Top tips to writing a successful CV

In a world where recruiters and hirers get inundated with CV’s, trying to get your CV to stand out from the crowd can be one of the toughest challenges of searching for a new job. Most employers spend very little time reading each CV, so it’s important to make yours readable and straight to the point.

Here’s our Top 6 tips to writing a strong CV.

KEEP IT EYE-CATCHING

On average, employers spend less than 10 seconds scanning a cv, so do yourself a favour - keep it short, keep it punchy, and omit the irrelevant details. Use bullet points and short sentences to keep the employer reading, and ensure the CV is laid out with space between each section to separate it.

TAILOR IT

It’s very easy to send the same CV to every job that you apply for to save time and get your CV to as many companies as possible. Stop! Take the time to adjust your CV to make it the best match to each role you apply for. Read the job advert and use it to work out exactly what skills are most important for this role.

DON'T LEAVE GAPS

Try not to leave career/ work gaps, as this makes employers a little nervous. If you do have a gap in your employment, give the reasoning behind it and put a positive spin on it. Were you travelling or volunteering during that time? Have you taken a course or were you involved in a personal project which you managed?

MAKE IT PRESENTABLE

Make sure that you detail all of your key skills and achievements from each role you have held. This is most effectively done using bullet points. You should also give everything a date as the CV is a map of your education and work history. Note the month and year that you started and finished each role, so the recruiter is clear as to when and how long you worked there.

CUT OUT THE MISTAKES

With the sheer volume of CVs coming through to recruiters and hirers, a mistake is usually a sure-fire way of landing on the rejection pile. Spelling and grammar mistakes are particularly frowned upon these days with spellcheckers so easy to use. Mistakes in CVs stand out like a sore thumb; if they’re in there, employers will find them. Have someone proofread your CV, it’s a simple step to ensure your CV is error-free.

TELL THE TRUTH

Don’t lie, it’s just not worth it. It’s very easy to get caught out - keep in mind people talk. You may get caught out when interviewed if you’re unable to answer a question on something you claim to know all about. The last thing you want is to start a job and then lose it because you have been found out for lying on your CV.

For more information on how to make your CV as good as possible and catch the attention of a recruiter or potential hirer, follow MP Recruitment group on our social media channels, or give us a call on 01235 330110 and speak to one of our friendly team.

Driving employee retention

Job satisfaction is widely talked about and is a vital part of work life. Research suggests that good job satisfaction leads to an increase in productivity, performance levels and efficiency at work. It can also inspire greater loyalty with a company and will generally improve a company’s reputation, which can make the difference when trying to recruit the very top talent.

Employee retention is not only important for the reasons listed above. It can also be very costly financially to a business who has a high turnover of staff, constantly having to train and hire new staff. It makes more sense to work hard at keeping the employees you already have that know how to do the job, instead of having to replace those people with new starters who will take time to get up to speed with office processes and company guidelines. There are many factors that drive employee retention, we look into how you can improve retention in your company.

Work-life balance

Perhaps the highest thing of value to an employee is the lives they lead. There is a huge emphasis on work-life balance, as many people are generally more concerned with the quality of life and their health, than the possibility of earning more money. Employees are extremely likely to be more productive when they are happier in their job.

The working environment

Similarly, the environment in which they work is also key. If they work in a safe and well looked-after space, then they will feel more comfortable in their jobs. This also links with the people around them, their colleagues. On average, an employee will spend more time with their work colleagues than their friends outside of work. If you’re going to see the same people every day, then it’s best that you get on with them. Efforts should be taken to ensure that there is a mutual respect between all colleagues, and if there are issues or conflicts, then these should be dealt with fairly and effectively.

Career Development

Wanting to progress and develop within an organisation is a very natural want for candidates, and actually shows they’re the right people as they have clear drive and determination to work hard and better themselves. A clear career path can be a deal breaker for some candidates and can often be just as important as offering a good salary. A company who is willing to invest time and money in the development of a member of staff is much more likely to retain them. If a candidate has hit a wall with nowhere else to go in terms of progression, that might give them a reason to look for a new job elsewhere.

Job Security

It can be tough for an employee who is always worried about whether they will be in a job next month. People instinctively look for security within their job, perhaps because they have financial responsibilities such as owning a house or having children which could put them in a difficult situation if they were to be out of work. It’s no surprise that job stability is high on the list of impact on employee satisfaction. It could be a reason for an employee to go elsewhere if they don’t feel their position is secure.

Being appreciated

We all like to be appreciated in the things we do. That’s no different at work, and recognition can be a driving factor in an employee being happy at their place of work. Feeling valued as a member of the team encourages people to contribute more and keep their quality of work going. The best thing about it as an employer or manager is that it takes very little effort to say thank you.

