Part of the reason recruiting ‘talent’ remains challenging and complicated is because there is no one universal way of doing it.

It is clear, what works for one group of profession will not necessarily work for another group. For instance, the tools and services utilised to find and recruit a receptionist is going to be different from how a CEO is sourced and recruited. In the same breath, recruiting tactics used by a small and medium size company will have little relevance to a multinational company. Adding to the challenge is having to deal with a product that can say ‘no’, is very well informed and armed to the teeth with choices.

In the last 12 months, driven in parts by the growth of social media, emergence of new methodologies and thinking, development of new services and tools, technological innovations, and changes in job seekers’ behaviour, the number of channels and methods to source talent has exploded.

The challenge for each employer is to figure out what works best for their company; figure out which tools to pluck out from the toolbox. And in the backdrop of an economy predicted to sink further, the imperatives to get recruitment right is critical.

Over the coming months we will prod, study and take a closer look at the talent acquisition landscape. We will concentrate on separating myth from reality. It promises to be a wild ride. Join us.

• State of public sector ICT market
  Intermedium list 2008’s major ICT events in the Australian Public sector. The main event being the government’s acceptance of the Gershon’s report which recommended a 50% cut in spending on IT contracting staff.
• Australians love affair with Facebook continues
  Close to 4 million Australian use Facebook. Whether you sell a product or your employment brand, it is impossible to ignore a website frequented by so many Australians. What are the imperatives for talent acquisition?  
• Awards System
  Some 4000 plus industrial awards exist in Australia. Efforts to modernise the awards system is leading to fears employers wage bills will increase by 20-30% in NSW.   
• Industry sentiments
  The latest Mckinsey global survey paints a picture of doom; 44% of companies think they will reduce headcount in 2009. NSW businesses are however confident of increasing headcount in 2009. Meanwhile, Holden’s new car to generate 1200 jobs  
• Staff layoffs in a downturn
  Think twice before laying off staff, Harvard Business School warns. Meanwhile, retail and finance sector registered the largest job cuts in Australia.  Watson Wyatt looks at the effects of the downturn on HR programs.  
• Crystal ball gazing
  John Sumser’s 10 predictions for the recruitment industry

How to effectively attract and acquire talent, is a major focus of this blog. As a result, we aim to highlight companies and individuals who are at the forefront of ‘talent attraction and acquisition’.

In the coming days we will raise the tempo and talk to more companies, solutions providers, thought leaders and industry personalities, who are redefining how to best engage and find talent in Australia.

Meanwhile, check out our previous conversations:

• ‘How to find and hire team leaders’, James Adonis (Director, teamleaders.com.au) gives us some clue.
• Kelly Magowan (Director,Sixfigures) sheds light on the behaviour of high-income earners. 
• Sourcing talent using advance internet tools is a growing trend, sourcing expert Nicole Cain (Manager, Profusion)  opens up.
• Riges Younan (CEO, 2Vouch) talks about the bold new world of referrals in talent acquisition
• Andrew Turnbull (CEO, nt3) believes interactive candidate database offers unrivalled value to tap talent.
• How do you hire staff in an industry plagued by a 46% turnover? Linda Simonsen (CEO, FuturePeople) tells us how.
• Trainer and business coach, Ross Clennett, believes good training is the key to getting talent.

If you have something to say about ‘talent’, let us know at info (at) destinationtalent.com.au

• Reports
  Nearly 70% of Australian executives are looking for a job, SixFigures latest ‘Executive Job Market Report’ finds.  Mercer’s Workplace 2012  reports ageing population and skills shortage will negate the adverse effect of a slowing economy.  Westpac/Melbourne Institute Index believes that growth in Australia will slow but recession will be avoided. Hays reports nearly  half of Australian business will shed staff. 
   
• Working with professional recruiters
  Steven Kempton, briefly explores the pros and cons of using professional recruiters. Of course, professionals recruiter don’t always get it right. CIO warns, IT professionals to be cautious when working with recruiters

• Job Board front
  Moneymanger recommends ‘caution’ on buying SEEK shares. Recruitmenow changed services offerings to FREE.  Adlogic announced a Facebook application. Two new players – Webfreelancer, Jobfeedr - joined the job board community. 
   

• Talent stuff
  - Malcolm Gladwell, explains how we can tell ‘who is right for the job’
  - Australia poaching prison guards from NZ
  -  Indigenous jobs 

Recruitment trainers play a critical role of championing quality and best-practice methodologies in an industry whose image is often tarnished by lack of proper standards. Trainers are largely at the forefront of improving the productivity, image and overall professionalism of recruiters. Unsurprisingly the demand for training services has increased significantly.

We spoke to Ross Clennett, a personal coach, speaker and recruitment trainer based in Melbourne. Ross sheds some light on the status of the training market, critical skills recruiters lack and the services he provides.

