Agency Partner

One of the key relationships you need to develop in terms of career progression is one with an agency that you can trust to deliver on your behalf. Clarion Resourcing’s philosophy is to view the jobseekers’ world through their eyes. We aim to treat you, our candidates, in the same way we would expect to be treated were the tables turned and we were the job seeker on the market.  We’re very aware that there is negative sentiment towards some agencies out there in the market and we are working to counteract that and make your engagement with Clarion the most positive experience it can be. We are striving to offer you a higher level of service and we are aiming to build long term relationships, which will last and support you as your career develops. We want to become the partner of choice for candidates who express a clear preference to use an agency as a trusted partner in their job search –  one who is prepared to work with them and for them at each step in the process.

In that regard, we were surprised to find that 40 per cent or two in five respondents had their salary expectations misrepresented by an agency when they were submitted for a role. We also found that over a third of candidates had direct personal experience of their profile being submitted to a company without their express approval.  Only 21 per cent of you felt that agencies had a good or very good understanding of your skill set and attributes and only 18 per cent of you felt that agencies supplied roles that suggested they really understood your career aspirations.  A disappointing 51 per cent of you told us that you felt agency coaching and assistance with interview preparation was either poor or very poor. This is a very surprising response as it is in the agency’s interest to help you prepare to the best of your ability for any given interview

Another disappointing result was your rating of agency communications during the interview process itself. Nearly a quarter of you cited agency communications as either poor or very poor and a further 41 per cent only rated it as satisfactory.  We would be firmly of the view that communication with and keeping a candidate appraised of developments during the selection process is a fundamental part of the agency’s role. The percentage of respondents giving a good or very good rating for overall communications was very low. Dissatisfaction with communication and interview preparation fed into another poor overall response as 76 per cent of you rated agencies as satisfactory or below in terms of overall integrity and professionalism. We would recognise that this is a very poor survey result for a sector where the service provider is helping the recipient identify new employment. In terms of how we judge ourselves, we intend to track changes in these metrics over time.

Some of your feedback on certain negative agency practices was surprising and we certainly don’t subscribe to them at Clarion Resourcing.  However these  responses also highlighted areas that we as an industry can work on and improve to ensure the highest possible service levels. In order to underline our commitment to candidates we deal with and to act positively in terms of the feedback we have received from candidates, Clarion Resourcing has created a candidate charter to directly address many of the negatives that you have told us exist within the industry and to undertake that our candidates will not experience any of those negatives working with Clarion Resourcing. We’re making a commitment to offer the same level of service we would expect if we were on the job market personally.

Clarion Resourcing canvassed a sample of 1,000 randomly-selected IT professionals from Clarion Resourcing’s permanent and contract database during the month on November, split equally between contract and permanent candidates.

Our survey highlighted some very interesting trends in terms of where and how candidates identify their next opportunity.  The growth of social media has been one of the biggest media phenomenon of recent years and candidates need to be aware of the importance of tools like LinkedIn and Twitter in addition to more traditional methods. Job boards continue to be a key tool for candidates identifying their next role with 21 per cent of you using those to seek out new opportunities. One very interesting finding was that 17 per cent of you still identified word of mouth or your own network as the most likely source of a new job. In practical terms, this reflects Clarion Resourcing’s recent market experience where candidates sourced via internal referral has been a consistently competitive feature of recruitment assignments in recent times.

Word of mouth and a personal recommendation still rate above social media which came in at 16 per cent for searches through tools such as LinkedIn and Twitter. The growth in social media has been explosive in recent years, however it is interesting to find  that  a candidate’s personal network and the vouching for a candidate  via the trusted referral of an employee is still valued above applications where no such imprimatur exists.[DBC1]

From a Clarion Resourcing perspective, we were happy to see that agencies were still ranked by you as the best source of identifying a new opportunity. The reasons that candidates wanted to go through the job search with an agency partner were varied.  Agencies still offer candidates greater reach through better market knowledge and penetration, client-specific knowledge and assistance with CV preparation and the interview process, as well as personal knowledge of individuals involved in the interview and hiring process and the ability to help candidates prepare in an optimal manner. Your survey responses support the fact that recruitment continues to be relationship-led; furthermore agencies continue to have a very significant role to play in facilitating the functioning of the market as holders of the key relationships with hiring clients and maximising an individual candidate’s exposure to the market when they engage in a job search.

