Let me start by saying that I am a LinkedIn advocate. Having used it for approaching 20 years, it should be a friend when boasting 24,000+ connections. Having a professional networking site like a Facebook networking platform is particularly useful in recruitment. And I really like how we can run pages for our specialist recruitment company, share knowledge, assistance, intelligence, and job opportunities to those who follow. I also like how I can follow companies and inspirational leaders too. But Microsoft has cottoned on very quickly on how to build a business out of this platform, charging lots of monies for their services. And I mean lots. However, there is a huge problem – this is encouraging companies and staffing firms to becoming clones of each other, in regard to how they now hire or attract talent…
…If everyone only uses Linked In, then you will not get different outcomes or unique results.
I understand and respect that advertising a role on LinkedIn it is cheaper than using a recruiter, and it also sends out a positive message to those who are on the platform that the relevant company is hiring. However, is everyone on LinkedIn actively searching for work? No. Is every jobseeker only using LinkedIn to find a new opportunity? No. Does advertising a role on LinkedIn also send out a message that the company is more concerned about costs than attracting and investing in the right talent? Yes. Especially considering we hear nothing but negative feedback from hiring managers post-LinkedIn advertising campaigns, and how this process does not attract enough relevant and sometimes quality profiles for them to consider.
Some companies are reluctant to use a recruiter after a LinkedIn campaign has finished because they have already paid a fee to LinkedIn. Considering most hires are urgent, you have then wasted time trying to focus on what LinkedIn brings, when you can have at least asked a specialist recruitment company to show you what candidates they have at the same time. A contingent recruitment process is free to see CVs and interview those candidates represented by a staffing agency and can add instant comparison to what profiles and interest you have generated yourself via LinkedIn (and other sources).
What flabbergasts me is that now it feels that LinkedIn is fast becoming the go-to platform, preferred and sometimes a sole strategy to try and attract talent. I would argue that it is killing the recruitment market, and as mentioned we hear many negative stories about how unsuccessful it is for businesses. Much to the profitability of Microsoft.
It is worth highlighting that I meet many recruiters as part of my hiring processes, and it is annoying to hear that most businesses train their staff to predominantly use LinkedIn to find candidates. I always have to ask an interviewee to detail other ways they find candidates, and most are sometimes flummoxed. How can they find a different candidate to their competition, to stand a chance of making a fee, and to be able to service their client well by giving them a plethora of options to chose from.
You cannot just rely on LinkedIn. Everyone is theoretically fishing in the same pool of potential candidates as everyone else, not forgetting how many recruiters will then approach a prospective client, “chasing a lead” as you have announced to the world you are hiring. Which must be frustrating for the hiring team or manager, to receive so many unsolicited approaches. So many companies are still (after a week or two of paying the noticeable LinkedIn fees) are sitting on their hands magically waiting for the perfect “unicorn” of a profile to press “easy apply.” This is not going to attract the best talent. You can’t even contact a potential candidate unless you pay a substantial amount to buy InMail credits / upgrade your subscription (another great revenue stream from Microsoft), nor can you talk to anyone unless you are connected to them, and if you do connect and don’t change your settings, then LinkedIn announces your new connection to all of their network. And let us face it, LinkedIn fees are increasing well above inflation rates too. The price for recruiters is incredibly high.
This soleless advertising process, which gives companies the chance to filter through the applicants, gives opportunity to not even send an acknowledgement, or update the candidate on their application. This is the biggest issues we constantly hear from candidates, where they are not receiving any update nor have a point of contact to follow up with to make them standout in the crowd of applicants. This lack of communication will not paint your company in a good light. Not forgetting that the only candidates you will see apply are the same candidates who are realistically applying for multiple roles (whether they are relevant or not), and where they are entertaining multiple roles, then counteroffers will be rife when competing for that one good candidate which everyone has found. It becomes a dog fight to hire them, leading to inflated salaries. You will realistically only see the candidates waving the “pick me” flag, who typically have the time to actively look at LinkedIn 24hours a day, and tech-savvy enough to follow this process. We find that the best candidates are more passive on LinkedIn. However, many people are spending less time on Linked In now due to sheer volume of unsolicited approaches they are receiving. It is becoming annoying for many – no one really likes unsolicited approaches or sales. Even I get on average twenty messages from people trying to sell me everything for energy in my office, telephone deals, “get fit in 30 days” services. The list goes on.
I have had many hiring managers say to me they know when one of their team is looking to move on, and that is because it is as soon as someone updates their LinkedIn profile! #opentowork! Consider this – do you think that potential candidates are going to announce on LinkedIn, in front of all their connections and potential colleagues, that they are looking for work! Not if they are employed. But by ticking the “open to opportunities” button, or updating your profile, it certainly sends out that message to their network.
