Louise's UK Recruiter Blog

Recruitment Technology Event Roundup

We ran our first Recruitment Software showcase event last week. It was a full afternoon with a mix of speaker presentations, speed-pitching by ATS/CRM providers and networking time. Our commitment to our sponsors was 60 attendees and we managed in excess of 80. It was great to see so many recruiters showing an interest in what the market has to offer.

I’m still working through the feedback but we I see over 90% so far having enjoyed the event and some of their comments:

"Great concept, thoroughly enjoyed."
"By attending this event it has saved me weeks worth of research."
"Thanks it gave me a fantastic insight into some brilliant companies around and have already been in conversation with some this morning!"

We’ll be running another similar event next year so will take on board all the feedback before starting work on it!

After the daytime element of the event we moved on to evening drinks (sponsored by Simply Jobs Boards) with a bit of speed networking and a presentation from Kevin Green of the REC.  This was the first time we've run an event with the REC - and I look forward to many more!

Thanks to everyone who supported the events and hopefully we’ll see you at either our Directors Only Event on the 20th October or the End of Year Recruitment Conference (we’ve not published the events page for this yet so let me know if you want more information).

10 different recruitment software products

In case you’ve missed my PR we’ve got an event on the 22nd September for recruiters to investigate different recruitment software providers.

During the afternoon they get to take part in brief demo’s from up to six of them (kind of like speed-pitching).  However, it can be difficult for the recruiters to decide who to take a demo from.  So I’ve got all our sponsors to share some basic information in a Comparison Table format and then their USPs.  I thought other people might be interested in it too.

Bullhorn 
Unique Passive Outlook integration. All email activity is automatically tracked.
Fully integrated Marketplace gives access to market leading solutions
True cloud solution: global accessibility including mobile, future proofing, etc

2LS 
Fast, flexible and easy to use
Available to access anywhere on desktops and mobiles
Integrated with Office and extendible with third party tools 

Eploy
Established since 1998 - Proven record of innovation and excellent service
Unlock new revenue streams - Offer value added services through your website
Search LinkedIn, Google, CV libraries – CVs imported with CV data extraction

Talisman
Total solution for recruitment
Fully web-enabled
No hidden charges

evolve
No Special Hardware required
zero data entry
new developments included

i-Business Resources (i-BR)
SMARTfeeds - Instantly be informed of and alerted to actions and to-do items. Includes RSS feed.
EZedit Configuration - No programming required, simple-to-use GUI editor.
Compliance Manager - Full compliance manager for peace of mind.

Bond

100% configurable and scalable to suit client specific requirements, support business growth & change with business needs.
37 years+ of continuous development, £4.5m+ R&D investment p.a and 100,000+ global users
Over 500 support & deployment personnel provide unrivalled levels of service worldwide

Microdec
SMARTfeeds - Instantly be informed of/alerted to actions and to-do items. Includes RSS feed.
EZedit Configuration - No programming required, simple-to-use GUI editor.
Compliance Manager - Full compliance manager for peace of mind.

Safe Tempest
Around half of the top 50 UK recruitment agencies use Safe Tempest
Safe Tempest clients range from 150 employee to 60,000 employee businesses
Safe offer a range of hosting and Software as a Service (SaaS) options

Cirrus Nova Prism 
100% cloud-based so you can access it from anywhere at anytime
Built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 ensuring complete stability
Ofers extraordinary levels of customisation and personalisation

If you want to meet with some of these comapnies make sure you are signed up to attend the event!

Summary of July's Recruitment Directors Event

Mid July saw our most recent Recruitment Directors Only Event.  The theme was expansion and we were hosted at the lovely RBS offices.  I’ve got a little summary from Heather Travis who is a regular at our events, plus a press release that BlueSky PR wrote after the event.

 

This is what Heather thought:

 

 

The event focussed on “Exploring Expansion”

 

There were three excellent speakers:

 - Graeme Read – Director of Antal International
-  Tristan Ramus – Director of Hamilton Bradshaw
-  Greg Savage – Founder & CEO of Firebrand Talent Search

 

All of the speakers gave a very interesting, surprisingly honest and at times humorous insight into how they have expanded their businesses both in the UK and internationally.  They touched on issues surrounding different cultures, languages, strategies & key appointments; sharing the upsides and downsides and lessons learned along the way.

 

Natwest also spoke about some current recruitment issues, and how to prepare for expansion within your recruitment business.

 

There was plenty of time for networking where the buzz of conversation was at times deafening; always a good sign at any event!  In case some people were not as comfortable at networking there was a 10 minute speed networking slot – so nobody had any excuses!

 

After the event there was further networking in the form of a quiz – hosted at a nearby drinking establishment.

 

I always attend these events, as always this was well organised, well attended, excellent value and a great venue.   I am looking forward to the next event; to meet new faces and to catch up with the people I now have regular contact with.

 

This is the summary from BlueSky

 

Recruiters wanting to expand their business heard from three experts at a recent Director’s Networking event hosted  by  UK Recruiter and HB RIDA, the private equity vehicle that supports growing recruitment businesses.

 

Graeme Read, Managing Director of Antal International addressed the issue of expanding overseas and advised recruiters to follow their clients.  “It’s no good trying to trailblaze in a completely new and unknown market,” he said. “Look at where your clients are going and follow them.  Additionally, make sure you have a robust model and process – whatever country you are going into people will always try and tell you that recruitment is different over here – it won’t be.” Read also advised recruiters to have a subs bench of talent so that you don’t have to rely on strangers opening up in new markets.

 

Tristan Ramus from Hamilton Bradshaw agreed that a robust process was vital.  “When you are expanding a team, it’s really important to get those people into a process.  If your hiring relies purely on commission and bonus then they will always be able to better that package elsewhere.” He also emphasised the importance of communicating the vision of the company to staff. “If you think you have communicated regularly then think again – when was the last you really addressed the whole of the business – and how many people have joined since then?”

