Data Analysis Recruitment

Never has data been more important and valuable. Data companies like Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft dominate business, capitalising on the fact data-driven marketing and analytics helps businesses of all sizes achieve their Marketing aims. Businesses now have access to tons of data, more than ever before. The world produces almost 3 quintillion bytes a day The great majority of all data has been produced in just the last few years, and the global data economy is estimated to be worth in the region of $3 trillion.

Growth in Data Analyst Jobs

Not surprisingly then, there is significant growth in Data Analyst Jobs. According to Forbes, IBM predicts demand for Data Scientists, for example will grow nearly 30% by 2024. Such is the demand that recruiting candidates with the required skill-set is challenging. According to the IBM report, Data Science and Data Analyst jobs are some of the most challenging to fill, taking five days longer to find qualified candidates than the market average. Employers must pay a premium above median graduate-level salaries for professionals with skills in these areas also. 

Finding Data Analysts

If hiring skilled data analysts is key to your business but you’ve never considered using a specialist data analytics recruiter, then you may think you don’t have a need for one. The key value-adds brought by specialist data analyst recruiters are a wider choice of candidate and time saving. The longer your Data Analytics jobs are vacant, the less well your reporting function works and ultimately, you’re running less efficiently. 

Filling your vacancy

If you have vacant Data Analyst Jobs, should you use a Analytics Recruitment Agency to see if they can give you any support? If you have a sufficient flow of applicants coming to you directly, or you have the internal resource (because it’s a full-time job) to reach out to enough of a candidate pool to build an acceptable shortlist, then you’re good to go. Most businesses in a candidate-short market will not be in this position however and will likely need an external resource in the form of a professional recruiter.

Most of us advertise 24/7/365 and have an extensive candidate network so you can expect relevant CVs relatively quickly and without having to be distracted from your core function, looking after your own customers. Briefing Analytics Recruiters on your vacant Analysis roles extends your choice of candidate and gives you a greater chance of a successful hire. 

There are a lot of us around, so how do you choose and get the best out of one? Firstly, find one familiar with your market and experienced in recruiting for your vacancy but also someone with whom you have a rapport as you'll be working as a team and communication will be key. When I say find one, I do mean one, at least one at a time. You'll get better results from any professional who is committed and accountable, something that should be guaranteed if you're working exclusively. Many employers take the view that the more recruiters they brief, the more candidates they'll see, when the reverse is more likely, particularly in a candidate-short market. If a recruiter knows they're one of three working on a vacancy, and therefore have just a 33% chance of being paid for their work, they're more likely to concentrate their efforts toward employers that give them more commitment. The average success rate for retained recruitment assignments is over 76%, whereas average success for multi-agency contingency recruitment is less than 20% (The Recruitment Network).

Data Analyst Requirements

• Numeracy
• Analytical skills
• Competent IT skills, ideally including databases and query languages
• Ability to work to deadlines
• Problem solving
• Team worker
• Attention to detail

Relevant Subjects 

• Maths    
• English

• Further Maths
• Business Intelligence
• Insight
• Computer Science
• Data Analysis
• Statistics
• Applied ICT
• Computing
• Data Handling
• ICT Professional Competence
• Digital and Technology Solutions
• Digital Technologies
• Information & Communication Technology
• IT

By John Reilly

As well as Marketing and Analytics people, I’ve recruited Business Development folk for a long time and a lot of sales talent is still passed over by hiring managers after just an initial view of their CV yet with sales people in particular, there is a need to look deeper.

When I launched Reilly People after a sales career, salespeople I’d worked with often sent me their CVs in the hope I’d help them find a better job. I noticed that the very effective ones, the salespeople I knew to be genuine talent and really good at their job often had worse looking CVs than those who talked the talk better than walked the walk.

 CVs are an imperfect means of candidate appraisal and that is never more the case than with salespeople who for some reason, I think mainly cultural, are often much better at selling their services than selling themselves. I speak here particularly about UK candidates because in this country many of us have been told since young not to ‘blow our own trumpet’ so salespeople, often highly adept at pitching out and singing the praises of their employer, suddenly come over ‘ever so 'umble’ when asked to pitch themselves. Since a CV is essentially a pitch document, this means they can fall at the first hurdle, which is not only a problem for them but also the hiring manager, who has missed out on a quality candidate.

