Exectuive-i Blog - Designed for the executive

The Office for National Statistics released it’s monthly jobs figures last week and unemployment is down again with the number of vacancies for the three months to July 2010, up 9,000 over the quarter.

Private sector recruitment has been the main driver with vacancies increasing by the highest rate since 2007.

These figures are allied with our own findings, with vacancies on executive-i.com at the highest level since February 2008. In fact it’s been the busiest Summer for over 3 years and August alone has been one of the busiest months this year, second only to July.

This sharp increase in confidence is isolated to the private sector, backing up the latest quarterly findings by KPMG, with public sector jobs expected to decrease further still.

However this rise is expected to be short lived so you’ll have to take advantage sooner rather than later, the report from KPMG expects this rate to slow with more redundancies expected across public and private sectors.

This accentuates the need to keep active in the market this August – as a jobseeker you need to make sure you take advantage of the lower candidate levels and the pleasantly surprising number of jobs available over the traditionally slow summer period.

Use this quiet period to build your network and spend some time making sure your current network are completely familiar with your skills and experience; add as much personality as possible by making a call or suggesting a coffee – in this market a large percentage of hires are made through networking.

Have a productive week…

As news spreads that public sector redundancies are set to continue apace, there is an even greater need to set yourself aside from the competition and make sure you deliver a clear, concise and hard hitting message to your audience.

Our team consults on 100s of CVs every month and, of those, at least 50% are guilty of overcrowding their key experience with diatribe and touchy-feely jargon that is non-descipt.  Deja vu sets in and my eyes glaze over as I continually read how executives are “results orientated”, “team players”, “man motivators” etc etc etc..

Cut this out. I am passionate about this as you can probably tell, as it’s one of the most common mistakes I come across. Your audience wants to hear about what you have done, how you did it comes later.

Give them salient tangibles relevant to the job you are pitching for.

And in keeping with this week’s topic, I’m going to keep this week’s blog short and sweet.

Next week, I plan to cover CV Writing services… I would appreciate some comments on your experiences, good and bad.

Have a productive week…

I stumbled across a discussion forum this week which posed the question of whether candidates cared who represented them, their working practices, understanding of their market and ethics etc…

I was quite surprised by some of the executives responses. One in particular commented in a matter of fact manner “I don’t care who they are if they can help me land a job.”

Now at first glance I can understand his point, the ultimate aim is to get a job however this approach is most likely counter productive to long term career goals and job satisfaction.

Selecting executive recruitment consultants is an extremely important aspect of your job search. To point out the obvious, representatives represent you and whilst HR executives from the hiring companies understand that you can’t control how recruitment consultants act, it could still prejudice your application. Their quality can reflect your quality.

Your CV is a valuable asset and market perception is extremely important – it’s important to control how your CV goes to market to a certain extent.

In any case, the fundamental point that this executive missed was that the most appropriate representatives in terms of market knowledge, professionalism and contacts will have the most chances of success of landing you that job.

A good place to start would be to take a look at our Executive Search Network which only consists of reputable, pre-screened recruiters relevant to your market.

This summer period presents a great opportunity to build your network with strong quality contacts, whilst candidate traffic is lower recruiters will have more time on their hands to take your call and try (if possible) to meet up with recruiters to add personality and gravitas to your introduction.

I hope you have a productive week…

I’ve not known a July like it. We have found an unprecedented amount of new jobs in the market this Summer.

There has been a 48% increase in executive jobs being advertised on executive-i.com compared to Summer 2009. In what is a seasonally slow period for jobseekers (the job traffic normally slows by around 20%) we have found that the improvement in market confidence has fuelled companies’ desire to strengthen their workforce (particularly in the private sector) even throughout the Summer.

Job traffic has consolidated and this presents an opportunity for jobseekers. Whilst many executives typically go on their summer break, requirements are still presenting themselves. Recruiters and HR departments will have a bit more time to take your calls and potentially meet up due to slower jobseeker traffic.

Make sure you take this opportunity to strengthen your contact base and build your network of contacts. Suggest a face to face meeting not only with search consultants but also key decision makers in potential target companies – this will serve to add personality and gravitas to your introduction.

I hope you have a productive week…

Last week the Office of National Statistics announced that unemployment had decreased by 34,000 in the 3 months to May.

Good news, however on closer inspection it appears that long term unemployment had increased substantially by 48% over the year to 787,000 in the same period.

A couple of weeks back I spoke to an executive who had just registered with us; he has been looking for 8 months and was concerned that he would add to this statistic, and you could hear it in his voice.

It was a very challenging consult but the overriding factor was that he was taking the lack of interest in his applications personally. He had been applying to 100s of jobs with only a handful of interviews and no offers.

Having had a look at his background, it was immediately clear that there wouldn’t have been 100s of jobs that fit his background. His experience is sector specific and he was being far from selective, if not a little desperate.

This is obviously understandable however the simple fact is, as these figures testify, there’s many people in the same boat and he shouldn’t take the lack of interest too personally. Yes, it can be extremely difficult however this competitive market means he needs to be a lot more focused on the jobs that fit his experience better.

Companies can afford to be picky, they have a lot to choose from however they can’t afford to make a mistake in a hire, each addition to their team has to be right and so you must spend a little time focusing on what they are looking for and tailoring your CV to reflect this.

Be direct, better to emphasise your experience and achievements that fit the job specification rather than covering all your bases. It’s also important to come across as confident as possible so make sure you mix up your day with other activities to make sure you are fresh during the time you do spend on your search.

I hope you have a productive week…

It’s imperative to make sure you take nothing for granted in this market.

Whilst you don’t want to overload your audience with every minutiae of detail about every working hour of experience you don’t want to miss any key triggers.

