• SFR RECRUITMENT SOLUTIONS

Month: July 2020

Blog Post

Top 6 – Cover Letters!

Jul 22, 2020 , , , , , by sfrrecruitment

1– Avoid the generic cover letter

Although it might seem obvious that you shouldn’t use a generic cover letter for different jobs, it is often the most common mistake people make.

You must customise what you’re going to say to each hiring manager.

All of us at some point in time have received the generic email that was written for the masses and doesn’t motivate us to take action.

So, whatever you do, do not write a single cover letter and swap out the names of the companies as you go. Personalise your cover letter in every way you can.

2- Do your research 

Prepare, Identify the right person to send your cover letter too. This is best way to ensure it gets read. Once again, get specific, do not send to the generic careers@ email address, try to find out who the hiring manager is, address your letter and email to them instead.

By identifying the right person, this allows you to tailor your letter to not only the company, but also the individual.

Additional tips to researching the right person:

  • Call or email the company to ask who is hiring for a certain position.
  • Use LinkedIn or the company website to determine the name of the HR person.
  • Reach out to any contacts who work there and might be able to help.

3- Opening Statement

Now that you identified the right person to address your letter too, here comes the fun part of the letter. Be CREATIVE! Present your personality whilst remaining professional.  

Opening with “I’m writing to apply for the ABC position” might not cut it. Attempt to draw the reader in by sharing what about the business has grabbed your attention and why specifically you would like to work for them.

Here are some examples:

  • “I have followed the business for some time and believe you set yourself apart from the competition. I would like to register my high interest in the ABC position. I admire your product innovation, the way you constantly stand out from the competition. As an experienced Product Manager in your sector this appeals to me greatly”.
  • “I have studied the industry for many years and have always admired your business, the prestigious projects you have been involved in fascinates me. I would like to put on record my high interest in the ABC position in London. I have a wealth of Architect contacts inside the M25, that I believe would be very interested in your product”.

4- Create Interest

Describe what you can deliver. Once you have opened up and expressed your interest, the next paragraph or two should describe what you can do for them and the company.

Set out very quickly to describe what you can deliver when you walk through that company’s doors. Have the information you have gained from the company advert or job description directly in mind. You should aim to articulate how you can ease the pain the business is enduring whist this role remains unfilled. 

You don’t want to make any promises but describing how your past experiences and achievements that are present on your CV makes you a strong candidate. 

 An example of this might be:

“You can see from my CV, during my last role, I played a key role and was responsible for bringing a new product to market. Through conception, R&D and manufacturing. Worked closely with the marketing function, created the literature, training and delivered the product training for the sales team to ultimately release the product to market”.

This should be a killer statement if you are applying with a business who are looking to hire a Product Manager for the first time. 

Another tip might be to bullet point four key experiences and achievements. Remember to always relate back to the pain points on the job description or company job advert. 

This should be no different if you are working closely with a recruitment consultant within your industry. 

5– Sprinkle in some personality

You shouldn’t be afraid to use a direct tone and a bit of personality. We can all get caught up in how it is supposed to be done and the rules for cover letters, most of the time this leaves us with the world’s most boring generic cover letter. Dare to be different just keep it on point with what the company is looking for and what you can deliver. 

Dependent on the position you are showing interest in, personality of the company and your writing strengths, should determine if you use humour or casual language in your letter.

An example of this might be the obvious differences between applying for a Finance Manager position at a large multinational, compared to a Marketing Manager where you have more room to be creative. Do your research on the business and adjust your tone accordingly. 

6– Call to action

Almost done! Before concluding your dazzling cover letter, you need to add one more thing, call to action for your reader. 

Make it clear what you want them to do and what you are going to do.

Give your call to action a timeline. Add contact details so that the reader can contact you. Either way, make sure the reader knows what action to take now that you’ve totally wowed them.

If you want to stand out in a crowd a strong cover letter could be the key to your success. Take your time, let your personality shine. 

I hope you have found our Top 6 Tips helpful. 

Blog Post

Top 6 Tips – How to identify the right recruitment partner.

Jul 7, 2020 , , , , , , by sfrrecruitment

For organisations with no dedicated recruitment or talent-sourcing function, it is often a necessity to reach out for an external recruitment partner to help with finding the best people. But with significant fees associated with recruitment and a lot riding on hiring decisions from a business point of view, it is important to choose a recruitment partner that best suits your culture and needs. Below we have outlined our Top 6 Tips on how to identify the right recruitment partner.

