It’s certainly a different recruitment market than it was 5 or even 10 years ago, with candidates and job seekers holding more power than ever before, due to a shortage in most sectors.

One our recruitment advertising partners, CV Library recently stated that poor hiring decisions are costing businesses up to £15,000 a year, so it certainly pays to get it right.

Candidates have made it well know that certain areas put them off applying for jobs, so we’ve put together 5 recruitment mistakes you could be making and how you can avoid them.

1. Badly written job adverts

94% of job seekers say they are more likely to apply for a role that has a clear job description, that explains the role in some detail along with an overview of the company. A well written advert is naturally more inviting. You need to point out key responsibilities, what skills are required, a little about the company and of course what the candidate can gain from working for you. Why is this a better opportunity than the job they are currently in. This is one area of our expertise, and now with the help of AI, you should be able to produce a marketing masterpiece.

2. A lengthy application process

Simplicity is the key. You need to be able to make the application process as easy as possible. Remember, most candidates are applying on their mobile, so they are not going to want to answer 20 questions, and if they do start, they’ll abandon the process half way through. Capture only the information you really need at the initial stage. CV, contact details etc… you can capture the rest later in the process.

3. Too many interviews

Do you really need to hold a telephone interview, an initial face to face, then a second interview, then come in and meet the MD at the final interview. If your hiring process has too many stages for candidates, they may well become impatient, or worse get snapped up by someone else. If they need to meet the MD, can he he be brought in at the end of the first interview?

4. Slow response rate

We see this all the time. The perfect candidate applies, it takes a week to acknowledge their application and a further 2 weeks to invite them in for an interview, then another week to put an offer together. If they are good, you are not going to the only party interested. Move fast.

5. Offer a good package

Consider the package you are offering. If the candidate is currently earning £30K, don’t offer them £30K and say you’ll have more progression opportunities here. The market is competitive, so you need to stay on top of current salary levels to make sure you stay in line with what your competitors are paying. Plus, what perks do you offer, what can set you apart from the crowd – it doesn’t always have to be about money.

Getting your hiring process right is key to recruiting the right person for your business, and well worth investing in – that’s where we come in, and can certainly add value to your recruitment campaign, ensuring the end result is not only a successful hire, but the right hire.

If we can be of any assistance, or offer any advice on any thing recruitment related, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with either myself or one of the team.

All the best,

Steve Wyeth 🚀

Leaving a job is a big decision for any employee to make, and one they most certainly don’t take likely.

Whilst it is unrealistic to expect someone to have just one job for their whole working life, the loyalty & longevity of staff is important to any business.

So, why are employees leaving your business and how can you stop this from happening?

1. They’ve found a better opportunity

As people progress in their careers, better opportunities will inevitably present themselves. So, you need to give employees a reason to stay in your company.

It’s important to offer your employees new opportunities to keep them engaged and challenged, plus rewarding them for their service is extremely important, albeit in the form of a bonus, pay rise or a promotion. People want to feel like they are moving up the career ladder. So, presenting them with opportunities to progress will help create a loyal workforce.

It could also reduce the likelihood of them looking for new work elsewhere.

2. Poor working relationships

According to a recent survey, over one in ten workers said they didn’t get on with their boss. Worse still, this was a deciding factor in quitting their job.

As a result, its important that you focus on fostering good working relationships with all members of staff. You, don’t have to be best friends, especially outside of work hours, but a positive and professional relationship is vital for any business.

By creating positive relationships across the company at all levels, you can build a happier workforce and increase staff retention rates.

3. They’re taking a career break

A recent survey found that 6.6% quit their job due to taking some time out or to go travelling. Though this isn’t necessarily something you can control as am employer, you can offer alternatives to ensure you keep your talented recruits.

For those leaving, perhaps offer a sabbatical, or even the open opportunity to return at a later should the want to.

Alternatively, you could offer flexible working. This means employees can fit their job around their families or lifestyle – things that may otherwise cause them to leave.