Our survey also threw up some interesting findings in relation to candidates’ media response. Only 2 per cent of you found a position through a career fair, 1 per cent through responding to a radio ad or an advertisement placed on public transport. 5 per cent of you reported success through newspaper advertisements.  Given the cost to employers of using these media, there are some interesting statistics for our clients to consider in terms of where they target their marketing spend. While press advertising is still a very strong medium for the creation and development of brand awareness, the success rate in terms of attracting new candidates would seem to be very low, according to our research.

One other surprising finding was the lack of awareness of  the Agency Worker Directive, with only 12 per cent of you confirming that your understanding of the implications of the Directive as it applied to you. The directive came into force on 5^th December last the legislation is scheduled to be published this week.  The full impact of the directive will be apparent at that stage.

General Market Trends

The responses on general market perceptions were somewhat contradictory. The vast majority of  you currently in continued employment, made a strong point that there is a continued expectation of similar service delivery levels with reduced headcount. Only 30 per cent of you expect your current employer to increase headcount over the next 12 months. This clearly implies that people will be working longer and harder in order to maintain current service levels. This would normally provide a genuine impetus for some people to seek new employment. However, despite this, many of you, as permanent candidates indicate a strong reluctance to seek new employment in the current environment for several reasons.  Indeed, while candidate perception of the market in general is positive that there are opportunities available, there is a marked aversion to moving role on the part  of permanent candidates. We would infer from this, that as any potential move to a new role would imply a return to probationary status, many of you view this as a risk that you are not prepared to take.

On the contract market, there is a perception of opportunity availability. However there is an awareness of an intense level of competition in the market for those roles . The reluctance on the part  of permanent candidates to move in the current market is creating opportunities for contract candidates as employers are either opting for a contract resource as the commitment is project-bound or employers find they are being forced to consider utilising contractors as they are not able to identify suitable permanent candidates and roles need to be fulfilled.

Turlach McAlister, resourcing services manager, Clarion Resourcing

Survey of IT employment market finds:

• 61 per cent of IT professionals are expected to work longer hours for no extra pay
• Career progression has marginally overtaken salary expectation as the single biggest motivation for job change
• 53 per cent have taken a pay cut in the last year
• Just 12 per cent understand the EU Directive on temporary agency workers

Dublin, Friday, 2nd November 2011: IT professionals are expected to work overtime for no extra pay, according to research conducted by specialist IT recruitment firm, Clarion Resourcing.  61 per cent of those questioned in an IT employment survey said employers expect them to work longer than their contracted hours for no extra pay while 53 per cent confirmed that their salary has been cut in the last 12 months.  However, career progression has marginally overtaken salary expectation as the single biggest motivating factor in moving jobs, as cited by 29 per cent of respondents.  26 per cent of respondents said they were motivated by a better salary or daily rate.

Confusion abounds in relation to the EU’s Agency Worker Directive, due to come into force here in December.  55 per cent admitted they were not aware of its implications and one third only had a “vague” understanding of the impending legislation, whereby temporary agency workers are entitled to equal treatment with regular workers in respect of certain employment rights including working hours, annual leave and pay.

The IT employment market survey was conducted online during October 2011 and canvassed the opinions of over 1,000 randomly-selected IT professionals from Clarion Resourcing’s permanent and contract career panel.  It paints a picture of an IT industry, which is pushing for greater productivity gains from existing staff but where opportunities still exist for new IT recruits.  31 per cent of respondents said that their employer will be hiring in the coming 12 months.