1- Are they in your space?

Lets begin with the basics. Rather than calling the first business that pops into your head or the multinational business that markets their services in every space. Make sure that the recruitment business you choose to partner with is working in your space. An award-winning agency recruiting for marketing superstars won’t necessarily have such a great network of IT professionals for instance. Or do you want somebody that knows your product inside out? If this is the case then you should research and find the recruitment business that operates in your industry and that understands the challenges of your market, maybe has an understanding of the technical qualities of your product and speaks daily to the type of individuals that you might want to recruit. Whatever the case may be, our tip is, get specific and do your research.

2- What are their screening methods?

If you are recruiting for customer or client-facing roles such as project management or Business Development, the candidates’ communication skills can be equally as, if not more important than what is on their CV.

For this reason, many companies in these industries enlist the help of recruiters so that they can take some of the guesswork out of an interview and will pre-screen candidates for softer skills before submitting to the client. If this is a reason that you are looking for external help, make sure that pre-screening candidates, whether in-person or by phone, is part of their process.

3- Do you agree on the process?

Different recruitment businesses work in different ways and to different timelines. Before committing to one or even a couple of businesses it is essential to find out about their ways of working and whether this aligns with your internal process.

For instance, how do they submit candidates? Is it through a portal or by email? Every company has processes and procedures that are individual to them, so it is important to ensure that your chosen partners process mirrors yours as much as possible to allow for seamless recruitment.

4- Do your cultures align?

You’ll be working very closely with your chosen businesses, partnering to develop attractive job specs and adverts, regularly providing feedback to make sure there’s a pipeline of the best candidates, so it’s absolutely key that your cultures and outlook match and that you like the consultants.

You’ll be much better placed to have frank and sometimes difficult conversations if you gel well with your recruitment partner, and having a similar outlook on what makes a good candidate from a communication point of view means the consultant is able to screen for the types of soft skills that you yourself look for in interview. Remember, your recruitment partner should be an extension of your management team and so hold similar viewpoints on recruitment matters.

5- Are they coming up with the goods?

The recruitment business you have chosen to partner with might say all the right things and align with your company culture but are they highlighting the right candidates? Are they working to your agreed timelines?

Are they eventually successful in placing the right candidate? If not, they might not be the right partner for you. It may be useful for you to choose two recruitment businesses to work with in the beginning. Maybe one performs better than the other, you can always reward this business with exclusivity on the next project.

In most industries, it is now all but essential to work with a recruitment partner to help with complex and ever-changing recruitment needs, so it’s important to treat them as you would any key supplier.

Having a hands on approach could be key to your recruitment partner consistently adding value to your organisation. 

6- Do they come well recommended?

Well, this might seem like an obvious thing to say when partnering with any supplier, but do they come well recommended? Do they could have good reviews and testimonials from past and existing clients? The best case scenario here is that you see that an industry friend has left a glowing recommendation. Most of this information can be found on their company website. Client feedback is so important, it shows their consistency, professionalism, and evidence that they deliver.

I hope that you find these Top Tips helpful. 

Blog Post

Top 6 Tips – Hiring the right person.

Jul 3, 2020 , , , , by sfrrecruitment

Whether you are hiring employees for a large or smaller organization the hiring process is the first and foremost factor you need to focus on. Here are our Top 6 Tips to look for when recruiting the right person. 

1.   Commitment to their career

Someone who is committed to their career is a candidate you should want to hire. You would like to hire an employee who is dedicated, loyal and focused on business they are in, not one that switches careers or jobs frequently, just to get a higher salary. We also believe that a candidate that has overcome hurdles and challenges within a business shows good spirit and staying power.

Always check the candidate’s previous job duration and references.

2.   Check compatibility

It’s imperative that you find an employee that will fit in with your company’s culture. Prepare questions that can help you determine if the candidate has social skills to get along with others, especially with current employees and managers.

Is the right person already within the business? Should an investment be made in that person’s development?

Remember, willingness is one of the primary things a candidate must possess to work with you.

3. Pay attention to the candidates’ questions

The candidate’s questions can often be very insightful. Have they researched your employee brand? Can they tell you what makes your culture unique? You may be able to discover when a candidate has a genuine, authentic desire to join your company. If their personal values align with your culture, everything else can be taught.