 

“Expanding your recruitment business is a bit like teenage sex – everyone wants to do it, but hardly anyone has any idea of how to go about it.” These were the opening words of Greg savage, CEO of Firebrand Talent Search who advised recruiters to think carefully about geographical diversification. “It can distract you from the main game and suck up money. But if you are going to  do it then make sure you go on at least ten client visits first and find out what they want – and run an ad for recruiters – what better way to find out about the local market?”

 

Commenting on the presentations, Helen Reynolds, Managing Director  of HB RIDA said: “The feedback from Directors was very positive. Growth is at the top of the agenda for many owner managers – as is creating value.  And while many recruitment firms would like to offer the carrot of equity in order to attract and retain good staff, people will only get excited about that if the equity has some value.  These networking events give an ideal opportunity for recruiters to hear from people who have been there, done it and got the t-shirt.”

 

  

We also got some great feedback from attendees with 100% saying they enjoyed the event!  If you want to see what you missed there are some great photos taken by Zak Reynolds.

 

Our next Directors Only event is on the 20th October (email me if you want more information in advance of us opening bookings).  We also have a speed-pitching technology event on the 22nd September that you can check out.

 

 

 

 

BeKnown isn't doing it for me!

I’ve seen a fair bit of Twitter chat about BeKnown and after an initial thought that I really couldn’t be bothered with ANOTHER social network I decided to ditch the attitude and take a look.

Beknown is a Facebook app from Monster which allows you to create a professional/business profile for you and allows you to connect with people you know.  It’s a bit like LinkedIn on Facebook.

You follow the process through (adding a summary, skills, experience, etc) in order to complete your profile.  Even though part of this can be imported from LinkedIn I had deja vu doing this. 

And as I was doing this I was wondering what the point of it was. 

- It allows jobseekers to find jobs without leaving Facebook..... but just jobs that are posted on Monster... right?
- It creates a CV that you can use to apply for jobs with
- You can get endorsed by your contacts when applying for jobs
- You can post jobs (for free) to your first and second degree contacts (I like this bit – assuming you have a decent number of contacts).
- You collect “badges” for certain achievements (maybe that’s what put me off – I’m not really a gold star type of girl!)

From what I hear from geeks (and I use that word as a compliment) the app is really cool and sophisticated.  I’ve also read reviews from people I respect (including the lovely Jim Stroud) saying that it’s a great app. 

However, to me it seems limited.  It sits within Facebook, it’s all about vacancies on Monster and I found the process annoyingly duplicative.

If your experience is different or you think I’m totally missing the point please share your thoughts and if you want to give it a go there is a step by step guide on About.

My Dilemma – Women’s Only Networking

Last week I was invited to the launch of a women’s only networking event.  It’s established by a very successful and well known woman in conjunction with a very successful brand of women’s products. 

My dilemma? 

Well, for as long as I can remember I’ve felt that women’s only networking is just kind of wrong.  But, with the arrival of this invitation I wondered if I hadn’t really given it enough consideration and that maybe I shouldn’t damn it until I’ve tried it.  Or at least explored the pros and cons. 

So to that end I sought out two individuals with apposing opinions on the subject and asked them to contribute their thoughts:

Pro Women’s Only Networking

This from BlueSky PR (who you may notice from the links get invovled in some women only networking groups)

• In traditional male dominated industries, women only networking groups can do wonders for women who may often struggle to make an impact in their profession . For example, womenintechnology.co.uk has been instrumental in supporting women within the IT sector take steps to break through the glass ceiling.
• It is no secret that networking groups,  can often be dominated by men. Many women entering  such networks may feel intimidated and as a result not get the most out of  the experience, or worse still not return. Women only networks have allowed females who may feel this way share values, and learn from like minded females in a non intimidating environment.
• Women only networks provide members with vital role models. Currently, there are far too few female role models within business, networking groups that are run by successful female business leaders can provide guidance and inspiration to others through real life examples.
•  There are also plenty of online women only networking groups which have provided a private environment for women to share issues relating to their careers openly without the fear of being seen incapable, or ill informed by their male colleagues. Take the Women in Recruiters LinkedIn Group run by Lothbury Recruitment. This has proven to be a successful platform for women in the recruitment industry to share knowledge and discuss gender related issues .
•  Women Networking groups are a great place to find a mentor. Women attending the same networking group do so because they share something – this might mean they work in the same sector, are from the same area, or share the same beliefs.
•  Women networking groups can be a platform for women to discuss and seek advice on issues that simply don’t apply to men. For example – returning to work following maternity leave.

Against Women’s Only Networking

This from Gail Sampson, MD of Knockbuckle Associates:

As a woman in business, I get quite tetchy when people suggest women only events – I don’t know why I am so averse to them, but they do not seem to resonate with me, or my business, for the following reasons:

• Discrimination: working in recruitment, this is something we have to be so aware of – sloppy advertising, a poorly executed assessment centre can lead to all sorts of trouble.  Attending these “women only” events strikes me as hypocritical.
• Market Share: looking at my LinkedIn Connections, which have all been made added for the good of my business network, over 70% of these are male.  This would suggest that in my day to day business, networking with men is a strong move.  Attending events where only a minority of my target audience will be makes no sense.
• Networking Styles: this may be down to the type of women only event I have attended, but there has always been a tendency of chasing the quick sale, rather than the long term business relationships.  As recruitment is a long term relationship, this feels unnatural to my networking style.
• Life Experience: in spite of attending an all girls school from age 9 until 16, I have always been taught that life was an even playing field.  GCSEs, A Levels, Degrees, Vocational and Professional qualifications have all been taken and assessed in a genderless way – why should women go against this in the business world?
• Personal Choice: I like male company and always have done (is this where I add that I am happily married?) – I have close female friends, but I enjoy mixed company the most socially.  Why change this in the workplace?
• Networking is the lifeblood of my business and I love it – I have found mixed networking to be the most rewarding – both in business terms and personal terms for the reasons stated above. 

Gail has said that she is open to being shown "the error of my ways", and I'm open to feedback/comments too.

In the meantime I’m going to think on what to do about that invite over the weekend!

