Amanda, Author at Certes

The growth of technology will constantly have an effect on how an industry works. Whether making long monotonous tasks automated or allowing for easier communication between people, technology has and will play a huge part in the years to come.

One industry that may never become fully automated is the recruitment industry. The face to face nature of the industry helps recruiters to gain a greater understanding of a candidate’s history, their achievements, their requirements and future goals allowing for insight to what candidates desire, in turn enabling relationships to build between candidates and even clients. This relationship builds trust and loyalty which are key factor for any company in any industry to have. This is something that going fully automated can never do.

Recruitment is a people business and will remain a people business. Technology will not fully take over the industry but it will however help aid recruitment consultants with other method to contact clients and potential candidates in order to start the highly important face-to-face process.

In recruitment, candidates fall into one out of two categories, passive candidates and active candidates. What are the differences between the two types and which one should employer focus on?

Passive Candidates

Passive candidate are those who are currently in employment and are content in their current role. They are not looking for a new job but if the right job is offered to them they may be interested. To attract passive candidates, employers will need to offer an incentive to them in some manner whether it is monetary or beneficial, passive candidates have to be persuaded to change from one employer to another.

Active Candidates

Active candidates are the polar opposite to passive candidate. These candidates are ‘actively’ looking for new position and opportunities where they can learn new skills and advance their career. As long as a new position can give a passive candidate new skills, passive candidate are happy to job hop with little persuasion.

In the past, passive candidate where highly sought after. They were seen to be skilled and happy in their current position and employers wanted candidates who are loyal to their company. Active candidates were seen as lower quality and motivationally suspect. Nowadays the demand for passive candidates has diminished.

At present employers are interested in the active candidate. The candidate who is highly skilled and keeping an ear open for new employment opportunities that may arise. As active candidates are more interested in new opportunities, recruiters are moving towards active candidates to fill roles.

Who should an employer choose?

It’s difficult to suggest what type of candidate an employer should choose. Both have their pros and con’s. Passive candidates possess the loyalty that employers want, knowing that passive candidates are in it for the long haul. Active candidates are motivated. They want to learn new skills and will go where new skills can be learned.

You can’t really pick a candidate depending on what category that they fall under and with millennials being the talk of the town, the passive-active argument may come to an end. As we know millennials stay in roles for shorter periods compared to previous generations and as time goes on more and more millennials are going to be in the workforce. In order to change the active nature of millennials it will be up to the employer to take action to try and stop the millennials from job hopping.

Permanent vacancies show 0.3% growth year-on-year
Contract vacancies slide by 5%
Demand for contractors in IT falls by 13%
Average salaries dip by 1.4%

PRT Logo Professional recruitment firms reported that vacancy numbers flatlined in November with the number of permanent vacancies rising by just 0.3% year-on-year according to new survey data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo). This is in line with the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which reported in December that employment levels across Britain dipped for the first time in a year and a half in a sign that the UK jobs market is losing steam following the EU referendum.

The ONS data shows that overall employment stood at 74.4% in the three months to October, marking the first drop since February to April 2015 triggered by a 6,000 fall in the number of people in work.

APSCo data, which focuses on professional recruitment, reveals notable variations between the trade association’s core sector groups in terms of hiring activity. While permanent vacancies across both financial services and marketing, for example, have increased (1% and 13% respectively), IT and engineering have both recorded dips of 5%.

Contract vacancies slide

Demand for professional contractors contracted by 5% across the board year-on-year. Engineering was the only sector which enjoyed modest growth, with vacancies increasing by 1%. Demand for IT and finance professionals recorded the sharpest drop in demand with vacancy numbers falling by 13% and 7% respectively.

The drop in vacancies for IT contractors was partially balanced by a 5% increase in permanent roles, which suggests that organisations are slowly moving away from the short-term approach to hiring which was adopted after the referendum. The Confederation of British Industry has predicted that the IT sector will enjoy some of the highest levels of job creation in 2017.