Every company looking to hire should always try and attract their own talent directly. This is something we promote. No one will ever sell their own company, team, role, and culture with credibility as well as their own staff or hiring teams. But please consider the situation where the person who is leading their campaign is not skilled in recruitment, like us professionals who are well trained – this is what we do for a living and how we pride ourselves on partnering with the businesses we staff. This could cause an unsuccessful recruitment process, especially when most peoples LinkedIn profiles are not as detailed as their CV, and their relevant skills are not displayed to successfully obtain an interview. We should also highlight that sometimes candidates’ applications can be enhanced and sometimes perverted, especially with how AI on LinkedIn will help draft an application and messages on LinkedIn now. This is a recipe for disaster for candidates, exaggerating their talent or writing abilities, and just creates a false impression of their skills.
Businesses should be asking their current employees for recommendations at first, because if they are good enough to work them, then realistically so will someone that they deem good enough to work there too. “Ducks fly with ducks” is an old saying one of my first ever recruitment managers used to say to me. But if your asking of internal recommendations process is exhausted, you should use a specialist recruiter because this is what we do every day and night. We find candidates that you cannot find yourself, and a lot of our candidate attraction derives from asking good or relevant candidates for a recommendation.
Job seekers like using recruiters because we provide a consultative experience, where we can give guidance on their resume, share knowledge of the company, what the hiring manager is looking for, assist with their interview preparation, and act a broker throughout the process. Clients seem to have somehow forgotten that this benefits their hiring and interview processes too.
The number of roles we see, after an unsuccessful LinkedIn campaigns, is significant. Many in fact. And from companies that we have long standing relationships with. Largely because of the sheer volumes of irrelevant profiles that are received because you can hit the “easy apply” button without qualification. We are not saying do not use LinkedIn but just do not rely on it. It does not yield the best results. It is not unique. It wastes a lot of time. Yes, you might find that unicorn, and yes, it is cheaper than a recruitment fee, but it certainly feels like LinkedIn is killing the recruitment world. It is cloning everyone.
We are just pleased our clients come back to us to step in to resolve their staffing issues when LinkedIn does not give the results they are looking for.
20 Years. Wow, 20 Years! This month I celebrate that I have been recruiting the Operations and Middle Office world for 20 years.
Recruitment is a challenging job. It requires persistence, thick skin, and determination. But nothing beats a good honest day’s work, enthusiasm, and a smile. The cornerstones of how I have lived and breathed my career to date, and how I train others to embrace the hurdles and challenges thrown at you daily. People come from all different walks of life and backgrounds, have unique desires; by being able to give everyone a chance, and to just be honest and try for them, then hopefully your reputation will be positive.
My recruitment journey started following the devastation of 9/11, when made redundant from JP Morgan and had to find my own job ringing around my counterparts and contacting companies directly. A former manager rang me and asked if I wanted to do it for other people as a recruiter. The rest is history. To be a success, you must be able to navigate the ever changing landscape that recruitment throws at you.
During my time I have seen many things. Good and Bad. Smartphones, Social Media, Emojis/Memes, GPS, and Wi-Fi have become prominent. No one watches live tv and streams what they want to watch. Climate change is real, with people buying electric cars and recycling more. Not forgetting Boris telling us to stay home for the best part of two years whilst a pandemic swept the globe.
We are now living in a financial services world where we see computers trading the markets. FinTech firms are more trusted than high street banks. Crypto currencies now exist. We are almost living in a cashless environment. However, nothing will ever compare to recruiting during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Those were the darkest of days, yet I still managed to produce successful high achieving recruitment solutions whilst others struggled. Those times really contributed to deciphering what is needed to be a proven and tenured industry recruiter.
Maintaining relationships is of paramount importance, whether you are a client, candidate, or vendor, and you must treat each person you meet with respect. You will never know when you will need to reengage with them again, and it should then be accommodating.
Throughout the years I have met thousands of people, got to know them, and tried my very bet to make sure I have done everything I can to help. I have seen careers blossom, watch people become well trained, seen many counterparts get married and start families, and proud to have assisted hundreds of businesses and thousands of job seekers with their employment needs. I have worked with some incredibly talented recruiters, supported many inspirational leaders, made lots of friends, suffered with many hangovers, and have some rather hilarious and sometimes flabbergasting recruitment stories to tell.
Without you all, I could not have had the amount of success I have achieved. Whilst I am yet to see England win a major footballing championship or my golf game reach single figure handicap, I am however proudly married with 2 beautiful daughters, and the owner of one of the go-to names in Financial Services Recruitment. I am so proud to say I am the owner of CassonX and how we have built its strong market perception.
Thank you to everyone who has made the last 20 years so enjoyable.
Working Conditions are changing. Again.
I have been reminiscing on my tenured experience of recruiting into Financial Services. In particular the buzz of the City of London for 5 days a week.
It was only a few years back where one of the most important parts of going to work was to build face time with peers and seniors, to help credibility with career advancements and enhancing camaraderie. Not forgetting the fun factor too. It’s crazy to think that this was almost eradicated when COVID descended upon us.
Times have changed, we are now in a huge transition with working conditions, taking our journey back to pre-COVID times.
We are finding that remote roles are almost extinct, that’s for sure. Most firms are still adopting a 3/2 or 4/1 routine, however, there is a surge in companies now insisting on 5 days in the office, and is becoming normal again.