Feedback from 5th May Directors Event

At the start of the month we ran our fourth directors only recruitment networking event.  These are events which we co-host with HBRIDA and which are only for directors of recruitment businesses.  This one was held at the offices of Mishcon de Reya, in central London.  Our speakers were two partners from the law firm talking about Data Theft (we’ve just added an article from them to the UK Recruiter Plus website on the subject), Chris Ledbury of HBRIDA and David Leyshon of CBSButler talking about MBOs and James Caan.  James spoke a little about his experiences of MBOs and then took questions from the audience.  Somewhere in amongst all that we had time for networking with our sponsors (Bullhorn, Broadbean, iresourcer and Jobsite) and tea and cakes!

As a little bonus we also had a crop of “celebrities”.  Obviously James Caan but also Lee McQueen (winner of The Apprentice in 2008), Chris Bates (runner up in The Apprentice last year) and Sean Gallagher (who was recently on the Secret Millionaire).

If you’ve been looking at these events but not sure about attending why not check out the feedback:

100% said yes to “Did you enjoy the event?”
100% said yes to “Did you enjoy James Caan’s presentation?”
100% said yes to “Would you be likely to attend our next event?”

Our next event is on the 14th July.  We’ll be announcing the subject, venue and sponsors in the next week or so.  If you want to ensure you can attend email me and I’ll let you know as soon as registration is open.

 

Recruitment Technology Showcase Event - come along!

Thought I ought to post a bit of information about our brand new event.  Here is the press release.  If you are a decision maker within a recruitment agency/consultancy then this is THE event for you!!

RECRUITMENT TECHNOLOGY – WHAT’S THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT?

Find out at our Recruitment Technology Showcase Event

Technology in recruitment is constantly evolving making it difficult to keep up with offerings which may really add value to your business.  

This brand new event run by the Recruiters Network (www.recruitmentnetworking.co.uk)  has been designed specifically with this issue in mind. Recruitment and resourcing professionals will be able to gain insight into a range of technology offerings from ten very different suppliers.  And there will be also two guest speakers:

* Gary Watson, CEO of Investigo (and ex MD of Michael Page) will share his thoughts on how technology in the recruitment industry has evolved  over the past three decades
* Lis Astall, former Country MD at Accenture will talk about her experiences of  recruitment technology

The event will take place on 26th May 2011 from 2.30pm to 6pm at a convenient City location close to London Bridge.

This event, designed specifically for decision makers, will showcase offerings from:
·         Bullhorn
·         Broadbean
·         ETZ Timesheet Solutions
·         Actonomy
·         Kamanchi
·         Dialogue
·         MyResourcer.com
·         Saber
·         Innovate CV
·         ISV Group

Each supplier will have a strict five minute slot in which to showcase the benefits of their product or service – long enough for you to get a good idea of the relevance to your business – short enough to hold your attention.  You’ll also have time to network both with the suppliers – and each other - throughout the event.

This is a networking event JUST for recruitment and resourcing professionals – both agency and in-house.  Unfortunately supplier organisations are not able to register to attend. You can find out more about the event at http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/networking/26may.htm and if you want to come along to the event you will need to email louise@ukrecruiter.co.uk to get access to the sign up page or call her on 07724 197830.   We may ask you to confirm you are a decision maker within your organisation. 

This event only costs £15 to attend, and  due to venue restrictions there are only a limited number of places so act now to secure your place.

Directors Only networking event - 5th May

It’s just three weeks until our next Directors Networking event!

It takes place on Thursday 5th May from 3pm to 6pm near Holborn.

For this event our speakers are Mishcon de Reya who will be talking corporate law (with a recruitment sector slant!) and David Leyshon of CBSbutler sharing his own experiences of an MBO.    We’ll also have Chris Ledbury and the team of Hamilton Bradshaw Recruitment Ventures taking questions on MBOs.   As well as all this we have James Caan, with the help of Helen Reynolds, hosting a Q&A session.  It's your opportunity to ask James ANYTHING at all! 

As well as structured and informal networking time we will have breakout sessions with our sponsors. 
We’ve got some great sponsors again for this event.  We’ll be partnering with HBRIDA during all of 2011 for the events but we’ve also got Bullhorn, Broadbean and iResourcer.

This is a networking event JUST for directors of recruitment companies (or inhouse) so unfortunately supplier organisations are not able to register to attend.

If you want to come along to the event you will need to email louise@ukrecruiter.co.uk to get access to the sign up page (just send me a note with the subjects "Directors Event"). I want to mention that we do charge a small fee of £20 to attend the event but as well as the opportunity to meet other recruiters and learn from our other speakers you will get afternoon tea.

If you’re unable to make the 5th May or hold some other role within the recruitment industry you might like to attend our new technology showcase event on the 26th May

Networking Events - May and June

We've got a few networking events coming up in May and June - so here is a quick heads up...

5th May - Directors Only Networking event, 3pm to 6pm, London

26th May - Recruitment Technology Showcase event, 2.30pm to 6pm, London.  This is a brand new event which will give you the opportunity to watch 8-10 companies showcase their individual recruitment technology plus networking and two speakers presentations. 

26th May - Recruiters Network event, 6pm to 9pm, London 

23rd June - Recruiters Network event, in conjunction with The Forum of Inhouse Recruitment Mangers, 6pm to 9pm, London

June (tbc) - Recruiter Network event, in conjunction with #truLeeds, 6pm to 9pm, Leeds

This is just a "save the date" type notice - so if you'd like to come to any of these send me a note and I'll email you registration details in the next couple of weeks.  If you want to share suggestions for any of our events, or know of any potential sponsors please let me know.

#trulondon 3 and Recruiters Networking – February 17th

Bill Boorman’s #trulondon is back from 16th – 18th February with a great mix of track leaders and a new format. Day 1 is the #truMasterclass which sits half way between conference and unconference. All of the speakers will publish either a blog post or white-paper two weeks before the event. Attendees submit questions and the presenters will answer 3 questions in presentation format. It’s a different format to allow for more preparation and detailed answers, and will work well for those who prefer a more structured learning environment.