Being challenged

Keeping work interesting can keep employees stimulated in their jobs. If they find their work dull or monotonous then their productivity and creativity in their role is probably going to suffer. Ensure that jobs don’t become unchallenging and keep your employees stimulated in what they’re doing. If they’re doing the same job every day then it can be hard to break the monotony of everyday work, so introduce new aspects to the role or challenges that will make your employees think on their feet.

Working hard to retain your employees just makes sense for so many reasons, and it doesn’t have to result in major changes in your organisation. Sometimes it just takes a few small adjustments to make sure your employees get on with each other and feel valued and appreciated in their teams.

By, Sam Evans

Hiring the best candidates for your business

Recruiting the right people is the key to unlocking the potential of your business. You could be offering the most amazing product and service, but if you don’t have the right people marketing or selling it, the empathetic people helping your customers and the correct people leading your teams, how do you expect your business to thrive?

Therefore, it’s important that you get it right more often than not when making new hires. Hiring a new employee is much more complex than buying an inanimate object like a washing machine. Human beings have feelings, emotions and their own dreams and agendas, so there is a lot to consider to make sure that you’re able to make the right people want to join and stay in your business. Every hiring manager will make mistakes at times, but it’s all about recognising when you do, managing the mistakes, and minimising them so that it doesn’t happen very often.

Job Description

It all starts with a job description. You want to advertise your position to all the candidates out there and get them interested in your job. It’s often the first hurdle during the recruitment process, making sure that you get it right. It’s not easy to either, you need to make it look professional and give all the details of what you’re looking for from the ideal candidate while also making it eye catching to people scrolling through pages and pages of job adverts.

Sell the role and your company, make the candidate want to apply for your role, but it’s also important to remain honest. Just like you wouldn’t want a candidate to oversell themselves on their CV, you shouldn’t oversell yourself on a job advert. If you hide something here then you’re probably just going to end up wasting yours and the candidates time, it might also have a negative impact on the thoughts people have on your company too.

When writing a job description, start by explaining a little about your company and why the position is open, then bullet point all or most of the employee’s daily responsibilities. Follow this up by the skills, experience, and personalities you’re looking for. Don’t forget to include all the benefits you offer. A good salary might be eye-catching, but many employees look for more than just that. Do you offer a good healthcare plan, perhaps a great pension scheme, or maybe you run multiple social events? These are extras that will make the candidate want to choose you.

Shortlisting the top talent

When you advertise a position, there’s a very strong chance that not every applicant will be right for you. It’s vital to sort the best quality candidates from the rest, you don’t want to be interviewing every candidate you come across, especially if you get a high volume of applications. When going through applications, it’s good to have an open mind about how you’re going to go through them. We’d advise that you make sure you know exactly what the basics are that you need, but then stay open-minded. Remember, you never really find the ‘perfect’ candidate, there’s always a few compromises that you have to make. Just because a candidate isn’t perfect on paper, doesn’t mean they aren’t the right person to take on the role.

If you’re dealing with a high volume of applications, then it might be a good idea to create an initial shortlist by getting rid of the candidates that are definitely not right, to cut down on the number. Then spend some time on each remaining CV to read a little deeper and create a final shortlist ready for interviewing.

It’s always a good idea to give feedback to all candidates, even those who were unsuccessful. Read our blog about providing feedback to candidates.

This can be a very time-consuming process, so be prepared to set aside some time out of your day to do this task. It’s important that you get it right. This is where a recruitment agency really pays for itself, by saving you time to do your other tasks like running your business or managing a project. A recruiter will do all the shortlisting for you based on your requirements and will likely have access to a much wider pool of candidates than you could have as a hirer. MP Recruitment could help you with this and won’t charge you a penny until you make a hire with us.

Time to interview

You’ve selected the candidates you want to bring to interview. We’re not going to tell you how to interview here. What we will say is that it’s key to move quickly. The number of companies that we have seen lose candidates because they wait far to long to bring them in for an interview. By the time it comes round to inviting them in, they’ve probably already found another job. If you want to see a candidate or selection of candidates, don’t wait around. Get in touch with them and get the to come in as soon as you can see them.

If you have a member of staff who is away on a business trip and can’t be there in person then invite the candidate(s) in anyway. In this day and age, you can probably set up a voice call where they can get involved in the interview without having to be in the office. If that isn’t possible or realistic in your business, then see the candidate yourself and then make sure the desired staff member can attend a second interview. This way you’ve managed to grab the candidate’s attention, hopefully sold them on your company, and bought yourself some more time between the first interview and the second interview.

Retention

Once you’ve made your hire, the last thing you’ll want is to lose them early on. All that time, effort and subsequent money you spent recruiting the candidate, and they’ve left in the first month! Now you’ve got to do it all over again! If you’ve been honest in your job advert and interview process then the candidate shouldn’t get any nasty surprises about the role or your company.

