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Global Recruiting

Selling the Services of Independent Recruiters

by Terri Piersma

applesRecently I read an article by Ken Forrester entitled Placement Fees are Cheap When You Look at Them This Way. The article appeared in the online version of The Fordyce Letter in January 2013. Independent recruiters involved in recruitment in North America as well as those involved in international headhunting will find this article informative.

Ken shared how he made the following statement during a presentation to business owners and HR professionals:

“If you are not using headhunters as your primary recruitment weapon, then      you are not hiring the best talent in-the-market.”

One audience member became irate and said – “You don’t know what you’re talking about because we hired some pretty good people, and they are working out just fine. And we didn’t use headhunters.”

Well, without hesitation, Ken replied:

“Sir, you are absolutely correct. You really don’t need headhunters to hire the best talent on-the-market. However, what would you say was the difference between the best talent in -the-market and the best talent on-the-market?”

As Ken shared with the audience – “the best talent in-the-market are most likely those individuals who ARE NOT actively searching for a job.” In other words, Ken was talking about what the recruitment industry calls passive candidates.

Experienced recruiters take the time to search for passive candidates and build relationships with them. They will contact passive candidates working for a company’s competitor searching for the top achiever willing to switch jobs for an improved standard of living and/or career advancement.

In addition, Ken shares his thoughts that headhunting means “recruiting ahead of the need” as well as a sharing a convincing explanation of how a recruiter can sell the economic value of an organization hiring a headhunter.

As an independent recruiter, how do you sell your services to organizations.

 

Mobile and the International Recruitment Agency

by Dave Nerz

hand holding smartphoneSocial media and social recruiting have been a part of the global recruiting lexicon for a few years now. It seems that mobile recruiting is on the verge of surpassing social recruiting as the red hot topic for 2013 if you work for an international recruitment agency.

The average international recruitment agency is lagging far behind other professions and industries in leveraging mobile technology to improve the user experience. Many ATS systems consider mobile the ability to shrink the full website to a size that fits on a smartphone screen. Users of mobile technology are not apt to accept that solution as on par with the overall market’s expertise. The benchmarks are in sectors like banking, retail, restaurants, publishing, news, and travel. The handset is a powerful tool to navigate what is new and needed in all of these sectors. Most recruitment sites scream, “I dare you to use me!”

LinkedIn has provided a tool that is getting greater use and holds promise for mobile interface sessions with candidates. The “LinkedIn Apply” feature creates a great way for candidates to send details via mobile applications without connecting their PDF or Word resume via a handset session. I’m guessing that many candidates would not have the know-how or patience to cut and paste a Word resume into a mobile app or into a more traditional site viewed via a Smartphone handset. But they certainly have the ability and comfort using their LinkedIn profile to introduce themselves to an employer, recruitment company or recruiter.

When recruiters moved into social media it was a continual challenge to find ways to engage candidates with information they wanted. With mobile, it is not about what candidates want to do via mobile—because they will do anything and everything you allow. It is about playing catch-up to other sectors that have moved far ahead of the average recruiter in an international recruitment agency. Banking allows you to take pictures of checks and make a deposit electronically. I’m looking forward to a recruitment site that allows you to take a picture of your resume and submit that as an application for an opening.

So for all of us that have pushed mobile aside to focus our attention on social media, wake up and smell the smartphones! Social media has morphed itself into a mobile discussion. Get ready to take on the challenges that 2013 will provide to anyone running an international recruitment agency!

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Death of Recruitment

by Dave Nerz

tombstoneAccording to many, the end is near for independent recruiters. The reason…technology. The predictions indicate recruitment as we have known it will cease to exist because employers will get what they need from the new breed of technology tools being created. Some call this Recruitment 4.0.

I am not a believer in the death of recruitment. Here are a few of the reasons I think recruitment, independent recruiters, recruitment networks, and headhunters of various types are here to stay:

  1. The end has been predicted about every 5 years for as long as I remember. The predictions have never been fulfilled. The death of independent recruiters was predicted 50 years ago with the creation of national agencies like Kelly and Robert Half. Death to independents did not come. The demise was signaled more recently with the onset of job boards…in fact, Monster had the intention of replacing the independent recruitment business as a goal when it was created. In spite of intentions, death did not come. Social Media, LinkedIn, in-house recruitment, or anything else you want to add to the list have been unable to dislodge the independent recruiter from the mix that makes the market for employer and job seeker succeed.
  2. New jobs require personal intervention by a recruiter. Firebrand’s CEO, Greg Savage offers an example of why recruiters will continue to be a part of the solution. Mr. Savage recently indicated that in his business, 50% of the roles he recruits for didn’t even exist 3-5 years ago. New jobs and new markets require the guiding hand of a recruiter. Recruitment evolves effectively and efficiently to solve new challenges in a way that electronic tools and social networks cannot. The business model shifts, but it does not dissolve or die.
  3. Global needs are growing and again require the expertise that only a recruiter can offer. Recruiters act as translators, market researchers, and match-making consultants for global jobs. An employer based in North America wouldn’t even know the right job boards to use for a search in China, Australia or in Vietnam. Employers armed with the great social media tools of the day could spend 6 months becoming expert in the local market just to fill one job…not an effective model to run a business. In the NPA network, in excess of 10% of all business done was a “cross-border placement,” meaning the candidate, the employer and the job were in different countries. Those roles will continue to grow as a percentage of placements for the industry.
  4. Contracting and short duration project teams or on the rise. These are positions and work types best suited to a recruitment agency. Employers don’t want to become expert in finding talent for a short duration project team. They will continue to hire an independent expert to do that work.
  5. Highly specialized positions and true headhunting require a recruiter and are not able to be accomplished by social media and a LinkedIn connection alone. Top performers that are fully employed and satisfied do not change companies based on an email or a social connection. Only the real work of a seasoned recruitment professional will cause a top quality candidate to take the required leap of faith into a new employment situation. When you find the computer program that does this, please share your secret.

Independent recruiters continue to evolve and migrate into new niches and new ways of adding value. Tools are more likely to come and go than the recruitment profession itself. My current concern is not survival, it is whether there will be enough independent recruiters available to handle the talent shortage that is inching ever closer. As Baby Boomers retire and employers seek talent to replace the science, engineering and management talent that is exiting, the death of recruitment will remain a threat still unfulfilled.

New Year, New Start for Recruiting Networks

by Veronica Blatt

union-jackToday’s guest blogger is Liz Longman, the Managing Director of TEAM (The Employment Agents Movement), and has been involved in recruitment for 20 years. She previously headed up a region for a generalist agency before joining TEAM some nine years ago. TEAM is an NPA partner that extends NPA’s reach into the UK and in return offers TEAM members access to NPA affiliation. Each of these recruiting networks offers unique value to members.

It’s safe to say that over the last few years, businesses of all shapes and sizes – including recruiting networks – have had a tough time. With the economic downfall and several changes to UK legislation, the recruitment sector has been on a real roller coaster ride, which many couldn’t see the end of. The words ‘doom and gloom’ were prevalent across the media throughout last year and the outlook for the UK economy was pretty bleak.

However, as we enter 2013, I think it’s time to move onwards and upwards! We can all take our own lessons from the recession, but it’s time we left the past behind us and looked to a positive future. After all, how else will we move closer to success than with a motivated, optimistic attitude? Recruiting networks are poised to capitalize on some of the positive changes happening.

The situation in UK recruitment now is much better and reports from the end of last year are real proof of this. The Office of National Statistics reported in November that the UK economy was growing slowly but surely, finally pulling us out of recession. The Autumn Evenbase Quarterly Report also showed a few positive signs, with a 40% rise in contract and temporary recruitment roles being advertised and an 11% increase in proactive jobseekers sending CVs.

This positivity is reflected across many of the recruitment agencies we speak to at TEAM. As the recruiting network continues to grow and share activity, we are seeing more members reporting an improvement to their business. Fees are improving and in general the outlook is much better than it has been in the past few years.

There’s not just high growth in the UK market though. Positively, we are seeing an increase in interest in overseas markets from both our members and international partners within NPA, The Worldwide Recruiting Network. This focus on growth also extends to individual industries. Some of our member agencies are now moving their businesses into different specialist areas of recruitment, and are using TEAM members’ expertise to fill vacancies in new areas.

On the candidate side, we have noticed that, despite the new technology available to recruiters and the benefits which come with using social media, many recruiters are looking to be more personal. While using online opportunities to attract and manage candidates, recruitment is a people business and we need to maintain that personal touch that you can’t always get from an email or Tweet. It will be interesting to see how this pans out throughout the year, but I imagine we’ll see more agencies striving to be innovative in talent attraction, particularly as clients’ expectations are high.

Looking forward to this year, we’re expecting to see the focus on candidate attraction and expansion into new industries and markets continue. There are a lot of positive signs for 2013 and I personally would love to see a continuation of the optimistic attitudes we’re noticing. It won’t be easy though and I expect recruiters will be forced to work harder to come up with fresh ideas in order to compete in the market.

