Once upon a time in the world of the High Street circa 2000, Agencies were used to Consultants yelling about being let down in a booking because the candidate had decided it took too long to sign back on. It was all part & parcel. Those days seemed to disappear through the boom years & I guess a tiny bit of prejudice crept in: if they were signing on…what was wrong with them.

And now the old big, bad days of the ‘Dole Office Spectre’ are back & back with a vengeance. Good candidates lose jobs & they sign on. I get that. However I’m seeing that after a couple of months out of work, they seem reluctant to go through the ‘hassle’ of signing off – for even a week of temp work. Yes, I understand that we’ve all paid our ‘stamp’ & we’re due that benefit but the knocking these good, feisty candidates take from signing on is big & very affecting. It weighs heavily on their shoulders & they lose sight of the fact that working, with its early mornings, its commute, its camaraderie & its pay is a thing we humans all need. Even for a week or two. And you don’t get anything like that feeling when you decide its too much hassle & you retreat & refuse work.

I don’t want to get ‘political’ but surely the biggest argument of our time is how to reward people for working & to support them when they can’t & it seems broad brush strokes just do not work.

If you’re a candidate & you’re reading this, remember this absolute truth. Just one week of temping work can show a potential employer who never would have met you, your true colours.  It’s a way of provoking ideas / job creating / getting you in front of people, that wouldn’t have been thought of & employment can & does result.

Look at options when they come along & see the long view. It genuinely could be a career changing choice.

Fact is – no one ever got hired by sitting watching Jeremy Kyle.

I’m Roseanne Stockton & I successfully run Nu-Recruit Career Consultants – I place permanent & temporary candidates of the very best calibre into great local employers & jobs in Liverpool, Chester & Manchester. In a no-fuss, no nonsense way.

And I love what I do.

Call me if you think my experience will help you get the best candidate for your job! And please feel free comment on my Blog…..

So you went back to work? And on day ONE you’ve already decided you cant hack it any more….so should you, as the above statement says, just go & jack it in!

In this market & indeed in all others I’ve worked in. I say not. My school of thought (based solely on experience) is to say STOP. THINK. Don’t do it!

This short blog is to give my alternate view. Don’t let the grey, windy January bully you into thinking it won’t get better. It does & so does your mindset. In my experience (20 years now) the candidates that ring really early in January are the ones that have made a mental ‘knee – jerk’ reaction to the dark morning, the poor pay rise & the Christmas / New Year detox. Basically they ‘lash out’ at their present employers.

Settle back into it. Try & not see everything through chilly, frosted up spectacles & realize that this next decision that you might lightly take, in a ‘recession’, could be such a bad move if it’s not made with the right intentions.

My advice is this: Stick it out. Grin & bear it. Look ahead & make goals. Give yourself dates & targets & once they’re there, sit & recap all that’s happened. Don’t be tempted to ‘chuck sickies’. Don’t moan & whine to all & sundry & don’t jump on the ‘January Blues’ bandwagon.

And THEN – when you bounce out of bed one morning & realise you still can’t give your current job your all…its New Job time for real!

I’m Roseanne Stockton & I successfully run Nu-Recruit Career Consultants – I place permanent candidates of the very best caliber into great local employers & jobs in Liverpool, Chester & Manchester. In a no-fuss, no nonsense way.

And I love what I do.

Call me if you think my experience will help you get the best candidate for your job! And please feel free comment on my Blog…..

This blog is borne out of hearing of this statistic on the same day as receiving a CV that seemed to go against everything that’s happening ‘out there’ in the jobs market & I though it was worth sharing.

Firstly I bother. I read into CV’s. I check facts & even if no good for the particular role, I reject EVERY CV personally. I do allow for mistakes & I give people a chance. I will ask rather than discount & though I’ve got very high standards on behalf of my company & my clients…I get that we all have strong & weak points. Indeed mine is IT. But I got a CV yesterday from a reasonably good candidate who I’d rang 3 times (this was my last go) & who when answered the phone sounded quite disinterested. But I persevered as I think you have to go forward & again – give people a chance.

At this stage it’s crucial to tell you that this candidate sent her CV voluntarily into me. For an advertised, specific, live & very much applied for role (140 CV’s in 9 days.) During the (one sided) conversation I asked what her min basic was. £19k was her response. I asked her what she’d been on. £16k was her response. So I then asked her why she applied for a role that was advertised at £17k? To which she answered ‘oh I just apply for anything & everything – who were you again & what job was it?’

I’ll repeat. Looking for £19k.

Now, if I was a different kind of recruiter, I could have had the last cruel laugh. But I didn’t as I then dropped the bombshell that she might struggle with that salary – bearing in mind the actual words on the top of her CV (sorry ‘Curriculum Vitea’), in 18 point Verdana were spelled incorrectly.

I think she might’ve heeded my comment & changed it – but bearing in mind she’s after £19k – she possibly didn’t need nor want my advice.