On the 17th and 18th February it’s pure unconference with 32 one hour tracks over 2 days!  I like the fact that Bill doesn’t refer to the track leaders as experts or gurus but instead says they “are chosen because they know what they are talking about”. Attendees for the unconference will be a mixture of recruiters (agency and inhouse), HR and recruitment industry suppliers.  The tracks range from branding, social recruiting, direct sourcing through to practical areas of business development and technology integration. You choose the tracks you want to attend and as they are all informal you can pop in and out as you wish. 

The attendance for each day is restricted to 100 and you can choose how many days you attend for – ticket info here

Now, if you are going along on the 17th you also need to get an evening pass and come along to our recruiters networking event in the evening.  Even if you aren’t attending during the day you are welcome to sign up for the networking.  It’ll be our usual mix of informal networking, a bit of speed networking (I have my own whistle) and our own expert speakers!  Hope to see you there.

Directors Only Networking Event – 3rd February

It’s just three weeks until our next Directors Networking event!

As with our events in 2010 (which were sell outs!) the objective of this exclusive event is to allow you to discuss the latest issues facing you and your business amongst industry experts and peers.

The event runs on Thursday 3rd February from 3pm to 6pm at the Barclays Building in central London. 

For this event our speakers are Colin Downing (Group Marketing Director) of Randstad, Tracey Dunn (MD) of BlueSky PR and the team from James Caan's investment business, Hamilton Bradshaw.  They will be sharing ideas and advice on the subject of "How to Build your Brand".  James Caan will also be on hand during the Q&A session.

As well as informal networking time we will have breakout sessions with our sponsors.  Networking is an important element of the event so bring your business cards!

We’ve got some great sponsors again for this event.  We’ll be partnering with HBRIDA during all of 2011 for the events but we’ve also got Bullhorn, Fish4, Liquid Friday, Net Natives and Broadbean sponsoring.

This is a networking event JUST for directors of recruitment companies (or inhouse) so unfortunately supplier organisations are not able to register to attend.

If you want to come along to the event you will need to email louise@ukrecruiter.co.uk to get access to the sign up page (just send me a note with the subjects "Directors Event"). I want to mention that we do charge a small fee of £20 to attend the event but as well as the opportunity to meet other recruiters and learn from our other speakers you will get afternoon tea.

If you’re unable to make the 3rd February or if hold some other role within the recruitment industry you might like to attend our recruiters networking evening on the 17th February.  All within the recruitment industry are welcome to attend.  You can find out more or sign up now. 

BraveNewTalent's Facebook App

The problem with using Facebook to find a job is that you don't necessarily want a potential employer seeing wall posts from your dodgy mates, photos of you at the tarts and vicar fancy dress party and comments from you saying what a witch your current boss is. 
 
So BraveNewTalent have launched a Facebook app that "allows users to unlock the power of their personal networks to help them find a job and build relationships with potential future employers....it builds a candidate’s professional profile, but respects their privacy." 
 
If you have information about your education, work history and current employer on Facebook that's what organisations can see. 
 
On the employer side the app takes the employer’s profile from BraveNewTalent.com (saving a second being created) and makes it accessible to Facebook users.   Where the employer posts news, vacancies, tweets and blogs potential candidates can view them from Facebook. As a user (or potential employee) you can "follow" employers without revealing all that personal information which you want to keep to yourself/your mates. 
 
As well as being able to follow companies you can use your network to see where your friends are working and even better where friends of friends work.  The idea being that this could lead to a wider job seeking market.  There is also an "introduction" option within the app so you can make contact with someone in the company of interest.
 
Other features include the ability to search for jobs and share them with friends.
 
Of course the key to success here is to have a large pool of employers using the system.  At present, BraveNewTalent's clients include Bluechip brands such as L'Oreal, Tesco, McAfee and three of the UKs top twenty Law firms with many other large corporate clients in the pipeline for December.
 
I think it's a great idea to facilitate jobseeking within Facebook, there has been talk of how that's not how users want to use the platform.  However, I think all but the most content employee is likely to want to keep their eyes open for new opportunities at all times. 
 
Check out the app or call 0207 734 0400 for more information. 

National Online Recruitment Awards - summary

Last Thursday was our networking event incorporating the National Online Recruitment Awards (NORAs).
 
It was a great event with a huge turnout and lots of very happy winners.
 
I won't do a blow by blow account but there are a few things I'd like to mention
 
a) You can see who the winners were on Stephen's blog.  You should also check out his Malawi Appeal.
 
b) Our photos were taken by Sara Headworth and you can view the networking and award winners on her flickr stream.  You can even buy some of them if you'd like a proper copy!
 
c) You can't run an event like this without loads of hard work.  Mostly I did that.... nope, only joking.  It's a real team effort and Stephen and the guys at 1job did a superb job of the awards.  Their work started nearly 12 months ago and even as I left the event I could see Mark taking down signage, Wai handing out goody bags, Jon "working" the room and James on the decks (I'm assuming that's still the correct terminology for DJing).  Stephen was resting his leg!  I also want to mention my little helper Fliss - who happily does door duty anytime I ask (she is probably available for private hire too!).
 
d) After running recruitment networking events for the past 10 years I'm never surprised at how much recruiters like to socialise.  However, next year I shall be investing in a water cannon to shut everyone up when the awards are being handed out.
 
e) Dan McGuire gave a (very flattering to me!) thank you and goodbye speech as he prepares to leave Broadbean for pastures new.  I met Dan at one of our events a very long time ago and he has been a constant supporter. 
 
f) I'm now starting work on 2011's schedule of events.... so watch this space.

Directors Only Networking Event

 

I've just realised we have just 2 weeks until our next Directors Networking event and I've not yet blogged about it.....

Our  inaugural Directors networking session in association with HB RIDA took place in June. It featured a range of speakers including "dragon" James Caan and judging by the feedback, was a resounding success.  So I thought I'd share my findings:

When asked whether they enjoyed the event we scored a perfect 10 with 100% of respondents replying in the affirmative. “James Caan was so down to earth, good facts and figures and strategically very strong,” said one respondent while another commented: “the presentations were excellent.” 