The problem at the heart is dull responsibility-led CVs instead of much more informative achievement-led CVs. Managers love metrics and not unreasonably want a numeric picture of what salespeople achieved in their last role but often lose out on talent because this information is missing from a CV.

A thorough interview with a salesperson is vital, drilling down into their targets; their working methods and their KPIs. I’ve often uncovered gems because I looked further than the CV; salespeople whose marketing of themselves stood in stark contrast to their sales achievements.

Salespeople aren’t marketers. Don’t judge them solely by their CV marketing. Time is always valuable and it’s tempting to dismiss applicants after a cursory fifteen second CV glance but taking the occasional chance and interviewing a few more people than you planned can reap rewards.

Good salespeople have always been hard to find. Don’t make it harder by not looking beyond a CV.

Many candidates' CVs are poorly written, leading to lost opportunitiies. Below are tips on how to write a CV more likely to get you an interview with an employer.  

 

By John Reilly        

You may be an experienced executive but it could be some time since you’ve applied for a new role and it’s always a good idea to do a little revision so I hope you won’t mind if I suggest a few ideas to how you might approach your next job interview. I’ve been helping candidates to secure roles up to board-level positions for over twenty-five years and there are a number of principles that have guided me which I think may help you land your dream job or at least take you one step nearer to it.

Think of it as a 'meeting'

The first helpful principle, I think, is to drop the word ‘interview’. What we’ve learned from political correctness is that words matter enormously; they can have a very significant emotional impact and colour our thinking and approach to people and situations. Whilst using the word ‘interview’ won’t offend anybody, I don’t think it’s helpful. The very sound of it is enough to make some people nervous and unhelpfully from the job-seeker’s perspective, it suggests a re-active process where questions are merely asked of you. I prefer the word ‘meeting’, which suggests a more pro-active approach, similar to seeing a client for the first time. After all, as the employer will be appraising you, you will be appraising them also, so the meeting should be a more inclusive process with you probing and asking questions of them as they do of you. 

Tell of your achievements not just responsibilities 

Like seeing a client in a business situation, a job meeting has a persuasive element. Essentially, it’s a ‘pitch’ situation. Although some people don’t like the term (words matter, again), applying for a job is a sales situation. You will be selling something, and that something is you. Here we come up against some limiting cultural conditioning we have in the UK. For many brought up in Britain, ‘blowing-our-own-trumpet’ is something traditionally frowned upon but if you’re trying to win a job in a competitive situation, it’s a hesitation you’ll have to overcome. You’re going to have to put your best case forward, not in a boastful way, but outlining to the employer your professional achievements not just your responsibilities. Never assume the employer can see how good you are or work out all you’ve achieved. They can’t. You have to tell them. Only then can they fairly appraise you. This is key. More of it later.

Prepare thoroughly 

Your first task is to get thoroughly prepared. Look closely at the employer’s website and social media channels. Consider who their competitors might be and look at their websites also. Have a detailed read of the Job Description and prepare your thoughts of how your experience and achievements match the employer’s requirements. Now consider how you’d like to structure the meeting if no set structure has been outlined or is evident. The employer may have a set structure they work to; they may not. Have the meeting prepared in your head if not and be prepared to provide the energy of the meeting. Sitting back and waiting for it to come your way is not a tactic designed for success.  

The three key elements of any successful hire and the questions employers are asking themselves are:

• Chemistry (do I like this applicant and would we work well together?)
• Ability (can the applicant actually do the job?)
• Motivation (do they want this job or just any new job?).