I’m Roseanne Stockton & I successfully run Nu-Recruit Career Consultants – I place permanent candidates of the very best caliber into great local employers & jobs in Liverpool, Chester & Manchester. In a no-fuss, no nonsense way.

And I love what I do.

Call me if you think my 19 years of experience will help you get the best candidate for your job! And please feel free comment on my Blog…..

So everyone thinks its DREADFUL out there & nobody’s getting anywhere & no-one’s getting opportunities & there ‘are NO jobs.’ STOP….because that’s not right….. Not at all – however the spin off of all this spin is that I’m finding candidates are coming to interviews having felt harangued & ‘persuaded’ by their last Agency to take an interview with a client that they are genuinely disinterested in. They’re told there’s an endless stream of ready & waiting candidates. They’re expected to have no choice nor opinion of where they work & its intimated that they should be thankful for the opportunity of an interview at all? Well let me say this now – it’s not like that. At all.

Last week I had a candidate turn down a job offer though she only had 2 weeks left on her long term contract to go – no biggie, she just didn’t gel with the client. I interviewed someone yesterday who though being made redundant 8 months ago is waiting for the right role & not jumping at anything & everything that comes along & a month ago & was in the middle of a tough negotiation between a candidate that wanted £1500 more than the offer. She got it.

Despite the perception, the reality is that candidates are not running at any role & any job blindly. They’ve not lost their choosiness & they are still – in the main – weighing up job offers against personal happiness / choices / lifestyle. They’re individuals that have opinions & realize that though the market isn’t as buoyant as it was 3 years ago, this next role is for keeps & they don’t want to have to go through the trauma of losing their job again or (worse) making a mistake. And I celebrate & support that.

Too many Agencies ‘bully’ the candidates into taking the roles for their own ends – not the candidates. I won’t be a part of that. I see my role as too important to be flippant about someone not being able to meet their mortgage because I cajoled them into a role to make a sales target. Admittedly mistakes can be made – but if all 3 parties involved (me, the client & the candidate) set out with honest & genuine intentions – in my experience the process works!

So let’s hear it for the candidates out there. Long may you be choosy & vocal – it makes my job so much more entertaining & valid!

I’m Roseanne Stockton & I successfully run Nu-Recruit Career Consultants – I place permanent candidates of the very best caliber into great local employers & jobs in Liverpool, Chester & Manchester. In a no-fuss, no nonsense way. And I love what I do. Call me if you think my 19 years of experience will help you get the best candidate for your job! And please feel free comment on my Blog…..

If we start by saying I’m a Geordie. I talk like a Geordie & can’t say ‘phone’ in that posh way that everyone else does. I’m not quite as Geordie as Cheryl – but I’ve an indentifiable Geordieness – & it’s innately in my personality & not just my in voice – bear with me! I don’t want to lose my accent & in fact I love people’s reaction to it & an odd spin off is that it’s made me a character that clients & candidate remember though years have gone by. Having a recognisable name & voice have been unexpectedly good business positives.

I recruit mainly in Chester & Liverpool & this week I took a position from a Liverpool client who asked for a candidate with ‘no scouse accent’ & unusually for me…I was dumbstruck. And so .. it got me thinking. Do I judge other accents? Would I prefer to have the phone answered by a non identifiable voice? Do I immediately think differently about the person on the other end of the phone if they talk ‘scouse’ & what kind of discrimination is it? If indeed it is discrimination? What if I’d arrived in Manchester after Uni & my first employer had said ‘no Geordies – we want Mancs’…where would that have left me?

Fact is – having an accent POSITIVELY added bottom line cash to the 3 corporate employers I previously worked for. During ‘sales’ calls I found that people got their ‘hooks’ into me & showed a basic interest in me & that grew into being more agreeable about the suggestion of a face to face meeting & eventually – business. People wanted to hear why I was sat in Liverpool or Chester when my accent made them think of windswept coasts, Geordie ladies on a Friday night wearing sandals in the winter & Alan flipping Shearer (GOD!)

So why on earth would this client NOT want an accent? Its lovely to have a familiar or identifiable voice at the other end of the phone: doesn’t it tick both boxes? Non Liverpudlians can identify where they’re ringing & born Scousers would feel immediate warmth as they’re talking to ‘one of their own’. Don’t discount regional accents. Clients & recruiters must simply anchor their thoughts on can that chosen candidate DO the job? In my experience, accents can open doors in the least expected way. Admittedly a Liverpool accent in Liverpool isn’t going to allow the ‘hook’ I’ve mentioned to develop during communication but my thoughts are that this client wants people to have no accent as its not locals that he’ll be ringing….so revert to above!

And…interviews take place next week with scousers & non scousers! And the funniest thing is….yes you guessed it – the client’s got a Scouse accent too!

I’m Roseanne Stockton & I successfully run Nu-Recruit Career Consultants – I place permanent candidates of the very best caliber into great local employers & jobs in Liverpool, Chester & Manchester. In a no-fuss, no nonsense way. And I love what I do.