DT: Ross, can you shed some light on your background and what services RossClennett.com offers?
RC: I finished an economics degree at the University of Tasmania and in late 1988 went backpacking across China and Russia and finished up in London and started working as a recruiter to pay for my credit card bills. I returned to Australia after 2 years and then worked for 10 years at Recruitment Solutions starting as a temp recruiter in Sydney and finishing up as the Deputy GM for National Recruitment Services. I started my own business in 2003, originally as a personal coach but recruitment was too much in my blood so I moved into recruitment training and then conference speaking. I launched RossClennett.com and my weekly ezine, InSight, in October 2007. My services remain coaching, training, and keynote speaking at both internal conferences and public conferences.

DT: Is recruitment an art or a science?
RC: It is most definitely a science. The ‘art’ comes through each recruiter bringing their own personality and style to their job. Most hiring mistakes occur when people ignore the science behind effective recruitment processes.

DT: How important is training for recruiters and what difference does formal training makes?
RC:Training recruiters is as important as training accountants, or any professional. Would you like someone ‘good with numbers’ doing your tax return without the proper training? Effective training in ANY discipline, not just recruitment, enables a person to succeed more quickly than they would through purely ‘trial and error’ self-directed learning.

DT: How big is the market for recruitment training in Australia?
RC: Not as big as it should be! There are about half a dozen full time recruitment trainers/coaches in Australia but the potential market is huge when you consider a very large majority of recruitment companies in this country employ less than 20 people and can’t afford dedicated full-time trainers internally.

DT: In your opinion what are the three main things the recruitment industry (recruiters) need improving? Do you think the recruitment industry have an image problem?
RC: Yes, there is an image problem, caused by a sector that is profitable, high growth, largely self-regulated and with very low barriers to entry. The three most important things for recruiters to improve are their;

- interviewing skills
- ‘talent consulting’ skills with clients rather than being a resume referral service
- brochures and websites

DT: You are passionate about writing good job ads, how important is writing good job ads in sourcing candidates?  What  evidence exists that good written jobs solicit more response?
RC: Writing an effective job ad remains an important recruitment skill even though, over the past 10 years, there has been a significant growth in other sourcing methods. I don’t believe the issue is about generating more response, the aim is to generate a higher quality response. I will take a 5 candidate high-calibre ad response ahead of a 60 candidate average-calibre ad response, any day. I am not aware of any formal research on job ad writing but if it exists I’d love to know about it.

DT: Can you tell us more about your upcoming workshops, how do they work? And why must recruiters sign up for it?
RC: I have a two day, 4 workshop, program in Brisbane on Wednesday 4 February and Thursday 5 February. People can register for the whole program or for just one or more workshops. More details can be found at http://rossclennett.com/upcoming-workshops.html

My response to why recruiters should sign up is simply to say; if you’re interested in improving your results, then come along, if you aren’t interested in improving then stay away! No matter how long you have been recruiting for I promise you will learn at least one new thing that will help you in 2009.

Ross can be reached at ross@rossclennett.com

Roughly 110,000 students graduated each year from Australian colleges and universities, and majority of them (84.5%) joined the workforce within four months of graduating.

Meanwhile, competition for graduates is heating up each year; graduate vacancies rose from 9.8% in 2003, to 11.2% in 2008. Often employers’ problem includes the inability to fill graduate job vacancies.

If you are an employer or a recruiter, the odds are you will be involved in hiring or be in contact with a graduate(s) looking for a job. Given graduates constitute the bulk of new human capital joining the Australian workforce each year, it is important to better understand their behaviour. Below are a few resources.

Graduate recruitment resources:

• Gradient’s recent report – Change by Degree – provides myth busting insights into the behaviour of graduates.
• How much do graduates earn? How much do you need to pay? Graduate Career offers a yearly report on graduate remuneration trends in Australia.
• Members of the Australian Association of Graduate Employers pool resources together to better understand graduates behaviour. The group produce a yearly report on graduate employment destinations. Also, Ben Reeves’, CEO of AAGE, presentation on graduate behaviour.  Graduate Recruitment Industry Awards Winners, 2008.
• Virtual graduate recruitment fair – highly appropriate strategy to reach out to a digital generation.
• NAGCAS (National Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services)  has a wide range of resources on graduate careers development.
• Itinerary of graduate career fairs across Australian universities
• EOC has been in the forefront of graduate recruitment. Careers & Employment Expo is a yearly event targeting graduates across Australia.
• Sydney Talent is an interesting joint initiative of Sydney University and the business community to harness graduate talent. Universities will increasingly cash in on the human capital they helped produce.
• Graduate Opportunities is a career guide for graduates. Includes, snippets of major Australian sectors employing graduates.
• Niche job board targeting graduates – Graduatejobs . Juniorjobs targets entry level job seekers, including graduates.
• SEEK has 2,100 graduate vacancies. All the generalist job board have dedicated graduate sections.