Ready? Steady? Go!

Ready? Steady? Go! by Jo Gascoigne, CEO, Gascoigne Partners
Never before has it been so important for candidates to prepare themselves properly to find new career opportunities. The job market has always been competitive and with the current economic crisis that is upon us and with many companies trimming their workforce to the bone; it is more challenging than ever for professionals to find work or new opportunities.
In a bid to tighten their belts, in agencies and companies across the land cost cutting/saving measures are being taken. Outsourced work is being brought back in-house, temporary and contract workers are not having contracts renewed, a policy of last in/first out is being implemented to reduce costs. In other cases the rule of meritocracy is being applied with firms reviewing, assessing and ranking their employees in order of value to the organisation and starting to release people from the bottom of the ranking up.
Where previously there might have been abundant choice and a personal network of friends to tap into to find work, this network alone will now not suffice in the search for new opportunities. Candidates need to prepare themselves and develop a ‘career toolkit’ that they can dip into whenever necessary.  Once this toolkit is prepared and all the tools are sharpened, a methodical approach then needs to be applied to finding new opportunities.
So what should be included in the new career toolkit? Well, a combination of traditional tools such as a curriculum and letter of application, but also more modern tools such as a Self-Marketing Plan, a personal website and how about a Youtube video of yourself? When you consider that a letter of application may only be read for a maximum of 20 seconds (if at all!) and a curriculum will get 1-2 minutes of attention from a recruitment specialist or potential employer, it is essential that these be designed in a headline-grabbing way to entice the reader to read on. A badly designed curriculum may well screen a candidate out from a position that they were perfectly capable of doing!
It is so easy to apply for a position advertised on the internet with the left click of a mouse button that many good candidates are applying for positions that they are not right for. Is it any wonder that the system is becoming clogged up? This partly explains why only around 20% of open positions are advertised, because companies do not want the administrative nightmare of managing mass applications with only a few curriculums being relevant for what they are looking for. Imagine for a moment that you were only allowed to have 50 copies of your curriculum during your entire career! You would be more choosey about who you sent them to and when. You curriculum would, in effect, have more value.
Spread the word; ask for help. It is fundamental to tell people that you are looking and where you want to get to. Your personal network, including web 2.0 social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Xing will enable you to eek out the opportunities that are not advertised. A personal recommendation or introduction is an excellent way to get to speak with the right people. Our clients often tell us that rather than liking a specific recruitment company per se, find an excellent consultant that understands their business. You must find these consultants, whichever company they work for. Recruiters that have this kind of relationship with the types of companies that you would like to work for and then build a rapport with them. At Gascoigne Partners, we specialise in Marketing, Creative and Communications professionals, if that is not your niche, find a recruitment company that does specialise in your area. If it is your niche, they we believe that you should be talking with us!
See yourself as a unique brand.
The reactive search method (websites, newspapers etc) is valid when looking for a new position and you must keep your eyes and ears open at all times. However, when you consider that 80% of opportunities are not advertised and will not be found in this way, a proactive approach is more likely to get you the longer lasting results you are looking for. What is going to make someone choose you as the ‘washing powder’ of choice over all the others on the same shelf in the job supermarket? Branding! Seeing yourself and promoting yourself, as a brand, is fundamental to your success in securing a great opportunity for yourself. Perhaps you are a crossroads in your career and you really want to clarify what role and what type of company you want to work for.
As part of the Gascoigne Partners Client Care Programme we take a lot of time and effort to find out about our clients’ business and what type of candidates would be successful. Apart from the obvious necessary qualifications and experience, when we are looking for candidates for our clients, a cultural fit is the most important factor that we know will ensure a great and lasting match. So therefore it makes sense for you, the candidate, to look for that same cultural match and align your brand with it.
Only then, when you know what your unique brand is, can you ‘sell’ that brand to potential employers and recruiters.  And remember that the buyers will not come to find you, you need to indulge is some serious strategic product placement to get yourself noticed.  We often get asked when someone should approach potential employers and our advice is simple. When you are fully prepared and when you are happy. If you are felling down, you will not be in the best frame of mind to get the type of position that you deserve and when you are feeling down, you need to pick yourself up quickly. Being proactive is a sure way to achieve this.
