Thoughts On Online Recruitment And Stuff

Don’t be disappointed in your candidates……

February 1, 2010 – 11:18 am

You know there is no need to use a recruitment company to find your candidates, because effective online recruitment will find your next hire. But this is just one part of the process, you still need to act like a recruiter when organising your interviews…

When you interview a candidate who has come from a recruitment company, they will have been spoon fed all the information they could possibly need to know about your company. Their CV’s are even edited to tailor them to your position.

With low cost, online recruitment you get to see the ‘raw candidate’, without a recruiter’s influence. It is vital you provide your candidates with the information they need so they are able prepare themselves for the interview. Follow these simple tips to help you get the best out of your candidates:

Prior to the Interview:

1. Email confirmation with the following information:

Address – where is the interview taking place?
Who will be interviewing them? Let them know how many people will be interviewing them. Will it be their potential line manager or someone else?
Attach the job spec so they can prepare for the interview. They may not have a copy of the advert so remember to send them a copy! Or if you have a full job description, send this to the candidates!
Send them a link to your website so they can research information about the company.
Tell them what will be expected of them

2. Call them the day before the interview to confirm

What do YOU need to prepare?

How will you sell the role? What are the key points that will make that interviewee convert to a hire
Frequently asked questions – Think about what you want to find out from the candidate. What will make them successful? If you are hiring for a sales position, take a look at our blog post for questions you may want to ask
Create an interview pack for each interviewee –include a ‘general duties’ list, information about the company and anything else relevant for the particular role. Make sure you use this opportunity to sell your company.

If you have any other questions on how to prep your candidates please see our FAQs or get in touch with us directly.

By Michaela Timmins | Comments (1)

How to write the perfect CV

January 21, 2010 – 1:27 pm

Because of the developments in online recruitment and the massive increase in services such as flat fee recruitment, more and more clients are seeing CVs that have not been “improved” by recruitment companies.

This means the candidate is back in control of their presentation, which is a wonderful thing, but means as an applicant you are responsible for how you are presented.

The CV is a marketing tool for you. It is your introduction to your future employer and dream job and it needs to have NO SPELLING MISTAKES and be relevant to the job/sector you are applying for. Here are a few do’s and don’t's that are essential when creating your CV and applying for a job.

First the dos…

Do make sure you highlight your CV with relevant keywords. With improvements in technology, more and more CVs are read with intuitive “parsing” technology. If you wish to be considered a sales executive, call yourself one!
Do make it clear in a 3 sentence synopsis who you are and what your skills are. Make this flexible but relate it to each job you apply for.
Do list your experience with most recent experience first.
Do clearly mark job titles and time of employment for each employer.
Do add facts and examples of work.
Do list duties AND achievements.
Do check EVERYTHING.
Do add the URL of your LinkedIn profile to your CV. Not sure how to use LinkedIn effectively for job searching? Have a look at our “Using LinkedIn for Job Searching” post.

Now the don’ts…

Don’t make any spelling mistakes. EVER.
Don’t waste time with video technologies. It’s just a gimmicky fad that succeeds in telling the employer what you look like and how you come across on camera, but not much else. Even worse, the format you use might not be viewable on a recruiter’s PC; or they might not find your CV from their database because they use a keyword search to find candidates. Even worse, some recruiters exclude any video applications – because they show the recruiter your age, skin colour and gender – all of which a recruiter cannot take into account on the grounds of discrimination.
Don’t include photos, unless you’re applying to be a model.
Don’t include tables or fancy formatting as your CV may not be read effectively by recruitment tools.
Don’t save in any format apart from word, as before, your CV may not be read effectively by recruitment tools.

By Steve Evans | Comments (7)

Our favourite case study (so far…)…

January 20, 2010 – 10:30 am

What do you do when a client gives you 2 weeks to deliver a mass hiring project, to a strict budget and sets the expectation that there is an extreme shortage of potential candidates and advertising has never worked for them before?

Well, if you’re Net Natives, within a fortnight, you of course deliver your unique recruitment service, as well as;

a revamped employer branding
new employee messaging
a new career micro site
off and online marketing campaigns
job board advertising
social media strategy
Facebook advertising
candidate response management
internal recruitment training and development

…within budget and with a smile on our face!

Fast forward to now and from the 5,000 targeted visitors to ADPDentistjobs, ADP have already begun hiring from the 425+ relevant applications, that just keep coming. Candidate shortage…?! Pah!