Commenting on the survey, Turlach McAlister, resourcing services manager with Clarion Resourcing says:  “The reality is that employers are pushing staff to deliver more.  However, employees are now thinking far more strategically about their chosen career path, willing to sacrifice short-term gain for the sake of longer-term, sustainable career success. In fact, almost one quarter had interviewed for four or more roles before securing a position, indicating they will only move when there is a close fit with their career expectations.  With 60 per cent of respondents preferring to use recruitment agencies as a channel to market, they are increasingly turning to companies such as Clarion Resourcing to find appropriate opportunities and assist with strategic thinking,” he adds.

Recruitment Agency Rating

Opinion is very much split on the quality of the recruitment experience through agencies.  40 per cent of IT professionals have had their salary expectations misrepresented to a prospective employer by a recruitment agency and in 36 per cent of cases, a CV was submitted to an employer without the candidate’s permission.  51 per cent of professionals said that agencies were either “poor” or “very poor” in helping them with interview preparation and coaching and 39 per cent cited a similar rating in relation to agencies’ ability to identify suitable career opportunities.  Just 17 per cent of respondents said that agencies were either “good” or “very good” in understanding their career aspirations, highlighting a significant disconnect between candidates and recruiters.

“Frankly, we were surprised by the high level of agency dissatisfaction,” says Turlach McAlister.  “Serious issues arise in relation to the confidentiality and integrity of the recruitment process and it’s clear that trust is a major issue between candidate and recruiter.  At Clarion Resourcing, our vision has always been to provide candidates with the level of service we would expect if we were job hunting. We operate to a candidate charter, treating our candidates with the same level of professionalism that we would personally expect,” he adds.

The charter outlines every step of the recruitment process and clearly explains the roles and responsibilities of each party together with expected service levels.  “This certainly helps to prevent a mismatch in terms of service level expectations between us and the candidate,” McAlister concludes.

Recruitment Experience and Preparation

The survey also highlights interesting trends in the primary channels used by candidates to seek out new opportunities.  Online resources such as recruitment websites are used by 21 per cent of respondents while general internet searches and social media were cited as the primary tool by 16 per cent of candidates.  Word of mouth remains popular with 17 per cent citing it as the key channel to find opportunities.  “Traditional advertising media such as press, radio and outdoor just don’t feature as highly as we would have expected,” suggests McAlister.  “For example, just 5 per cent use press advertising and less than that again for career fairs and expos.  This obviously has implications for marketing planning and advertising spend into the future,” he adds.

Data also suggests that candidates are not preparing as well as they can for interviews.  For example, just one quarter get external help with CV preparation and one fifth don’t prepare competency-type questions for the interview process.  60 per cent never practice interview techniques with a friend or colleague.

Copies of the accompanying report into the IT employment market are available on request from marketing@clarionresourcing.ie

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Our survey clearly shows that there is a hybrid model in terms of candidates engaging with the job market.  While the majority of respondents (two thirds) would prefer to deal with an agency when applying for a role, there is a balance to be struck for employers between directly sourced and agency source candidates.  A key driver for any organisation in terms of ensuring access to the best talent available on the market is the choice of agency partners that they engage with.

The overall perception of recruitment agencies varies and is not universally positive.  Some of the findings do not reflect well on the level of professionalism in the recruitment industry as a whole. We were very surprised to find that 40 per cent of respondents had their salary expectations misrepresented by an agency to an employer when they were submitted for a role. We also found that one third of candidates had direct personal experience of their profile being submitted to a company without their express approval. Other findings reinforced this level of negativity towards agencies, such as poor communication during the interview process – nearly one quarter of all respondents rated agency communications as either poor or very poor and a further 41 per cent only rated agency communication as satisfactory.  Communication with and keeping a candidate appraised of developments during the selection process is a fundamental part of the agency’s role and the percentage of respondents giving a  good or very good rating for overall communications was very low. This fed into a further response when candidates were asked to comment on the overall integrity and professionalism of agencies – three quarters rated this as satisfactory or below, again a very poor response rate for a sector where the service provider is helping the recipient identify new employment.

