Entering The Great Job Race

For those readers of Security Management Today who are thinking of changing jobs, let me say this: “You have never had it so good.”

At the present time, all sectors of commerce and industry are crying out for skilled staff, while many are claiming to use fewer contractors. That said, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) the UK temporary employment market is reportedly up 6% on the previous year.

Similarly, for those of you who like a gamble, I am fully prepared to wager that the big theme dominating this year’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Conference will be the fight for talent.

Bob Nardelli – chief executive of The Home Depot – recently stated: “We will be fighting for labour in the next six years. Anybody who doesn’t realise that there is a war on for attracting labour is going to come up short.” In response to this demand, Nardelli’s organisation has launched a series of innovative and aggressive campaigns to hire and retrain older workers, and is also looking at its diversity programmes with a view to becoming more inclusive in other areas.

All of which bodes well for many of those formerly alienated job seekers. Indeed, evidence of positivity can be seen in the emerging web sites dedicated to the over-forties and, more recently, one we ourselves work with which is dedicated to the over fifties.

There’s an old saying that you cannot buy experience, and it’s very true. Employers should not be discriminating against age.

Reasons for rationalisation

For several years the security sector has suffered greatly from a distinct lack of new talent. To many, this has been the major contributory factor in its rationalisation. However, many of the larger firms have finally broken free of the “We don’t train!” mantra, and are beginning to offer professional apprenticeships, career paths, career breaks and a range of attractive, flexible benefits.

Undoubtedly, this is going to help the larger companies in attracting new staff. Given the more modern management practices now adopted, many will retain them too.

As for the smaller independents, they will continue to offer higher basic rates of pay and rely upon enticing experienced staff from the conglomerates.

While all of this may look good on paper, the simple fact is that many recruiters (both of the regulated agency variety and those employed within Human Resources Departments) do not see the shortage in people on the ground for a number of very good reasons.

First, recruiters are still working in much the same way as they have done for the past three years. Their desks are often swamped with CVs which are poorly worded, or hide the fact that a given individual is not qualified for the job for which they have applied.

Second, internal candidates are being promoted more rapidly, which leaves a gap in their wake more easily filled from without or from other less skilled sectors.

Finally, the real competition is just beginning to bite after past years of slow employment growth.

Networking and attending crime prevention meetings, etc – in other words putting your name out in the public domain – has become a simple and low cost method of self-promotion

To overcome this recruiter lag, all job seekers must be significantly clearer in why they are suitable for a role. In years gone by, to stand out from the crowd, applicants would use different coloured paper, fancy artwork coverings and even CD-based presentations. All were great to look at, but none made a significant difference.

If we are going to be honest about this ‘era’, the CDs were often relegated to the bin for fear of viruses, while the coloured CVs failed to copy properly and were seen as second-rate quality due to their poor presentation.

Now, to become more effective at presenting your case, you must look at the job description really carefully. Then, for each element of it, make it clear what you have achieved in your present role. In other words, think “Look what I can do for you, Mr Blue Chip Managing Director” rather than “What can this company do for me?”

Don’t be screened out!

Leading-edge recruiting functions already use technology to screen out candidates. Now they are being re-engineered to screen them back in to the selection process. Fortunately, ‘attracting the attention of the software’ is very simple. If a job requires five years’ experience then write five years (or more than five years) on your CV. Do not write six years because the software has no idea what that means, and you will then be rejected.

Once the domain of the regulated professional recruitment sector, headhunting is becoming part of every manager’s job role. Of late, I have sat through several presentations from employers, both large and small, each saying how recruitment has become a core competency for all their managers. Networking and attending crime prevention meetings, etc – in other words putting your name out in the public domain – has become a simple and low cost method of self-promotion. It also means that the next time your telephone rings, it may be your competitor headhunting you.

Senior executives are also involved in the recruitment and selection process. Until now, senior management would be called in to shake the hand of a potential manager, or only the most experienced of engineers. They would then be marched out of the room before putting their proverbial foot in it.

Nowadays, senior executives are being called in to sell to applicants those reasons why they should come and work for this company. We are all privy to the VIP treatment!

Timescales on hiring

Any employer who takes more than three weeks to hire a new candidate (and many think three weeks is slick) risks losing their ‘new hire’. Figures collated by SSR Personnel Services show that candidates are deciding between upwards of three job offers at any one time. This often means that the last job offer is necessarily relegated to the bin. In other words, the hiring and firing cycle has been significantly reduced. ‘Golden hellos’ are in the ascendancy.

So what does all this mean to security professionals? First, it is true to say that if you are thinking about changing career, then you have indeed never had it so good. Opportunities abound… in all sectors, at all levels and for all groups.

Be wary, though. If you are planning on changing employers then it’s time for caution. Do your homework by visiting their sites/offices and talking to those who know the employer. Check that your potential new employer is commercially stable, and that the offer is legally binding. If you are using a recruitment company, choose one that is accredited by the REC or a similar body.