Philip Redding

Regional Business Manager

Hire the best people

Get the best job

Typical obstacles

Too old

Too young

Not enough experience

Too much experience

Not the right experience

Not the right version numbers

Ageism - The facts

It is not illegal

Works in favour of 25 - 35 age group, reduces prospects for:

older people

women returning to work

younger workers

Ageism - The facts

Legislation by 2006

Voluntary code of practice since 1999

One third of employers are aware

Age based recruitment halved

UK Labour market getting older

Little (if any) variation in absenteeism, loyalty, ability to develop new skills.

Current Skill - Technical Assessment

An exercise for the Client Representatives

• Consider the best technical members of your team

• Think of their current technical skills

• Think of the time when they joined you

• What technical skills did they have then ?

Why don’t we widen the net?

My opinion:

Fine for Contract Recruitment

But Lazy Permanent Recruitment

.Too difficult to look beneath the skin?

.Too time consuming to build up a relationship?

.Too risky to ‘change old ways’?

Why change?

Over-targeting particular age or ‘current skill’ groups generally inflates the price (salary) of these groups

Recruitment delays and consequential costs rise, by restrictive targeting

Change beats the competition !

Older workers generally stay in their jobs longer than younger people

Attributes and Competencies

Most companies want “people like us”

Matching of values and shared goals are key

With the right competencies, technical skills could become “icing on the cake”

You can develop someone's skills, but it’s very hard to change their personality

Attractive Applicants

Develop first class communication skills

Develop relationships with agencies - be human!

Detail your personality in your CV

Make your CV easy and enjoyable to read - It is your marketing document

Make yourself marketable

Detail your strongest attributes, giving examples of how you applied them

Show your determination by detailing how you have kept up to date with technology

Ensure that your technical experience can be assessed easily, showing ability and length of usage

Example 1

“In this particular role I used my user liaison skills to their fullest, to ensure that the development team obtain a comprehensive understanding of the business need”

Example 2

“I have maintained a strong understanding of up to date internet development languages and tools such as J2EE; ASP; .NET; COLDFUSION; BROADVISION and VIGNETTE. I have studied each of these languages from home and have developed applications, to cement and stretch my ability.”

Example 3Skill Name Skill Level Last Used ExperienceUnix Intermediate 1 year ago 2 yearsMS Windows95,98,NT,2000, XP(Desktop and Server)

Expert CurrentlyUsed

4 years

MS SQL Server 7.0 Intermediate CurrentlyUsed

2 years

Lotus Notes Intermediate Never Home UseNorton Ghost Beginner Currently

Used6 Months

How do you facilitate a match ?

To find your perfect match is hard work

Abundance of vacancies OR of applicants creates a huge problem

Be prepared for a lot of “leg work”

You or your company, must become KNOWN

Agency or Direct Route ?

The direct route can be a stab in the dark

An agency should do a lot of the leg work for you

An agency should have a greater pool to fish in

Agencies normally have strengths in either certain markets or certain types of client

You must identify suitable agencies

Identifying suitable agencies

Large agencies are sometimes the only route to large companies

Smaller agencies often specialise in specific technical areas

Study the internet job boards

Locate and question suitable individual agents

Select a dozen agents to work with

Building relationships with agents

Work hard to build relationships with agents who specialise in people or companies like you

Remind agents that they will make money from you. Are you a marketable commodity?

Respect peoples time, ask to meet them if there could be mutual benefit

Read & discuss job specifications

Summary

It’s a people business. Ensure that you get to know people

Work hard. The more you put in, the greater the chance of success

Take a very professional approach to recruitment

Develop relationships with agencies