Interview with a blogger - Sarah Stimson

Sarah has five years of recruitment experience in the PR industry.  Previously having worked in IT consultancy for IBM and Goldman Sachs, she made the move to recruitment in 2002 when she joined Taylor:Bennett, an executive search firm, and discovered a love for research.   In 2004 she joined Propsect Resourcing (making placements at clients which included Coca Cola, Orange, St John’s Ambulance, Air France and The London Hilton) and in 2006 she was headhunted to join Indigo Red and move away from contingency back to her executive search roots.  She is now responsible for management of some key accounts, business development and the PR and marketing of the company.  On her blog, Wedlog, Sarah lists her interests as PR, recruitment, wedding planning, cats, writing.  She posts on all these topics apart from the cats (well, not that I've noticed).

How long have you been blogging?
Since October 2006.

Why did you start?
Indigo Red sponsored conference on Delivering the New PR which was about all things online, including blogging and Second Life.  I made a decision then to start my blog in order to reach those PR candidates and clients who have a strong online presence, and to raise our profile.  It has lead on to the use of online social networking with sites like Facebook, Viadeo and Linked In.  We are the first PR recruitment agency (that I know of) that are using blogs, so I like to think we’re innovative!  I’ve now been quoted in the FT and the Guardian talking about how your online reputation can affect your job opportunities and exposure like that can only be good for me as a recruiter and for Indigo Red as a whole.

What do you do, work related, when you aren't blogging?
We’re headhunters rather than contingency recruiters, which means that I spend a lot of time networking contacts and cold calling.  Never nice, but you grow a thick skin after a while!

Do you think blogging has helped your business?
I think it has started to raise our profile.  Just today I had a potential candidate contact me because she’d read my blog and as time goes on I hope I will continue to build relationships this way.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge about writing a blog?
Coming up with new and interesting things to say and finding the time to write them!  My blog is a mixture of work and personal – because I think getting to know the person as well as the job makes them more approachable and as a recruiter I would love people to approach me rather than having to do all the leg work!.  At the same time I try very hard not to fill it up with lots of “I had fish fingers and chips for tea last night” type posts as a log of my daily life would be fairly dull.  Actually that’s not quite true, I got married very recently so I have indulged myself with tales of hen dos and the big day, with the obligatory photos but normal service will resume soon.

What's another blog that you read and why do you recommend it?
If PR is your thing, then The Worlds Leading always makes me smile, and sometimes cringe.  On the recruitment side I read Joanna Hoddinott as she seems to have a lot more time to write about all things recruitment related than I do!

What do you want your reader’s to know about you?
I want them to know that we work with integrity, honesty and transparency.  That recruitment can be a tough business but we do our best to give a great service to our clients and candidates and hope that our efforts do show.  I also want them to know that advice is given freely and I’m happy to help – although asking me if I’ll look at your CV in a pub on a Friday night probably isn’t the greatest idea!

If you knew someone was thinking about starting a recruitment related blog, what advice would you want to give them?
Think about your audience.  I’m hoping that as my blog progresses there will be a mixture of recruitment related posts, and more general PR posts as the people I hope will read it will be a mixture of PR bods (who may become candidates) and recruitment/HR managers (who may become clients). 

Is there a question you wished I asked you?
Why is your blog called “Wedlog”? It was short sighted.  When I set it up I initially has planned to keep it personal and picked the biggest thing happening in my life at the time – my wedding.  But actually it works well to combine the personal and professional and the name stuck.  Of course now the wedding has been and gone so maybe it’s time for a new name.  Answers on a postcard please!