Interview with a Blogger - Andy Headworth

The Sirona Says blog  is a fairly recent addition to those listed on our UK Recruitment Blogs feed page.  It's authored by Andy Headworth, owner of Sirona Consult.  With 20 years of recruitment experience Andy has plenty to talk about and has been posting on average two blog entries a week since he started the blog.  His recruitment career has taken him through various industry sectors including retail, e-commerce and more latterly the credit card and payments industry.  He has covered all types of recruitment - contract, contingency, permanent and search .

On with the interview...

How long have  you been blogging?
Not long really - although I have been reading them and posting comments on different ones for a while. It has only been since last month that I started my own blog.

Why did you start?
Two reasons - the first can be attributed to the now infamous jungle runner and chief Broadbean antagonist, Peter Gold. I attended one of his workshops on e-recruitment, during which he really highlighted how powerful a blog can be for a company, to aid both their recruitment process and to drive more traffic to their career site. With the many examples, he showed the results that can be gained from companies being brave and having a blog. So as I work closely with companies on recruitment strategies, I figured it would be rude of me not to 'practice what I preach'.  The other reason is very simple - I read them, I participate on them and so wasn't it about time that I actually shared by opinions and experiences with other like minded individuals.

What do you do, work related, when you aren't blogging?
Recruitment of course! I run my own recruitment business, and this year through client demand, I have spent more time working directly with them in a consulting capacity -  ,  looking at how they do their own recruitment (or don't as the case may be!) and help them accordingly. This has opened up some diverse opportunities which I am thoroughly enjoying!!

Do you think blogging has helped your business?
To be fair it is probably too early to say, but I certainly have been able to show a couple of my Clients that blogs are something that they shouldn't be afraid of. And going forward the blog will certainly be part of my strategic armoury for a client!

What do you feel is the biggest challenge about writing a blog?
Time is the main challenge. With 20 years of recruitment experiences and opinions, I find myself continually  putting notes and ideas on my PDA, but struggle to find the time to convert them to meaningful posts.

What's another blog that you read and why do you recommend it?
Jason Bradbury.  As far as I am concerned Jason Bradbury is the gadget king! As I am a big gadget man myself, it only seems right that I pay homage to his blog!!


What do you want your reader’s to know about you?
That I am  what I am - an ethical and honest professional recruiter with 20 years of valuable recruiting experience, who will have the answers to your recruitment problems.

If you knew someone was thinking about starting a recruitment related blog, what advice would you want to give them?
Go ahead and do it- it is really easy to get started, the more recruiters that share their knowledge and experiences can only be good for our industry.

Is there a question you wished I asked you?
Why would you compare recruitment to an addiction?  My answer would then be, that until the Clients actually admit that they have a problem with their own recruitment, they won't actually help themselves in resolving their issues. Too many times companies throw money at recruitment problems, without actually understanding the fundamental reasons why they are having to recruit in the first place!!