Meeting structure

So addressing Chemistry; Ability and Motivation, a suggested meeting structure would be (and it is only a suggestion):

·        Introduction - build rapport well and try to generate some smiles, no-one hires anyone they don't like. 
·        Presentation - demonstrate ability by telling (and showing evidence of, if possible) your relevant achievements - blowing your own trumpet, if you like. This is essentially a sales process and you must be prepared to show off your achievements, ideally with numbers: managers love metrics. Demonstrate motivation by bothering to get really prepared with your own research about the hiring company, its market situation and probable competitors. If you don’t know much about the company, they won’t believe you want to work there.
·        Close – “And do you have any questions for us?” Here are some suggested closing questions; you can choose the most appropriate and put them in your own words: 

Closing questions

1. Is there any reason you can see why you wouldn't be prepared to put me through to the next stage? This is should probably be the final one and is not a question for the fainthearted but it’s a very powerful one giving you the chance to respond to doubts and objections.  
2. How do you think I’d fit with the team?”
3. How will my performance be evaluated?
4. What do you expect me to achieve in my first three months?
5. If you were taking this role, what would your priorities be?
6. Who are the main stakeholders that I need to influence?
7. Are you expecting some quick wins?
8. If you were me, where would you focus your attention?
9. What lurking surprises could detonate and push me off track?
10. How is the job likely to change over the next couple of years?

 This is a formula with a proven success rate and will help you if you follow the steps. You can adapt it to your own style and use only some of the elements if you prefer. It’s rare that applicants succeed in 100% of the job applications they make but if you follow these ideas, hopefully your average will increase. I hope you find the information useful and I wish you all the best!

Time is tight and so initial telephone screening is on the rise with employers. Here are ten easy-to-follow tips to help you create the best impression and achieve your objective of progress in the recruitment process.

1. Prepare

The most important tip. Make sure you’ve carefully read the employer’s website and the job brief (if one’s been supplied). Failure to do this is an almost certain progress killer. Consider who the employer’s competitors might be.

2. Practice a CV run-through

The structure of these calls varies but they’re usually CV based. Practice running through a brief précis of your career so far, highlighting your career achievements not just your responsibilities. Be clear that this is a sales process and you’re the salesperson in this instance. The onus is on you to convince the person on the other end of the phone of your worth, and how you actually performed in your current/last role against your objectives will be a key consideration.

3. Remember your objective

Few of us are ever offered a job after a brief chat on the phone; a face-to-face meeting almost always follows. So your objective in this call is to convince the employer that you’re worth an hour of his/her time in a meeting. You do this by firstly building rapport; then demonstrating your ability and motivation to do the job (more detail on this follows)

4. Get the environment right

Avoid a busy, noisy environment. Be somewhere quiet where you are least likely to be disturbed and if you’re using a mobile, that reception is good and you’ve got enough battery. Ensure you allow enough time and don’t assume it will be a ‘quick ten minutes.’ 

5. Start by building rapport

Nobody hires anyone they don’t like and first impressions count so don’t be cold; start by being pleasant and breaking the ice with the intention of getting the person to like you. Don’t go overboard on the jokes but getting a smile or laugh from the person is a definite bonus. 

6. Demonstrate your ability and quote some figures

This is the ‘meat’ of the call. After “Do I like this person?” the next question the person on the other end of the phone is asking themselves is “Can this applicant do the job?” You have to ‘blow your own trumpet’ and convince by succinctly highlighting your relevant career achievements so far. “I did this job well, therefore I’ll do your job well”, so to speak. Managers like metrics so any numbers you can quote help, such as: “I developed business by X %”; “I handled events with 500 delegates”; “I won X new clients”; “I saved the company X amount of money”; “I reduced waste by X %”; “I helped improve efficiency by X %”; “after the work I did my client’s business improved by X %” and so on.

7. Demonstrate motivation by the quality of your preparation and asking questions

If they’re convinced you can do the job, the next question your interviewer is asking themselves is “Does this person actually want this job; are they really interested?” You demonstrate your motivation by getting fully prepared (see point No1). If you haven’t researched the company, they won’t believe you’re sufficiently interested. Helpful are insightful questions about the business and the role, and about the person you’re speaking to.

8. Listen; but if you’re unsure, ask to rephrase or repeat back any question

Concentrate and be attentive; listening is the key part of communication but if you’re uncertain about a question, either ask the person to rephrase it or paraphrase the question back. Avoid doing this repeatedly but it’s better to make sure you’re answering the exact question being asked.