4. No satisfaction from their job

Some employees leave their job because they are no longer satisfied with the role or working environment. Solving this problem starts with a culture of communication where staff can openly approach you with any problems / concerns. Plus, feel they can also raise any issues they have over other colleagues, the work environment or their day-to-day / responsibilities, so you can nip these in the bud quickly.

5. Leaving to study

This one can be difficult to stop, but there could be ways around it. Offering new training opportunities, or allowing staff to study alongside their job, all could make a big difference. If staff can gain qualifications, whilst still earning money and you get to retain them in the business, it’s a win-win for all.

You wont always be able to stop staff from leaving, that is for sure. But, by identifying the most likely causes and following these 5 tips, you can reduce tour risk of high staff turnover.

Remember, better opportunities will always be out there so you need to make sure you give your staff a good reason to stay with you 😊.

All the best,

Steve Wyeth 🚀

Attracting, recruiting and retaining top employees is extremely tough right now. The chances are your new hire was signed up with multiple agencies & job boards, and recently attended a number of interviews, putting pressure on you to pull out all the stops in order to entice them into your role & get them to stay once they start. So, you need to do everything you can to stop your new starters from being poached by another company or sweet talked by an agency about the “dream role” they are recruiting for.

You may think your job is complete once you make the hire, but the hard work actually starts here. Now, you need to live up to your new employees’ expectations. At this point, most employees only have one weeks’ notice period whilst in probation – so can easily leave the business, and often won’t need to work the week and leave on the spot.

So, how can you stop your new starters from being poached? There are a few key areas to look at here. From keeping contact with them during their notice period, to ensuring an effective onboarding process. Get this right and your new employee will settle in no problem. Get it wrong and you risk losing them to a competitor and having to start the process all over again.

We’ve put together 4 ways to ensure you are successful in retaining your new starters.

1. Keep in contact after they have accepted the job

Fantastic news – your candidate has accepted your job offer! They probably have a notice period to work in their current job, and if they are senior – this could be up to 3 months. But that doesn’t mean you should wait until they start the job to speak to them again, far from it.

Send them an email with any business updates, show excitement about them joining the team. This period is critical for communication and making them feel welcome. Remember, their existing employer could swoop in and make them a counter-offer that they can’t refuse. So, the better rapport you build with them at this stage, the more excited & committed they feel about their new job.

2. Eliminate first day nerves

Starting a new job is extremely nerve-wracking. Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes and consider what you’d want from a new employer on the first day of a job.

In the final week before they start, get in touch to ensure that they have all the necessary information. They know where to park, what time they need to arrive by, who to ask for on arrival, dress code and so on. While these might seem small, it can make a real difference.

Be sure to introduce them to their new colleagues as soon as possible.

3. Create an onboarding plan

The best way to do this, is to put together a clear schedule for their first 2 weeks in the role. This will include dedicated training time, inductions & meeting key personnel. Alongside this, be sure to give them tasks to crack on with, so they feel they are adding value.

It is also important for new starters to have one-to-one time with their managers to discuss what is expected of them in the role and to go over any grey areas.

4. Set clear goals

Every single employee in your company should have clear goals and objectives to work towards, this also applies to your new starters, as everyone is naturally far more productive when they have something to work towards.

This will also show that you value your new employee and they’ll be less likely to go snooping around for other job opportunities.

You should also focus on having ongoing career conversations in order to get the best out of all your employees.

What happens if your new starter does get poached?

Sadly, even if you do all the above, another company may swoop in and entice your new starter away. It’s just the nature of business and most of the time it is out of your hands.

If this happens to you and they choose to accept the offer, be sure to ask your employee for feedback. Is there anything that would have made them stay? Any issues you are not aware of? What has attracted them to the other role? All this will give you insights into why they have left and help your future hiring efforts.

Whatever you do don’t be bitter or show your anger. It’s your new starters career, not yours, so always stay professional and leave them with a positive impression of your company. You never know, you may be able to poach them back one day.

Take the above advice on board and you should stand a much better chance of retaining new starters and ultimately building a strong and stable team.

