Employment across the UK is up according to the latest data from the Office Of National Statistics.
Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that, between December 2016 and May 2017, the number of people in work increased, while the number of unemployed people fell.
There were 32.01 million people in work, 175,000 more than for December 2016 and 324,000 more than the earlier year. The employment rate was 74.9%, the highest since comparable records began in 1971.
All excellent news, so maybe as the market moves, more roles will be available, and recruitment consultants will no longer be needed? #wrong
In fact, the opposite is true.
The recruitment sector has seen huge growth in the past few years. The reality is that as organisations grow, they reach out for recruiting expertise as they fill their business-critical roles. All things considered, how can you develop your relationship with your recruiting partner of choice, whether you are looking to build your team or find that dream role around the corner?
When you are looking for a new role in manufacturing or any related sectors, much of what people do is on auto-pilot.
Uploading your CV on job boards, searching on LinkedIn and Facebook, talking to friends and colleagues about any vacancies they know about and signing up with a recruitment agency.
When you want to build your team, it’s vital to ensure that your new hire has the skills and capability required. In today’s economy that’s not always easy to achieve if you are relying on recruiting on your own without the help of a recruiting partner who knows the market, geography and importantly who the best potential new hires for your organisation are.
What next then to ensure your recruitment journey delivers.
Use A Specialist Recruiter
As the market dynamics have changed you can find specialist recruitment organisations in your own area of need.
As a candidate, if you have a specific type of role in mind and have specific qualifications and experience in that sector, then using a specialist recruiter may be able to help you, or even represent you to specific organisations.
All recruitment consultants are not the same! High street, general recruitment agencies are fine if you’re going for general admin jobs for example. But if you’re looking to further your career in manufacturing, technical or Life Sciences you owe it to yourself to use a specialist.
Specialist recruiters have an enviable contact list; for every position you see advertised on a job board, there are many more filled by specialist consultants that you‘ll never see.
Engaging a specialist recruiter gives you access to a whole new range of vacancies, maximising your chance of finding the right one for you.
Respect Your Consultant’s Skills and Contacts
Don’t register with a multitude of agencies. If you’ve enrolled the help of a specialist consultant, and there’s a suitable job out there for you, they’ll find it.
If you’re after a minimum wage job, it may be a numbers game and making as many applications as you can might work, but at a professional level, it’s all about targeting the right roles at the right companies. Working one-on-one with your consultant will help you do this in the most efficient and effective way possible.
For instance, at Sigmarecruitment we currently have a database of over 50,000 candidates and more than 3.500 contacts within manufacturing, technical and scientific companies in South Wales. Think about what these candidates and contacts that we have developed over the last 12 years can do for you or your company.
Pick Their Brain!
Though this sounds a terrible phrase, it’s a truth that your recruitment partner has a wealth of information you can use. A recruitment consultant can help you with numerous things such as.
- Sprucing up your CV
- Honing your interview skills
- Local knowledge
- Sector expertise
- Company culture
- What to wear at interview (yes, it’s still important)
- Planning your career
- Planning employee induction programmes
- Talent mapping
- Vacancy appraisals
- Renumeration packages / salary benchmarking
………….. and the list above is only scratching the surface
Tell them what you’re not sure about and what you want to achieve either with your hiring process or your career.
If you’ve made a direct application somewhere, tell them. They’ll be thankful and can spend their valuable time focused elsewhere for you. Keep your specific consultant updated with what is happening on your side, and they will do the same for you.
Maximising your relationship with your recruitment consultant will not only help you get the right role much quicker, but it will also make the whole job search process, which can be very stressful, much more bearable.
Best regards,
Rhys