What’s probably of more interest to you busy people is that 85% of respondents felt that they got real business benefit from the event. One of those was Mark Flawn from technical recruiter F10 who said: “The afternoon’s event highlighted a few interesting items from which I believe my own business will benefit.”

And last – but certainly not least – 80% of attendees said that they would come to another event.  We also had some interesting suggestions  for future sessions such as a speed networking session as an ice breaker and more of an opportunity to ask questions at the presentations.

So... never let it be said that we don’t listen to feedback.  If you enjoyed the last one – or if you missed it  - then we have another event scheduled for 13th October which will feature, by popular request, more networking time and a Q&A session with industry guru and dragon James Caan.  There will also be a legal and financial update from recruitment industry specialists.

Email me if you'd like more informationon how to come along (louise@ukrecruiter.co.uk) - we’d hate you to miss out! 

Networking - round up and looking forward

We held one of our regular Recruiter Networking events on Wednesday at The Square Pig in Holborn.  This is a venue that very comfortably holds 60 people.  However, we managed to squeeze 87 recruitment industry professionals into the room!

We followed basically the same format as for all our recruiter networking events of free drink on arrival (thanks Jobshop HQ, Allthetopbananas and JobSiteAdvisor), networking time, presentation and speed networking.  The differences were that this time the mic wasn't working and I had to do the speed networking myself!  I apologise if it didn't have the same sophisticated and professional edge that Oli Barret normally brings to the occasion.

Lee McQueen (winner of The Apprentice in 2008) was our guest speaker (kindly brought along by Fiona Lander).  He was a very genuine chap (I wanted to write "geezer" but wasn't sure if that passed for a compliment or insult!).  He talked about how he got onto The Apprentice (the lies on his CV!) and how he won (quite simply by trying very hard not to be fired!). 

Once numbers died down a little we also had a debate on Recruitment - Agency vs Inhouse.  Stephen O'Donnell kindly chaired this as my voice was by now in poor shape and our debators were Mervyn Dinen and Gareth Jones vs Gary Franklin and TheHRD (all the links there are to their Twitter profiles as that's where you'll get the best sense of who they are - if you don't know them in real life).  TheHRD has written a follow up blog post, which has some interesting comments, on the debate.

Feedback on the night, and since, has been very positive.  So, we'll be doing it all again in late January or early February.  However, this time I think we'll try for slightly less people in the room!

If you can't wait until them we have two other events this year:

The first is our Recruitment Directors event on Wednesday 13th October.  You can find out more here: http://www.ukrecruiter.co.uk/networking/13oct.htm
The other is the annual National Online Recruitment Awards event (which we run in conjunction with 1job), taking place on the 4th November.  You can register for this event now at: http://www.eventelephant.com/recnet4nov

If you can't make these we should be back, as I say, in January or February with our next set of recruitment networking events.

22nd September Recruiters Network Event

Only a week to go until our final Recruiters Network event of 2010 (although we do have a Recruitment Directors event and our annual NORAs event).

Next Wednesday's event takes place in Central London and kicks off at 6pm.  Our sponsors are AllTheTopBananas.com, JobSiteAdvisor and JobShopHQ.

Thanks to our lovely sponsors we will be giving everyone a free drink on arrival and tickets are only £5 for recruiters to attend.

Our speaker is Lee McQueen who was the 2008 Apprentice winner.  Lee has just set up his own recruitment business and will no doubt be talking about his experiences of the show, working with Alan Sugar and now his new venture. 

We will also have a debate on "recruitment - agency vs inhouse".  Our debaters are Gary Franklin (of The Forum of Inhouse Recruitment Managers), TheHRD (HRD & anonymous blogger), Mervyn Dinnen (of Courtney HR) and Gareth Jones (of The StopGap Group).  All of these guys have strong opinions so I'm very much looking forward to the fight - sorry debate!

If you'd like to come along you can register now.  Tickets purchased on the night are £10 (however we won't be able to guarantee availability).

Hope to see you there!

 

My Massive Recruitment Networking Day

Last Thursday I was at the APSCo Licensing debate (I wrote a bit about it here), followed by our first Recruitment Directors Networking event and then later I attended the Connecting HR Tweetup.
 
It was a fabulous day of networking; meeting with and speaking to many people I've never met before from all aspects of recruitment.
 
Of course the focus for me was our Recruitment Directors event.  We ran it with HB RIDA and with support from our lovely sponsors.  My initial thought was that we'd probably get a fair bit of interest and manage to get about 40 Directors there on the day.  However, we had a superb response and actually had to close registration on the Monday before the event.  We had 85 people in total at the event and feedback so far has been very positive.  Simon Lewis has very kindly written a little summary of the event and presentations.
 
Obviously James Caan was a big draw for many people but it was great that we also had Kevin Barrow and Hetal Popat to speak as well. 
 
After the presentations James stayed around (to sign copies of his book and hear some 3 minute pitches no doubt!) and then we all popped over the road to the pub!
 
The Connecting HR Tweetup was next (this is a London based meet-up for HR people using or interested in social media including Twitter).  I had a great time here too but was too tired to make notes - so luckily you can read thereviews from TheHRD (if you aren't already following him on Twitter - you should be!) and Callum Saunders.
 
So, now back to my desk and we are already planning our next set of networking events! 
 

Networking Review - 10th June

I just wanted to write a quick summary of our networking event last Thursday.

We ran it in our new format and with an intentially smaller group which was split 50/50 between recruiters and suppliers. 

We used a new venue (The Square Pig at Holborn) which I thought suited our needs very well.  It had a totally separate room for us, in which we could control the volume of the music and the brightness of the lights.  It was a shame not to have natural light but you can't have everything!

We were pretty much fully subscribed and had nearly 60 people on the night, Stephen O'Donnell and Fiona Lander both gave brief presentations and Oli Barrett came along to do a 20 minute speed networking session.  We were also able to provide the first drink for free, courtesy of Allthetopbananas.   We had a good mix of attendees from the regulars (including Wendy Cowell, Alan Whitford, David Morgan and Matt Alder) to some brand new faces which I hope to see again.