4. Look for candidates with heart

History can tell us that sometimes we interview for the wrong reasons — what candidates look like on paper instead of how they will fit into the company culture. Make sure that you understand what it is that is that you are searching for before you start the recruitment process. HR can be a terrific judge of character and help us look for candidates who not only have the ability to do the work but have a true heart for the company’s mission.

5. During this time it may be useful to utilise the phone Interview to pre-screen applicants.

Before you decide to meet your shortlist face to face, we advise that you conduct a phone interview or use video conferencing technology. During this discussion, you should flush out questions about duties, culture, salary expectations, their work history. Importantly this give you the opportunity to find out where you will need to devote more training time. We believe this exercise will save you valuable time, allowing you to narrow in on the one.

6. Keep improving your hiring process and use the past as a roadmap for the future.

No businesses should underestimate the value of hiring the right candidate.

Getting it right first time can save you money, time and can be a far less stressful.

It’s important to review your recruitment process every year, maybe every quarter. Are your adverts being placed on the right job boards? Have you nailed the job description? Does your Team and HR facility understand the importance to the business to have the right person in this position? Are you missing in house talent? Are you using an external recruitment partner? If so, do they have the right brief, are they specialist in your industry?

Make changes if they are needed, hiring the right person should be an enjoyable process.

Please let us know if you have found our Top 6 helpful. 

Written by Matthew Robinson.

Blog Post

Top 6 Video Interview Tips!

Jul 3, 2020 , , , , by sfrrecruitment

In recent months we have set about to help as many people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, this includes helping with CV and Interview Tips. We have received a lot of positive feedback on this and now we would like to share with you our Top Tips.

1- Set the scene

Make sure your environment is professional. Find quiet and undisturbed location. Try and choose somewhere with good lighting. Additional tip – Try wearing headphones to help hear clearly.

2- Control your environment

Inform everyone in your household that you will be on a video interview and that you should not be disturbed. Keep any cats, dogs, or any other animals out of sight for the duration of the interview. 

Additional tip – Turn your phone off or make sure it is on silent.

3- Wi-Fi ready?

It is important that your Wi-Fi does not fail you at this important time. Get a friend or family member to run through a mock video interview with you, to clearly make sure your Wi-Fi is reaching your chosen spot. Additional tip – turn off any non-essential technology using the internet.

4- Let’s get technical

If you are using a laptop or tablet make sure it’s fully charged on the day of the interview. Find a flat and stable surface to place your device. Additional tip – avoid using your smartphone.

5- Dress for success

Dress as you would for a face to face interview head to toe. Doing so will make you feel confident and professional. Additional tip – avoid wearing bright colours, they can be distracting.

6- Let it shine

It is important that you allow your personality to shine. Maintain eye contact. Keep good posture, sitting with your back straight. Speak clearly into the mic. Pause for one second after the interviewer has finished the question, this avoids speaking over one and other. Show enthusiasm, be engaging and smile.

Just as you would do at the end of any other interview, thank the interviewer for the opportunity and reiterate your interest in the position.

Additional tip – have a note pad and pen ready to make notes as soon as the interview is over.

Thank you for reading. Good luck with your video interview and please let us know if you have found our Top Tips helpful.

Written by Matthew Robinson.

Blog Post

Top 6 CV Tips!

Jul 3, 2020 , , , , , by sfrrecruitment

In recent months we’ve set about to help as many people affected by the COVID-19 outbreak with helping them with their CV. We have received a lot of positive feedback on this and now we would like to share our top tips.

1- KEEP IT PROFESSIONAL, use an appropriate email and full postal address.

2- PRESENTATION IS KEY, keep to a single theme/layout – ensure your font and text size is consistent. Do not over complicate your formatting – keep text boxes and columns to a minimum. Use bite-size chunks of information, easier to read.

3- LETS GET SPECIFIC, Highlight duties, key achievements and performance figures. Don’t make it hard for a potential employer to find this key information.

4- KEEP IT RELEVENT, when listing your career history, start with your most recent role and work in chronological order. Additional Tip – Don’t leave a comment at the end of each role describing why you left this position.

5- ALWAYS GET PERMISSION, make sure references given have been agreed to by your former employer. Remember you want this person to be called or email and asked to give a reference.

6- IT MUST BE UP TO DATE, It is imperative that all of your information is up-to-date throughout your CV.

Get in touch if you would like additional help with your CV! ?

P.s The car in the picture above is the Citroen CV. Hold your hands up if you didn’t get it.

Written by Matthew Robinson.

SFR Recruitment Solutions