We have found very strong evidence that openness and communication are two areas where candidates feel continually let down by the agencies they deal with. This apparent disconnect between candidates and agencies was borne out by a significant number of candidates citing the failure of agencies or their staff to truly understand the candidate’s career aspirations of what they wanted from a new role. At Clarion Resourcing,  we endeavour to meet each candidate and interview them personally, get a deep understanding of their career to date, their aspirations and what they hope to achieve in any potential new role.

Respondents also displayed a very low level of awareness of the Agency Worker Directive, with only 12 per cent saying they fully understood the implications of the directive as it applied to them. The directive comes into force in early December.

Agency Partner

We’re aware that there is negative sentiment towards agencies in the market.  We are working hard to counteract that and ensure that each candidate engagement with Clarion Resourcing is a positive experience. We are offering candidates a higher level of service and we are aiming to build long-term relationships, which will last throughout a candidate’s career. We want to offer those candidates, who express a clear preference to use an agency, a trusted partner in their job search – one who is prepared to work with them and for them at each step in the process.

In order to underline our commitment to the candidates we deal with and to act positively in terms of the feedback we have received from candidates, Clarion Resourcing has formalised their candidate charter to directly address many of the negative issues raised, and to undertake that our candidates will not encounter these negative experiences working with Clarion Resourcing. We’re making a commitment to them to offer them the same level of service we would expect if we were on the job market personally.

Our survey highlighted some very interesting trends in terms of where and how candidates identify their next opportunity. The growth of social media has been one of the biggest media phenomenons of recent years.  Industry and media commentators highlight the importance for companies to fully embrace social media and one might have expected that this was one of the most popular ways to identify new job opportunities.  However, we were somewhat surprised to find that social media ranked only fourth in terms of the channels candidates used to identify potential new roles. Agencies still ranked as the best source of identifying a new opportunity although we do acknowledge this finding may have been skewed somewhat by the source of our sample, which comes from an agency panel.

One interesting development was the preference for a direct or agency-led application process.  From a cost saving perspective, employers will be interested to hear that a minority of candidates were happy to apply direct when the opportunity presented itself, however the vast majority preferred to apply for a role using an agency partner to help them manage the process. The reasons for an agency-led approach were varied.  They ranged from greater market penetration, assistance with CV preparation, client-specific knowledge and assistance with the interview process.  Candidates also show a clear belief  – founded or otherwise – that they will get  better response rates from applications made through an agency partner than direct applications made through an employer’s website. There is a clear view among the candidate community that recruitment continues to be relationship-led; furthermore agencies continue to have a very significant role to play in facilitating the functioning of the market as holders of the key relationships with hiring clients and maximising an individual candidate’s exposure to the market when they engage in a job search.

In terms of other channels used by candidates, there were a number of findings which were contrary to what we would have expected.  One very interesting statistic is that 17% of candidates still identified word of mouth or their own network as the most likely source of new job opportunities. In practical terms this reflects Clarion Resourcing’s recent market experience where the applicants sourced via an internal referral has been a consistent feature of recruitment assignments in recent times. Word of mouth and a personal recommendation still rates above social media which came in at 16% for searches through tools such as LinkedIn and Twitter. The growth in social media has been explosive in recent years, however it is an interesting finding to see that  a candidates personal network and the vouching for a candidate  via the trusted referral of an employee is still valued above applications where no such imprimatur exists.

Other media sources such as radio advertising, outdoor advertising and advertising on public transport scored poorly in terms of their perceived success in helping a candidate find a new role.  Press advertising was also rated as a having very low probability of a successful outcome by our respondents, in terms of identifying a role. For example, less than 5 per cent of respondents reported a positive experience using press advertising as a job search channel.  While press advertising is undoubtedly still a very strong medium for the creation and development of brand awareness, clients should be aware than a response to a press advert is rated by candidates as having a very low success rate and consequently is unlikely to result in significant response volumes.