9. Vary your pace, pitch and tone, and don’t forget to pause

It’s important to convey energy and empathy over the phone; a monotone delivery won’t aid your case. It helps if you can stand up or gently walk around as you speak, which conveys more energy (top radio broadcasters use this technique).Leave pauses after every few sentences to allow the person to either drill down or confirm they’ve heard enough.

10.  Close

You will probably be asked if you have any questions at the end. Have the confidence to ask for feedback, which will give you the chance to answer any objections. The daddy of all these questions is “Is there anything you’ve heard that would stop you asking me in for a meeting?” If the answer is “Yes”, ask what it is and answer the objection. If the answer is “No”, then ask if you can arrange the time and date of the meeting now. You may think this bold but confidence is impressive and helps instil confidence in others.

“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence” Vince Lombardi.

© Reilly People Limited

By John Reilly

 I remember once reading about the entrepreneur Sir Terry Matthews, who besides growing the telecoms giant Mitel, built a championship golf course in Wales. He said: “When you build a golf course there are three things you should worry about: drainage, drainage and drainage. And when you've done that, invest in a little more drainage.” I think he made his point. After more than a quarter of a century of recruiting, If I were to say what I thought the three things you should worry about in securing talent through the interview process was: it would be: speed, speed and speed. And when you’ve speeded up the process……well, you get my point.

Move promptly

When I say speed, I don’t mean haste. Probably a better word to describe the process would be prompt. Selecting the right candidates is one of the most important things you’ll do for your business and not to be rushed, but neither ought it to be drawn out over a long period. Slowness at arranging second and subsequent interviews is a huge de-motivator for candidates and you risk losing them to other offers. If you’re interested in hiring a top Talent, it’s highly likely your competitors are too and much like a couple in a dating scenario, a tardy response is often seen as a lack of interest and a prompt for one of the parties to look elsewhere.

Three interviews is optimum

The interview process should certainly be exacting and thorough but it should be over days rather than months as it often is. Google famously once interviewed a candidate sixteen times. “That was way too many, said former CEO Eric Schmidt, now a technical adviser, “We’ve since done a statistical analysis and the answer today is four to five interviews.” With highly sought after positions, like those at Google, stretching the process to five interviews won’t affect candidate supply greatly but for the majority of companies, which have much more competition for top Talent, three interviews is probably the optimum number. The most formal interviews I’ve arranged for a candidate with the same employer is six. The modal average is three. Informal meetings are sometimes added after the third interview but usually the decision to hire has been made by then.

Aim for less than three weeks

Staff-holidays notwithstanding, with the right preparation; planning and diary co-ordination, three interviews can be arranged to fit in a span of two weeks in most cases and this is an efficient time span to aim for. If it stretches to that period, you’ll still be ahead of a lot of your competitors.

According to Glassdoor’s latest survey the hiring process in the UK averages at nearly four weeks, slower than Canada, the US, Ireland and Australia. That four weeks is a mean average including Public Sector and Government hires, which often have complex vetting procedures. For private companies alone, it’s almost certainly less.

Longer doesn't mean better

Obviously, there is a balance to be had in the length of your interview process. Businesses face a trade-off between more carefully screening candidates and filling vacant roles as swiftly as possible. Too long a process, as I’ve alluded to, often results in talented applicants lost to competition but if slower processes result in better hires, are these not desirable? In my experience, longer interview processes are not as a result of layers of vetting and more careful screening but rather of organisational issues in the hiring company: co-ordinating diaries being a common cause. Hiring is often seen as incidental rather than core and not given the diary prominence it needs. Planning at the start of the interview process, with pre-allocated diary slots for interviewing managers can make a big difference. If the candidate doesn’t proceed through the process as hoped or expected, then that feed-up diary time can come as a bonus. Another idea is to interview candidates twice in one day. That often works for them and they need less days away from their current office and gives the hiring company the best chance to secure the candidate if he or she proceeds to offer. Better to give a candidate two, two-hour interviews on two different days than four, one-hour interviews over three or more weeks.

