Every year JBM hosts a thank you drinks in honour of our amazing clients and candidates and 2017 was no different.
The evening’s entertainment included a rather suave caricaturist, a soulful Jazz set, good food and of course many drinks, complemented by the stunning London cityscapes as seen from the 24th floor of The Shard.
JBM looks a little different to last year after growing to a team of six, but one thing remains the same – we are here to change hearts and minds about recruitment.
During the evening’s festivities we took the opportunity to gain some insight from our clients and candidates on what makes a positive and smooth recruitment process, though if there’s one thing we learnt from last year, it’s that after a couple of glasses of vino no one wants to fill in a questionnaire.
Our alternatives came in the form of throwing a CV into a paper bin, placing a fork in the tin which describes what ‘forks’ you off about recruiters and a sweet into a jar which represents what you find ‘sweetest’ about recruiters. Disclaimer: despite the access to hard boiled sweets and forks no recruiters were harmed by the participants of these exercises.
Here’s what we found out…
‘Does your CV represent you’?
Almost 50% responded NO to this question, which is significant. Why is it that our CVs don’t represent us? A CV can be an excellent means of outlining objective, technical experience but more often than not it stops there.
A word document can never get across personality, or an individual’s quirks and potential cultural fit which are an ever more important aspect of working life. A good recruiter can (and should) be adding value to clients and candidates alike by filling the gap in representation between an individual and their CV.
What ‘forks you off’ about Recruiters?
A significant majority highlighted uniformed recruiters as the main reason they become frustrated in a recruitment process. The message seemed to be; how can you expect someone to get excited or intrigued by an opportunity if you can’t elaborate on the role, the client or their place within the industry? There are many reasons why a recruiter may not be fully informed but JBM
The message seemed to be; how can you expect someone to get excited or intrigued by an opportunity if you can’t elaborate on the role, the client or their place within the industry? There are many reasons why a recruiter may not be fully informed but JBM has been looking at ways to counter this. For example, our candidates and clients deliver bespoke training sessions or ‘Learning Lunches’ on industry trends to our team. As well as seeking new ways to better understand and work more closely with our clients, we’re always searching for ways to innovate and improve the recruitment process.
For example, our candidates and clients deliver bespoke training sessions or ‘Learning Lunches’ on industry trends to our team. As well as seeking new ways to better understand and work more closely with our clients, we’re always searching for ways to innovate and improve the recruitment process.
What is the ‘Sweetest’ thing about a Recruiter?
We found that what candidates most want from their recruiter is consultative career coaching. Now you may think a recruitment firm built on honesty, transparency and career coaching may have tampered with the evidence on this one but I can promise you that there were three times as many sweets in that jar than any other option. The other options being honesty, speed and a selection of opportunities.
To bring the insights from the event full circle, it would seem clients and candidates look to recruiters to best represent them and a recruiter is only empowered do to this if they are knowledgeable. Most importantly the “sweetest” recruiters are also coaches, offering honest and consultative advice on the next career move. To some
Most importantly the “sweetest” recruiters are also coaches, offering honest and consultative advice on the next career move. To some extent, these findings are not unusual or shocking but there is nothing wrong with being reminded of the basics and why they are so important.
In short, JBM is very grateful to everyone playing a part in our journey to change hearts and minds about recruitment. We certainly are not there yet but we are eager to innovate, adapt and improve the recruitment process whilst keeping those all-important basics in mind. The next step on that journey comes with our newest hire, Alice and we can’t wait to tell you more about her in our next rambling!