All the best,

Steve Wyeth 🚀

The Blue Rocket Recruitment August 2024 Recruitment Trends Snapshot highlights significant changes in the job market. Here are the key points:

1. Rise in Applications: There has been a notable increase in job applications, suggesting more competition among job seekers. This uptick is particularly evident in sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, and education.
2. Decline in Job Postings: Job ads have slightly decreased, indicating that employers may be more cautious with their hiring. This decline could be due to economic factors, plus August being the main holiday month, which is traditionally quiet for recruitment.
3. Remote Work Trends: Although remote roles remain popular, there has been a slight drop in their numbers. This could reflect a shift towards hybrid working models or a stabilizing demand for remote work.
4. Sector-Specific Insights:
   • Healthcare and Manufacturing: These sectors continue to see high activity, both in job postings and applications, highlighting their ongoing demand.
   • Logistics: There has been a modest increase in the number of roles, from warehouse operatives to freight & logistics coordinators, indicating companies could be getting ready for a busier Q4
   • IT and Finance: These sectors are experiencing fewer applications, possibly due to market saturation or shifts in job seeker interest.
5. Adaptation and Strategy: The report emphasizes the need for targeted recruitment strategies. Understanding candidate behaviour, such as the preference for flexible work arrangements, is crucial for successful hiring.

In conclusion, the August 2024 trends indicate a competitive job market with sector-specific dynamics. Employers should adapt their recruitment strategies to stay ahead, focusing on visibility and candidate engagement. Our team here at Blue Rocket Recruitment are ideally placed to provide you with a complete, simple direct hiring solution.

Ready to find out more?

Please call 023 8033 6633, email hi@bluerocketrec.co.uk

When you start to write a job advert, it can be very easy just to list the day-to-day responsibilities, perhaps the hours and the must have skills. But in today’s job market market, this is not enough to attract good quality, experienced applicants to apply for your job – so you could be missing out on finding your perfect hire.

So, to make sure that your adverts appeal to the best candidates, we have put together 5 things that every candidate wants from a new job. Craft your advert with this in mind, and watch the difference in applications – both the volume & quality.

1. Your company culture

This doesn’t mean you have to sound like Google, but cultural fit is a massive thing for job seekers. Candidates don’t only want to know what their working environment is going to be like & the management style, they want to know about your values, social responsibility – what does your company stand for and how does it make a difference. This is especially important to millennials.

2. Career prospects

No one wants their career to stand still, so if a job advert clearly states the possibility of long-term progression, candidates are far more likely to apply. They want to hear that they have the opportunity to develop their skills & receive additional training. Also phrases like, you will have the opportunity to grow your career and increase responsibilities as the company expands, always prove a hit.

3. Attractive Salary

Money matters. Of course it does, we all have bills to pay. In fact, across all age & experience levels, salary is the highest priority for job seekers looking for a new role. Of course, it is not the only thing people look for in a job, it’s normally always the first.

Always include a salary, don’t just put depending on experience or competitive. Statistics show 2 in 3 job seekers are more likely to apply when a salary is displayed.

4. Good benefits

If you offer good benefits, shout about them. 20 days plus Bank Holidays is not a great benefit, it is the minimum legally you can offer. The same with company pension – in most cases it is the minimum pension an employer can offer by law. Good benefits include; healthcare, substantial holiday, a day off on your birthday and discounted gym membership – these could be the deciding factors when candidates are deciding whether to apply for your job.

5. Flexibility

The majority of job seekers are looking for a good work / life balance. If you can be a bit more flexible with the working hours, which can be a real selling point with candidates with young families.

If you add even some of the above into your advert, you will dramatically increase not only the number of applicants but the quality of applicants, so increasing your chances of making a successful hire.

If you would like any advice with regards to writing good adverts or candidate attraction tips, don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of the team – we’d love to hear from you. 🚀🚀🚀

You would think the answer is quite obvious, and being such a key part of the recruitment process to get right, you would think that this is an area that hiring managers, directors, business owners & the like would spend the most time on, ensuring they get it right. Wrong. Just take a couple of minutes do a quick job search on indeed within your industry, and within the first couple of listings I bet you’ll see either a job ad containing just 2 short sentences, or a job ad with loads of spelling mistakes, or someone has just copied and pasted a job spec, full of jargon and about 3 pages long! You’ll probably soon come across all 3.