In summary then, private-sector companies without complex security vetting procedures would benefit from aiming to complete their interview processes in two-three weeks and more junior positions should be even less. The average time to hire a Marketing Assistant in the US for example is just eleven days; it’s probably not a lot different in the UK. Planning and diary co-ordination are the key factors. Plan the interview days and diary slots at the start of the process and move promptly through the stages. You’ll more often get the Talent you want and they will be impressed at your efficiency – a good first impression to give them. 

By John Reilly

Labour market statistics for Feb-April 2022 (ONS) show the UK to have the lowest unemployment rate for nearly fifty years. Quite simply, it's a candidate-led market. There are more job vacancies than available applicants to fill them. Claire Warnes, Head of Education, Skills and Productivity at KPMG UK, said (June 22): "For over a year now, we have seen a sustained mismatch in the growing vacancy numbers in every sector against the inadequate supply of skilled candidates." It's been nearly half a century since employers have had this much competition in attracting the best people to work for their businesses, so getting your candidate-attraction strategy right has rarely been more important.

People are the lifeblood of any business. Your business essentially, is only as good as the people you attract to it. I like the quote by Jim Lesser, CEO of AD Agency BBDO in San Francisco, which I think applies to almost any business as well as any sporting club: “As an agency, we don't have some secret sauce that makes us better, other than our talent. Our talent is what makes us better.” I might have added that you have to task and manage your talent effectively but unless you recruit the people with the right ability and application, you won’t be hitting the targets you’ve planned for.

So how do you attract, recruit and retain the people that will make your business perform better than its competitors? According to McKinsey, superior talent is up to eight times more productive so securing the right people will have a considerable effect on your bottom line. Over the next few paragraphs, I hope to shed some light on not only what I’ve learned in more than twenty-five years of recruiting, but also relevant data and interesting insight from business leaders on the same question.

Talent likes a clear Mission and Culture is more important than Salary

Talent wants to develop. It needs to learn and grow and you have to provide the environment for it to flourish. Glassdoor’s 2019 survey shows that three-quarters of people consider a company’s culture before applying for a job; over half say culture is more important than salary and 73% would not apply to a company unless its values aligned with their own. Mission is even more important: nearly 90% believe in the importance of an employer’s mission and purpose. 60% in the UK say their company’s mission is one of the main reasons they stay in their job. It’s important that you communicate to each team member how they fit in. They need to know their exact part, their role in your mission and their abilities need to be complimentary with their colleagues'. A team full of centre-halves will never win the Premier League any more than a team of centre-forwards. Successful teams are a blend of skills and abilities and each member needs to know what you expect them to contribute. 

Poor online reviews make it difficult to attract the best people

Obviously, your mission needs to be clearly communicated and your culture has to positive. If it isn’t what an employee expects they may be tempted to leave you a poor online review. Just as the hospitality industry has become significantly influenced by Trip Advisor reviews, so employees’ anonymous comments on employer-review sites such as Glassdoor; Indeed Company Reviews or Workadvisor are a key influencer on whether a candidate will interview with you. Occasionally I work with employers who’ve suffered bad online reviews from employees and it makes it very difficult to encourage candidates to meet them. The people you want to hire would be unlikely to stay a few days in a hotel or a few hours in a restaurant with poor reviews, so they’re unlikely to consider spending years working in a company that’s been trashed online by current and former staff. You have to care for your employees just as hotels and restaurants care for their guests. They can now anonymously tell the world if they don’t like what goes on in your company.

Looking after your talent is looking after your clients

Happy staff means happy customers. Glassdoor’s research shows there is a clear link between employee and customer satisfaction. On average, a 1-point increase in Glassdoor company rating is associated with a 1.3-point increase in customer satisfaction. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this link is even higher with client-facing members of your team. Clearly then, developing a positive workplace culture will have positive effects all through your business.