5 Great Tools for Global Recruiters

by Veronica Blatt

Global recruiters can face special challenges when trying to coordinate recruiting and interviewing activities across multiple time zones. Here are 5 great tools that can save you time and money:

World Clock Meeting Planner – Timeanddate.com has a variety of great options, but global recruiters will benefit from the Meeting Planner tool. It’s a super-easy way to figure out what time it is in Sydney when it’s 4PM in Edinburgh, for example. Other tools provided include calendars, daylight saving information, and an event announcer. Not a week goes by that I don’t use this site for SOMETHING.

International Telephone Dialing – If you can’t remember which numbers go in front of the phone number (is it 1? or 011?), howtocallabroad.com is the perfect tool for you. Enter the country you are in, and the country you are trying to call and the site will show you the correct international code along with the country code for that country.

Skype – Most people who are making a lot of international calls have probably already figured out that Skype is a good option for this. With free audio and/or video calls from computer to computer, plus affordable international calls to/from landlines, Skype remains an industry leader.

Whatsapp – Whatsapp is a mobile app that provides free international text messaging including audio and media messaging, plus group chats. It’s faster than email and simpler than Skype when time is critical. Whatsapp uses your existing Internet data package and is cross-platform compatible.

Recruiter Relocation – Recruiter Relocation is a free service to recruiters that provides cost-of-living information, immigration assistance, and relocation assistance for candidates. It’s tricky enough to convince a candidate to move from one state to another. Getting a candidate to relocate to another country can be a huge challenge for global recruiters. The professionals at Recruiter Relocation can help provide a smooth transition. (DISCLOSURE: Recruiter Relocation is an NPA Endorsed Program).

If you’re a global recruiter, what’s your favorite time-saving tool? Share in the comments below!

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13 Trends for International Headhunting in 2013

by Dave Nerz

I see these trends impacting international headhunting in 2013:

  1. The demand for recruiting will continue to shift toward employers’ more highly specialized and challenging roles.
  2. The recruiter with international headhunting or global search skills will be in demand in 2013.
  3. Clients will fill easy positions with in-house recruiters or HR, by referral, or with social media tools.
  4. LinkedIn will continue to grow its influence on the search landscape with an ever increasing global footprint.
  5. Traditional job boards will suffer as aggregators like Indeed and Simplyhired gain ever wider use and acceptance.
  6. Other job boards will continue a progression toward even greater specialization both geographically and by industry or sector.
  7. Clients will continue to look for market share and growth on a global basis and will initiate international headhunting assignments to support this direction.
  8. Clients will view many openings as project-dependent and will be less willing to hire permanent employees and more likely to hire contract staff.
  9. The use of mobile and smart phone apps to connect with talent will escalate to even higher levels.
  10. The first contact with recruiters will be increasingly via summarized or speed application processes often identified as “apply with apps.” So the resume/CV will be a follow up step.
  11. The Asian and Australian economies will be slowing so more talent will be available from those markets. This is the opposite of recent years where those markets were net importers of talent.
  12. International headhunters seeking candidates with post graduate degrees will be operating in what is a nearly full employment environment.
  13. Global recruiting will continue a stratification process where research, recruiting, background checking, and onboarding will be sold separately and by different providers rather than in the bundled form to which we are accustomed. Specialist and price leaders will emerge in each layer.

In summary, while many things will be changing, I see 2013 as a relatively flat year with overall business levels similar to 2011 and 2012.

Develop an International Recruiting Mindset

by Veronica Blatt

globe with business peopleI came across an article on Recruiter.com titled Recruiting Internationally? Think Local, which resonated with me in many ways. One of the most compelling points was the idea that so many recruiters think differently about international recruiting as compared to local recruiting. It seems that many recruiters somehow think the recruiting PROCESS is different because the geography is different. While there are legitimate reasons why international recruiting may be more difficult than local recruiting, I don’t believe it’s because the process is wildly different. Read the rest of this entry »

5 Ways Global Recruiters Alienate Job Seekers on the Web

by Veronica Blatt

angry guy holding cell phoneToday, I am on a rant. I have had it up to *here* with websites that don’t function effectively on a mobile device. Turns out I’m not alone. Job seekers have had it, too. Global recruiters simply MUST do a better job creating mobile-optimized websites that are friendly to job seekers.

Job seekers are increasingly using mobile devices as their primary, if not ONLY, means of accessing the internet. The mobile web is different. Job seekers will NOT use your site if it’s too hard to do on their handheld device. Global recruiters who respond, NOW, with a great mobile experience for job seekers will be way ahead of their competitors and clients.