Every penny spent is tracked, measured, monitored and reviewed with weekly reports. Facebook advertising, providing the best return on investment (yes, we’re surprised with this, as well), but working well as a truly joined up, multi-platform campaign that is tracked and measured throughout.

The client has called us “phenomenal”, bless them…But then again, we have to say, why shouldn’t they? In one month alone, we’ve saved over £100,000s in recruitment fees and potential lost revenue from lack of hires!

We have loads more case studies, so if you want to know more, get in touch

By Steve Evans | Comments (2)

Think You Know Facebook. Think Again!

January 15, 2010 – 3:47 pm

Forget everything you think you know. Facebook Advertising Works.

The Facts:

Facebook is the second most viewed site online.

a 1/3 of the whole UK population is on Facebook.

50% of Facebook users return daily.
Facebook advertising is the most targeted demographic advertising platform online.

The smallest age demographic is aged 13 to 17.

The largest age demographic is aged between 25 and 34.

Facebook Advertising Demographic

What is Facebook Advertising?

Facebook Advertising are advertisements displayed on Facebook users’ web pages. They appear in the right side column on Facebook pages in the Ad Space.

Make It Work!

1. Do your research – Facebook allows you to target your adverts to a very specific and relevant audience. Not only can you specify age, gender, education and work place, but Facebook also scans users’ profiles for their interests, job titles, skills and much more. By working out who will want to see your advert, the more successful your advertising campaign will be.

2. Stand out from the crowd – Unlike Google users, Facebook users aren’t on the site waiting to look at your ad, the ads have to be relevant and interesting. Facebook users need a reason to click on your ads. Give them one!

3. Take them somewhere they want to go - When users click on your ad they will be taken to your website or Facebook business page. Your message needs to be consistent with clear calls to actions. You don’t want users clicking on your ads but leaving your site straight away as they couldn’t find what they were looking for.

4. Monitor, Measure & Experiment – The best Facebook advertising campaigns have multiple adverts with various ad copy and images. It’s crucial to regularly change your advert copy and images to get the best click rate. Monitor and refine your ads and use your campaign data wisely.

5. No half measures – It’s not easy, you’ll have to work hard, but it’s worth it. We have fabulous case studies, we’d even go so far as to say we’re sort of experts in this new field.

If you want to know more or if you would like us to create a campaign feasibility research report…

Email us at hello@netnatives.co.uk

Or call us on

01273 734 640

By Steve Evans | Comments (2)

A list of all the sales questions clients could possibly need

January 12, 2010 – 11:36 am

One of our key areas of speciality is helping our clients deliver on sales roles, we would hope that this post helps you with any sales recruitment, by listing every possible question you would want to ask you potential sales or business development hires. If you have any questions just get in contact.

(oh and there is a question which is good for the process and good for referral grabbing, see if you can spot it). Good luck…

What is your sales target and how is it established?
What % of your target did you achieve/overachieve?
How much time do you spend on developing new business?
How much time do you spend on account management?
How do you target new accounts for prospecting?
How do you acquire new sales leads?
What kind of people do you like to sell to?
How do you define a new customer’s needs and expectations?
What kind of problems do you have to solve as a salesperson?
How do you approach understanding your customer’s needs?
How do you establish rapport with a stranger on the telephone?
What do you consider the most crucial part of your job?
What kind of rewards are most satisfying to you?
Explain your role as a team member of a sales force.
How do you deal with disagreements with others?
How do you organise yourself for daily activities?
How do you turn a buyer into a regular customer?
Why do people buy a product or service from you?
Describe the best and worst manager you’ve ever had.
What words would your manager use describe you.
How do you deal with angry and upset customers?
How much time do you spend on the different parts of your job?
What have you learned from the different sales jobs you’ve had?
How would you break in a new territory for an employer?
How many accounts do you like to handle at one time?
How detailed are the sales reports you prepare?
How do you forecast your sales?
What do you feel are your personal limitations?
How do you get people to work in cooperation with you?
Who are your major competitors and why?
What business trends do you see developing in the market?
Who was the best performing sales person in your business/team?
Why do you think this person is so successful?

Good luck with your recruitment and please contact us if you need any help with sales recruitment

By Steve Evans | Comments (2)

5 Steps to Flat Fee Recruitment

November 18, 2009 – 1:38 pm

We thought we’d show you are lovely Flat Fee Recruitment Diagram, just click the image below to see it bigger.

By Steve Evans | Comments (0)

11 Pre-Screening Questions to ask Candidates

November 12, 2009 – 2:54 pm

When doing more recruitment yourself you should try to do a tiered structure to the process, with a short 10 minute telephone interview to make sure you are happy with the next stage. Make sure you make notes and use these notes in your face to face interview.