Innovation is key in talent attraction and retention

According to an IBM study, nearly half of Generation X (born 1965 – 80) and 42% of Millennials (born 1981-96) would leave their current job for another offering more money and a “more innovative environment.” Innovation doesn’t necessarily mean technology, it’s about how you treat the people who work for you. Alex Goryachev, MD of Innovation at Cisco says: “Innovation is always about people and for the people. If your company is perceived as innovative and cutting-edge, the easier it will be to win the war in attracting and retaining the best talent.” He mentions the importance of diversity: “If you are serious about innovation, encourage inclusion and diversity, whether that’s gender, ethnicity, cultural or socio-economic backgrounds, education levels or ages.” I find it interesting that he included the oft-forgotten age diversity, the poor relative of diversity initiatives. In my years of recruiting I’ve found discrimination by age to be by far the biggest limiting factor. In the US, where age-discrimination legislation came long before our own, they are significantly ahead of the UK in having more age-diverse workforces. Almost all age-groups value flexibility in the workplace and particularly as your employees begin to have family responsibilities they’re more likely to value flexible working. It’s an innovative benefit I’m often asked about by candidates and one increasingly in demand by men as well as women. In Deloitte’s 2019 survey of Millennials, over half said they would look to leave employers within two years that didn't prioritize flexible working practices (i.e. hours and location). I find there is still some resistance to this from employers although a 2016 CIPD global survey showed 83% of employers and employees saying adopting flexible working had resulted in productivity improvements.

Almost all age-groups value flexibility in the workplace and particularly as employees begin to have family responsibilities they're more likely to want flexible working. Covid has transformed how the majority of us work and shattered many prejudices about the efficiency of working from home. Even before lockdowns some element of home working was increasingly in demand by men as well as women. In Deloitte's 2019 survey of Millennials, over half said they would look to leave employers within two years that didn't prioritize flexible working practices (i.e. hours and location). A 2016 CIPD global survey showed 83% of employers and employees saying adopting flexible working had resulted in productivity improvements yet before Covid, I found still some resistance from employers. Now, some of my clients are insisting all staff will return to the office five days a week at the end of restrictions but most have recognised the genie is out of the bottle with home working and many will be offering at least some element going forward.

The only way is Uni?

What do the founders of Apple; Microsoft; Samsung; Honda; What’s App; McDonald’s; Virgin; IKEA; Cath Kidston and Chanel have in common? None earned a university degree. The other unfashionable diversity element mentioned by Cisco’s Goryachev is education level. Despite the success of people like Simon Cowell; Zoella; Karren (Lady) Brady and the UK’s three post-war Prime Ministers who didn’t go to University (Churchill; Callaghan and Major), the thinking persists that a degree is vital for even some basic roles. In my experience, many employers hire in their own image and likeness and if they're graduates themselves may be unwilling to hire outside that group. University is not for everyone, for various reasons and there is a rich seam of talent and potential among those who choose another route. Google, IBM and Apple are among many companies which now accept applications from non-graduates. Andrew Neil did exactly that when he edited The Sunday Times. He hired a young non-graduate to start in the post room who grew to be a journalist in a room full of Oxbridge alumni. His name was Simon Reeve and he’s now one of the BBC’s top travel presenters and a New York Times best-selling author.  

University is not for everyone, for various reasons and there is rich seam of talent and potential among those who choose another route. Google, IBM and Apple are among many companies who now accept applications from non-graduates. Andrew Neil did exactly that when he edited The Sunday Times. He hired a young non-graduate to start in the post room who grew to be a journalist in a room full of Oxbridge graduates. His name was Simon Reeve, now one of the BBC’s top travel presenters and a best-selling author.

Is the CV dying?

The trend to look beyond academic achievement has been growing for some years in a bid to increase diversity leading to an increase in CV-blind hiring in favour of skill and aptitude tests. In 2015 Ernst & Young, one of the world’s top four Accountancy firms announced it was scrapping the requirement for applicants to have a minimum 2:1 degree and introduced a blind CV policy. More than three years ago The Spectator, Britain’s oldest magazine, ditched CVs in favour of an aptitude test and the title has been thriving. “One of our best interns”, said editor Fraser Nelson, was a middle-aged single mother who’d never worked as journalist. “She was brilliant and now works at the Sunday Times” he added. I see no end of the CV requirement from my clients, but relying on them as the sole criterion of a candidate’s suitability is certainly on the wane.

