In recruitment there is always news! Or at least we are expected to know latest FMCG industry news and its ‘Movers and Shakers’ be they Employers or Individuals.
If I had a pound for every enquiry that starts with the question – “How’s the market looking?” being in recruitment would be the best place to be in these difficult times! The answer to the question incidentally is changeable. In brief, before Christmas, business was lively. Shortly after the start of 2009 it was as if no one had returned to work; it was simply dead. As the months have progressed, and we are now nearly mid-way though the year, the trading conditions for most recruiters remain tough. We continue to ‘survive’ and look forward to better times where the Demand for Talent is more evenly balanced with strong Supply of Talent right now.
So, in these less frantic times the team here have been busy keeping in touch with candidates and clients alike. In particular, we have completely revitalised our ’known candidate’ contacts. We have contacted in excess of 2000 individuals within the last 12 months, and refined our talent pool to around a 1000 ‘known’ quality candidates. Of those 50% have explicitly instructed us of their genuine desire to seek alternative opportunities. The remainder are either cautious (see Trend Watch) or passive job seekers, and have asked to keep an open and regular dialogue. For us at The Simmance Partnership the quality of our candidate database and equally important, the fact that it is up-to date, is of paramount importance. We believe the relatively limited number of candidates on it allows us a much closer and more authentic working relationship, in comparison to those who pride themselves on volume and size of database.
In summary, we are poised and ready for an upturn in business, probably early 2010, and in the meantime we are working hard to support current loyal clients and candidates whose needs are mutual.