What do I mean by a “mobilized” website? Simply put, a site that fits correctly on the screen of a mobile device and does not require a user to *work* in order to use the site. Whether you build a separate mobile site, a mobile app, or a responsively-designed website, you simply cannot afford to ignore mobile devices any longer. Still not sure what I mean? Look at our website, www.npaworldwide.com on a desktop browser. You’ll see a left-to-right orientation, lots of images, sidebar menus, etc. Now load our site on your mobile device. The site automatically adjusts to accommodate the size of your device. The dynamic, pop-up menu goes away in favor of a simplified, larger, text-based menu. Sidebar menus go away or become part of the main text area. It’s a completely different experience because the mobile user demands a completely different experience.

Here are 5 things about global recruiters’ websites that drive job seekers batty:

  1. Enough with the pinching and zooming already. Have you tried to use your firm’s website on a mobile device? If visitors have to pinch, zoom, and scroll to see the whole site and use its features, you should assume they won’t come back. Savvy global recruiters will invest in a responsively-designed site that makes it easy for visitors to find and share content.
  2. Drop-down menus. Are you SERIOUS? Drop-down menus are a nightmare on a mobile platform. Get rid of them in your mobile installation and job seekers will be more likely to return.
  3. Itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, hyperlinks. If users can’t see or click on hyperlinks without pinching and zooming (see #1 above), they will leave your site in favor of global recruiters who don’t inflict this torture on their site visitors.
  4. Limited functionality across a range of devices. Your site is optimized for the iPhone 5 and the newest Samsung tablet? Give yourself 10 points! But deduct 10 points for each type of older device that you forgot. While the news reports might make it seem like *everyone* is clamoring to buy the newest handheld gadget, that’s simply not true. There are literally millions of fully-functional older devices still in use. Forget about them and you’re guaranteed to alienate those job seekers.
  5. Long application forms. Filling out forms on a mobile device is painfully slow and difficult. Don’t ask job seekers to do this. While you’re at it, eliminate the requirement to create an account to use your site.

Have you found a great mobile recruiting site? Share it in the comments!

International Recruiters: Social Media Use in Asia Pacific

by Terri Piersma

Recently, NPA, The Worldwide Recruiting Network conducted a member-owner meeting in Beijing. International recruiters attended the meeting from not only many countries in Asia but also from Australia and North America. The meeting agenda consisted of a combination of business, networking, and sightseeing opportunities.

While this meeting involved face-to-face communication, international recruiters must often communicate with clients and candidates via the telephone or online including through social media. How effective is social media usage in Asia Pacific? In March 2012, Alexander Mann Solutions and Chapman Consulting Group conducted an online survey of Asia Pacific recruiters regarding the impact of social media. Read on to learn about key findings: Read the rest of this entry »

International Recruiting: Singapore Hiring Outlook

by Veronica Blatt

NPA members recently gathered in Beijing, China for a Global Owners Meeting. Part of the agenda was devoted to learning and discussing international recruiting needs throughout Asia. Thank you to NPA members Stan Tan from PHR Executive Search and Alban d’Sa from Gemini Personnel Pte Limited for sharing their knowledge of the Singaporean economy.

Singapore has been rated as #1 in Asia for quality of life, with the 3rd most globalized economy among 60 of the world’s economies. It is also rated as the most politically stable country in Asia. The World Bank has named Singapore #1 in the world for ease of doing business, for the seventh year in a row. Current market conditions include slowdowns in the banking and technology sectors.

Some other economic highlights:

  • Employment creation moderated in the third quarter of 2012, after increasing in the previous quarter. Preliminary estimates show that total employment grew by 24,900 in the third quarter of 2012, down from the increase of 31,900 in the same period last year and 31,700 in the second quarter of 2012. International recruiting opportunities still exist, though slightly lower from earlier in the year.
  • The growth in employment slowed in services from 21,200 in the third quarter of 2011 to 11,300 in the third quarter of 2012 and manufacturing from 3,900 to 3,700. Boosted by public infrastructure projects, construction continued to register strong employment increase of 9,800 in the third quarter of 2012, up from 6,700 in the same quarter last year.
  • Layoffs rose after declining in the preceding two quarters. An estimated 3,300 workers were made redundant in the third quarter of 2012, mainly driven by higher layoffs in electronics manufacturing and retail. This was one of the few higher quarterly redundancy figures reported in post-recessionary periods, though it was substantially lower than the highs of 6,000 to 12,800 per quarter registered during the last recession.
  • Unemployment rates remained low, reflecting strong manpower demand amid the tightening in foreign manpower controls. The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate dipped marginally to 1.9% in September 2012 from 2.0% a quarter ago, while the unemployment rates for residents and Singapore citizens were unchanged at 2.8% and 3.0% respectively.

While layoffs have increased somewhat, the continued low unemployment rate in Singapore means employers continue to have international recruiting needs. Recruiters with global partnerships are well-poised to meet this demand.

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