I had a really great night and as well as the feedback we got on the night we had some very tweets on Twitter (we use the #recnet hashtag) including "had a fantastic time", "Had brilliant night at #recnet last night & met fascinating new people as well as many good friends" and "an excellent event last night in London >> speed networking was a surprise bonus!"

I shall start thinking about dates for the next event - but am happy to take suggestions on speakers and sponsors in the meantime!  If you are a director of a recruitment firm you might want to check out our Recruitment Directors Event on 24th June where we'll have James Caan speaking.

I was also at The FIRM breakfast meeting in the morning with Gary Franklin and if you want to read his review of the event (and ours) he's written a comprehensive blog post.

Maintaining contact with your LinkedIn Contacts

A while back a contact of mine on LinkedIn sent out an email updating his network on ways to stay in touch with him.  I thought it seemed like a nice way of keeping in touch with a large group of people so I decided to do something similar.

It was a great move and now I'm suggesting you do the same!

I have a LinkedIn network of around 5000 contacts.  Yes, I know lots of these people but I certainly don't know all 5000 personally.  Even if I tried really really hard I couldn't keep in touch with them individually.

So what I did was to put together an email with the purpose of:

a) reminding people we shared a network

b) updating them on what I do

c) suggesting ways they can help me

d) giving them all the different ways they can maintain contact with me

AND

e) yes the most important one - ASKING how I can help them!

Despite the fact that you are (probably) a recruiter and I'm a supplier I think you can do exactly the same thing.  Don't worry if you have a mix of "clients" and "candidates".  You can make sure the message you send is relevant to them all.    I'd suggest you:

a) remind them you share a network

b) update them on what you do (where your area of specialism is; maybe pick out a few details from relevant recent assignments)

c) suggest how they can refer colleagues, friends, etc to you for career or business expansion advice

d) give them details of your Twitter ID, Facebook group page, etc (as well as mobile phone number if you like to share that)

AND

e) Ask how you can help them.  Do they need interview advice, tips for psychometric testing, etc (find some web resources to point them towards)?  Do they want to know what you are hearing from others in their sector, can you help with salary benchmarking, etc.

It only took me twenty minutes to write the email (send me a note if you want to see the email I wrote) and about another twenty to send it (the technical bit comes in a minute) but I did have to be sure I'd have the time to respond to EVERYONE who responded to me.

I did get a pretty decent response.  Lots of emails from people telling me they liked the idea and they would be doing something similar as well as a few questions I could quickly answer.  I got a couple of business leads and re-formed some relationships with potential.  I got only one negative response; from someone who told me with a large network (10,000 +) they didn't have time to read emails like mine and would I un-connect from them!  Obviously someone who didn't get the concept of networking at all!

The technical bit (which was kindly provided to me by Mark Williams of (aka Mr LinkedIn) who is an Independent LinkedIn Trainer (He can be contacted at mark@etn-training.co.uk or via www.link2mark.co.uk)

There are two ways to send messages to your connections;

A)    Download their email addresses into a spreadsheet. This is a pretty straightforward process as follows;

1.    Click on "Contacts" at the top of the page. 

2.     Click on the "Export Connections" link in the bottom right area of the "My Connections" page.

3.     Leave the "Export To" field as it is defaulted.

4.     Enter the text you see in the Security image field (if prompted).

5.    Click on the "Export" button. The name of the document saved will be called "linkedin connection export....".

This will include all the email addresses allowing you to copy them and send an email to all (if you are doing this ensure you bcc them so they don't all get each others' email addresses).

B) Send messages to up to 50 connections at a time through LinkedIn (this will also be sent as an email).

This is my preferred method for the following reasons;

· Any message received within LinkedIn contains a direct link to your profile and this allows the receiver to see who you are.

· Messages are less likely to get lost amongst the masses of email spam that people receive from unknown sources.

· Messages can be more targeted by effective use of tagging

It may seem to be a downside to only be able to send 50 at once but I actually think it can encourage you to write a more targeted message and this in turn allows you to contact them more often (there are only so many ‘generic’ messages you can send!)

The key to this is tagging each connection correctly when you first connect. You can easily retrospectively tag your untagged connections by editing tags on multiple connections. All connections are given a default tag by LinkedIn (based on the reason for the connection) but you can create your own tags as well. i.e. Candidate (interim), Candidate (perm) Client (line) Client (HR), Current client, Target client etc or by other things such as industry sector or role. Connections can also have multiple tags ie client (HR) and Current client.

This video gives a clear explanation on how this useful feature works http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZFKR2ltffE

Once contacts are tagged you can then use the tagging to select specific groups to send messages to that are relevant to them.

The issue with both these methods is to avoid being seen as a spammer, any message that is unrequested and unexpected is officially a form of spam so the more relevant you can make the message the better.

Role-play calls with another recruiter

I recently had an email from someone within my network asking for help setting up some regular "coaching" time with another recruiter.
 
He is a sole practitioner recruiter and is looking for someone (outside of his sector) with whom he can role-play recruiter situations.  The idea is to help both parties to sharpen up their client/candidate telephone skills. 
 
All he is suggesting is a half hour conversation once a week, via the phone (or face to face if location would allow).
 
In order for it to be mutually beneficial he'll need to hook up with someone of a similar level of experience.
 

Now, so far he's not managed to start this with anyone, and there doesn’t seem to be much interest in doing it.    What I don't understand is why not?   

I think that most recruiters will admit that they still have areas in which they could improve.  Sharing ideas with someone outside of your niche couldn't harm your business could it?

So, if you are interested please drop me a note or leave a comment.  If you aren't interested I'd love to know the reason why!

What Recruiters Want... from networking events

We did a survey last week asking for some input for our next networking event.

We asked: "which of the following would you like at future networking events?"

In first place was: General networking time
In second place was: Formal presentations from experts
In third place was: Speed networking session

So, as a result, the networking on 10th June is going to include the general networking time as normal plus three fairly brief presentations from experts as well as a speed networking session.   

Interestingly, after being in first place for a while "Free drink on arrival" ended up as "of no importance"!  However, panic not - that traditional element of our networking events shall remain!

