Are we are a dying breed?

In the last 6-mths I have seen 'career recruiters' departing from the market which is possibly a sign of the times or it might be people making the call that IT recruitment isn't a career for them. For me it is all I know, so I need to be good at it otherwise I don't know what I would do.

It is certainly not an easy job or career but it is unbelievably rewarding and effectively we get paid to talk to people and to listen to people. We have the opportunity to meet some of New Zealand's most innovative and entrepreneurial IT people, help their organisations grow but also have the chance to better ourselves by seeing their behaviours and drivers.

For those that are willing to make it a career, it certainly becomes easier the more you deliver to your clients and soon you will be the only recruiter they call - that does far too easy, but it happens (is that sounding like Rachel Hunter).

Doing it yourself!!

We are seeing a handful of organisations (largely government) looking to get staff themselves via internet and print based avenues. For certain roles this will absolutely work for certain roles (Helpdesk is one job that comes to mind) in this marketplace - but they will be swamped with applications (expect in excess of 100). But what we are seeing is that organisations will spend maybe four / six weeks going through a process and then coming out asking for help. My point is, I would hate to think how much time, effort, productivity and money has been wasted in that period.

An example comes to mind that occurred earlier this year which if they had asked themselves the hard question "are we best to do this" they would of saved a huge amount of time, saved some people getting highly stressed, saved some money and they would have had a person on sooner than what they did:

- A SOE needed to recruit a new role - strong response - seven people interviewed - none of the seven deemed appropriate - another ad on Trade Me and SEEK - another reasonable response - four people interviewed - none of the four deemed appropriate. Then we get a phone call and I wouldn't say it was the easiest role to fill, but what was needed was some headhunting - ringing some people whom were comfortable in their role and tempting them with an opportunity. This organisations approach was 'well there must be a lot of people looking for a job, we will be right', and they were correct on the quantity point, but not right when it came to the quality!

By no means am I absolutely against organisations watching costs in these market conditions, but all I ask is that they think seriously whether they are in the best position / have the best resource and know the people they need before commencing a process.

Recruiting Blind

In some instances we get put into a situation where we have to work off a JD, without a conversation or a meeting with the line / hiring manager. I have seen it happen with our team at 920. There are many reasons why a lot of the times it certainly makes the task at hand even harder:

- It is great to hear it from 'the horses mouth' why this is such a great role
- We can talk to people about the type of person they will be reporting too - this may persuade or dissuade individuals (either way it helps)
- A JD doesn't necessary tell you the top three 'absolute must have's'
- A JD doesn't talk about the the key projects that lay ahead for the person and what benefits being involved will have for them

From a line / hiring managers point of view a 15 / 20 minute investment is certainly going to assist as if not you may receive profiles which for whatever reason doesn't match your needs. My advice - make the small investment and save yourself some time and pain in the future.

Recruiting in Auckland & Wellington before Xmas

An observation that I have seen in the last 6-weeks is that there is noticeable difference between Hiring Managers in Auckland and Wellington.

Wellington - Managers want to make decisions before Xmas and I quote "I’ll hire the right person (if you can find them for me) this side of Xmas" - even Government departments are making decisions before Xmas

Auckland - "we won't have time to get things done so we will hold off making any decisions until late January".

Don't you love recruiting in Wellington!!!

Recruiters Consolidating??

Recently we have seen a couple of local IT Recruitment businesses get sold / merge. Recently Duncan & Ryan were acquired by Talent2 (an Aussie based, ASX listed recruitment firm) and the word on the street is that some smaller recruiters are looking to merge.

Why is this?

- Is it because people simply find it to hard and want a little more protection by being part of a bigger player?

- Is it that they were simply offered some great money for their business?

- Is it that some people are concerned about the upcoming election and the impact that could have on their business?

- Is there no room for small players (those who have two or three staff) in the marketplace?

Anyway nice work Bruce (from Duncan & Ryan), hopefully you got a good price:)