Louise's UK Recruiter Blog

The CV is DEAD: Long Live LinkedIn?

This is a guest post from Lisa Jones of Barclay Jones

Well, the Apply With LinkedIn button has finally gone live… what’s going to be the impact?  If you are a recruiter (agency or corporate), how will this affect you?  How will it improve your business process and bottom line? Does this mark the end of the CV?

I am a massive fan of LinkedIn, and their new function Apply With LinkedIn is the reason I get giddy… 

As LinkedIn states in its blog about the new feature, it has a vision of the professional web – they want to integrate LinkedIn into the www and into your processes (be you a candidate or a recruiter).  This new feature basically allows candidates to apply for roles using their LinkedIn account (which invariably is probably more up to date and more accessible than their CV).

LinkedIn states: “We are going to make it easy for you to submit your profile for any job application on the web with one simple click.”

What does this mean for the humble CV? All that training we have had over the years to get it down to one or two pages, whether we should mention our references or interests?  How will this affect the recruitment process; will your systems benefit from this new feature?  Only if you are not a CV addict…

Want to watch the official 1minute video?

If you are a recruiter / or simply a company that advertises it’s own roles, this new feature could make a massive difference to how candidates apply to you, and speed up the application process, make you more accessible, probably reduce the cost of hire etc…

Something to think about is that this feature, coupled with CRM that can take PDF documents as CVs and create records via clever CV parsing software, could really make a difference to your business.  So, don’t forget Resume Builder or the lovely PDF button at the bottom of your candidate’s blue box.  These features will really speed up your recruitment process, and this is critical in an extremely saturated and competitive market.

What do you think?  Are you going to use this new feature? And, is the CV dead?

Recruitment Apprenticeships

I recently came across this brand new Apprenticeship Scheme for the recruitment industry which seems to me like a interesting opportunity for newcomers looking to enter the recruitment sector, and for recruitment businesses looking to expand their team.  Whilst there’s no shortage of training opportunities in the industry there hasn’t until now been a dedicated scheme for recruiters targeted at entry level and I think this kind of scheme could be a really effective way of helping to professionalise the industry.

The scheme is being run by Expedient Training Consultancy, who have created 150 placements spread across London, Manchester, Nottingham and Birmingham.  The apprenticeship scheme is suitable for niche boutique agencies, high street brands, global consultancies or recruitment divisions within corporations. 

The scheme funds the training element of the apprenticeships, which can be worth around £6000, and includes the REC’s Certificate in Recruitment Practice.  The employer pays the apprentice a salary (which can be at the lower end of the scale due to the regulations governing apprentices).  However, I understand that the employers that Expedient are currently working with are paying their apprentices competitively and adding in commission structures to provide an incentive. Expedient support the Apprentices throughout the 12 months with mentoring and training and the Apprentices will gain 4 qualifications. 

The apprentices are typically post-A level students (although anyone can apply but the funding contribution varies for over 19 year olds).  Recruitment companies can take on a single apprentice, or a whole team and Expedient are building a talent pool of pre-screened candidates which employers will have access to.  Interestingly, the scheme isn’t just open to new employees -  employers can also use the scheme to train existing staff who meet the eligibility criteria which could be a great way for a recruitment company to get some solid training for their junior staff at low or no cost.

There are around 50 placements remaining, and the Apprentices are due to start in September, so employers looking to expand their recruitment teams need to act quickly.  To find out more visit the apprenticeship site or call Sue Reader (for Manchester, Birmingham and Nottingham placements) or Paul Deen (for London placements) on 0800 612 5402.

Launching TipTopJobs’s Summer Offer

Here’s a tasty summer offer for those of you looking for bargain job postings. 
 
TipTopJob are offering 100 job posts for £100/month or 500 jobs posts for £300/month.

You can sign up at this price for anything from a 3 to 12 month contract!  As with these things it’s open to new (recruitment agency) clients. 

All job postings appear on TipTopJob, the relevant industry specific sites (e.g. theITjob.com, theSALESjob.com) and over 50 job aggregator websites that they’ve partnered with. All jobs are branded with company logo and are emailed out to all relevant candidates as soon as they are posted.

Well worth a look at... just get in touch with them by email

Why Recruiters Don't Use Psychometrics

Ages ago I thought I'd start a series of psychometric testing.  I got as far as an initial post talking about experiences and asking a question around why recruiters don't use them as much as they could.
 