That’s why it’s important to do as much detective work as possible about the company you’re applying to.

It’s not about covering all of your bases as this is untargeted, it’s about making sure you find the key motivators and make sure they are communicated in an effective way in any email or document you deliver.

For example I spoke to a well regarded Marketing Director a couple of weeks back, who had never had to look for a job herself. She had a very generic CV which didn’t communicate any of her specific achievements in key markets as well as her transferrable skillsets.

We worked together to change that, and her approach was more calculated and tailored and helped her focus on the task at hand creating a positive environment and it’s paid dividends already.

This didn’t entail listing every detail but it meant creating a Master list of salient experience that could be communicated at strategic points in her CV using a top down approach, with the key triggers at the top acting as the bait to pull your audience in and supplemental information to support this further down.

Have a productive week…

I received an email from a jobseeker last week that was very cold, lacked soul and had formatting and grammatical errors throughout.

It turns out that this executive had rushed the email – they were actually a high profile executive with excellent experience at board level however their introduction may not be received by everyone, in the way that we did.

Executives are our clients and we are constantly looking to give feedback and advice, whereas recruiters may not be the same. My first impression was the complete antithesis to what it should have been, and that’s a common faux pas even in these competitive market conditions.

Ok fine, really good candidates may not be affected as much however you should not take anything for granted - Presentation is the key to making positive first impressions all the way from the introductory email through to your CV and finally to your presentation at interview.

Even if only a small percentage of recruiters read covering letters, you must leave nothing to chance.

You must make sure the presentation, tone and overall communication of your key skills have the maximum effect on your CV –  you may want to try executive-i.com’s CV Consultancy service which increases conversion rates significantly.

Proof read your applications before they’re sent, and spend a little time tailoring your application for the jobs and companies of particular interest.

Have a productive week…

Leading on from last weeks blog I wanted to touch on the particular point of speculative applications, raised during a consult earlier today.

Speculative applications are only advisable if they are qualified, which really means you should try and make them appear as unspeculative as possible!

All I’d point out is that a recruiter is much more likely to take your application seriously if there is a measured approach, they don’t want to feel like they are one of hundreds of recruiters you have approached.

I’ve even seen examples of candidates in the past who have (inexplicably) sent their CV to many recruiters in the same email, cc’ing everyone in the process.

This is at the far end of the scale but a recruiter is not going to be breaking the door down to speak to a candidate that a) has not demonstrated overly professional characteristics; b) has eradicated any feeling of quality and exclusivity; and c) looks a little desperate.

Either way, you need to ensure you tailor any speculative applications according to your audience, do your homework and make sure you add as much personality to the application as possible, which ideally means picking up the phone to them.

In essence, speculative applications are another way of building your network and I think you must have a long term strategy in mind. The most appropriate contacts will be the most effective ones opening up the right opportunities for you when they come their way.

A useful tool for matching up with the right contacts is our Executive Search Network and Company Research facility which serves to open up a whole host of pre-qualified channels

Have a productive week…

Whilst conducting an executive consult last week, the subject came up of direct enquiries and applications to hiring companies (as opposed to recruiters).

My consult was wondering whether to pursue this channel proactively or to stick with only applying to specific positions advertised through various media.

In fact, we have found that corporates are advertising more positions than ever themselves, due to the combined effect of the user-friendly and highly targeted nature of internet advertising and the downturn necessitating the need to look for cheaper routes to market.

HR departments are now more comfortable using executive job boards and business networks to source top talent; building links with contacts not only for present but also for future needs.

Talking directly to companies is a necessity with more jobs being secured than ever through networking and particularly through direct job adverts.

Evidence of this can be found on executive-i.com, with direct adverts having increased by 73% over the last 12 months (as at 31st May 2010).

Evidence can also be found with the growing trend of Talent Acquisition experts joining the HR teams of corporates throughout the UK. They are essentially internal headhunters tasked with maximising routes to market for present and future needs and minimising the need for external service providers.

It is therefore essential that you proactively approach target companies to maximise your prospects. Make sure you speak to the key decision makers throughout the process. This will ensure you can not only influence the right people but also gain relevant and essential feedback to ensure you can make improvements and learn from the process.

Have a productive week…

I speak to numerous senior executives every week and there is often a common underlying frustration that they all have… lack of feedback.

Recruiters are habitually bad at getting back in touch with candidates to let them know they have been unsuccessful in their application. Of course this can be the nature of the beast with recruiters typically receiving on average 200 applications for each position.

I would also tie this into why there is often a lack of tangibles and personality throughout the process and magnifies the necessity to develop your network with key high calibre contacts.

The following techniques have proved very successful in improving feedback whilst extending your network and adding familiarity to the process.

In fact many of our Premium clients have improved their interview rates significantly whilst improving the communication of key, relevant skillsets and opening up their network:

Ear to the ground – Try to source opportunities as soon as they come up by regularly checking your sources and setting up RSS feeds. Contact the day the job goes live gets you ahead of the pack and often is the quietest time before the onslaught of applications the following day.

Add personality – If the opportunity looks particularly good, phone then immediately as they will be inundated the following day when job alerts are sent.

Sell yourself – use this contact as an excuse to sound out the key triggers of interest and sell your relevant skills and experience.

Build your contacts – even if the opportunity is not right make sure you develop your relationship with that contact so that they are more likely to think of you for future opportunities, suggest a 20 minute coffee if they’re particularly relevant.

Follow up – if you don’t manage to talk to anyone, make sure you follow up your application, find out why you didn’t make the grade.

You are looking for a senior level executive job and not to work as a shelf stacker so the majority of recruiters should entertain your call.

Have a productive week…