We get lots of candidates coming to us because their companies are enforcing 5 days in the office, and justified with lots of research out there that proves there is less productivity with companies that adopt weekly WFH arrangements. Employees have become accustomed to the new routine of it all – less commuting time and saving money on commuter costs, and yes, being able to take delivery on that all important item you need.
What I find flabbergasting is that we still get job applications of recent graduates who still want to work fully remote, with no idea of what the City used to be like, and expect to be rewarded and have impatient desires for career advancements
My team here at CassonX have seen that many companies now want to do face to face interviews again, not exclusively video, and certainly with those who have a 4/1 or 5 day in office week policy.
Fast forward 3 years, I think everyone will be back to 5 days in office, except for the much larger firms who want to save on office space, and can have more processing type of roles that can be done at home without supervision.
And just to think, 10 years ago I was reminiscing of working in the City where there was open outcry stock markets, and not just seeing it on Trading Places or The Wolf of Wall Street.
I wonder what I will be reminiscing on in 10 years to come…
Candidates who fall into the 1 to 4 years’ of experience bracket have always been the most in demand type of profile recruiters are asked to find.
I have recruited during a couple of recessions, including the turmoil of the financial crisis post 2009, and I can honestly say that in my 18 year career specialising in Operations and Middle Office recruitment, the current market for these types of less experienced hires is one of the hardest and most challenging I have witnessed.
The main issue that we are facing is that most companies are only just starting to run graduate recruitment scheme, potentially the first since the summer of 2019, which consequently means that there is a distinct lack of individuals who fall in the 0 to 3 years’ experience bracket. Whilst CassonX has been able to find those who have that level of experience for many companies, because of the sheer demand for this talent, it means that they are commanding salaries that are indicative of those who traditionally have between 4 and 7 years’ experience. It also means that actively searching candidates have a plethora of job opportunities to choose from, with most of these individuals not wanting to just do the same job in a company just for a little bit more money. This has been the typical hiring strategy for many years. Consider that a lot of businesses will give them the chance to move into roles with an opportunity to develop and learn/do more, deemed more of an “exciting” opportunity than the traditional entry level Operations where they might have trained.
Very intriguingly, in most instances where the lucky few have managed to secure a role within Operations over the last couple of years, their working career dictates that they haven’t even been into the office five days a week and only ever experienced hybrid working conditions. Trying to attract this junior talent is very challenging, so the knock on effect mean that those with 4 to 7 years’ experience are the most inexperienced people that most employers can find available, and making that level of experience very demanding and competitive too. Candidates are demanding substantially more when moving for the same type of role. As example, candidates aren’t moving for a standard 4/5% increase, they are able to command £10,000 pay rises with probably rounding it up to the next £5,000 marker. And most companies are willing to pay it to attract the talent they want and be competitive.
Trying to educate some potential employers about this current climate and market conditions has been the hardest part of our role as a trusted recruitment partner, especially if they haven’t had to hire for a period of time and seen this recruitment spike. It is also worth highlighting there has be a ton of hiring in the Operations market in the last 6 months, and concequently many previously available candidates are now not available having secured roles. Realistically, there are certainly no large pools of good candidates sitting at home unemployed given the sheer volumes of roles we have seen.
It’s not only enticing that is very difficult, especially if companies can’t offer video style interviews and insist on face to face interviews, but also companies are really struggling with retaining their staff also. I am starting to experience many of my clients talking to me about offering retention incentives and other creative ways they are trying to keep their staff from having their heads turned. Especially as the cost of living has substantially increased this year too. The best advice I have given everyone considering a retention bonus is to make sure that this is on top of what they are already doing, and not, as example, as a substitute to a bonus they are receiving. It is becoming lot more standard in the industry that those working in Operations have a 3 months’ notice period as standard also. Unfortunately this does not fend off interest from other firms though.
Only 3 years ago I recall talking to businesses about people who wanted to only work 3 days in the office, and this was almost laughable. Because of the recent pandemic, the hybrid working model has now become a normality. Can you believe that candidates are now looking for even more flexibility than that! Especially when this is only what they have experienced hybrid conditions with their careers so far.
CassonX have really struggled sourcing talent for opportunities with companies where they want their employees in the office five days a week, or even host interviews in a face-to-face capacity. This is deemed much less favourable and given the huge amount of opportunities available to candidates, they have quite bluntly rejected the chance to even meet with them given the variety of options available. Unbelievably, some candidates are now demanding a chance to work from home at every single day of the week, which is not something CassonX agrees with for many reasons – especially for building camaraderie, but is showcasing and indicative of the new working conditions in the modern world that we are working towards.
We are also now passed the period where people are “lucky to still have a job”, and if an employee hasn’t been rewarded with pay rises or bonuses, then I can almost guarantee they will be looking for a new role, after committing and remaining loyal during this abnormal pandemic period. Even if they aren’t actively looking, then given the aggressive marketing strategies available on social media platforms, and of course LinkedIn, then I can guarantee they would have received communication from at least one recruiter at some stage offering a golden carrot to leave.
It is very much a candidate lead market at the moment, please do consider how the market has changed over the last year before hiring talent at this level.
CassonX are very happy to discuss any of this information with those that are looking to hire talent, and how best to be successful in this climate.