Very late as it is; here is a summary of the many interesting responses I got:
 
Overconfidence in their own abilities as a recruiter
 
Recruiters can overestimate how successfully they can predict job success using traditional methods. Research has shown that using CV's to screen applicants for interview has a success rate not much greater than using the applicant's horoscope (i.e. none at all). Studies show that using our psychometric instrument to screen applicants will dramatically increase the likelihood of selecting the right people, but I've found that many recruiters don't seem to believe (or understand!) the figures. 
 
Cost
 
One reason I've often struggled to get authorisation to use psychometric tools is that it is seen as an upfront cost that sits like an ugly troll on the balance sheet, whereas the impact of poor recruitment can often be hard to quantify. Followed up with...  Companies that have worked out the cost of a poor recruitment decision have no problem justifying the use of decent quality tests. This is particularly true when used for sales recruitment as the cost of a poor recruitment decision is so obviously manifest in the subsequent below-par sales results. 
 
Fear of losing a placement
 
As for the use of tests by agencies, there is an inherent conflict of interest therein. Agencies get rewarded on placement so why should they put any barrier between a marginal candidate and a placement fee (such as an adverse indicating test result)? 
 
Lack of understanding of which product to use
 
There are many good reasons to be sceptical of tests. Many are not much better than a horoscope and many are misunderstood and badly used. For example, how many people know the difference between an ipsative and normative test? Answer, very few. 
 
Apathy
 
It's far easier NOT to implement a new system than to take the (even short amount of) time to look for something to improve your process.
 
If you have any other comments let me know..... and if you want to understand how YOU can use psychometric products in your (or your clients') recruitment process I'm happy to have a chat!

The follow up article will be Why Recruiters Use Psyhometrics...

Wanted: Recruiters to do some beta testing

I’ve just spoken with a company who are developing a new candidate screening tool for recruiters; one of the primary features will be the time saving benefits.  They are looking for beta testers to have a play with the system at the end of August.  They specifically want recruiters (either agency or in-house) who specialise in graduates to try their system on a real life assignment.  If you are any other sort of recruiter and are keen, I'm sure they'll consider you! As an added incentive, anyone who takes part in the beta testing will get 25% off the product when it goes live (that 25% discount is forever!).

So, if you are interested drop me an email and I’ll put you in touch.

The Apprentice – The Finale

Of course you know who won... (you can watch his victory interview here)... but what you need is the full analysis and learning points!  You can get them from BlueSky PR and from Gavin Ingham.  Both have provided really good reviews of each episode throughout the series.  I seriously recommend you check them both out!

5 Tips for Candidate Interviewing

In today’s market recruiters need to offer a fuller, more ‘value added’ service – not only to clients but to candidates too.   According to Recruitment Matters most active jobseekers are investigating 10 - 15 different job options at once and candidate drop-out rates are at their highest ever , so it’s vital that recruiters are probing, digging and challenging in candidate interviews.  Here, from Recruitment Matters, (written specifically for us) are five top tips for creating the ultimate candidate interview process:

1. Qualify first, sell second. Always thoroughly qualify the candidate first, before selling an opportunity to them. It sounds obvious, yet the majority of recruiters fail to adhere to this simple rule.
2. Information gather. Our job is not to know the right answers, but to ask the right questions. Probe deeply into the candidate’s background, needs, wants and motivators. The more information we have about the candidate, the better we will be at matching them to our clients and controlling the process.
3. Presentation Vs Performance. Don’t  judge your candidates just because they look good either in person or on their CV. Real superstar performers can be truly identified by behavioural and achievements based questions. Focus on examples of going the extra mile and notable achievements.
4. Your candidates will lead you to market. Candidates are your biggest source of market information!
5. Today’s candidate is tomorrow’s client.  Explain how your service works for them; manage their expectations; be honest with them, set timescales and explain ‘next steps’ at each stage of the process.

These tips were provided by Jo Gregory, associate trainer with Recruitment Matters International and come from RMI’s  new one day course ‘Candidate Interview & Screening Techniques’ which launches in September. For more information email ken@recruitmentmatters.com or call 0800 0749289.

The Apprentice - Week Eleven Roundup

This week's summary is from BlueSky PR.  However, you should also check out Gavin Ingam's blog for his roundup.

In a twist to the regular format, Lord Sugar decided to postpone the dreaded interview round in the penultimate show of the series, in favour of a fast food challenge. The candidates were set the task of creating, branding, and producing a fast food chain to determine who would reach the final boardroom.