Sell your story on Social Media

Perception becomes reality for many and in an increasingly digital world, selling your story of innovation, culture and mission via social media is important. You can be sure that any digitally-savvy, finger-on-the-pulse candidate you’d be interested in hiring will have checked your business out thoroughly before deciding whether to interview with you. How’s your company LinkedIn page looking? Have you updated your company Facebook recently? Have you extended your reach on the world’s second largest search engine, YouTube and perhaps Instagram? If your social pages don’t give an insight into your culture and mission you’ll be missing a trick in selling your story not only to your clients and prospects but also the additional talent you want to attract to help you grow. Make your innovation achievements a feature of your PR work; showcase your individual employees’ innovation efforts and encourage them to boost these messages on their own channels to increase their reach. If your social pages have quality content and engaging stories with an insight into your company culture you’ll be highlighting the benefits of working in your business and demonstrating to our world of digital enthusiasts that you appreciate the importance of an effective social presence.

Tactics

 When you believe your business is attractive to potential employees and you're actively ready to start hiring, should you use an external recruiter or not? If you have a sufficient flow of applicants coming to you directly, or you have the internal resource (because it's a full-time job) to reach out to enough of a candidate pool to build an acceptable shortlist, then you're good to go. Most businesses in a candidate-short market will not be in this position however and will likely need an external resource in the form of a professional recruiter.

There are a lot of us around, so how do you choose and get the best out of one? Firstly, find one familiar with your market and experienced in recruiting for your vacancy but also someone with whom you have a rapport as you'll be working as a team and communication will be key. When I say find one, I do mean one, at least one at a time. You'll get better results from any professional who is committed and accountable, something that should be guaranteed if you're working exclusively. Many employers take the view that the more recruiters they brief, the more candidates they'll see, when the reverse is more likely, particularly in a candidate-short market. If a recruiter knows they're one of three working on a vacancy, and therefore have just a 33% chance of being paid for their work, they're more likely to concentrate their efforts toward employers that give them more commitment. The average success rate for retained recruitment assignments is over 76%, whereas average success for multi-agency contingency recruitment is less than 20% (The Recruitment Network).

An exclusive, retained assignment guarantees you the recruiter and their research team's time and typically goes well beyond a contingency effort. Knowing they have your commitment means they can dedicate time with confidence and employ the resources needed to execute a pro-active search to find your best candidate. Industry averages suggest assignments yield five times the amount of people-hours spent on a vacancy compared to contingency.

Keeping the Talent you’ve got

Attracting talent is one thing, keeping it is another. You’ll build your business more quickly if your staff turnover rate is low and in a double benefit, a low turnover rate is in itself a selling point for new recruits. The key driver to staff retention is development opportunity. As I mentioned earlier Talent wants to develop. It needs to learn and grow and you have to provide the environment for it to keep learning and improving. When I ask job-seeking candidates why they want to leave their current position, answers I hear regularly are: “There’s nowhere to go where I am.” “I’m not learning anything new.” “I’m bored.” Talent needs a moving landscape and employers have to keep offering new opportunities for growth and development. Companies with few internal growth opportunities will always find it a challenge to retain its top talent no matter how good the work culture or benefits are.

Some leading business consultancies are now framing these approaches as a new science, which they refer to as EX – Employee Experience. Just as we think of UX, the customer’s experience of interaction with our business, products and services, EX encourages business to think about what working life’s like from their staff’s perspective. According to Dr Nick Lynn, a Senior Director at global business consultants Willis Towers Watson, “EX is an emerging science that uses new sources of data and applies new analytical approaches. EX gives a broad and holistic view of people and organisations and begins by understanding individual perspectives and small moments and events.” Ask your staff individually what it’s like doing the job they do for you. You might be surprised at the replies but they will give you the insight you need to keep making your company a more attractive place to work. 

Summary - Hire from diverse groups, look beyond the CV and put your staff first

In short, if you hire from a diverse groups; put your employees first; look at life in your business from their perspective and give them the environment to be happy and the tools to grow, you’ll dramatically improve your prospects of attracting and retaining high-quality talent. As Richard Branson put it: “If you can put staff first, your customer second and shareholders third; effectively, in the end, the shareholders do well, the customers do better and you, yourself are happy.” It’s certainly an approach that seems to have worked very well for the Virgin boss and one many could benefit from adopting.