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WANTED
Glen Maddock, who swapped the bodyshop for a career in the recruitment sector, tells his story and offers some advice for job hunters.
After 23 years in the motor trade, working for a well known dealer group and insurance company, Glen Maddock changed profession to become a recruitment advisor at Ingenia, a recruitment company based in the north east.
Glen started in the industry back in the late 80s as a sales progressor. He then moved into the bodyshop as an estimator and was promoted to aftersales reception supervisor and senior bodyshop estimator.
‘So far [the new job] is going very well,’ said Glen. ‘I’ve managed to place a lot of people in jobs since the start of the year. I enjoy working with people and on the phone so this job has suited me down to the ground.’
Does he miss the motor trade? ‘Not really,’ said Glen, ‘With the role I’m doing I still get to talk to people in the trade and see how it’s going without actually getting involved myself.’
Steve Shaw, director at Ingenia, said, ‘We’re delighted Glen’s joined us and he has got vast bodyshop and aftersales knowledge which has complemented our team well and allowed us to become even more involved in the bodyshop sector.’
However, the job market is not what it was. This has been backed up from statistics reported in bodyshop that national employment in all permanent positions was at its lowest since November 1996.
Employer's market
Nationally, in all sectors, the number of people in UK employment fell by 54,000 on the quarter ending in January 2010 to reach 28.86 million. Figures for people unemployed longer than a year have increased too. 61,000 more people have been unemployed for more than 12 months, reaching 687,000, the highest figure since August 1997.
‘Recruitment has, without question, changed because of the recession,’ said Steve. ‘The industry has become an employer’s market. There are fewer jobs and the person specification is much higher than I’ve ever known it, even with over 16 years experience in the employment sector.’
The actual recruitment process has become longer and harder too. It has been reported that now potential employees will have to go through more personal interviews, assessment centres and psychometric tests before being offered a job.
Recommendations
But with so many checks, how can employees stay ahead of the pack and get back into the trade?
For those wanting a new job it’s important they get the basics right. Ingenia has issued some recommendations for candidates looking for work:
1 Firstly, updating your CV and covering letter is a must. Resumes very quickly become out of date and they are the first thing any recruiter will see about you. Potential employees should include all of the most recent employment learnt in reverse order, qualifications and skills. If you are applying directly to a company you should also include why you’d like to work for the company, what you can offer and highlight why you’d suit that particular role ahead of others.
2 Secondly, you must show up to the interview looking presentable. Research carried out shows that interviewers make an initial impression of you in the first minute and a lasting impression in the last few minutes and so if you’re first impression isn’t very good, you’ve instantly lost your audience and it can be very hard to get it back.
3 Lastly, you have to be able to sell yourself in the interview. Interviews are very high pressure situations when you can be put on the spot and if you don’t sell yourself, you’ll be lost in the crowd.
Ingenia distributes an interview advice sheet to every candidate when they register with the company. Included on the list are tips such as researching the company before the interview, having a trial run to see how long it will take you to get to the interview and making sure to maintain eye contact. Instructions of what not to do include smoking immediately before the interview, chewing gum and criticising old employers. This may appear obvious to many applicants but often it can be the smallest factors that potential employees slip up on.
Brand image
Yet despite the power shift in the employment sector, brand image is as important as ever. Companies spend a great deal of time and money to project a professional image to their customers but many fail to carry this through to job applicants and employees themselves. ‘If an employer expects their staff to bend over backwards for their customers then they should be prepared to bend over backwards to help them,’ said Steve.
‘It’s no good getting a reputation for high staff turnover, inflexible management or poor trainers then expecting to attract the best candidates in the area to fill vacancies. Word in the motor trade travels fast and can take a costly period of time to recover from.
‘Quality candidates are not always readily available and those that are can choose who they would and wouldn’t work for,’ said Steve. ‘Companies must be professional, fair and promote themselves well to attract the best staff.
‘If candidates are messed about like they have been in the past then they will take matters into their own hands and look for a job elsewhere.’
From both sides of the fence it appears that the parameters have changed in the recruitment sector. More is now expected from both applicants and employers and, with vast competition for places, people in the industry are going to have to keep up or face being at the bottom of the pile.
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