When out of work, there is often a temptation to spend all your time looking for work. Whilst a sense of urgency is paramount, you will get diminishing returns and perhaps become dispirited by overdoing the search and receiving rejections. It is far more productive to spend the initial period preparing for the journey ahead. It is important to remember that the other roles and responsibilities you have must not go on hold. It is a good idea to divide and organise your time and remember that you are not only a job-seeker, but perhaps also a son/daughter, brother/sister, mother/father and friend. Take time out to exercise and read a book and meet with family and friends. You will be in a better frame of mind to get the right opportunity. If the Pareto principle is to be believed, you will get 80% of your results from 20% of your activity. So why sweat the small stuff and spend 80% of your time for only 20% of your job-hunting results?
Before you define your brand, you need to know what your target audience is. Look at the location, culture, size, financial viability and structure (horizontal or vertical) of the companies you want to work for. Find out who the person who has the power to hire you is. Show a genuine interest in their company and decide why it is that you want to work for them and why they would benefit as an organisation by having you on their workforce. Then call them, send them your curriculum and a personalised letter stating what you feel you could bring to them. Perhaps they are not hiring right now, but they might be in the very near future and you want them to call and chose you, not any other brand.
If you are a creative you will also possess a portfolio. Along with your letter of application and curriculum, the structure and composition of this will also be crucial to you getting in front of the right people.  It can be in either digital format, or printed. Our preference is for digital, shown on a laptop. In a pdf format, samples can be sent to clients and the portfolio can be updated easily. At Gascoigne Partners, our clients and we are acutely aware that it is unfair to judge someone’s ability when they are not there to explain the creative thinking behind their work. It is important to show not just finished work that was accepted by clients, but also development work and concepts that didn’t make it to market; particularly if you like the work and are happy to discuss why you think it was a valid solution to a brief.  Many candidates now have their own website where a curriculum and samples are held and can be downloaded. This can be used along with a professional profile on websites like LinkedIn, Xing and Coroflot.
So, we have already restricted to 50 the numbers of curriculum that you have available to in your life. Are going to make sure that they get into the hands of the right people at the right company, for the right opportunity? What will make you stand out from the crowd on a piece of paper? A well-structured, clear, concise curriculum is needed. We don’t need to know if you have been divorced 3 times and the address of the house where you live. We will probably use your age and a photo to make an ill-informed judgement about you just because you had a bad-hair day when the photo was taken. Keep it simple and only give personal information on a requested basis.
We have found that by far and away the most powerful way to convince someone to consider YOU as a good candidate is to give examples of your achievements. As part of the Gascoigne Partners Candidate Care programme, we ask open ended, behavioural-based questions to illicit achievements from our candidates. You need to state what value you added to that position and how. See yourself as a results-driven solutions provider. State a problem (or challenge) that needed to be solved, what action you took and the results that you obtained. Otherwise known as PAR’s (Problem, Action, Result). These have 6 core elements;
-It required extra effort
-You did it or helped do it
-You enjoyed doing it
-You did it well
-You are proud of it
-You did it successfully (measured)
Once you are able to see your working life as a series of great achievements rather than a list of responsibilities, people will want to know you. These PAR’s must run through your brand like DNA. Achievement will be mentioned in your letter of application, your curriculum and most importantly of all, in the interview. They may highlight your leadership, motivation, organisation, team building or other qualities. There must be a common theme that reassures the interviewer that your achievements point towards evidence of positive behaviour that they think you will repeat once you join their organisation.
Companies will naturally have concerns; they will worry about at least 5 things. Can you do the job? (Skill concern). Will you do the job? (Motivational concern). Will you get along with the others? (Team concern). Are you manageable? (Manageability concern). Can the company afford you? (Money concern). It is imperative therefore that you have covered these points with examples of achievement that reassures the interviewer that they need not be concerned about them.
If you tick all the right boxes in terms of experience, skills, education etc, the single most depressing factor that you will encounter in an interview is a lack of chemistry between you and the interviewer. It’s depressing because you can’t do anything about it. Perhaps it is still worth enduring the interview because the company and people behind the interviewer-barrier do have the chemistry that you are looking for. Rightly or wrongly people tend to make their minds up about you within the first 5 minutes! Around 90% of your communication impact will be a combination of how you look, your body language, tone of voice and confidence and energy that you exhibit. So prepare, start strong and be yourself.
Securing your next career step is not just a question of luck; although that can play its part. It is more a methodical, planned, structured process that allows you to take control of your career, rather than be bounced around like a Pinball. Get that preparation right and promote your brand and you stand a great chance of working for your chosen company.
Gascoigne Partners S.L are a Spanish recruitment company, specialising in Marketing, Creative and Communications professionals. Jo Gascoigne is the founder and CEO and has over 20 years experience, including 10 years in the Spanish market.

