Partner Article

Seriously Speaking: Is it really doom and gloom for job seekers?

Julian Rogan, partner at executive search firm Global Blackswan in Newcastle, delivers his verdict on the current state of the recruitment market.

I have been asked a question more times in the past twelve months than in the entire previous decade. That question is ‘being in recruitment must be really tough at the moment what with there being no jobs around?’ The answer to that question may surprise you.

The answer is that we have found as economic conditions worsened, we actually saw an upturn in demand for our services. There are various reasons for this but the most important factors are those that govern the success of any business at any given time, namely: understanding what your customer wants and exceeding those expectations; being innovative in conception and delivery of your product or service and ensuring that you understand your market better than the competition.

The recruitment sector is an often overlooked but excellent barometer of how the economy as a whole, an individual region or business sector is performing at any given time.

Recruitment businesses are in an almost unique position in that we deal with such an extremely diverse range of companies and sectors and at all levels within these areas. This is due to the fact that the service we provide, ‘talent acquisition’, is used to some extent by every business in existence. The insight that dealing with such an array of different businesses, which all have differing needs at any given time, allows us to build up a clear understanding not only of how a business sector is performing generally, but also how companies within a particular sector are fairing against their competition.

This insight into current, real-time performance gives both job-seekers and employers who are engaged with a high- end search and selection business such as blackswan a huge competitive advantage. As we establish and build relationships with our clients the depth of the benefits we provide become clearly apparent.

Regardless of prevailing economic conditions, high calibre personnel are always in demand - even more so when economic conditions are difficult, hence the levels of activity we are experiencing as mentioned at the start of this piece. A good recruitment agency will be able to offer invaluable advice, support and guidance to job-seekers from all levels. At blackswan we also specialise in career coaching which delivers great success in preventing employees who have been under-performing from falling into the job market in the first place.

So in answer to the question ‘is it really doom and gloom for jobseekers,’ the answer is absolutely not. Just make sure you engage the right agency.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .