Tag: recruitment advice

1. Social Media, Personal Brand and Your Next Job

   April 14, 2022 8:28 am

   

   Social media is an important tool in recruitment – both by candidates looking for a new job and employers searching for new staff and researching potential candidates. So it’s crucial that your various profiles on social media give the best impression of your ‘personal brand’; reflecting your personal values and professional skills.

   Your personal brand needs to be consistent across all your social media platforms including the ones you use in your personal and professional life. Remember anything that you create, share or react to online is visible, so how you conduct yourself online is just as important as your behaviour offline. Even if you don’t use Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for work, you still need to be conscious of what you are posting if you want to create a positive, professional image of yourself.

   If you are considering applying for a new role or have been turned down for a job and are unsure why, it’s probably a good idea to conduct a personal brand audit. Here’s how:

   Check your social media profiles are projecting the right personal brand

   Delete any old accounts you no longer use and then adjust your privacy settings on current social media accounts. Remember some information including your profile picture may still be able to be seen publicly so chose an image that is consistent with the personal brand you want to promote. Think about what you’re posting. Ask yourself what impression would your post have on a potential employer. Use common sense!

   Optimise your LinkedIn profile

   This is one of the most useful online tools you have as a job candidate so use it to the best of your ability. Include a professional profile picture and spend time crafting a compelling headline to summarise what you do and specialise in; not just your job title. Provide lots of detail in the personal profile and skills sections to really sell yourself, your skills and experiences. This will help potential employers find you when they search LinkedIn for people with particular talents. Recruiters and talent acquisition experts will use streams of key terms to search LinkedIn profiles. It is important for you to appear in the search results for the roles you would like to be considered for so put some thought into what key words, qualifications and experiences recruiters will be searching for and drop these in your profile. It is also worth putting in full terms as well as abbreviations to optimise search results for recruiters. You also need to check your spelling. If a recruiter is searching for key words and your profile includes misspelt words you may be missed. A common example is Programme and Program.

   When you’re happy with your profile connect with people you know and ask your contacts for endorsements. Develop your profile by posting about the projects you are working on, news within your industry, and resources that you think would be useful to others. And when your followers respond positively to your posts think about how you can build on this with similar content or repurpose something to re-engage. Don’t forget to engage with other people’s posts as a way to connect with others and build your network. Search for and join LinkedIn groups related to your industry and career interests to help make useful connections that could turn out to be your next job opportunity!

   Promote yourself on a blog

   Promoting your area of expertise and positioning yourself as an expert is a great way to develop your professional brand. You might not think of yourself as a writer, but blogging is an accessible way for everyone to share their expertise and promote themselves online – and there is lots of useful, free advice on the internet on how to write and post a blog. Share your skills, successes and experiences gained from your studies and career that may be of interest to others. You can post articles from your LinkedIn profile and use a blogging platform like Medium which is both easy and free to use.

   Take your career to the next level

   With over 20 years’ experience of executive search Ocean Edge are in the perfect position to help you with your personal brand. If you need any assistance please get in touch.

   You might also find our blog posts on CV writing, interview skills and finding the perfect job helpful.

   Contact us for a confidential chat by calling 023 8000 1153 or email us at info@oceanedge.biz.

    

2. Has 2020 sparked an employer-led job market?

   October 23, 2020 11:25 am

   If you are a business in the position to recruit in 2020 then the job market is considerably different to last year. Many highly qualified individuals have been laid off through no fault of their own and are now seeking new opportunities.

   So are we now in an employer-led job market where businesses can expect a swathe of applications from the very best candidates?

   Recruitment in 2020

   According to the Office of National Statistics redundancies are the highest they have been since 2009 and unemployment is on the increase. The job market is flooded with people looking to get back into work.

   As an employer looking to recruit this may make you feel like you have the advantage with a wider body of people from which to choose. However, we would caution against feeling this false sense of security.

   The people applying for jobs now may not be the best fit for the role you have on offer or for your organisation.

   The number of top candidates also hasn’t changed, so it’s just as important to identify them fast before they are picked up by another employer. And with a lot more applicants to sift through the challenge of finding your perfect candidate is more difficult than ever.

   Only an executive search that takes a holistic view of your business, the opportunity and the candidates will find the best person to add value to your organisation.

   How to secure the best candidates

   At Ocean Edge we can help you find the ideal match from candidates who are actively searching for new opportunities and people who may not even be looking for a new job.

   We identify people with the skills you need and ensure they are perfect for your company. We also take the time to discuss their needs to make sure the match fits.

   This approach of a targeted search and advertising enables us to attract the most suitable candidates and avoids having to re-advertise a role.

   Find out more about our services for clients looking to recruit in the affordable housing sector.

3. How to recruit staff effectively first time

   September 11, 2020 9:38 am

   How hard can it be to recruit employees? It’s a question many business managers ask themselves when they are in the thick of a recruitment process, especially when they have decided to take on the task themselves.

   Finding the right candidates can be complex as the best people for a role are often not actively searching for new opportunities. Fail to find the right candidate and you have to start all over again, which is a drain on resources and your time.

   So how do you recruit staff effectively and avoid that costly second round of interviews?

   An effective recruitment strategy

   A mix of advertising and head hunting is the best way to create a shortlist of people who meet the requirements of your vacant post and, importantly, who are a good fit for your organisation.

   As a specialist in recruitment for the social housing sector our tried and tested process includes:

   • Producing and placing recruitment adverts
   • Production of professional recruitment packs
   • A dedicated website advertising the role
   • Candidate response handling and management
   • A full head hunt of qualified individuals who have the skills and attributes needed
   • Longlisting and shortlisting of candidates
   • Organising psychometric testing and assessment, if required
   • Management of the interview process
   • Acting as a member of the interview panel, if required
   • Management of the offer process.

   As you can see, there are multiple steps to effective employee recruitment and all of this can take a considerable amount of organisation. However, being thorough ensures success, which in turn means you don’t have to re-advertise.

   A recruitment consultancy for the affordable housing sector

   The easiest way to recruit employees is to bring in a specialist recruitment consultancy. Ocean Edge has more than 20 years experience in finding the right people for the job.

   Notably, the majority of our clients are repeat customers because they have seen the benefits of working with us instead of trying to recruit themselves. This is because we:

   • focus on achieving a 100% success rate
   • are a small, highly skilled and dedicated team who are passionate about placing the right people in the right roles
   • and we keep our fees lower than other search firms because we are driven by success, so we don’t need to charge higher to cover failed recruitment processes.

   If you work in a social housing organisation and want to build a strong executive team and board talk to us about how we can deliver effective recruitment and executive search services for you.

   Find out more by getting in touch with our teams based in London and Southampton. Call 023 8000 1153 or email info@oceanedge.biz.

4. Feeling stressed?

   May 19, 2020 1:47 pm

   Its mental health awareness week, and there’s probably no one on the planet who hasn’t felt stressed at some point in recent weeks. No one knows what the future may hold and that means many people are feeling under huge strain at the moment.

   Financial pressures and concerns about job security are causing many to feel worried and anxious. Yet, despite the lockdown and the resulting uncertainty we’re all feeling, now may be a good time to consider your future career options. You’ve got time on your hands to research the market, hone your CV and take stock of where you want to go and what you want to achieve. Organisations are still hiring even during the lockdown so try and see this time as an opportunity rather than a reason to get stressed.

   Changing your mindset will help to change your stress levels too and hopefully result in an improvement to your general mental health.

   We have outlined some ideas and recruitment advice below that we hope will be useful in the current situation and will help you to turn your worries into positive actions.

   Consider your transferable skills – Many of the organisations we work with are looking for people who can hit the ground running at this time. If you’re looking to move departments or even careers, think about how your workplace skills and experiences can easily transfer to other areas.

   Hone your CV – there’s a lot of people looking to move or find a new job at the moment so that means every advert receives more than the usual number of applicants. Make your CV stand out from the rest with our advice articles on creating an outstanding CV.

   Use the time to learn – if you want to plug any skills gaps in your CV now is the perfect opportunity to undertake online training and research. Keep an eye on the industry and keep your eyes open for new opportunities, sign up to our jobs alert and receive all our latest roles straight to your inbox.

   Struggling to cope with home working? – read our useful guide on how to get the best from your home working experience.

   Don’t be afraid to move to the next level – the lockdown isn’t an excuse to stay in a job that isn’t fulfilling or enjoyable. We are still actively recruiting for clients at this time, so if you’re considering a move talk to us and see how we can help move your career to the next level.

   Choose to be positive – don’t dwell on the negatives, even if it feels like nothing is going your way. Take time to think about the positives in your personal and professional life. Consider your achievements and think about how your skills, experiences and personal attributes could be of value to a potential employer and could help secure your next promotion.