Average salaries down

APSCo’s figures also reveal that median salaries across all professional sectors dipped by 1.4% year-on-year. This figure is characterised by notable fluctuations in terms of sector, with marketing, for example, recording an uplift of 1.6% while in banking average salaries were down 7.7% year-on-year.

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo comments:

“As the starting date for negotiations over leaving the EU approaches, it seems that employers are taking a slightly more cautious approach to hiring. However, while permanent vacancies remain largely resilient, demand for contractors has dipped.”

“As is often the way in times of uncertainty, the run-up to the referendum and immediately after, employers turned to a contingent workforce to keep the wheels in motion. Now hiring managers are re-adjusting to the new landscape and taking a breather so that they can plan workforces strategically moving forwards.”

“Despite the less than rosy picture these latest figures project, the UK employment rate remains high and research from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) suggests 41% of companies expect to grow their workforces in 2017, compared with just 13% that believe their payrolls will shrink.”

Source: Apsco.org

Another 12 months has come and gone and the recruitment industry has seen many changes, some expected and some that came out of nowhere.

Global Recruitment Trends

The quality of candidates seems to be a factor that is valuable for employers, with 39% saying candidate quality is important. Employee retention isn’t far behind with 32% of employers making employee retention a top priority in the next 12 months. Employee referrals are considered by 26% to be an integral part of recruitment and this area will be seeing a continued growth over the next year.

Another trend that has occurred in recruitment is branding. More and more employers are seeing the effectiveness of branding and 59% are increasing investments into this area to improve their brand compared to the previous year.

Biggest challenges

As with everything, there are challenges. The challenges that employers perceive to be difficult is finding the right candidate in areas with high demand (46%). 43% believe compensation is their biggest challenge while 39% feel that competition is a challenging factor.

Trends to keep in mind

There are trends that have clearly shown how significant they are compared to others and these trends do not show any signs of being neglected. Social media/Professional networks, employer branding, focusing on passive candidates and employee referral programs are all being adopted and being taken very seriously by employers in the years to come.

Trends that will continue to remain dominant are:

39% utilising social media and professional networks
38% employer branding
28% finding better ways to source passive candidates
26% employee referral programs

Social media and professional networks

Social media and professional networks is being seen as the best route in connecting with people, giving employers the tools to target the right audience at lightening fast speeds. Social media use has grown in abundance and employers/recruiters have taken note.

Employer branding

Companies are realising the value of branding.

Even after a dip last year, employer branding is re-emerging as a top priority (38%)

Employers are also using social media and professional networks for their branding strategies, while using company websites took a sharp decline. Reasons may be that it is easier to convey a message using social media and professional networks as hash tags (#), demographic and interest targeting enables messages to be seen by potential clients and candidates. Websites will not disappear as employers still need a central hub for information. Time may be another factor. Editing the website may take time as information of what is needed will have to be discussed with a web designer while social media needs only a few words, a link and an image for a message to be put across.

The budget for branding has improved and with the increase in budget there has been an increase in hiring volume.

Passive candidates

Passive and Active candidates both have attributes that recruiters look for. Although active candidates are seen to be the more sought after of the two as they are ‘actively’ looking for their next role, passive may maybe happy with their current position but when offered, may be interested in new employment. To attract passive candidates, employers will need to offer them an incentive; passive candidates have to be persuaded. Recruiters are noticing the importance and recruitment of passive candidates have increased by 4% from last year.

Employee referral programs

Employee referrals have seen a dramatic increase from the previous year and will continuing to grow during 2016.

Retention emerges as a top priority

Employee retention is a growing trend but contradictory to the results, internal referrals appears to be low priority. Hiring internally is a big key in retaining current employees but less than a third of employers think that internal hiring is a priority.

Looking closer into the results, employers and recruiters are making interaction more of a priority. Social media is being use to interact, build relationships and to inform candidates and clients. Passive candidate are not actively looking for jobs but employers are realising that they must not abandon them.

UK Recruitment Trends

For UK trends we will be mainly focusing on the IT industry but we will touch upon other industries.