The Crisis within the Crisis

The global economic crisis is front-page news everyday and will be for some time. It’s arrived here! The Spanish economy is slowing down as with many other parts of Europe.  History tells us that this is cyclical and therefore we should be thinking about battening down the hatches and weathering the storm. Or should we be doing more? Is now the time to ‘think outside the box’?

As if one crisis were not enough, there exists a ‘crisis within the crisis’. This relates to the way in which some companies, particularly agencies are structured and it’s a storm that has been brewing for a while.  I often ask the Director Generals that I meet from advertising and branding agencies and Marketing Directors in companies in Madrid and Barcelona, both large and small, a very emotive hypothetical question;
“Imagine if you could fire all of your staff today, with no fear of legal, financial or psychological damage or retribution, how many of those people would you re-hire tomorrow?”

This is a really tough question that they struggle to answer in the good times, let alone in the challenging times we face today. Whereas in the good times workers are evaluated on their overall contribution to the company, in the bad times, these strengths and weaknesses often become irrelevant because there is just not enough work to be done. In non-asset based companies like agencies the human capital asset is the fundamental ingredient not only for success, but also survival.

As we have seen in the financial sector, institutions that we had previously considered unbreakable and with whom we put not only our trust in, but also our money into, the banks, are collapsing and being snapped up at bargain basement prices. In some cases, but not all, the national governments are propping them up. This has lead to redundancies, repossessed homes, heartache and the knock–on effects sooner rather than later affect marketing budgets and advertising spend and consequently the agencies where it hurts; on the bottom line.

So back to my question; how many people would be re-employed? 100% of them, 75%, 50%, less!! What is stopping a reduction in workforce at all levels?  How do we evaluate who should be the first to go?  Is it a ‘last in, first out’ policy? Well of course a number of criteria for letting people go exist, none of them particularly pleasant for the person being fired or the person doing the firing. One factor seriously affecting this decision making process is the related cost of firing someone. Is the pay-off compensation too much to consider firing someone?

This is the ‘Crisis within the Crisis’. Some agencies had their hands tied at group level when a merger of two agencies or an acquisition occurred. Workers were employed within the new structure and brought their work service (antiquity) with them.  There were often two senior people for the same role, which is ok in times of feast, but proves untenable in times of famine. This combined with people progressing up through the agency in until relatively recently good times means that many do not have a spread of experience through the agency.

So what do agencies do to compensate for this top-heavy, ‘too many chiefs and not enough indians’, structure; an inverted pyramid that teeters precariously on its apex waiting to come crashing down? Add in some lower paid workers, very often interns (becarios) to balance the books and keep the wage bill in check. As a fire-fighting, short-term solution, this has great appeal and a certain degree of success. However, where are the mid-level people within the agency?  Are the juniors often given too much responsibility and the senior people asked to do work that is at a level below where they want to operate? Do juniors really doubt that they will ever bridge the gap to become a senior; particularly when they see that the mid-level harbour has been closed for some time?