This week really separated the men from the boys. Helen and Tom on team Logic dominated this episode with their business skills and talent. Helen was team leader and showcased her amazing organisational abilities. She also proved to be a good leader – she recognised Tom’s creative flair and allowed him to be in charge of branding when infact that was the gig she was really after.

Tom’s dyslexia in this episode proved to be the winning element when deciding on a new brand name “MyPy”. The duo decided to theme the fast food around the ‘best of British’ and focused on pie and mash – good choice. Tom demonstrated his creative abilities and his eye for detail in the branding aspect of the task as the shop had a quintessential English theme while still remaining modern.

The pair worked seamlessly together on this task. The concept was great, they knew their business plan and profit margins while at the same time creating quality food – all served to the customer in under 3 minutes! I fully expect one of these candidates to be ‘hired’ in the next episode. The only thing letting this team down were their history skills – naming the menu after famous British people and then calling the mash Christopher Columbus (who was Italian) was not the smartest of moves.

Team Venture on the other hand made a real meal of it!

After discovering Natasha had a degree in hospitality management her team mates looked thrilled. The excitement was short lived when her colleagues discovered she wouldn’t be using any of her degree knowledge in the task. With Jim in charge, Natasha and Susan’s relationship hit an all time low. The bitching and squabbling was rife and showed no signs of ceasing. Both the girls wanted to be on the branding aspect of the task, so instead of separating these children, Jim left them to get on with it while he created the food. Once left alone they continued to argue over sombreros and peppers! Failing to even come up with a name it was left to Jim to step up to the mark. Jedi Jim really was a one man band in this challenge, having to control Susan and Natasha who turned into the ugly sisters, leaving Jim, aka Cinders in the kitchen.

Jim’s mathematical abilities did take a battering though. Where was the calculator when Jim needed it? It certainly wasn’t in his head. To multiply 60 by £7 and to arrive at an hourly turnover of £4,800 was embarrassing. To do it in front of an audience of industry experts when you’re pitching to win was cringeworthy.

The food was cold, there was no business plan, profit margins were not calculated and the food took over 10minutes to reach the customers – the winners of this task were clear to everyone.

Back in the boardroom Lord Sugar made the well over due decision to fire Natasha. After showing signs of brilliance during the magazine challenge, Natasha has done little but repeat the word ‘yeah’ at least a million times. I’m glad she went, yeah!

So that leaves the final four – the inventor, the leader, the salesman and the beauty product queen. The final episode will finally reveal the candidates business plans – I can’t wait!

What not to do in interview

Here’s a Friday Funny for you. It’s the latest ad campaign from Robert Half ... their PR company asked if I would blog about it.  Having had a quick look (well, it’s only one minute long) I’m more than happy to recommend it to you.
 

It’s showing a friend giving another advice to mimic the interviewer’s body language before a job interview.  It’s obviously meant to “go viral” and it is actually quite funny. The interviewer reminded me a bit of Alan Whitford; less so once he started the monkey dancing.....!

This post was brought to you by Robert Half!

Social Recruiting Conference 2011 - roundup

Heather Travis of Travis Research very kindly attended this recent conference when I wasn't able to make it along.  Here is her review:

For fear of sounding like Jeremy Clarkson re The Stig; some say “it was the best social recruiting conference ever” others that “it is one they will never miss” – below are my thoughts on the Social Recruiting Conference (also known by it's Twitter hashtag of #SRConf).

The purpose of the event was a gathering of leading employers, HR and recruitment industry professionals with case studies practically demonstrating the possibilities of social recruiting.  These included presentations from Unilever, Accenture, Intel, Societe Generale Bank, Pepsico & The Challenge Network there were also 2 lively panel discussions.

It was held at the Cavendish Conference Centre with each delegate having a ‘station’ with excellent views of the speakers/panels and Twitter feeds which were projected onto both sides of the stage throughout the day.  In total there were c180 attendees, 1,300 watching Livestreaming and 200,000+ questions on Twitter.

The whole day literally flew past which is a clear indication of how well structured and interesting the event was.  I think I speak for all those reading this article that leading up to lunch, immediately after and towards the end of the day my concentration has been known to lapse a little; it didn’t happen!

The event was intermingled with times for networking where refreshments and a lovely lunch were served.  Due to the wonders of Twitter I caught up with many of my Twitter colleagues/friends who likewise were doing the same, this created a wonderful atmosphere which transported itself to the panel discussions, making them not only very informative but good fun!