So, lets just cover the main purpose of a Job Advert…

1. To communicate & sell the opportunity to potential applicants
2. To outline key tasks & responsibilities without sounding like a job description
3. To make the grass look greener (without bending the truth) – why is this opportunity better than the job they currently have?
4. To subtly repel unsuitable candidates who do not have the experience you require
5. Ultimately, to get suitable candidates to apply for the job

What you need to remember is that around 75% of all potential applicants are in work right now – working for one of your competitors. Within this 75%, you are most certainly going to find the best calibre candidates.

The 75% that are currently working, are very time poor – so if they are searching online, they are only doing this either at lunchtime or early evening, most likely whilst they’re eating their tea after a bad day at the office.

With this in mind, you firstly need to ensure that you advert is fully optimised and appears towards the top of the listings, if not – the very top. The potential applicant needs to click the job title and then you need to quickly address the applicants subconscious question of – what is in it for me?

You need to hit their emotional buttons & influence them into applying for your job. Job seekers have become job shoppers!

Remember – the main goal is get them to click the apply button and turn them into an applicant!

So, the next time you hear recruiters, employers, friends & colleagues moaning how job adverts & job boards don’t work anymore. Is it any wonder they receive a poor response? The quality of their job advert is crap.

At Blue Rocket, we are experts in all things recruitment advertising & marketing, so if you’d like any advice or you would like to learn more about our online recruitment advertising solution, please get in touch, we’d be delighted to hear from you 🚀🚀🚀

Here at Blue Rocket, we’ve put together 6 of the most common hiring mistakes, with some advice on how best to avoid them…

1. Not asking the right interview questions

A lot of hiring managers do not take the time to prepare properly for interviews. This means that interviewers can end up just asking superficial questions about previous experience and not really probing a candidate to see how well they will do in the job & if they have the right skills.

2. Not recruiting for a cultural / team fit

Whilst recruiting different personalities with different views, should be seen as a positive – it is important that any new member of staff fits in with the rest of the team. Similar ethics & values, should keep you on the right path.

3. Automatically rejecting overqualified candidates

When initially shortlisting CVs, it can be tempting to take out any candidates who exceed the required experience. You may think that they will not be challenged enough & get bored, or will move on as soon as a more challenging position presents itself. However, think of the advantages taking on someone with more experience & additional skills. This can often outweigh any possible downsides and ultimately, you could get a lot more for less.

4. Missing the opportunity to sell your company

In a candidate short market, job seekers have a lot more choice and often will be presented with a handful of job offers. So, with more competition than ever for the very best candidates, you need to sell your company in the interview. Why should this candidate want to work for you? What is important to them? Talk about the future, talk about your values, the team and of course any benefits, like flexible working or regular social activities.

5. Writing BAD job adverts

Go on indeed.com & take a couple of minutes to scroll through a few jobs either in your town or sector, or both and it won’t be long before you come across a number of really poor written adverts. These adverts have been written with no thought going into them & probably within just a couple of minutes.

Surprisingly, its not always smaller companies who are guilty of this, but large corporates also, and even recruitment agencies, who should really know better – they should be experts at this?

Firstly, you need to optimise your advert so it appears towards the top of the listings, if not – the very top. You need to get the job seekers attention so they click, then you need to hit their emotional buttons – answer the question of what’s in it for me?  Then, influence them into applying for your job. Job seekers have become job shoppers.

6. Only having a small pool of candidates to shortlist & hire from

As with most things in life, the more options you have the better the decision-making process. So, with your recruitment advertising it is vital that you maximise your exposure and this will significantly improve application rates & ultimately give you more choice to hire from.

We would certainly recommend using at least 2 job boards, aggregators such as indeed.com & social media. Our online recruitment advertising bundle is perfect for this, but of course there are other companies out there who offer advertising & recruitment solutions, and of course you can always go to the job boards / online platforms directly.

I hope this helps, and if you’d like any more advice, or if we can be of assistance with your recruitment advertising, we’d be delighted to hear from you   🚀🚀🚀