full breakdown of salary and benefits (including bonus and the value of cars). On top of this we go into detail about what kind of requirements the candidate has for their next role: will it be contract or perm? What is the minimum day rate or annual salary that they require? I must say here that we're talking about genuine minimum requirements - in my experience some people (a minority, thankfully) really do make up requirements on the spot, or aim for a fanciful figure, and the only reason that I point this out is that it does you no good at all in the long run. What about location? Will you relocate, or B&B, or commute, or are you looking for a job close to home?
And finally - what other opportunities are you investigating? Yes, I'm nosey, but I'm also a control freak - I need to know what other opportunities you have for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's good to know what type of roles you've been applying for - they may be very different to what I have in mind and I'd like to know why. Secondly - do you really want to waste your time talking to me if you've just received a written offer?
After this initial conversation, I maintain contact, communicating regularly where appropriate. I talk to too many candidates and clients to be able to call people for a quick social call - you can be safe in the knowledge that I won't waste your time. If I'm calling it is for an important reason: I've got a job/interview/offer etc. If I don't call it's because I don't have a job/interview/feedback yet. My candidates like this straightforward approach because they know where they stand. BUT they also know that I'm always contactable and that they can catch up with me whenever they want to, or if they want to query the recruitment process etc.
By the time I've finished with my candidate during that initial first conversation they may very well feel pillaged of information. But they trust that I am going to do my best. If I don't think I have anything suitable then you'll know straight away - I won't keep you hanging on.
At the same time - a few candidates don't play it straight with us (perhaps they've had the same treatment from recruitment companies in the past, in fairness to them). But it's very difficult to hide anything from a good recruitment consultant - we're pros at ferreting out information and pick up very quickly on whether candidates are interested and suitable. A good telephone manner is important not only for us but for our candidates too. So that's my way of interviewing in a nutshell!
Hey, while I'm here, my new company website is being launched this week. It's bigger, better and prettier than our old one. Click here to check it out, hope you like it!
One Love, One Life
May 3, 2006 10:53 AM
Well, apparently U2's "One" is the most nation's most popular lyric. A great song, but as the vote asked for our favourite lyric, personally I would have preferred to see something a bit more meaty make it to the top spot. How about...
"I was standing on a noisy corner/I was waiting for the walking green/across the street he stood/and he played real good/on his clarinet, for free" - Joni Mitchell
"We used to say/there'll come the day/we'll all be making songs/oh finding better words/these ideas never lasted long" - Richard Thompson (Fairport Convention)
"I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand/walking through the streets of Soho in the rain" - Warren Zevon
"Make sure that he's hungry/make sure he's alone/get me a cheeseburger/and the New Rolling Stone" - Neil Young
"I never made the first team/I just made the first team laugh" - Billy Bragg
"There's something in the way she moves, or looks my way or calls my name/that seems to leave this troubled world behind" - James Taylor
"Once upon a time you dressed so fine/threw the bums a dime/in your prime/didn't you?" - Bob Dylan
"Half a mile from the county fair and the rain came pouring down/me and Billy standing there with a silver half a crown/had to get our fishing rods/and our tackle on our backs/we just stood there getting wet/with our backs against the fence" - Van Morrison
Those lyrics might not all be spot on but that's how I hear them! I'd like to hear what your favourite lyrics are, just let me know!
Anyway, a lot of those songs are getting on a bit, but that doesn't diminish their value, does it? In fact, they seem to have picked up more depth the longer they stick around. Speaking of which (and here comes the worst segue I have ever made), in October this year, the UK will finally catch up with so many other European countries and have proper age discrimination legislation in place, something I'm sure my previous correspondent George will be happy to hear about! The legislation will have a number of implications for recruitment companies, all of them positive, and as usual it will help to separate the good eggs from the bad.
Incidentally, ARM's new website is coming soon (the same place as the other one, but with a new look and feel), and will give you the opportunity to register your experiences and feelings about hot topics such as this, with a regular voting section. Until next time, good luck in your job searches and keep humming a happy tune!