Another key finding with implications for how employers spend their advertising budget is that only 2 per cent of respondents reported positive outcomes from attendance at Careers or Jobs Fairs. These are all expensive media.  However, our research seems to indicate that there may be more effective ways to allocate limited marketing spend to attract candidates.

One of the most interesting findings from our survey from an employer’s perspective is the response in relation to employee retention.

The findings indicate that employer’s staff retention policies are benefitting significantly from candidate sentiment and a general reluctance on their part to seek new employment unless forced to do so by circumstances.   This reluctance is grounded in the current economic environment and can be explained by several factors.

The responses clearly indicate that employers’ expectations of their staff have in general become more onerous in terms of pressure for improved productivity from staff; approximately two-thirds (61 per cent) of respondents said there was an employer expectation for them to work longer hours for no additional remuneration. Candidates, in general, would expect this trend to continue.  However, just over 30 per cent said they expected their current employer’s headcount to increase over the next 12 months.  The impact of additional headcount on overtime for existing employees is yet to be seen and this is something we will examine in detail in our next research report.

Market sentiment expressed by candidates  is generally positive in that there are opportunities available.  However,  there is a marked aversion by permanent candidates to moving role as the move implies reverting to probationary status, which is a risk, a lot of candidates in permanent employment are not prepared to take. Employers should be aware that this trend will not continue indefinitely. We would feel the survey responses show that the additional benefit accruing to employers in terms of additional impetus to remain in a current role is strongly linked to the current economic climate.

A large number of workplaces have reduced headcount with the implicit expectation that the remaining employees will deliver the same or improved level of service to their clients. There is a very clear requirement for improved staff productivity. This is undoubtedly putting strain on the existing employees, however, the survey responses imply that employees will accept this change in circumstances as they feel other options are limited.

While employers should be aware that they are benefiting from a general tendency for candidates to remain in their current role in the short term – all else being equal – they should be aware that tradition human resource polices in relation to candidate retention should not be ignored. This reluctance to move roles is in our opinion directly tied to general economic conditions.

Garry Barcoe, resourcing consultant, Clarion Resourcing

Specialist recruitment company, Clarion Resourcing today announced the appointment of Garry Barcoe to its resourcing team.  As recruitment consultant, Barcoe will be responsible for managing a growing number of public and private sector clients who choose Clarion Resourcing to consistently deliver high-quality, business and IT professionals on a contract or permanent basis.

Barcoe will also manage all aspects of the recruitment lifecycle from candidate generation to placement and will provide candidates with strategic career guidance and advice.  His appointment comes following strong quarter on quarter sales growth for the fledgling recruitment business, founded in late 2010.

Commenting on the appointment, Turlach McAlister, resourcing services manager with Clarion Resourcing said:  “We are very pleased to announce the recruitment of an experienced professional of Garry’s calibre to support the ongoing expansion of the business.  Garry’s appointment reflects a buoyant contract resourcing market, particularly in the areas of IT, project management, business intelligence, business analysis and software development.  His extensive experience in the IT recruitment sector will help us to develop new partnerships with employers and candidates alike and build our profile as a recruitment company which puts clients first.”

Barcoe joins Clarion Resourcing with over 10 years of experience in the recruitment industry.  Previous assignments include a position as principal consultant with CPL’s contract division where he managed high profile clients in the financial services and telecoms sectors and as a senior recruitment consultant with Stelfox for almost six years.  Barcoe also spent four years with start-up Net Nation, specialising in the placement of permanent and contract professionals within the IT sector.

Barcoe is a native of Meath and a graduate of Limerick Institute of Technology and Rathmines Senior College.