Placement

IT placements in the UK are in favour of temporary staffing. Temp staffing has seen an increase of 0.6% while permanent staffing underwent a decline of 8%.

Demand

The demand in IT follows the same path as IT placements. Demand for permanent IT professionals decreased by 0.7 while temporary IT placements see a 2% increase.

We can see a correlation between Temporary IT placements and Temporary IT demand. Due to skills shortages affecting the IT sector, companies are in need of skills that they do not currently possess. To access these skills, they turn to temporary staffing.

The drop in permanent staffing does not have to be a negative but a result attributed to companies focusing on employee retention. If less IT staff are being placed in roles it may mean that employees are in need of permanent placement.

Salaries

The average salaries for those in the IT industry tend to be the highest compared to other industries in the UK.

The salaries IT employees receive have also increased by 2.2%, which can be a consequence to the increase in demand of temporary employees who are requesting higher premiums.

What can we expect in 2016?

In 2016, as the skills gap continues to grow we will see a higher demand for certain skills (Cyber Security being a big focus). This will give contract worker the opportunity to further increase their premiums, increasing the overall salary of the IT sector.

With social media being firmly cemented in company’s communications strategy, we can also expect companies/recruiters to continue to use social media for branding, job posting and building a community.

Sources from

APSco – Professional Recruitment Trends Nov 2015

LinkedIn – Global Recruiting Trends 2016

LinkedIn UK Staffing trends 2016?

The UK has seen major declines in employment due to a long lasting recession. Now the UK job market looks to be bouncing back with a robust Q2 in 2015. Not only is the UK job market seeing an increase in employment, it has amazingly been recorded as an all time high.

Ann Swain, Chief Executive at APSCO explains “It is heartening to see that employment is continuing to rise and at 73.4% is the highest since comparable records began – and higher than the pre-downturn peak in early 2008. This mirrors our own findings which saw a 25% rise in professional level vacancies year on year – although there was a slight cooling month on month mainly due to election uncertainty.”

A survey from CBI/Accenture employment trends 2014 explains that “50% of British businesses are planning to take on extra workers in 2015” due to the economic recovery. The recovery of the UK job market has also permitted pay increases for employees, where many companies have had to carry out pay freezes.

The drastically improved employment rate has not only affecting those finding jobs as new jobs are being created, but those who were already in jobs. The survey continues to say “UK workers are finally benefitting from a rise in real wages – where pay growth outstrips inflation – after six years of decline”. As a result more permanent job roles are likely to be created.

Dr John Philpott has said in his Jobs Economist consultancy report “Although the pace of job creation in 2015 is likely to be slower than in 2014, a combination of strong employment growth and a return to solid real wage growth will make the coming year the best overall for the UK labour market since 2007.

On the downside Ann Swain explains the UK job market is seeing “… a 6000 quarter on quarter decrease in staff employed by the public sector – the lowest figure since comparable records began in 1999 – with the increased pressure on our public services this is a worrying trend.” However Dr John Philpott explains that although the employment in the public is declining “around half a million new roles will be created by private companies.”

Employers are trying to fill new vacancy that are appearing due to the economic up turn. Certes have a huge database of companies who are looking to fill new IT positions and in both public and private sectors.

Source: Apsco

Poll of technology companies finds 70% support the UK remaining in the EU, and only 15% support Brexit

Seven in ten technology business leaders would like the UK to remain a member of the European Union, according to a new poll.

Trade association techUK, whose members employ around half of all tech sector jobs in the UK, polled 277 business leaders to discover a clear support among the technology community to be in the EU.

Just 15% of those surveyed were in favour of leaving the EU while another 15% were undecided. Three-quarters of respondents represented SMEs.

The respondents in support of a vote to remain said EU membership makes the UK more attractive to international investment (76%) and makes the UK more globally competitive (71%).

Three-quarters said it gives companies a better deal on trading relationships within the EU (75%) while 42% believed the UK would create more jobs by staying in.

Pro-EU companies said a vote to leave would create more risk and uncertainty for their business (73%), make the UK less attractive to foreign investment (65%) and give the UK less influence on the issues that impact their business (58%).

