Interview with a Blogger - Paul Grafton

Paul initially worked in HR and then realising his passion was for recruitment and selection he went into financial services recruitment. In 1998, Paul moved across to the HR recruitment market. Having worked at Macmillan Davies Hodes, and taking responsibility for developing their Leeds office, Paul has also worked at EJ Human Resources. In both roles he worked on middle and senior HR management roles across most industry sectors. Paul is now at Beament Leslie Thomas and is a regular contributor to their blog.

How long have you been blogging?
I began blogging in July this year, and we’re now getting over 500 readers a month  - so hopefully we’re doing something right.

Why did you start?
I believe that blogs will become key to engaging new candidates and clients, and they help present a more personable side of us as recruiters and as a company.

What do you do, work related, when you aren't blogging?
I manage the Management Consultancy and HR teams at leading specialist recruiter BLT. Wearing my management hat I’m working to optimise the teams’ performances and ensure our clients and candidates get the most effective service we can provide. Wearing my recruiter’s hat, I am managing advertised selection, database and search campaigns for our HR clients. 

Do you think blogging has helped your business?
Absolutely. It’s improved our brand profile, and is a fundamental tool to helping search engine optimisation. It also allows clients and individuals to interact with us.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge about writing a blog?
Allocating the time to write interesting,  stimulating articles that people want to read.

What's another blog that you read and why do you recommend it?
HR Circles and Personnel Today - Guru.

What do you want your reader’s to know about you?
That we really want to encourage genuine debate on the site – so whether you’re an employer, a candidate or a competitor, get involved – we offer a hamper to the best participant every month!

If you knew someone was thinking about starting a recruitment related blog, what advice would you want to give them?
Be committed and ensure your posts are alive, interesting, engaging – what you put in is what you get out.

Is there a question you wished I asked you?
Yes - What other uses could blogging have in the HR market? The reason being is that I think that it will become a great place for HR professionals to share best practice, as well as news on employment law updates. In addition, it can be used as more of a forum for HR practitioners to discuss HR issues they may be currently experiencing, and a more informal place to knowledge share compared with places like CIPD website.  BLT is going to explore this with a ‘Socialtext’ experiment next year.