Would I recommend this event to people? Most definitely!  Will I be attending next year? Try and keep me away!  

Sponsors should be clamouring to be involved in future events.

Congratulations to Alan Whitford and his team at RCEuro.com for a complete success.

To see more about this event and future events go to  www.rceuro.com and follow @rceuro on Twitter.

I can also suggest these blogs which either summarise or the event or continue some of the conversation:
- Mervyn Dinnen on his own blog and via Jobsite
- Gareth Jones sharing his thoughts
- Oscar Mager talking about Beknown
- Photos from Sara Headworth
Plus the slides are available!

The Apprentice - Week Ten Roundup

This week's roundup is very kindly via Gavin Ingham. 

So, it’s week 10 of The Sales Apprentice and we’re down to six; Natasha, Suzy and Jim facing off against Helen, Tom and Melody. Just looking at the last six I was left feeling pretty uninspired. They are none of them without their shortcomings and I don’t think I would be investing £250k into any of them from what I’ve seen and that’s before we see them torn limb from limb in the interviews and hear what crackpot business ideas they might have…

And I wasn’t that inspired by tonight’s task either!  I have to admit that I think it would have been better weeks ago as a warm up and I’m not sure how much value it was adding at this late stage in the game unless Lord Alan is planning on setting up a market stall!

Lord Alan was in his element tonight but then he loves to talk about his roots trading, restocking and buying more tat to shift on to some other hapless punter. Tonight’s task? To sell £250 worth of stock provided by Lord Alan, notice what was selling, buy more of it, sell more, invest in more etc. No need to worry about left over stock as Lord Alan would add this into the final figures. Thed team with the most stock and money after two days would win.

Simples, you would think, but not for our Apprentices…

Sales training tip: Don’t make simple things complicated. Stupid people make simple tasks appear really complicated. Clever people make really complex tasks seem really simple. On tonight’s task the Apprentices strayed away from what was a simple task and made it all rather more complicated that it needed to be.

As a sales motivational speaker, I see this all of the time…

Melody stepped up to be PM saying that she had not been PM for weeks and was duly elected. Over on the other team, Tash stepped up but was challenged for the role by Suzy. Jim had the final vote and he cast it for Tash perhaps sold by her bragging about “operational experience.” She doesn’t striike me as that being her strongest suit and I’m not sure if her comment to Suzy about being “over the moon” that she was in her team because of her sales skills was ironic or serious. I thought it was serious which, if so, is an opinion based somewhere near the capital of La La Land as Suzy has looked distinctly rocky in this area previously, most notably in her total screw up in a market she should have known well in Birmingham.

Out on the street, in what was effectively a glorified car boot sale, Jim was knocking out nodding dogs and cheap looking brollies. Again, I am struggling to understand why Lord Alan thought that at this stage yelling, “Roll up, roll up and buy my brollies and tacky nodding dogs,” was of any use to anyone?! Surely, this is not what he has planned for the winner!

Jim was getting into it and proved yet again that he is the master of the meaningless encounter. Give him a stranger, a quick impulse purchase and the opportunity to give it a bit of blarney and he’s off. Nick smiled (no really, he did) and said he was beginning to like him… well… a bit anyway.

Suzy, meanwhile, was wandering around affluent West London streets trying to sell duvets and blankets door to door. I am not quite sure who she thought was going to buy these but none of that mattered because she gave up far too easily before returning to the car and falling asleep!

Sales training tip: Know your product. Know your customers. Know where your time is best spent.

Bad salespeople waste their time knocking on every door and speaking to every prospect. Bad salespeople wear themselves out and make few sales.

Good salespeople know their product, know where there customers are, know why they are going to buy and know how and when to approach them.

But if Suzy has got it wrong, Helen and Mel had lost the plot entirely and were wandering into retail outfits trying to sell their wares. Clearly, this task was about selling to the public and this HUGE faux pax would no doubt cost them dearly.

Over on the other team, Tasha was trying her best, yeah, to give them a run, yeah, for their money, yeah. But as a leader she was coming across as a bully. She appeared disinterested in her team, what they had to say or their feelings. And she was defensive too. Plus she totally missed the whole point of the task to the extent that she was still defending her refusal to reinvest in new stock even after Lord Alan told her she had missed the point in the boardroom!!