The answer to all of these questions, having spoken to countless candidates and clients in Spain, sadly is a resounding “yes”.  This situation can and often does lead to an unhappy and de-motivated workforce. Many candidates tell me that the glamour has gone from advertising; longer hours, later nights, more free pitches and stifled creativity. No work/life balance! This leads to a lack of loyalty from workers, particularly juniors, who are prepared to jump ship for the slightest reasons. ‘One stop closer on the Metro’ or ‘Algo mas en mi bolsillo por mes. Algo!’ are not what candidates’ career decisions should be based on; however they have been given as reasons for change. Needless to say, these are not the type of candidates we look for and work with. Would it surprise you to know that one a common desire is for agency people who contact us to want to move client side?

This lack of balance and morale within an agency, and by no means do I hear that all are like this, leads to internal stresses and cracks that can be papered over in bountiful times, but can deepen and widen in times of pressure or even worse crisis. I am certainly not suggesting that workers should be fired and if they have to be, they deserve the compensation they are due. However, is it perhaps more cost effective in the long term to ask someone to leave? Companies need to look at plugging some of the gaps that exist with their existing workforce to help balance the ship. If a ship is sinking, you don’t complain to the Captain who yells ‘All hands on deck!’ that you are too senior or too junior to bale out water with a bucket; you bale! The government are not going to bale you out or your company out. If the crew aren’t careful, they will all end up going down with the ship rather than just the captain.

Using Seniors to mentor Juniors and looking at redeploying people on a short/mid-term basis to fill in gaps or giving them a 3 or 6 month rotating stewardship of an area that needs attention may be an innovative way forward to help keep a business afloat. Retention of the best human capital assets is essential; developing people from within is fundamental. Hiring now for business critical positions is paramount. Perhaps there is a bottleneck in an organisation that although it requires a new hire, may unlock other areas within the business and increase profitability. Set a course on the compass that keeps the ship steady and weathers the storm and will allow it to sail away from the competition when the trade winds pick up. Beware, when the winds shift, everybody will want the same people at the same time; the best. Now is the time to get and keep the right people of the bus, and when the time is right, sit them in the right seats.

From a candidate’s point of view, particularly juniors, there has long been a tendency to undervalue his or her own curriculum and profile. Making a career step from a position of strength often leads to a great move rather than just a move. Looking for work with a badly and underprepared curriculum and portfolio not tailored to a specific position does nothing to increase the chances of finding the right next move or indeed work. Often a scattergun approach is used, sending curriculums to a number of offers at the same time, some completely inappropriate for their experience, but made all too easy to apply for by the left click of a mouse.  Once all the extraneous applications have been removed and in the most professional of cases replied to, there begins a lengthy selection process. This often has 2, 3 or 4 interviews and can last weeks, sometimes months and often leaves a candidate with diminishing enthusiasm for the opportunity and company. It should be no surprise that the most self-respecting candidates get fed up with this treatment and decide to go with another faster, more responsive process and opportunity that arises in that time.

So what does the future hold? Even more difficult times are ahead and the companies that think and behave in increasingly innovative ways with regard to their human capital will have the edge. The ‘them and us’ approach must be superseded by relationships based on mutual respect and trust. A workplace where an employee feels challenged valued and nurtured. An environment that is organised, results-driven, performance, not tenure-based where everyone is in the same boat and sailing in the same direction.  A place where he or she feels confident enough in where they work and what they are doing to feel that they can leave the office before his boss in the evening; sometimes.

At Gascoigne Partners we pride ourselves on the relationships we have with our candidates; they are our lifeblood. Our Candidate Care Programme has a structured methodology that ensures that we find out what our candidates are looking for and then advice is given on what might be a great career step. With a heavy focus on the candidate, the client satisfaction follows, because unless we can make a win/win match, we are not interested, because it is not in the interest of either party. At the beginning of embarking on a journey with our clients, as specialists, we get to know not only their business, but also their business culture and then find candidates to match it. Although there are many candidates looking for work at present, it is the stock value of the most creative, best-prepared, most innovative and highly motivated candidates who are thinking about a change for the right reasons that is rising. If you are looking for a sound investment in these turbulent times; invest in the right people.

Jo Gascoigne is the CEO & Founder of Gascoigne Partners S.L.; a Spanish based start-up recruitment company specialising in Marketing, Creative and Communications professionals. Originally from London, Jo is married with a Spanish wife and four children and has been residing and working in Spain since 1998.