Firstly sell the company/sell the role and make sure you are using this opportunity to get the candidate excited about your company and the role.

Here are Key questions to ask in the screening phone interview:

1. If there is any doubt, make sure they have a UK work VISA or what is their VISA status

2. If the candidate lives a long way away, ask about the
commute or how they plan to relocate.

3. If they need a driving license, ask if they have one.

4.Why did they want to apply for this role?

5. Why are they looking to leave their current job?

6. What is their current salary/package?

7. What salary/package are they looking for?

8. Do they have any other offers or interviews?

9. What is their notice period?

10.What is their interview availability?

11. Do they have any relevant references?

If you carry out the pre-screening interview properly you should find the face-to-face interview process will run far smoother and you will have a better idea of each candidate before you even meet them. If you need anyn other advice on pre-screening questions or the interview process as a whole please get in touch.

By Michaela Timmins | Comments (1)

Learn to be a Recruiter

November 12, 2009 – 2:54 pm

If you follow these simple points you may never have to use a recruitment agency again, wouldn’t that be nice:

1. Be certain you need to recruit!

Make sure you have the role clearly defined and that there is a potential career path for the person you hire
Make sure you have budget you need to recruit!

2. Sell your company!

The best candidates will have more than one interview, make sure you know how best to sell your company. From the advert through to the interview.

3. Prepare yourself

Make sure that you know what the role is in relation to the company, what are the questions you should be asking against that job type.

This will help you prepare when reviewing CVs.

Make sure that you know when everyone is available for interviews and decision making (you don’t want someone off on a holiday at the critical time).

4. Act fast!

The best candidates don’t hang around, if you see someone you like, invite them in for an interview.

5. Pre-screen

Take about 10 minutes to have a telephone interview with the shortlist candidates to make sure you are comfortable with their ability and you sell the company.

See our pre screen question post to make sure you are getting the most out of this process

6. Build your own referral network

Make sure you get the most out of your own network
Have a read of our referral networking blog post for more ideas

7. Use social networks

Have a read of our Facebook advertising blog post for more ideas

8. Build your own talent pool

You should have a database of talent this you know to keep in touch with for your future recruitment needs. Some may be perfect for freelance.

If you need any other help or advice on your recruitment process please get in touch.

By Michaela Timmins | Comments (0)

The Net Natives Recruitment Manual

November 12, 2009 – 2:53 pm

If you are reading this, then you are, no doubt, fed up with your current recruitment process and suppliers and probably for good reason. At Net Natives, we want to add value and provide employers with the tools they need to recruit directly and improve their recruitment strategies.

The internet has changed recruitment, but it doesn’t seem to have gotten through to the actual employers. Hopefully, by reading this, you are ready to try something new. To maybe not put that call into your favourite recruiter and pay them to just filter job boards for you. Take at least one of these points away and you will save yourself a few thousand pounds in recruitment fees and days in frustration…

This list of tips and tools will help you reduce your costs and improve your recruitment processes. Each point should be seen as a check list, you do not need to action everyone every time you are hiring, but it should help you improve your processes.

These are some key points to a successful recruitment process.

1. Question yourself

– work out why you need to fill the role, what is the key purpose and what is the key outcome? Do you need to create a new hire or can you promote or manage internally?

2. Write an effective job description

– this is different to the job advert, it is the list of key objectives and points of measurable success that will determine if that new hire has been successful. There are no such things as bad employees, only bad hires!

3. Get input

– should you be the only person to write the job description or would it be more relevant to get input from other people – current team members, perhaps?

4. Centralize your recruitment

– if you have a number of hiring managers all recruiting separately, you will be putting forward mixed messages and you certainly will have increased your recruitment costs.

– have you established an effective referral scheme? Look at ways in which your own talent will put forward your company as the best place to work. Work out how to get that message across effectively to your employees. Use your network

– ask your peers and clients if they know of anyone suitable. Promote the fact that you are hiring, people want to hear good news and will want to help.

5. Ask for referrals in final interviews

– if someone is good and you are hiring for more than one role, ask them if they know of anyone. They will probably know people in their network.

6. Free advertising

– There are a number of free job board advertising routes you can place your ads. If the role is relevant you could even advertise on the Jobcentre plus site.

7. Create a talent pool

– track all people who you have hired or interviewed in the past and ask them if they can be registered. Adhere to data protection with opting in tools, but keep in touch with relevant people with emails and contacts. Remember these aren’t just candidates these could be clients.