Those in support of Brexit said the UK would have more flexibility in a global economy (91%), be more globally competitive (64%), and give the UK a better deal in its relationships with the rest of the world (58%). A quarter (24%) believed the UK would create more jobs outside the EU.

These respondents said the main drawback of remaining in the EU is that the UK does not have sufficient influence in the EU (64%) while 54% pointed to the regulatory burdens imposed.

A majority of all respondents, regardless of their position on EU membership, agreed the EU is good for business.

A clear majority of all techUK members said key EU policies have a positive impact on their ability to buy and sell (69%) and trade and invest (64%) in Europe.

Very few respondents said key EU policies had a negative impact on their businesses. Just 3% of all respondents said EU membership had a negative impact on their ability to invest and do business across Europe and only 3% thought that the EU trade policies had a negative impact on their ability to trade outside of the EU.

However, the majority of members said they would still have to comply with EU rules even if the UK left the EU. Two-thirds (66%) of all respondents sell products and services in the EU that would still have to comply with EU rules, even if the UK votes to leave. Any change to the UK’s relationship with the EU will impact these companies the most.

“UK tech is thriving, creating jobs almost three times faster than the rest of the economy,” said Julian David, CEO of techUK. “The vast majority of our members say that being in the EU supports that growth. Open markets and cooperation are good for business. This is not about fear, it is about opportunity – a market of 500 million consumers.

“Most of these companies, large and small, have customers and or suppliers across the EU. They are saying they will still have to comply with EU rules, whatever the UK decides on 23 June. A British exit would mean the UK giving up control over how those rules are set. That could put UK businesses at a real disadvantage.”

Source: Information Age

Certes’ own Craig Oates is taking part in the 10K Shenstone Fun Run 2015 on 21 June 2015 to raise money for Violets in Bloom.

Kerry and Ivan Mornington founded the charity Violets in Bloom when they sadly lost their 5 year old daughter Violet in 2013 due to contracting a very rare condition called Haemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) a potentially fatal disease of the blood if not diagnosed and treated in time. They started Violets in Bloom to help bereaved parents and their families to honour the children they have lost. For more information about Violets in Bloom click here.

Craig hopes to raise £200 for Violets in Bloom and everyone at Certes wish him the best of look for his big day. Let’s help Craig reach and surpass his goal and help families in their time of need.

Please donate to Craig just giving page and help other families.

Good luck Craig.

Cystic Fibrosis is a life-shortening inherited disease caused by a faulty gene. This gene controls the movement of salt and water in and out of your cells, so the lungs and digestive system become clogged with mucus, making it hard to breathe and digest food. It affects over 10,000 people in the UK and more than 2.5 million people in the UK carry the faulty gene, thats around one in 25 people. There is currently no cure.

Gemma Bowron, Certes resource consultant has been affected by Cystic Fibrosis “The need to raise awareness of Cystic Fibrosis is something very personal to me, having 2 nephews with the condition. Joshua, who sadly passed away in July 2014 at just 10 years of age after losing his fight with the disease and Dylan who is 9 years old and currently doing well with daily treatment to manage it, I also have a friend with CF who has just recently undergone a double lung transplant from which he is currently recovering in hospital; I know he would like me to thank the family of the donor".

Today, Certes are helping to raise awarness for Cystic Fibrosis. Look out for our Selfies (#CFYelfie) on our Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on Cystic Fibrosis and how you can help spread awareness visit the Cystic Fibrosis Trust

IT is seeing a growth in contractual recruitment as opposed to permanent employment. Contract-based employment allows for more flexibility with work life and time at home while permanent employment gives the employee a sense of security. Are those the only things worth considering? We explore more of the pros and cons of Contract and Permanent employment.