We also asked how people felt about having to pay to attend and the majority were either happy to pay or didn't consider it as part of their decision making.  Only 9% said they wouldn't attend on the basis of that.    The reason we charge is to help us cover our costs and also to decrease the percentage of people who just don't turn up on the night!

Finally we asked about the way we limited the number of suppliers to recruiters (to about 40% suppliers and 60% recruiters) at our last event.  60% of respondents said they thought it was a good idea and only 3% said it was a bad idea.

Hopefully we're doing our best to organise the type of networking events that everyone gets benefit from.  If you want to come along to the next one you can register now!

11th March Networking Event

If you are in London next Thursday why not pop along to our very popular evening networking event?  It's taking place near Covent Garden and Charing Cross.

Our networking events are a great opportunity to meet with other professionals operating across all segments of the industry. Anyone working within the recruitment industry is invited to attend; whether a recruiter, researcher, job board, publisher, corporate recruiter or supplier to the industry. 
 
Numbers are limited to create a more business like and balanced environment for networking.  However, don't worry we'll still be offering you a free drink on arrival! 

As well as the opportunity to network we have Alan Whitford (RCEuro), Felix Wetzel (Jobsite) and Raymond Pennie (Kamanchi) hosting a Q&A session.  We are limiting the number of industry suppliers at this event so that the majority of attendees are recruitment professionals.  You can register here:  http://recnet11mar.eventbrite.com/
 
You might also be interested in the Recruitment Consultant conference taking place the same day. UK Recruiter subscribers are entitled to a 10% discount (or a 50% discount when booking a second place).  For further information call Gary King on 0845 094 8022 or visit the site http://www.rec-con.co.uk/conference
 
Finally, if you wish to pay on the door (and there is space on the night) the cost is £10 (cash only please).
 
Hope to see you there!

Recruitment Unconference un-reviewed

Bill Boorman and Geoff Webb hosted the second UK recruitment unconference last week. If you live outside of Twitter it may have passed you by (although I do understand Bill also promoted the event on LinkedIn)!

Following one day of "sourcing" experts sharing their knowledge were two days of recruitment focussed knowledge sharing.

I was only able to attend for one day and even then missed the last session. The two sessions I sat in on from start to finish were "The Social Media Circus" and "Recruiter Big Brother" (which was actually about the use of video in recruitment).  My plan had been to produce a write up of learning points to share. 

However, the joy of attending an event where lots of other bloggers are present is that one (or many!) of them are bound to have written up their notes better than you.

So what I want to share are the best roundups out there.

I have to kick off with Matt Alder's "TRULondon – the very good, the slightly bad and the tiny bit ugly".  Totally agree with all his points.  Superb networking*, very un-superb organisation (on the day I attended).  Overall very worthwhile attending.

Mervyn Dinnen shared his thoughts on "Networking, Learning but I still got Those Talking Gen Y Blues"

Alan Whitford's summary of "TruLondon II Day One"

The Red Recruiter's Day one roundup

I'm sure there are more summaries to come and I shall add them here when I spot them!

In the meantime here are a few related blogs which I thought I'd mention:

Andy Headworth took the opportunity to interview the lovely Jim Stroud on "Where will social media be in recruitment in two years time?" 

Mike  Taylor also interviewed Jim about "Using Online Video In Recruitment"

Jessica (who is Blogging 4 Jobs) wrote a "Man, I love your accent" type blog.

Raj Anand conducted a few Videos interviews with recruitment experts at the event

And Wendy Jacob took a load of photos (although I'd like to find that one of me eating fish and chips so elegantly with my fingers!)

If you need MORE than this then tune into the event twitter steam at #trulondon

* I also want to say what an absolute pleasure it was to catch up with so many fabulous people at the event.  People I've known for years but never met, people I've heard about but never previously been introduced to and a load of old friends!  Thanks for facilitating that Bill.

Finding Recruitment Tweeps

Twitter continues to be an important tool to help us connect with the UK Recruiter community.  I'd like to think we use it to help the community (re-tweeting enquiries, requests for help with assignments and answering questions) as much as using it to promote ourselves (networking events, advertising space on the site, questions around research for articles/blogs).  Our Twitter network has grown (2287 followers for our UK Recruiter account and 884 for Louise's) but it's a constant challenge to ensure we are following the right people.  To help this we've created a list of recruitment related Twitter users (Tweeps) who are happy to be followed by anyone: http://tweepml.org/UK-Recruiters-on-Twitter/

If you log onto Twitter you can follow them all in one go.  If you are on Twitter and want to be added to the list you just need to fill in the form: http://tweepml.org/TweepGen/suggest.aspx?g=19eadc4125f24b94b67538acad6a3f1c

Of course this isn't the only way to find recruiters on Twitter.  You can do a search on twellow (yellow pages for Twitter) or check out the "lists" created (within Twitter) of some high profile Twitter users.  For example the UK Recruiters list from UK Sourcers.

Also, don't forget, there is a Guide to Twitter available via our UK Recruiter Plus site.

Recruiter Network Event - 11th March

Our next Recruiters Networking event is taking place on the evening of 11th March in central London.  It'll be a similar format to other events with drinks on arrival, lots of opportunities to chat with other recruitment professionals plus a recruiter Q&A session with Alan Whitford (RCEuro), Felix Wetzel (Jobsite) and Raymond Pennie (Kamanchi). 

 

The event takes place on the evening of the Recruitment Consultant conference.  So it could be a good opportunity to "kill two birds with one stone".  Gary at Recruitment Consultant magazine is offering a discount to UK Recruiter subscribers.  If you book one ticket you get a  10% discount and if you can get a 50% discount when booking a second place.  For more information on this you can Gary King on or visit the site (enter UK Recruiter in the comments book to get your discount).

 

Back to our networking event.... last year we had over 150 people at each event and for 2010 we are taking the brave step of downsizing; in order to give people the opportunity to network with a large percentage of the attendees we are going to be hosting smaller events.  We'll limit the number of industry suppliers at the event so there is a larger proportion of recruiters and we are limiting overall number to 60 to 80 attendees.

