Welcome to our monthly newsletter for November......

Almost six out of ten companies surveyed by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation in September said they intended to hire more permanent staff between now and Christmas. The latest Jobs Outlook also reports a jump from 43 percent to 50 percent in the proportion of employers that expect their permanent headcount to increase over the next 4-12 months.
What the surveys don’t report is the number of people who are interested in changing jobs. Interested in hearing about new opportunities but maybe still not actively looking. The best candidates know their value and can afford to be “choosy”.
There are various ways to harness these potential candidates, including the use of an agency.
A recent complaint on Twitter came from a job seeker who had contact from 6 recruitment agencies about the same job.  It was obvious to all who the hiring company was and the initial reaction was frustration with the agencies. Her view quickly changed when someone tweeted pointing out that the hiring client should not have farmed out its requirement to so many agencies.  What did it say about them and the position they were trying to fill?
Historically the agencies would have continued to shoulder the blame but with social media the whole dynamic of recruitment and its perception is changing.
When a hirer uses that many agencies can they develop beneficial relationships or will the hirer and the supplier start to be “numbers driven”?  Will they get to see the best candidates or just the candidates with the “key” words and phrases on the  CV?
 

How do candidates feel?  Does it broaden the field or damage the brand?
 At KHR we work hard and fast while never sacrificing the quality of our personal service.
We consult, advise and then deliver with discretion.
We protect and promote your brand.
Quality + Speed + Security.  Why go anywhere else?

Welcome to our monthly newsletter

The August  KPMG/REC “Report on Jobs” produced by Markit mirrors the generally positive economic news and reports of growth from the ONS and various trade bodies. In summary:

· The number of staff placed in permanent roles continued to increase

· Fastest increase in available permanent vacancies since June 2007

· Permanent candidate availability falls for fourth consecutive month

· Sharpest rise in permanent salaries since February 2008. 

· Increase in demand for short-term workers sharpest  in nearly 13 years

· Temporary worker pay rates rise for a seventh consecutive month.

· Availability of short-term workers deteriorates at the sharpest rate in six years.

In this increasingly competitive market the ability to find candidates rather than waiting for candidates to find you will be of ever increasing importance.

Advertising a role requiring readily available skills will typically generate a response from around 300 people (including those that apply for everything irrespective of location or suitability in order to fulfil “job seeking” requirements).  On the other hand a highly skilled or specialist requirement may result in interest from only one or two.  So, either too many to review and respond to or too few to evaluate.

It is calculated that around 20% of people open to new employment are “active”.  i.e. they are regularly  reviewing  advertisements, job boards and company websites for suitable new roles.  The other 80% would  consider new opportunities but are passive in their search, they may look now and again but are open to/waiting for an approach.

Over the past 6 months over 80% of our placed candidates could be considered “passive”.  Their details were on our database, those of various job-boards or were an existing or new LinkedIn contact.

Working with KHR and KES will result in a targeted shortlist from a wide pool of candidates using advertising and search as appropriate.

Remember our service is free to try.  Free to place a vacancy, free to review a shortlist, free to interview.  We only charge upon the successful engagement of a candidate that we have introduced to you.

Please contact us to discuss your requirements and beat the candidate shortage.

The real problem behind graduate unemployment and how Linkedin can help....

The real problem behind graduate unemployment and how Linkedin can help....

05MAR

On a daily basis the media release a new statement providing the latest statistics on the current state of unemployment within the UK. Often this is specifically targeted down to graduate and youth unemployment with the question being raised; what added value does a degree bring and is it worth going to University? Well, here are some key facts which might elaborate on the issue:

• 6 months after University, 1 in 10 graduates are unemployed.
• 6 months after University, 1 in 4 graduates are employed but in a ‘non-graduate’ level job

(Source: HESA)

Ergo, 25% of graduates are employed in a job that is not considered to be of graduate level. Which you would think reiterates the ideology amongst some that a degree is not worth the paper it is written on – right?

Welcome to our monthly newsletter.

Adding value to technology

In the 14 years since we established the recruitment sector has changed considerably from paper, print & filing oriented processes to the current state of the art cloud database driven systems that operate in “Formula 1” time frames.   At its core however, it is still a people business.

Recruitment practice as a whole has embraced new software, social media & technology with open arms but it is fair to say this has been with varying degrees of success. Companies themselves have also jumped in with two feet, but buying the available technology does not guarantee recruitment success.

Here at KHR & KES we have worked hard to ensure

Welcome to our blog. If you are interested, a copy of our monthly newsletter can be found as a PDF version here  2012 was the year of job growth with no economic growth.  Will 2013 be different? Mark Beatson, the chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said the labour market is currently difficult to understand: "The jobs enigma, of strong growth in private sector employment in the absence of sustained economic growth, has been one of the most mystifying economic features of 2012”.

As long as headlines continue to bemoan the lack of economic growth, the confidence of workers to move from one employer to another will continue to restrict the supply of candidates to fulfil the growth in employment opportunities.

<sup>When hiring, do you follow the traditional format of review the CV against your list of requirements and then interview the most “appropriate” candidates? Looking back at 2012, the one thing that has stuck with me is the performance of the Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Using the traditional approach: Would you have selected an asthmatic who was born prematurely with a collapsed lung and suffers from a stomach problem that causes her to be sick after every race?  Laura Trott won cycling gold in the team sprint and the omnium.</sup> 

Recruiting in Kent according to a BBC news report last week, should be as easy as it is in Spain. The report focused on a Medway based business who had failed to recruit anyone from candidates submitted to them from Chatham Job Centre.  The company owner had no problem recruiting for his Spanish office, with applicants queueing around the block for his jobs. He concluded that the problem was obvious, the British are lazy. I kid you not!