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Market Outlook – June 2011

Demand for contract skills remains buoyant with employers preferring the flexibility to engage contract resources, allowing them to react to changes in trading conditions. In certain cases headcount cuts of the past couple of years are impacting on the ability of ICT functions to serve business needs. In addition, IT Departments are now operating in an environment where there is ongoing demand for their services but where there is an embargo on replacement, leading to increased recourse to contractors to plug short term gaps.

Organisations focused on internationally traded goods are preforming well and demand from this sector of the market is constant. We have also seen a significant upturn in demand for Business Analysts which is an excellent leading indicator. Heavier activity in the Business Analyst space typically manifests itself in business cases being made and as a result, projects getting the green light thus driving an increase in overall demand.

Permanent demand is steady but not with the same level of activity as the contract market.  At Clarion Resourcing,  we are seeing an increased focus on value for money as employers realise they are in the stage of the economic cycle where they can cherry-pick to a degree. Competition for permanent roles remains extremely strong and most roles we have are heavily oversubscribed in terms of applicants.  There is no doubt but shortlisting for permanent roles is taking longer and we would see an elongation of the recruitment cycle for permanent hires in the majority of cases.

We’d be at pains to highlight there are excellent positions available out there.  However, if you are thinking of moving, the advice would be to allow a longer lead time for your job search to identify a suitable position. Decisions are taking longer and employers are less concerned at the prospect of losing an individual candidate because of the greater availability of skilled candidates either currently on the market or actively looking for permanent roles where they fear further headcount reductions in the short term.

Skillsets in Demand

The busiest sectors over the period have been banking and finance, logistics and software. The candidates most in demand over the period would be Project and Programme Managers, Business Analysts, Java Software Engineers and Architects, Business Intelligence Developers, Oracle Developers and Database Administrators (SQL and Oracle).  There is a large amount of activity in the Project Management space.  For example, in Banking and Finance a lot of the activity is related to compliance and verification projects and projects relating to the transfer of assets and undertakings. We have also seen the emergence of greater demand in the cloud space, where experienced resources would be at a premium.

June 2011

Dublin, Ireland, Tuesday, 7th December 2010: Leading project management and IT consulting specialist, Clarion Consulting today announced the appointment of Turlach McAlister as resourcing services manager with company spinout, Clarion Resourcing.  McAlister will manage all facets of the company’s resourcing business, which helps organisations to improve competitive agility by delivering flexible resourcing models.  McAlister  will be responsible for delivering a high-quality, specialist resourcing service, geared towards the placement of IT professionals on both a contract and permanent basis, supported by the knowledge base within Clarion’s consulting organisation.

Commenting on the appointment, Pat Millar, managing director of Clarion Consulting said:  “We are very pleased to have someone of Turlach’s calibre join our team.  His extensive recruitment experience and involvement in start-up businesses, both at home and abroad is an excellent fit for us.  We are confident that his knowledge and expertise will help us to successfully leverage the strength of the Clarion brand into the resourcing arena.”

McAlister joins from the I.T. Alliance group.  He was head of resource management with the group for a period of a year where his responsibilities ranged from managing large recruitment drives to specialist resourcing of niche skill sets.   McAlister was then promoted to HP Contracting Services Manager, a contract resourcing franchise operated by the I.T. Alliance group.  During this four year period, McAlister successfully developed public and private sector clients and achieved preferred supplier status with a number of blue chip accounts and government departments.

Prior to this, McAlister spent four years as contract sales executive with Computer People Ireland.  He successfully engaged in new business development and account managed existing clients to maximise potential opportunities.

McAlister also spent six years with IT recruitment consultancy, DPP International.  He spent three years working in Brussels as a Contract Sales executive placing IT consultants on a pan-European basis.  He was then promoted to country manager for Ireland where he established the Dublin office from the preparation and delivery of the initial business plan through to day-to-day management of the Irish operation.

McAlister is a native of Dublin and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and UCL Louvain, La Neuve in Belgium.

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