Permanent Employment

Permanent work is pretty self-explanatory and is the way of working we tend to be most familiar with. You go to work to fulfil your contractual duties during office hours, get paid by your employer at the end of the month or by some other arrangement, and carry on for as long as you are good at what you do, the company can afford or wishes to keep you, or until you want to leave. Be good at your job, eventually receive management duties, climb the ladder, watch your pay gradually increase – and so on. It is the most predictable way of working. Nothing is recession proof, and there are other variables that can affect the longevity of your permanent job, but on the whole – it is seen as the safe and reliable option.

pros of permanent employment

Despite these advantages, nothing is perfect and permanent employment comes with its own drawbacks, as outlined below.

cons of permanent employment

Contract Employment

Contracting, particularly within IT, is often the end goal of many professionals. The cumulative of day rates often exceed permanent salaries and coupled with the excitement of working on new projects rather than staying with the same company for years, this is a dream for many. And it does come with very distinct advantages and features that are not found in permanent employment.

pros of contracting

In many ways, the benefits enjoyed by contractors act as a reward for the risk they take by forgoing permanent job security and benefits that only permanent employees are eligible for. This is the area in which the disadvantages of contract work come to light. IR35 is the latest spanner in the contracting world, read more about it here. For more traditional drawbacks of contracting, see below:

cons of contracting

Should you choose permanent or contract employment?

There is no right or wrong answer to this! It all depends on you as a person, your circumstances, preferences and even personality. If you thrive on stability, predictability and are excited by the prospect of working your way up the ladder with a solid track record of growth in well-established roles – permanent work is for you! If you find the prospect of this dull and are someone that thrives on trying new things, working with new people and frequently changing your environment (and if you fancy some risk and unpredictability!) then contracting is for you.

The great thing is that you don't necessarily have to pick one or the other. The skillsets overlap and you may find that doing a bit of both will put you in a stronger position as you will have acquired a wide variety of skills. Beware, however, that a track record of contracting may put some permanent employers off as they may perceive you as someone that will get bored quickly and leave not too long after starting. And often that is true about contractors, so make sure that you know yourself well and choose the best path for you.

And if you would like some help with finding your next role or if you're a company looking to hire IT, professionals, let us know – we are all about creating the perfect client+candidate matches.

For anyone to succeed the right tools need to be put in place. After all “failing to prepare is preparing to fail”. For recruiters to have the right tools in place to advertise the ‘next amazing job opportunity for candidates, processing CV’s of the crème de la crème and contacting client can alleviate the rigmarole of being without.

“91 Percent of Recruiters Use Recruiting Technology”

A study compiled by Software Advice, a company that reviews and compares recruiting software, has shown that a majority of recruiters are using some form of recruitment technology or software in order to place candidates in specific roles.

From the study 33% of the 91% that use recruiting technologies believed that recruiting the use is extremely important for high job performance and 56% believed that it is very important. 2% thought that the use of recruitment technology is moderately important while 9% noted that they do not use any form of technology in their recruitment besides emails and job boards.

Importance of Recruiting Technology for High Job Performance

Software advice delved in deeper to why the 9% were not using technology to assist in their recruitment. 50% stated that a limited budget was the most common obstacle to adopting recruiting software. 25% thought the manual method to be less complicated and quicker.

Top Obstacles for Recruiters Who Don’t Use Technology
?

Even though the cost of technology is a factor for recruiters to incorporate recruiting technology most say that the benefits of using recruiting technology outweighs the costs associated with them. 93% of recruiters who use technology felt that using recruiting software was either extremely or Very beneficial in comparison to the costs.

Certes embraces technology use and believe that using recruitment technology and software is essential, it will never remove the recruiter from the equation in any way as recruitment is a people business but it allows Certes to access our database of over 250,000 candidates and another million available through our online partners. Recruiting technology has also opened the doors to screen potential candidates with the use of project management and business analysis capability assessment tools and full background checks to BS5758 level if required. Certes also uses innovative web based recruitment tools that offers our clients access to the markets most innovative online interviewing tool TalkingCV™. For more information on how Certes can help you find your new role or provide staffing for you needs visit certes-dev.inlifedev.co.uk/

For more information about recruiters and the technology that recruiters use you can visit Software Advice