Are you using the right recruiter?

Digital Minds work differently to many recruiters. Now I know everyone says this but we really are! And here’s why…

People often work with recruiters without actually getting to know them or even doing a few basic checks. Finding a new job is one of the biggest things you will ever do; you spend a lot of time at work so it makes sense that the people you have working on your behalf to find you a new role are actually good at what they do! So what makes us the sort of recruitment company you can trust to take on this important job for you? Well here are some basic facts you should know:

• Most recruiters are sales people who earn a large percentage of their salary from commission. Commission is usually only paid when they place a candidate into a new job, so how can they be objective? All they want to do is place you in a job, not necessarily a job that’s right for you.
• Many recruiters send your CV, without your permission, to as many clients as they can in order to drum up some activity and interviews. In a small world like Digital, how many people do you want to have a copy of your CV?
• Recruiters are often not specialists in what you do – they are generalists and don’t really understand the nuances of your industry. And if they don’t know your sector how can they effectively promote you?
• Recruiters are often heavily targeted on getting interviews. They are under pressure, operating in a sales driven environment. If someone is under pressure to hit a target how can they work with you with a long term perspective?

And so the list goes on…

These are just some of the reasons why we set up Digital Minds. We do not earn commission on placements – we are rewarded if you stay with a company for a sustained amount of time and if and when you are promoted. Ultimately we are salaried and we do not work to sales targets. We have developed an environment that is focused on long term growth. Over 75% of our candidates are not even looking for a new role but we maintain a dialogue and provide helpful info – such as salary surveys – that allow us to assist you in your long term career management, whether you’re looking to change companies or are happy staying put.

Our goal is to become your career partner so that if you do look at some stage you will work with us to help you make your next move. The entire team has worked in Digital recruitment for over 5 years and we only operate in Digital. SEO, PPC, SOCIAL, DISPLAY, MOBILE, AFFILIATES, CREATIVE and DIGITAL COMMS PLANNING, these are our markets and we know them inside out.

Regardless of whether you decide to use Digital Minds, our advice is to do your homework on the recruitment company you do use. Find out if they can provide good recommendations; make sure they tell you who they are sending your CV to; make sure they only send it when you have given permission; and interview them! It’s your life – your career – make sure they are worthy of working with you and can explain exactly what they will be doing for you and how they will be promoting you confidentially. There are some good recruiters out there who can add massive value to your search, but it’s also an industry rife with cowboys and people looking to earn money quickly without any interest in what is best for YOU.

If you are looking for PPC jobs, Seo Jobs, SEM jobs, Search jobs, Social Media Jobs, Display jobs, Digital Planning & Buying jobs, Mobile Jobs, Web Development Jobs or Senior Digital jobs just give us a shout. Or If you have any questions about this blog give me a shout. Simon@digital-minds.co.uk

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10 Tips to help you prepare for a job interview

10 TIPS TO HELP YOU PREPARE FOR A JOB IN THE DIGITAL INDUSTRY

Below are a list of 10 useful tips that will help you prepare for interviews in Digital
Top tips for Digital Job Interviews

Before the interview
• Ensure you have a full job description and are aware of the format that the interview will take.
• Do some company research. The company website is a great place to start. You may well be asked what you know about the company, so impress the interviewer with your knowledge i.e. what the company does; how long they have been established; the size; structure; turnover; competitors; their market and aims for the future. We now live in a Social Media world so utilise Linkedin, Twitter & Facebook for further information.
• Ensure you know where the interview is taking place and ideally do a “dummy run” to plan your journey. Interviews are not a natural situation, so practice with your recruiter/family & friends.
• Always allow additional time for unavoidable delays. Arriving late or flustered does not create a good impression.

On the day
• Take a contact number with you.
• Dressing appropriately for the company you are meeting portrays professionalism. Ensure you are well groomed and tidy.

The interview
The interview is a two-way process and so is also an opportunity to ensure that the job and company are right for you. So;
• SMILE! Ensure you come across as friendly, approachable and enthusiastic.
• Be polite to all staff you meet – you never know, they could well influence the recruitment process.
• Where possible, give practical evidence of any statements you make.
• Never criticise former employers – you never know who knows who!
• Maintain eye contact, relax and show interest in what the interviewer says.

Be prepared for questions such as:
• What do you know about our company?
• What interests you most about the role?
• Why should we appoint you?
• What is important to you in a role?
• What was your greatest success in your last position?
• How would your manager or colleagues describe you?

You will usually have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the interview – think about what is important to you, but some questions might be:
• What training can I expect on joining your company?
• Are there any drawbacks to my application? Or do you have any reservations about appointing me to this role? (This gives you the chance there and then to head off any potential reasons why they may not take you forward).
• How many candidates are you interviewing for this role?
• When will you be making a decision?

Finally…
• Make sure you have confirmed your interest in the job.

Conclude the interview with a handshake, remembering to thank the interviewer for their time.

For more information on how to prepare for job interviews contact me on simon@digital-minds.co.uk. We specialise in digital recruitment, so if you are looking for:- PPC jobs, SEO jobs, Digital Planning & buying jobs, Social Media jobs, Mobile Jobs, Affiliate jobs or Web Development jobs please get in touch. We have offices in London and Leeds and are always available for a chat!

Digital Minds your perfect companion

Simon Halkyard

Posted in Recruitment News | Tagged #digitallondon, #ppc, #sem #digitaljobs, #seo #ppcjobs, #seojobs, #socialjobs, digital minds, Digital recruiter, digital recruitment blog, display jobs in london digital jobs in london, london digital, london digital jobs,pay per click, pay per click jobs, pay per click jobs in london, ppc jobs in london,recruiter blog, seo jobs in london, simon halkyard, simon halkyard digital recruiter,social media jobs in london | Leave a comment

Are job boards worth the risk for digital candidates?

It always surprised me how quickly and easily people are happy to work with recruitment companies and hand over their CV. When you take into consideration that a career move is one of the biggest decisions you will make in your life, it’s reasonable to think we would all complete due diligence on the people who we allow to represent us and to a certain extent guide our decisions, but do we?
How do you decide who to use when you work with a recruiter? Well a lot of people go to Job Boards to see who’s advertising on there. This is an obvious route; the sites are heavily advertised and it’s certainly an easy way to meet recruiters. However by putting your CV on a job board you are effectively giving up control of your CV and taking a big leap of faith. First of all, different types of recruiters use jobs boards – the good, bad and ugly. Lots of them will simply download your CV and make a judgment about which companies you might be suitable for and simply find a contact within those businesses and send your CV to them. You will not even know it has happened! Companies receive CVs from recruiters all the time without the recruiter having gained any consent to represent you. Sometimes they get lucky sometimes they don’t. A lot of recruitment companies are generalists not specialists. I once heard of a recruiter sending a PPC Manager CV to a company that made plastics; he/she thought PPC was like PPE, personal protective equipment! I personally see no use in a Digital candidate working with a generalist recruiter – make sure they are Digital focused and know what you do! Otherwise how can they promote you?
The other pitfall to loading your CV onto a job site is that your own company or someone who knows your boss may see your details. In fact anyone who pays the Job board a few hundred pounds a month can see it, download it & send it. I would guard your CV closely and only send it to a recruiter you have ensured is worthy of receiving it. One who has a plan of action as to how they are going to help you. You should know who they are speaking with on your behalf and who they are sending your confidential information to.
So that’s job boards – Digital is a vibrant growth sector and the negatives outweigh the positives of using them in my opinion.
For information on Digital Minds and the PPC jobs, SEO jobs, SEM jobs, Display jobs, Digital Planning & Buying jobs, Social Media jobs, Affiliate Jobs, Mobile Jobs and other Digital Jobs that we have available please contact me. simon@digital-minds.co.uk. Also if you have any comments on any of my blogs you can reach me at simon@digital-minds.co.uk or visit my Linkedin profile http://www.linkedin.com/in/simonhalkyard

Posted in Recruitment News | Tagged #digitallondon, #ppc, #sem #digitaljobs, #seo #ppcjobs, #seojobs, #socialjobs, digital minds, Digital recruiter, digital recruitment blog, display jobs in london digital jobs in london, london digital, london digital jobs,pay per click, pay per click jobs, pay per click jobs in london, ppc jobs in london,recruiter blog, seo jobs in london, simon halkyard, simon halkyard digital recruiter,social media jobs in london | Leave a comment

How Social Media has changed the recruitment industry

The most valuable asset within a recruitment company is their database. Or at least it used to be. When I started working in recruitment, having an accurate and large database was critical. Candidates would often choose a recruiter based on their size, deducing that the big corporate recruiters would have all the relationships with the companies they were interested in. On the other side of the coin, clients would gravitate to well established recruiters because they knew they had the details of all the relevant candidates. It was a tried and tested method, information was king and the recruiters were the gate keepers.