Call me if you think my 19 years of experience will help you get the best candidate for your job! And please feel free comment on my Blog….Why Aye Pet Lambs!

I read EVERY CV sent & respond to every one too. It’s a tall order but I’m into ‘karma’ & I just think you try & treat others etc etc…but it’d really help if candidates sometimes put themselves in the CV readers’ situation. I’m not expecting hankies at the ready but some statistics: early November I advertised for an Accounts Admin & 287 CV’s came in…..how (when you run your own company) can you realistically judge & get through these & get the best candidate that job

My top ten CV avoids:

1. Spell Curriculum Vitae right. Please. I mean it’s the first 2 words. If incorrect…can hear that…yes it’s the job seeking door slamming!

2. Email CV’s – if at all possible, just forget about posting.

3. Please try & fit it all onto 2 pages. Yup – you read right. 2 pages. I’ll apply myself to 3 but I’m nice. Think again about the readers’ point of view: yours isn’t the only CV they have in front of them.

4. Include your name & contact info on each page. Imagine how many pages get got lost & mixed up in printers. How would they know it’s yours?

5. Email addresses @xxxjennysexyxxx.com etc. Oh I could go on about this for ages & you’d be VERY surprised at how some emails can destroy the professional image of a candidate.

Remember this appears early on a CV too. Are those doors are getting ready to slam again….?

And avoid making your email address too personal & don’t use your age (ie rosie1954) Age discrimination is a problem, so don’t make it easy for a potential employer to do.

6. A real personal one here (but that’s what my blog is!) Don’t use photographs. I’m yet to be convinced that it strengthens your CV unless it was specifically requested

7. Don’t state marital status and NEVER date of birth – these should not be relevant in an equal opportunities job-seeking world.

8. Don’t tell lies! Not even teeny white ones. Stick to truthful facts as employers may check up, or quiz you at interview and this could lead to any offer of employment being retracted. Stunningly obvious I know.

9. We like to see easily identifiable keywords that are relevant ie. easily-recognized job titles and buzzwords for the particular sector. This helps me identify you & what you actually work as but also (tip alert) when you upload your CV to a job site, these will help search engines pick your CV out from the rest

10. Do ask someone to proof-read your application for you. A simple spelling or grammatical mistake could prevent it being read.

So – Simples (as they say!)

And yes…If you were wondering. I filled the Accounts job!

So – that’s me over & out. Now back to my CV sifting. Make it easy for all of us & try & stick to the above (well – if you’re mailing me anyway!)

I’m Roseanne Stockton & I successfully run Nu-Recruit Career Consultants. I place permanent candidates of the very best calibre into great local employers & jobs in Liverpool, Chester & Manchester. In a no-fuss, no nonsense way.

And I love what I do. And I’m good at it!

Call me if you think my 19 years of experience will help you get the best job or indeed, the best candidate for that job!

And please feel free comment on my Blog…..remember, it’s just my opinion – but I do value yours too.

So Its Monday. I’ve had a candidate go to interview & lose her nerves though she’s fabulous for the job, I heard from a HRD last week that they turned down a candidate (not mine) as her false eyelashes were too much & this week I’ve got to cajole my client to see more candidates for a role in which (I think) he’s picked the weakest candidate. She can do the job – but others simply smile more & it’s a crucial part of the role.

I’ve learned (to my cost sometimes) that Candidates LOOK & act different in Manchester to Liverpool & clients in Chester are so much harder to please- they won’t take risks. I’ve also learned that recruiting in Cities is a less bumpy ride than the provinces & candidates take it in their stride BUT candidates from the ‘country’ try that much harder. Clients in Liverpool trust me to judge with their eyes & ears. My Cheshire clients do – but amusingly only after they’ve SEEN & HEARD the discussed candidates. No problem to me – to find the right candidate I have no request that’s too far!

And lets not forget the client – though I don’t sell you – in a way I do. You & your organization. Clients can forget that candidates need stroking too. If you’re a dragon in an interview & come back with a paltry offer – even in this day & age & in fact MORE in this market when candidates realize that they’re going to have to stick with this job as the market’s tight – they can & do say no.

It all adds up to making recruiting absolutely NOT like selling a tin of beans. It’s a really fine art of pleasing both sides of the people conundrum.

So lets all celebrate (though I’ll caveat that by saying it’d be nice not to have candidates decide to go to interviews chewing gum / smelling of cigarettes – insert your own bete noir here) the fact that my product – and indeed you & all of your staff – aren’t tins of beans.

Vive le Difference!

I’ve also learned that no matter how much age is NOT SUPPOSED to be judged. It is. But that’s another blog for another day…..

I’m Roseanne Stockton & I successfully run Nu-Recruit Career Consultants – I place permanent candidates of the very best caliber into great local employers & jobs in Liverpool, Chester & Manchester. In a no-fuss, no nonsense way.

And I love what I do.

Call me if you think my 19 years of experience will help you get the best candidate for your job!
And please feel free comment on my Blog…..remember – you’re not a Tin of Beans either!