Interview with a Blogger - Tim Elkington

I first met Tim Elkingon just after he left Workthing in 2001.  Tim's recruitment background started in 1996 at the Guardian, selling vacancy advertising in the publication and for its first online offering.  In 2000 he left the Guardian and was part of the core team that launched Workthing.com.  From there he co-founded Enhance Media with the (equally) lovely Alastair Cartwright.  Tim is incredibly knowledgeable about all aspects of the internet as a recruitment tool and his blog covers online recruitment, media consumption, online trends, employer brands, print media and loads more.

Am I allowed to say that Tim is one of my favourite people in Recruitment?  Anyway, here is the interview:

How long have  you been blogging?
About a year and a half.

Why did you start?
We ran a conference in January 2006 called ‘Online recruitment – the year ahead’ and I gave a presentation on the potential impact of blogs and web 2.0 on employer brands and the recruitment sector. I thought as I was talking about blogs, it made sense to start writing one.

What do you do, work related, when you aren't blogging?
I’m the MD of the online recruitment communications agency Enhance Media, we provide a range of services to lots of people in the online recruitment space from job boards (through NORAS) to agencies and employers (through training, research and advertising).

Do you think blogging has helped your business?
It’s hard to quantify that, though I do get lots of people at training sessions that say they’ve read my blog, so it’s useful in terms of getting conversations started and breaking the ice. I think it also shows that you care enough to write about the industry, which has got to be a good thing.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge about writing a blog?
Finding the time to write stuff. I try and do a couple of posts a week, but even that can be tricky.

What's another blog that you read and why do you recommend it?
Simon Waldman’s. It was one of the first blogs I started reading (other than egg, bacon, chips and beans) and is great for looking at wider issues in terms of technology, media and publishing.

What do you want your reader’s to know about you?
That I’m passionate about online recruitment, but that there is life outside of the recruitment industry.

If you knew someone was thinking about starting a recruitment related blog, what advice would you want to give them?
Do it and be spontaneous. I like blogging, as unlike other places I write in, like the Enhance Media email newsletter and industry publications, it gives you a chance to share ‘work in progress’; you’re not always right about stuff on a blog, but it’s interesting to share thoughts and ideas and get feedback from people through a slightly more informal channel.

Is there a question you wished I asked you?
Why is your blog called ‘online recruitment – the bigger picture’? The answer’s that I think that the recruitment industry can sometimes be too insular and miss out on interesting stuff going on in other sectors. I try to look at the bigger picture in the blog and think about how changes in media, technology and internet use might impact on the recruitment sector.

Comments

[cathy]

great interview!