Global Recruiting

Whether you’re an employer with ongoing hiring needs or have a one-off role to fill, using a recruitment agency is definitely an option worth considering. There are many traits and characteristics to consider when you are evaluating recruitment agencies. If you’re unsure how to select a recruitment agency, here are six pointers worth evaluating: Read the rest of this entry »

Many employers do not like working with recruitment companies. In markets that employers know well and have social media connections, perhaps it is possible to avoid independent recruiters or at a minimum reduce the dependence on outside agents.  When the needs of  companies expand beyond a local market and into countries where there is no physical presence, recruitment agencies may be the only way to achieve the results that are needed. What are some great things to know when you go searching for international recruiting expertise? Consider these basic questions to identify the strong players from those who may waste your time and money: Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s guest blogger is Liz Carey, network coordinator for NBN. NPAworldwide and NBN merged in September 2014, and our two networks are working toward a full integration effective January 1, 2016. We look forward to having Liz as a regular part of our blogging team.

Opportunities to hire wealth management talent are increasing because there’s more talent on the market due to layoffs and attrition, salary levels are normalizing, and, there’s an ever-evolving need and demand for financial advisors.

“People are more aware of the need for financial advice,” said Dave Glaser of ECG Resources, a national executive search firm focused on wealth management. “Baby boomers are growing up – there’s a higher level of need out there. Also, the average age of a financial adviser is near retirement, and there are not enough new people to fill in that gap.” Read the rest of this entry »

You knew it was coming…it depends. Particularly as an independent recruiter, you have to read the tea leaves carefully.

The strong US dollar makes the things the US imports cheaper, so it should drive up production from off shore producers. Cars made in Europe and Asia are getting cheaper with each percentage point of growth for the dollar. If you do international recruitment, there should be increased demand for employees in manufacturing jobs overseas. If you have global employers as clients, ask them where they are adding the most people. Work with partners to fill those global openings. Global recruitment should see a nice increase in the year ahead. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s guest blogger is Liz Carey, network coordinator for NBN. NPAworldwide and NBN merged in September 2014, and our two networks are working toward a full integration effective January 1, 2016. We look forward to having Liz as a regular part of our blogging team.

Employment in banking fields is blossoming as the industry emerges from the financial crisis. The problem is, everyone is looking for the same types of candidates, and those candidates are hard to find.

“Everybody’s looking for people from 3 to 7-8 years’ experience,” said recruiter Jim Pruitt of Bankers Crossing in PA, an executive search firm founded in 1984. “There’s actually more jobs out there than there are people. There’s such a shortage.” Read the rest of this entry »

Have you heard? There are 100 finalists for the job opening called “Mars Astronaut.” That is right, an organization (www.mars-one.com) is planning a manned mission to Mars on 2024. They are narrowing down their candidate shortlist. There are many interesting facts about this trip on this site but here are a few I have read about on various sites:

• 24 people will be selected from the 100
• Cost of the mission is estimated at $6.0 Billion
• The trip will take more than 200 days
• No one is returning to Earth…aka one-way!
• Astronauts could start dying in less than 100 days due to oxygen issues

This got me thinking about really difficult recruiter assignments. This assignment might be easy when it is new and there is a novelty about the “position” as there is now. In time, this would be a very challenging position for global recruiters to work. I currently think about global assignments as being difficult to attract and gain candidate commitment for, but what about those not even on our globe?

The position description is not listed on the site but the characteristics of the successful candidate are. The major requirements for this extra global assignment are resiliency, adaptability, curiosity, ability to trust, and creativity. I think I would add thrill seeker, death wish orientation, and good in tight spaces. Those with close friends and good family relationships need not apply.

Today’s guest blogger is Liz Carey, network coordinator for NBN. NPAworldwide and NBN merged in September 2014, and our two networks are working toward a full integration effective January 1, 2016. We look forward to having Liz as a regular part of our blogging team.

The accounting industry is faced with change. Tighter financial regulations are causing both small and large firms to battle for talent. This competition for talent is leading to more – and better – opportunities for accounting and finance professionals.

Financial professionals are needed in various industries, from jobs in Big 4 firms to roles with professional services firms, hedge funds and banks. As the economy recovers, executive and senior level roles are opening up, and companies are having a hard time finding accounting talent for roles with the potential for advancement to become partner, director or CFO.

For example, on a recent networking conference call with nearly 20 of the top accounting and finance recruiters in the US, firm owners were seeking to fill hot job orders such as associate director of commercial contracting and government reporting, director of accounting and reporting, director of corporate compliance, international account executive, and VP, retail product manager.

There is a growing shortage of entry-level professionals with leadership skills as companies look to groom new hires for executive-level and partner roles. A recent survey of corporate executives, done by Competency Crisis and the American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC), found that leadership is the most needed – and least possessed – competency skill.

The problem isn’t finding a good accountant, companies say, it is finding an accountant who has the right interpersonal skills to develop into a manager in three to five years. Most are only in public accounting for three to five years, so it takes skill to find one that stands out.

The need for this accounting talent is pushing companies to “up the ante” to entice financial professionals into accounting jobs. Recruitment has been aggressive. Because of the demand, firms are offering better work/life balance, relocation considerations, additional training, competitive salaries and bonuses, and travel and work experience opportunities.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey indicates hiring growth across most global markets compared to Q4 2014. The outlook is generally positive across all global markets on both a quarter-over-quarter and a year-over-year basis. The Manpower survey includes some 65,000 employers in 42 countries. Global markets on the whole are predicting steady growth as opposed to dramatic increases in hiring. Below are some of the key findings: Read the rest of this entry »

If you track the future of recruitment and you do not know Bob Marshall, you should tune in. Bob’s site is www.themarshallplan.org; he is great at providing recruitment analytics and fact-based information on the current status of employment and how it will impact recruitment. Recently, Bob shared some new details in his newsletter regarding the strong positives for the 2015 recruitment forecast.

For global recruiters working the United States as a part of their market, the US GDP increased at an annual rate of 5.0% in the third quarter of 2014; that is an 11-year high water mark. So businesses are doing well and the impact on the search for talent and need for quality employees should have a direct impact on recruiters in 2015. While other global markets and regions are performing at different levels, it is rarely a bad thing to have the US economy doing well.

Another recruitment analytic to consider is regarding job growth. To a large extent, growth is coming from employers with fewer than 500 employees. Seventy-seven percent of US job growth is from small to mid-sized companies. For the average recruiter that is not a part of a large employment brand, this is great news. The future of recruitment should be strong for the small recruiter working with the small and mid-sized employers. So for contingent recruiters, if you have lost your focus on the smaller employers and are working on exclusively bigger employers, your need to consider a shift based on this recruitment analytic.

Finally, unemployment is quite low in the area where most contingent recruiters work: with degreed candidates. Unemployment is just 3.2% in the US for people with college degrees. That is quite low and as we are frequently told, full employment will never be 0%, so 3.2% is close to full employment. Needless to say when we are close to full employment, client companies will be more open to paying for the services of a recruiter. So the near-term future of recruitment looks quite positive in the US.

Get busy building a plan and working that plan. The recruitment forecast is for good times ahead!