But, whilst Tash was patronizing Suzy, Mel and Helen were gifting the task back to her by not only continuing to promote their just plain daft idea of selling to retailers but by also not reinvesting in the nodding dogs as Tom had asked them to. Infact, Helen was so unimpressed by Mel’s lack of strategy that she attempted a coup at the end of the first day, suggesting Mel should sell and she should take over as PM in charge of strategy.  As you can imagine, Mel was not impressed.

Sales training tip: Have a strategy. Without a strategy salespeople run around like headless chickens. Without a strategy salespeople waste time, energy and effort. Without a strategy you are unlikely to hit your targets, maximise your sales or develop the business that you want.

One of the big themes of today was that neither team leader had a strategy… or if they did, they were bonkers! Mel reinvested in totally random products that just made no sense and she had no idea how she was going to sell them. Tash refused to reinvest sufficiently and missed the whole point of the task.

Jim though was continuing to charm the birds from the trees with his own slick patter. Nick was feeling the love. “He’s found his forte,” he said. I’m not sure it’s what he meant to say but his “compliment” was effectively endorsing Jim as a market trader. Nothing wrong with that but maybe not what Lord Alan wants to invest in…

Let’s face it, making impulse sales in the street is more about upbeat attitude and engagement than anything and it most certainly does not require advanced selling skills but you might have thought it did to hear them talking about how Tom had stepped out of his comfort zone to make sales, blah, blah. For goodness sake, so he smiled and spoke to a couple of kids selling what…? Three nodding dogs!!!

Enough.

In The Boardroom…

Both team leaders were disliked by their teams but who had won? I won’t keep you waiting… drum roll… the winner was… Tash, with a final asset value of £751 to Mel’s £728.

A slim win and you’d expect a far more competent performance from the winning team and the winning project manager this far on in the competition but this task was not won by one team, it was lost badly by the other.

And Lord Alan thought so too, cancelling the winner’s treat for the first time ever…

Back in the Boardroom…

Helen looked shell-shocked. Nine wins and now this… she realised her own mortality. And she was deservedly in the boardroom too having been party to most of Mel’s bad decisions and having totally missed the point of the task. Mel had been poor too and Tom, well he didn’t screw up as such, but then again I don’t see selling three nodding dogs as any kind of great achievement.

So it was down to Lord Alan. What would he see in them? Who would he like to work with? Frankly, I’m struggling. Not just with these three but in general. I’m not feeling it. But who would go tonight? Our Al wasn’t sure. And it was a tough one. Who was more at fault?

“Helen. Frankly you have let yourself down girl. You just didn’t get this. I wasn’t expecting to see you here and you is just an assistant really, innit? Tom, I’ve seen you in here more times than I have eaten jellied eels recently but then you did sell free (3) nodding dogs yesterday and I can’t scoff at that. Melody, I like you one week ‘cause you’re gusty and selfish and the next I don’t. Being frank, I’m holding out for Tom just incase he has some invention tucked away that makes me even richer and I obviously ‘aint gonna sack Helen ‘cause that might mean I might have to go into business with that quick-talking-Jim so I’m afraid, with regret Mel, you’re fired.”

He flattered them all as having exceptional abilities and it being such a hard decision. Odd, given they’d just been beaten by a team that he refused a treat to because they did so badly. And odd because he must be watching different footage than me.

 

You should also check out BlueSky PR's equally good summary.

Free AWR Roadshow from Liquid Friday

As this a completely free event I said I'd give it a little plug....

 

The new Europe-wide Agency Worker Regulations legislation comes into force in October 2011, and will have massive implications for all temporary workers, employers and agencies. But what’s it all about, and how will it affect you?

 

To make things crystal clear, we’ve arranged four critical update sessions at key spots up and down the country. Book your place for some essential guidance and clarity on AWR.

 

Dates:

 

Southampton Ocean village

Tue, 5 July, 3.30pm

Followed by drinks reception and networking opportunities

 

Manchester Spinningfields

Wed, 6 July, 3.30pm

Followed by drinks reception and networking opportunities

 

London Baker Street

Thurs, 14 July, 8:30am

With complimentary breakfast

 

Birmingham TBC

Fri, 15 July, 8:30am

With complimentary breakfast

 

What we’ll be covering:

 

Bridget Wood, Blake Lapthorn, Partner

What is AWR? 

What consequences does AWR have for the recruitment sector and how you operate? 

Future models proposed by Umbrella companies

 

Phillip Venn, Liquid Friday

Liquid Friday’s approach to AWR 

How Liquid Friday can help agencies with managing AWR exposure and risks

 

Q&A

 

If there are still any aspects of the AWR that remain a mystery after the presentations, this is your opportunity to put them to the panel.