Find ways to make your work environment stimulating for your employees. If you have good retention then you should be fine, but don’t drop the ball. If you have issues with loosing employees quite often, then you should look at things to change to make staff want to stay in your company. Keep your employees safe, well looked after and challenged.

For more ways to improve your retention, read our blog about Driving Employee Retention.

We hope this helps you understand how to better recruit for new employees. Just remember that it takes time and a lot of effort to get the right people. If you don’t think you have the time to recruit properly, give one of our consultants a call on 01235 330110 and they will advise how we can help you and your business, whatever your situation.

By, Sam Evans

Can I afford to use a recruitment agency

Are you looking into working with a recruitment agency but not sure how the fees work or how they charge? Then let us explain how a recruitment agency charges and what service you get for that.

Companies across the nation are employing new members of staff every day. It’s a part of business. However, unless you recruit very often and have dedicated hirers within your organisation, it can be an expensive and time-consuming task. You have to write and place a job advert onto a job board, then sift through all the applications that you receive; not only the good but also the bad and the ugly! Then it’s time to get in contact with the ones you like to interview and organise a time that suits both parties. And that is all before you’ve even got a candidate to sit in front of you. It can be surprising how much time and money can be taken up during the recruitment process.

What service do I get?

An agency will take on the recruitment process on your behalf. Once they understand the job, they will advertise the role on various platforms to attract applications, as well as headhunt for suitable candidates on CV databases. A recruiter will always screen a candidate with a telephone interview to see whether the job and the candidate are a good match, they might even hold a face to face meeting with the candidate to get a better understanding of them as a person.

Any candidates that the recruiter feels strongly matches the job will be sent over to the hirer to look at to see which ones they want to interview. The recruiter will then contact their candidates with feedback and arrange interviews for the chosen ones. The recruiter will then hand interviewing responsibilities to the hirers so they can make an informed decision on which candidate they want to employ, but the recruiter will always stay in contact and keep updated with any candidate feedback. Once you have decided which is the candidate for you, the recruiter will act as a liaison between the candidate and employer to make sure that both parties are happy with the offer.

What is the cost of a recruitment agency?

That completely depends on what type of contract you’re looking to take your new hire on, and what type of service you’re looking for. You can take a new starter on a temporary or a permanent basis. You can also take a candidate on a fixed-term contract, which would normally fall under the same charges for a permanent candidate.

Permanent Recruitment

If you’re taking a candidate on a permanent contract, the recruiter will charge a fee once the candidates accepts and starts their new job. The fee will be agreed between the employer and the recruiter, typically for us this would be 15% of the candidates starting annual salary. There should also be a rebate period in the terms, so if your new hire leaves within a certain time, an agreed percentage of the fee is refunded to you, giving you absolute peace of mind. Be aware that an agency is under no obligation to offer a rebate period if the candidate leaves your employment. However, at MP Recruitment Group, we always offer a rebate period as peace of mind to employers. We also offer to replace a candidate for no further charge if things don’t work out first-time round.

Temporary Recruitment

With temporary recruitment, the candidate is paid by the agency. The agency will usually pay the workers weekly and will be responsible for their hourly wage, accruing holiday pay, NI contributions and pension payments. The recruiter will then charge a fee to incorporate all of this plus a profit margin. The margin will greatly depend based on the sector, job role and the number of staff they are able to put into your organisation.

If you want to take the candidate on a permanent contract, you can do so for no extra charge after an agreed length of time. If you wanted to take a candidate on permanently before the agreed length of time, you can do so for an agreed fee, depending on how many weeks the candidate has worked so far. It’s good to be clear that when you take a candidate on a temporary basis, you will only ever pay for the hours that a candidate works.

By, Sam Evans

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Keys to a successful relationship with a recruitment agency

A recruitment agency is there to help you find your dream candidate to start as soon as possible. You want to best value for your business and don’t want to be paying over the odds. We completely get that, and so do most other agencies. What you must be careful of is going too far!

So, with recruitment consultants always up against a lot of competition, there are always times where you work hard on a vacancy, but don’t earn a penny because someone from another agency managed to put a slightly better candidate forward. This risk is part and parcel of working in recruitment, but it means that recruiters have to get smart and prioritise the roles that they feel they can get the most success from.A recruitment agency is like any other business, its primary goal is to make as much money as it possibly can so that it can continue to sustain itself and grow. There are a few different models, but the typical model for a recruitment agency is whereby they advertise a vacancy, source candidates and conduct telephone interviews to discuss the role. Then they will send the best quality CVs they can find to the hiring manager, who will shortlist their favourites and ask the recruiter to arrange interviews and prepare the candidates. At the end of it all, the recruiter will hopefully receive a job offer for one of their submitted candidates, and the agency will charge a determined fee based on the salary (typically 12-15%). It’s worth noting that the recruitment agency earns no money at all until one of their candidates starts in a role.