Today we live in a different world – a social media world. Now everyone has access to the information that recruiters used to guard so carefully. A candidate can simply go on LinkedIn and find profiles of the businesses they want to work for and details of the decision makers within those businesses. Clients can now easily search for candidates that would be relevant for jobs within their business. So what does this mean for recruiters? Well it means that recruiters can no longer rely on candidates and clients coming to them; it means that if they want to survive, recruiters need to upgrade the value they offer. This is something we have spent a lot of time discussing at Digital Minds. Questions such as: Why should a candidate or client come to us? What are their reasons? This made us evaluate what services we should actually be offering and how we can make ourselves valuable and relevant. So below are a few things we decided to put into practice when we set up Digital Minds.

1. It’s still about information. Preparation for interviews is essential if you want to secure a new digital job. You will be up against other candidates and you need to differentiate yourself. Therefore at Digital Minds we ensure we provide candidates with some really useful supporting information. We can tell candidates a lot about the people who will interview them; what is their interview style; what type of questions to expect; what the personality of the person running the interview is like. Only a couple of days ago I told a candidate that the person they were due to meet was just back off paternity leave and that his wife had given birth to twins and that they have another child who is 3 years old. The candidate also had a child aged 3 and his wife was heavily pregnant with their second baby. That simple piece of information formed a perfect ‘ice breaker’ and instantly provided common ground and common empathy. The list goes on – but you get the idea.

2. Role play. Interviewing is not a natural situation to be in and we often find the most talented candidate does not get the job because they did not articulate themselves well enough during the interview. This is very common at all levels of seniority. Therefore we will often role play interviews with candidates, it can seem an unnatural thing to do but it is actually really helpful. It allows the candidate to get familiar with the interview process and to practice their answers. It allows the recruiter to highlight potential weaknesses and to address them. This process is designed for one purpose; to help candidates do the very best they can at interview and to ensure if they do miss out it is because another candidate was better suited to the role, not because they fluffed their answers. You only get one chance.

3. Added value. We spend most of our time speaking with candidates who are not looking for a new job. We decided when we set up Digital Minds that we would not work to targets and we would not work on commission. We basically set up an environment that allows our consultants to take a long term approach and to focus on helping candidates regardless of if there is going to be a fee or not. Therefore we are more than happy to help and support candidates who are not looking so that one day in the future, when they are, they will come to us. A lot of recruiters do not want to know candidates unless they are looking for a new job and unless they can place them in a job here and now, ensuring they hit their targets and earn commission on the placement. So we give candidates long term advice. An example would be that lots of our candidates come to us when they are about to have a review. They want to know what type of questions they will be asked; they want to know what salary increase they should be receiving etc. We can benchmark their salary against their counterparts in other companies; we can tell them what is the average salary increase for that year and that sector.

4. Consultancy. Moving jobs is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make and having a good recruiter by your side can be very helpful. If you can find a recruiter that you trust and who provides transparent advice throughout the recruitment process, you will be in a better position. A recruiter can be a good sounding board. Also they manage the process for you and this means they can take the hassle out of doing it yourself. A good example is negotiating salary. I always think it is better for the recruiter to negotiate on behalf of a candidate as it can be a difficult process and it can get personal if you are doing it yourself. A recruiter is a buffer between the candidate and client and is well placed to take the emotion out of the negotiation process and, if they are good at their job, secure the right salary without jeopardising the candidate’s relationship with the company before they even start the job!

There are many other things I could mention but hopefully this at least shows there is a place for recruiters in this new social media world. The good thing is that recruiters who don’t go the extra mile, recruiters who do not constantly evaluate and improve their service, will struggle. Merely having candidates on a database is not good enough anymore. At Digital Minds we have embraced social media and it is at the heart of what we do and how we do it. If you would like to discuss this blog or just have a chat about the digital industry please get in touch. If you are looking for a new job in PPC, SEO, SEM, Social, Display, Digital Planning & Buying, Mobile, Affiliates, Web Development front end and back end we can certainly help. My LinkedIn profile gives a good overview of Digital Minds and me personally. It also has recommendations on the page which cover how I operate and work with people. http://www.linkedin.com/in/simonhalkyard

Simon Halkyard

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