 

You can book your free place by emailing AWR@liquidfriday.co.uk

 

PS, if you are planning on attending on the morning of the 14th July you can pop along to our recruitment directors only event in the afternoon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Apprentice - Week Nine Roundup

This week's summary is from BlueSky PR again.  However, you should also check out Gavin Ingam's blog where he has "written" his summary from readers' comments!

This week, the two teams were tasked with inventing, branding and selling their own biscuit. Sweet.

In case you’re finding it difficult to keep up with the ever-changing teams, Natasha, Jim and Helen are now Team Venture and Melody, Susan, Zoe and Tom are now Team Logic. If I was put on Team Logic, I’d keep a suitcase packed… the odds wouldn’t exactly be stacked in my favour…

Anyway, Helen puts herself forward for leader of Team Venture, because she works in the food industry. Susan puts herself forward for leader of Team Logic… because she… erm… works with cosmetics… and cosmetics have ingredients! That’s the same, right? Zoe doesn’t think so, and slaps Susan down, as Nick Hewer put it: “as somebody slaps down a yapping puppy.” Ouch.

After a laborious baking and testing process, in which mad scientist Tom (he’s an inventor, you know) creates some sort of bizarre Frankenstein-style Digestive-Shortbread hybrid biscuit (perhaps the strapline should be “it’s aliiiiiive”) half of which is covered in chocolate. The concept is based around the fact that you can snap and share it, ostensibly leaving somebody with the short end of the stick (or biscuit) ie, the one without chocolate, every time.

I do, however, like the name “BixMix” even if it sounds a bit like puppy food. Melody spends most of the task whining in the background about how she wants to do a heart shaped biscuit. NOOOW. I contemplate muting the TV.

Any time is treat time. That’s the brilliant idea Jim’s come up with for a ridiculously high-sugar, high-fat after school snack. Natasha tries to justify this by saying that when school ends, that becomes “any time”. Shouldn’t she be on Team Logic?
Zoe and Melody spend most of the episode sniping at each other like a couple of five year olds fighting over what game to play. It’s boring so I zone out a bit, but needless to say they both come off looking like petulant infants, particularly during their spectacular supermarket tantrum, where Zoe actually waggles her finger at Melody.

After they’ve branded their biscuits, with the Frankenstein biscuit inexplicably packaged in a girlie purple packet and Venture’s product packaging basically ripping off every other children’s snack on the market, it’s time to present to three major supermarkets. Whoever gets the most orders wins.

Melody and Tom decide to start a serious business pitch with an excruciatingly uncomfortable role play in which they’re husband and wife. Or something. The next pitch is equally awkward, as Zoe and Melody decide to change tack and say they’re aiming the BixMix products at girls on a night in… except they decide to do another role play and, having just had a shouting match, you can cut the tension between them with a knife.

In the end, smooth talking beautiful, beautiful Jim wins out by promising multi-million advertising campaigns and an endorsement from Harry Potter (the movie franchise, not the wizard). He gets 800,000 orders for Team Venture and losers Team Logic get none. Fail.

Cue more sniping in the boardroom between Zoe and Melody. Zoe has suddenly decided she didn’t like the biscuit in the first place and that must all be poor Tom’s fault. Or Melody’s. But definitely not hers. Lord Sugar doesn’t buy it and Zoe gets sent home.

 

LinkedOut by the REC

Since yesterday afternoon I have had a number of individuals contact me to ask my thoughts on a situation which has occurred with The REC and their IRP LinkedIn group.

The facts that I can report are that at least two people have been removed from the group as posts they made “breach the sites protocol”.  The individuals concerned were asking questions around the recently lost employment tribunal, the recent Chair issue and some other seemingly pretty minor concerns.

This is part of the REC’s response (made in the LinkedIn group):

...Unfortunately, as a result of persistent breach of this protocol two individuals have had their access removed from the group.

The REC would like to make it clear to all Members that this decision has not been taken lightly. We have engaged these individuals and written to them on many occasions. We also issued final warnings that they need to modify their approach or they would be removed. These have been ignored.

I guess what I can’t quite decide is if this is newsworthy.

Is it about freedom of speech and/or censorship?  Are the REC avoiding dealing with these members’ concerns?  Is it an issue which should be dealt with within the REC rather than in a public forum?  Should disgruntled members just leave the REC?  

What do you think?