 

If you want to come along simply register now

Networking and National Online Recruitment Awards

Last Thursday we ran a recruiters networking event which also hosted the annual National Online Recruitment Awards (NORAs).

There was a superb turnout on the night with nearly 250 recruitment industry professionals in attendance.

Our sponsors were TheLadders and Astoria Rec2Rec - joined by a great line-up of awards sponsors from 1job.

After a spot of general networking and drinking activity (with the sponsors enjoying the VIP room with the "interesting" smoked salmon served in hot dog rolls!) we had a few sessions of speed networking organised by Natalie Campbell.  Then it was onto the awards. 

Stephen O'Donnell was the compere for the night and he entered the stage to the theme from Kill Bill (it was fairly dramatic and all that was required was a bit of dry ice to finish the scene perfectly). Each award was presented by the relevant category sponsor and the winners were:

BEST GENERALIST JOB BOARD: http://www.jobsite.co.uk
BEST SPECIALIST (NICHE) JOB BOARD: http://www.retailchoice.com
BEST REGIONAL JOB BOARD: http://www.key103jobs.co.uk/
BEST NATIONAL RECRUITMENT AGENCY WEBSITE: http://www.rhr.co.uk
BEST SMALL RECRUITMENT AGENCY WEBSITE: http://www.mccarthyrecruitment.com/
BEST NATIONAL EMPLOYER’S WEBSITE: http://www.armyjobs.mod.uk
BEST SMALL EMPLOYER’S WEBSITE: http://join.gcsltd.com
BEST ONLINE RECRUITMENT BY A CONSUMER PUBLICATION: http://jobs.guardian.co.uk/
BEST ONLINE RECRUITMENT BY A TRADE PUBLICATION: http://www.drapersjobs.com/
BEST EMPLOYMENT ADVICE WEBSITE: http://www.careerplayer.com
BEST NEWCOMER IN ONLINE RECRUITMENT: http://www.careerplayer.com
BEST INNOVATION IN ONLINE RECRUITMENT: http://www.twitterjobsearch.com
 
Representatives of all the winners (expect one which I won't mention as I understand he was meant to be there!) were there to collect their awards.  There was some disappointment that the chap from The Army wasn't in uniform - but you can't have everything.  We'll have photos of all the winners receiving their awards available in the next day or so.  I managed to get myself up on stage by pulling the business card for the bottle of champagne given away by Perms Connect.
 
After the awards it was back to the networking with the winners receiving congratulations and buying celebrationary rounds of drinks. 
 
It was a great night and as usual a pleasure to work with Stephen and his team from 1job.  If you want to follow Twitter chatter about the event you should use the hashtag #NORAs and you can follow http://twitter.com/TheNORAs
 
Details of 2010's events will be coming soon!

APSCo Charity Ball

If you like a good party and the opportunity to do your bit for charity you should be attending the APSCo Venetian Masquerade Charity Ball on Friday 27th November.  The ball is in aid of Childline and in previous years they have raised a very significant amount of money for the charity.

Last year's event had a "lost in space" theme and raised over £70,000.

It's a very popular event and one which is a testament to our indsutry.  If you want more inforamtion (and to see phtoso from last year's event) visit the APSCo website.

Networking - 5th November

We are just a few weeks away from our next networking event so thought I ought to do a quick update.  This event combines our standard networking with the newly introduced speed networking session that was so popular last time - as well as hosting the National Online Recruitment Awards run by alljobsuk. 
 
Our sponsors for the event are TheLadders who specialise in vacancies in the £50,000 + salary range.  They'll be there on the night helping us man the door!
 
If you've not registered to attend yet you need to do so before the end of play on the 2nd November. If you don't register then we can't guarantee entry on the night (and we'll be charging a fee for you to get in).  You can find out more about the event and our sponsors on the registration page.

Is LinkedIn a PSL Selection Tool

In the newly designed Recruiter magazine there is a new backpage feature (I'm assuming it's a regular feature) called In-House Hannah.  The crux of the "story" is how when vetting recruiters for a PSL she checked them out on LinkedIn .... "Yet some 40% were obviously not networking. I worked out that the 37 PSL contacts were linked directly to less than 1,000 people. I am personally linked to over 5,000! Yet I am being asked to pay money for these people to find me candidates. How does that work? Where is the value to me? Perhaps one of the so called ‘consultants’ could explain to me why I need to pay them when they are obviously taking me for a ride?"
 
I'd like to start out by saying we are big fans of LinkedIn here at UK Recruiter.  We've even got our own group.
 
LinkedIn is fabulously useful in finding out background information about someone.  However, one does have to bear in mind that it's information they have entered themselves and the number of connections they have may have nothing at all to do with how well connected they are. 
 
One of the best recruiters I know has 90 connections on LinkedIn.  She is without doubt superbly networked - just not via LinkedIn. 
 
Often there is no love lost between Agency and In-house recruiters but even so I think this is a cheap shot.
 
How can it make sense to use just one "tool" to determine the worth of any other individual.  So Hannah has crossed most (all?) of these recruiters off her PSL list based on the fact they have less connections than her.  As a recruiter does she base her decision making in the selection process on one element of what she sees; how the candidate dresses, what their hobbies on their CV are, how they came across in a two minute interview booking phone call, a reference from 5 years back? 
 
However, don't get me wrong, all recruiters would do themselves a favour if they did have a great LinkedIn profile with a good solid connection base.  To that end .... (shameless plug) .... check out our LinkedIn Guide for Recruiters!!
 

Networking Caption Competition

Someone here had a great idea to add captions to some photos from the last networking event to show the sort of people attending and the business conversations they were likely to be having.  Whilst it seemed like a good idea in principle it turns out that adding captions to photos is a specialist skill I do not have. 

So, I thought we'd make it into a competition.  On the networking webpage there are five photos all requiring SENSIBLE business captions.  If you suggest one that we use you will get free entry to the next networking event on the 5th November 2009. 

Just email your suggestion(s) to louise@ukrecruiter.co.uk