Interview with a Blogger - Robert Baldwin

Robert Baldwin joined Alexander Hughes in July 1994 to set up and manage a Selection business for this long-established Executive Search firm. His experience as a recruitment professional spans more than twenty years, including four years in senior human resources management with an international media and communications group, responsible for defining and implementing their resourcing strategy. At Alexander Hughes his industry sector specialisations are financial services, media/communications and professional services.  He is one of the contributors to the Alexander Hughes Blog.

How long have you been blogging?
Alexander Hughes starting blogging in November 06. As a team we try and ensure we’re posting at least once a week.

Why did you start?
As recruiters we are, more than any other business, a people business; understanding them and connecting with them is at the very heart of what we do -  and this blog helps us do that. It’s also of course about demonstrating thought leadership, and stimulating conversations about subjects that matter.

Do you think blogging has helped your business?
Certainly we’ve had positive feedback, but it’s difficult to gauge whether it’s had a direct impact on the bottom line so far. But we are determined to ensure that the blog differentiates our proposition, provides insight into our thinking and vision, and allows us to engage a wider, more diverse audience than we would be traditionally be able to reach online.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge about writing a blog?
It’s important to set the right tone, but the biggest challenge for us is getting the audience engaged on the blog.  To stimulate debate we’ve introduced a monthly award of an iPod for the most deserving blog participant, and will be inviting guest bloggers to post in the near future.

What's another blog that you read and why do you recommend it?
Micheline, who runs our Internal Communication sector of excellence, is a regular follower of the “Black Belt Group’ on the Melcrum Blog. I try and follow the blog of our engagement agency Carve Consulting to keep abreast of their thinking around web 2.0.

What do you want your reader’s to know about you?
That we are experts in our sectors of excellence. That we’re a fully integrated European executive recruitment practice with a global reach. That we’re an executive recruitment firm equally interested in you as a candidate and your career development, as we are in organisations looking for talent.

If you knew someone was thinking about starting a recruitment related blog, what advice would you want to give them?
Have an opinion. Be professional. Be relevant. Be brief   

I there a question you wished I asked you?
‘Where is this all leading?’ To which our answer would be that we’re looking at a paradigm shift in relationships between organisations and talent, in which the demands and expectations of each party go above and beyond the concept of job and employee. That is likely to necessitate richer, deeper communication from first contact – and this blog could facilitate that.