Let’s say a recruiter has two different vacancies to work from; one for a company that uses four other agencies, and another vacancy for a company that only uses this recruiter. Which one do you think the recruiter will spend most time working on? Assuming that the recruiter is good enough to find quality candidates, they have a 100% chance of earning commission from the second company, but just a 20% chance of earning commission on the second vacancy.

Similarly, if one company is only willing to pay 8% of the salary as a fee, whereas the other company is willing to pay 15%, then again, the recruiter is obviously going to spend more time on the second vacancy as they will be earning almost double if they place the candidate.

So when you’re going out to recruiters, always think about what sort of service you want. Higher fees, smaller number of agencies used and a more considerate rebate structure are more likely to yield better results when it comes to the candidates that you receive.

by, Sam Evans

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Is it time to consider using a recruitment agency?

There are so many recruitment agencies around just in Oxfordshire, so should your company be using one or several of them to recruit your next member of staff? Well, that depends on your company’s situation. You might expect us to say yes, but actually it’s not always necessary for your business.

Firstly, no one knows your business like the people that work there. So it can be beneficial to do all the recruitment in-house as you know exactly what the candidate should look like. Secondly, if you’re in no rush to bring your next hire in, then it might not be worth using an agency when you can afford to take your time. Also, if your company is loved by it’s employees and is recognized for great retention, development programmes and generally great employee satisfaction, then you might find that candidates want to come and work for you, rather than you having to reach out to them.

When you’re thinking of hiring, it’s worth understanding what a recruitment agency actually does. Lets look at how our team work. Our consultants have access to multiple major job boards, as well as a local job board and a website which draws in candidate CVs on a daily basis. Every candidate we speak to gets added to our candidate database, so not only can we find the details of candidates that are actively looking for a new job, but can also find those who are not actively looking, but will have their interest peaked by an exciting job spec. Now all of these things can be bought and used by any business, but it’s expensive and if your company is not doing much hiring then the ROI can often be quite poor.

The key value add-ons that a recruiter will give you are quality of candidate and speed of hiring. You need to ask yourself whether you would be able to find the right candidate for the job. If so, how long would it take for you to find them? If you have other responsibilities other than finding new staff, will the time to recruit impact the time to conduct your other duties? If you couldn’t find the right candidate yourself, or you feel the value of your time is higher than the fee of an agency, then it’s time to consider using one!

Choosing a recruiter

Another key aspect is the locality of the recruiter, as well as being able to build a rapport with them. Recruiting the perfect candidate can be a long process so it’s vital you are in it together and can build a great relationship! At MP Recruitment Group, we always say that we don’t just want to be an outsourced service, we want to be a partner to your business, and we mean it! Building a good relationship with a business helps us to get it right and means we can continue to work with them into the future.

Of course, another factor to consider is the niche/specialism of the role. If you have a very specialist role, then it might worth going to a specialist agency in that sector. Other than that, you want a recruiter that will get you the results that you want!

By, Sam Evans

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Is now a good time to recruit?

It is difficult for businesses to know what to do in such an unprecedented time as this. As it looked like the country was starting to return to some normality, cases drastically increased day on day and tougher restrictions have been placed across the nation, with some areas going back into local lockdown. We’ve seen a huge contrast, with companies dealing in select industries that have profited over the pandemic on big recruitment drives as they aim to keep up with the demand of the product or service. Whereas many others have suffered greatly. With everything that has been going on and so much uncertainty around, the immediate reaction is to avoid all unnecessary costs with businesses cutting costs and regrettably leading to staff redundancies or new hires being postponed or cancelled altogether.

However, is stopping all your recruitment the right thing for your business? It’s a very subjective question and it won’t be the same for all businesses, but if your business is in a position where it can afford to take the hit of hiring new staff, should it?

If we look at before the Coronavirus, the employment market was very competitive, particularly in Oxfordshire where unemployment was low and retention of the best talent was generally pretty high. It was very much a candidate-driven market and had been for some years. But now, with such a low number of jobs being advertised and the furlough scheme ending at the end of this month, experts forecast huge number of redundancies will follow. At MP Recruitment, we expect this will flip the market on its head and now the market will very much be led by the employers and the vacancies that are being advertised.

With this being said, this could be the perfect time for a business to get an edge over their competitors by hiring quality talent that they might not have been able to realistically access beforehand. There may never be a better time for your business to get a perfect hire!

Of course, hiring anybody at this time will have an element of a financial risk, so this is not a hard and fast rule for every company who has halted their recruitment until now. More than ever it’s a balance of risk and reward when making a new hire, but if you believe that your business is in a place where it could hire, maybe this is your opportunity to get ahead of the competition!

By, Sam Evans

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