Some say that the difference between a recruiter and a recruitment consultant is in the way that the recruiter simply makes placements whereas a true recruitment consultant is someone that makes placements and, in addition, adds value to both his candidates and end user clients by consulting as well as closing the deals. One example of failing the ‘consultant test’ would be the recruiter who promotes accountancy or umbrella organisations purely on the basis of arbitrary criteria such as the pen they provided him or her with or, worse still, whether a financial inducement was offered! Experience shows that this can have significant consequences.

Credibility within the recruitment sector needs to be enhanced so that it can truly call itself a profession. Some suggest licensing or even qualified recruitment practitioners. Whatever your view most would agree that our people must ‘add value’. Yet many recruitment businesses avoid compiling and maintaining a panel of service providers. Some suggest it is a commercial risk, that it prevents impartiality or that it may lead to service issues. Whatever the sentiment, commercial logic dictates that there is a far greater risk in avoiding addressing the issue.

Source : Recruiter.

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Vacancies can’t be filled successfully unless the job has been accurately defined in the first place. This is as helpful for you, the employer, as it is for potential candidates. Think about what skills, knowledge and experience you are looking for.

Writing a job description
Preparing and writing a job description is not a legal requirement but it can be useful for:

-deciding the scope of the job
-making clear to job applicants what they will have to do in the job
-writing a job advertisement or briefing an employment agency
-assessing a job holder’s performance
-working out a new employee’s training needs

A job description should include:

-the job title
-the position in the company including the job titles of the person the employee reports to and of those who report to them, if any
-the location of the job
-a summary of the general nature and objectives of the job
-a list of the main duties or tasks of the employee

The person specification
You might find it helpful to write down the qualities you are looking for in a person to fill the job that is vacant. This includes the knowledge, experience and skills you would like them to have. Separate these into those which are essential for the job and those which are not essential but would be helpful. It’s essential not to discriminate unfairly – see the Business Link guide on how to prevent discrimination and value diversity.

A person specification is not a legal requirement but will be useful in:

-writing a job advertisement or using an employment agency
-defining the essential factors you are looking for so that you can reject unsuitable applicants
-defining desirable, but not essential, features so you can choose the most suitable candidate
-making sure the individual will help to fulfil the aims of your business

Managers
If you are recruiting a manager you will also want to identify what level of responsibility they will hold and draft the job description to reflect that.

The recruitment process should be structured so as to help you to identify the candidate most able to do a job at this level, for example whether they demonstrate leadership and strategic thinking.

Directors: executive and non-executive
The first directors are appointed when the company is registered. Subsequently a nominations committee of the board of directors will need to oversee the recruitment and interviews of new directors and non-executive directors.

Source : Recruitment Times.

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A tenth of employers believe degrees are pointless, while three out five would choose experience over qualifications.

According to a poll of 1,561 managing directors across the UK by studentgems.com, 61% of recruiters are more likely to hire an applicant with relevant experience rather than one with a degree or other qualifications.

With more than three million students currently studying for degrees in the UK, studentgems.com estimate nearly half will struggle to find themselves a job relevant to their chosen career path.

The survey shows 19%, of employers would hire an applicant with two years’ experience but no qualifications in preference to another applicant with no experience but an honours degree. Of those employers, 11% said qualifications bore little importance in their shortlisting process.

But less than a quarter (23%) of employers would not consider someone without qualifications for a role if they did not have qualifications, according to the survey.

Sue Harrison, co-founder of studentgems.com, said: “With the current economic climate, job vacancies are receiving large amounts of interest and it is becoming more and more competitive – a reason many graduates are struggling to find jobs relevant to their degrees.

“One of the core aims of our site is to put those in education in front of employers, to encourage students to seek out relevant part-time work rather than retail or bar work. We recommend students spend time on preparing their CVs and put great care into improving their experience in their chosen study field in order to make them as employable as possible.”

The results highlighted five specific industries that value experience over qualifications:

1 Sales – 72% admitted they preferred relevant experience over qualifications

2 Catering – 70%

3 Graphic design – 69%

4 Photography – 67%

5 Care work- 64%

Source : HR Magazine

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