Welcome to our Spring Newsletter

This newsletter was going to be a celebration of our new website and logo!  After 14 years in the Rec2rec business, we thought it was time for a redesign.

However, things have changed rather quickly since we began putting the newsletter together (understatement!)  So we have reworked a few things and added some new pages to our website that may help you during this time.

We've written some notes below to help you recruit in a client-led market, and also added some thoughts on recruitment training that may help you, plus some fun links if you need to entertain children or are interested in personal development.
 

Website and logo redesign

You can now set up a New Job Alert on our website   
Here are some CV tips if you are reworking your career history
We continue to offer our referral rewards scheme
You can register with us easily now
 

What next for recruitment?

Having worked through the last recession, we found the market very quickly switched and became very client-led for a good 12 months.  Business development was the focus of the day, and honesty with candidates in their job search was key. 

Very probably, business development is once again going to feature heavily over the next 12-18 months as the economy picks up again - it will be a vital part of your role. 

You may have the most success running a mixed desk if you are able to as temps and contracts will probably feature more strongly again in the short term.  If you are perm only, you will need to get to know your market inside out to be able to provide real value to your clients.  Perm roles will need to be carefully matched to specific sectors in terms of a candidate's market knowledge, achievements, and network.

Make use of networking and referrals.  You already have strong relationships with some clients who may not be recruiting at the moment.  Now is the time to use your history and success with those clients to bring new clients (and candidates) on board.
 

How are you going to make your offering stand out?

Your social media presence will be key to attracting candidates (and clients).  Always on message, striking the right tone, with useful content that fits your particular market.  This can mean anything from being visible on LinkedIn, Facebook if that's where your candidates hang out, Instagram, Slack - I have heard of recruiters having success networking with candidates on the Xbox or Playstation!

The ability to identify a strong candidate, alongside the ability to ask tough questions of candidates who want you to represent them will be key.  You will add value to your clients by sending them a small number of strong CVs rather than 20 mismatched candidates. 

The best way to hone your candidate identification skills is to reflect on the candidates you have sent out over the past 12 months, the placements you have made and what has made your client move heaven and earth to get that person on board.  Those are the people you are looking for when the market picks up again.

Also, develop something kind and useful that you can send to candidates you can't help that will add value to their job search. 
 

Is anyone actually recruiting recruiters right now?

We have all our current recruitment jobs listed on our website.  We have a mix of clients at the moment.  Some are furloughed, and others have asked us to interview in preparation for starts once lock-down is lifted.  Any ready to go live roles will be noted as such, and just to reassure you that people are recruiting, we placed two candidates last week with after lock-down start dates. 

We are happy to take applications now and talk to you about the next steps if you have been made redundant.  Vacancy pages will be updated regularly as and when we get hold of our clients.

Realistically, to be successful in gaining a new role in the current climate, your billings over the past 24 months need to be strong, ideally with the same company, and you need to be able to hit the ground running in a 360 capacity. 
 

Recruitment Training

If you have can, it is important to keep up to date with the latest training developments in recruitment.  The best thing to do is to search on Youtube and Facebook and join some groups.  The best rule of thumb when deciding who to learn from - when was the last time they ran a recruitment desk themselves, and does the trainer resonate with you? 

For general recruitment news, we like Recruiting Brainfood for a round-up of what's happening in recruitment now.
 

Useful links

Some other useful links that we like and that you may find helpful.
James Clear
Bullet Journal
Government advice
Martin Lewis
Join the sourdough bread craze
Chester zoo live webcams for the kids
Other ways to keep kids entertained during lock-down


Thanks for reading, we hope this has been valuable for you.  If you have content ideas you'd like to see us cover please let us know.

Until next time, keep safe and well.