8. Use social media

– create LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook accounts and market your roles to your network. You’ll be amazed by the results.

9. Use Online Advertising

– this is where Net Natives can come in, or you can do it yourself. Establish which job boards’ best suit you requirements and advertise and search their databases (this is all that most recruitment companies are doing for you anyway!).

Create a PPC (Pay Per Click) Google Adwords campaign to drive traffic to your site. Highlight the words you think people would search on and then buy those phrases for the Google campaign.

10. Respond quickly

– if you are running an online advertised campaign, make sure you identify the good people quickly and respond quickly before they are hired by someone else.

If you need more in depth advice on improving your recruitment process or want to inquire about our flat fee recruitment service please get in touch.

By Steve Evans | Comments (0)

How To Set Up An Effective Employee Referral Scheme

November 12, 2009 – 12:29 pm

We would love you to use our flat fee service, that’s why we’re here. But Net Natives are here to shake up the prehistoric recruitment model and help every company become better at recruitment. We know that sometimes the best person is the friend of the friend already working for you. You just need to make sure you are getting the message out to them effectively.

These are the important rules to take into account when setting up an employer referral scheme:

Rule Number 1.

Plan, plan, plan is the name of the game. The more you put in, the more you put out.

Rule Number 2.

Create an employee focus group; ask your key stakeholders what would incentivise them to refer people. Empower ownership from day 1. How best to promote, what schemes would be best, are league tables relevant, that sort of thing. Remember that everyone is motivated differently; mix up the schemes and what people can get out of them. Have fun with the process.

Rule Number 3.

Give the scheme an identity, a name and maybe even a logo. Make it stand out; make everyone know what they are talking about. Establish timeframes and cut off points. Be clear with the message and incentives.

Rule Number 4.

Promote, Promote, Promote. You can offer your employees amazing incentives but if they don’t know your referral scheme exists you won’t get any referrals. Pretty obvious, really…

Cleary explain the schemes with everyone in companywide of team meetings.
Keep the schemes on the agendas.
Use email, work notice boards, newsletters, whatever to keep everyone informed.
Inform every new employee the scheme exists when they start working for your organisation.
Even at interview stage let your candidates know about the scheme.
If you use them, send out the details of the scheme with employee payslips.
Encourage your staff to promote the scheme amongst each other and champion staff that uses innovative methods to promote it.

Rule Number 5.

Embrace and use relevant social media networks. Social Media sites are perfectly designed for you to promote a referral scheme as your employees and their friends are likely to use them. Take advantage of the fact that many of your employees will already be using them. Not only should you encourage your guys to use their own LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook network to promote the jobs and scheme you should at the very least…

Create a Referral Scheme Page on your Company page on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The page should have:

Details of the incentives offered for successful referrals .
Information on all the jobs that you are trying to fill.
Details of all the methods staff can refer people. e.g. email, phone, facebook application form etc.
Clear and eye catching imagery to get everyone engaged e.g. images and video.

Regularly tweet about your scheme on Twitter making sure you engage with your network.

Rule Number 6.

Keep your career page up to date – make sure that your career site (or work for us page) reflects the fact that you are hiring and is as clear as possible as to the process.

Rule Number 7.

Always respond to every referral – you should ALWAYS respond to every applicant, but even more so when it is a friend of an employee!

Final Rule

Measure & Review – the only way you’ll know if your referral scheme has been a success is if you can measure all the referrals you receive. Simple.

Add all referred candidates to your applicant tracking system, even if it is just an excel spreadsheet. Even if they aren’t suitable for the role you’re recruiting for now, who knows, they could be perfect for a job you want to fill later on.
Keep a referral database with a record of every referral made and who made the referral. This will be useful when you want to find out who to reward for the most successful referrals.
Measure which methods work and increase that exposure. If you find a lot of people through, say, Facebook, maybe try some focused Facebook advertising next time round?

I think the key message is to give it a go and have a bit of fun with the format. If you need any help with structuring, branding or implementing your scheme, just get in contact.I hope this has been useful.

By Steve Evans | Comments (0)

Thoughts On Online Recruitment And Stuff – Net Natives

Don’t be disappointed in your candidates……

How to write the perfect CV

Our favourite case study (so far…)…

Think You Know Facebook. Think Again!

A list of all the sales questions clients could possibly need

5 Steps to Flat Fee Recruitment

11 Pre-Screening Questions to ask Candidates

The Net Natives Recruitment Manual

How To Set Up An Effective Employee Referral Scheme

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