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Sigmar Launches Emergency Jobs Initiative to Connect Displaced Workers with Employment Opportunities for a Faster Rebound
Sigmar Launches Emergency Jobs Initiative to Connect Displaced Workers with Employment Opportunities for a Faster Rebound
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people lose their job, both temporarily and permanently, Sigmar Recruitment is today launching an online platform to connect jobseekers with employment opportunities as well as offer upskilling opportunities for the restricted workforce to ensure a smoother return to the workplace once the isolation restrictions have eased. The initiative is online for ease of use by those at home. Jobseekers are invited to register on the website, so that employers can make direct contact for current opportunities. Jobseekers sign up for a daily email, which will inform them of companies that have immediate vacancies on either a permanent or temporary basis. Jobseekers can then apply directly to employers. The site also offers highly relevant jobseeker advice on how to compete in the current marketplace, on a range of workforce topics, including tips on: video interviewing online engagement social branding digital collaboration remote working COVID restriction employee rights societal consciousness remote onboarding and much more Furthermore, the website also directs jobseekers to free online training to support upskilling during down time. Employers can post immediate or short-term staffing requirements for free so Sigmar can keep supply chains running and redeploy Ireland’s workforce that have been affected by COVID-19. Employers can also “shop direct” for talent on the website. Commenting on the initiative, founder of the initiative and Sigmar CCO Robert Mac Giolla Phádraig says: “www.covidresponsejobs.com was created by Sigmar Recruitment to support displaced workers and employers during the COVID-19 outbreak. Our aim is to connect people who have been impacted by short-term business closures with employers who have seen rising demand for frontline staff, those in healthcare and those needed to keeping Ireland’s supply chains operating. “The economy has temporarily stalled and the traditional recruitment process is on its head. However, the current pandemic has created new positions especially in retail, distribution, manufacturing and the health sector, to include many administrative, customer support and back office roles. In addition, we are actively supporting many other organisations balance business continuity with sustainable employee flexibility throughout the crisis.” Commenting on the restricted workforce, Mac Giolla Phádraig adds: “With the introduction of the COVID 19 Wage Subsidy Scheme this week, a significant cohort of the workforce is now likely to be retained, but with restricted workload. We aim to support the restricted workforce through upskilling during downtime, to better equip our workforce to rebound from the crisis in the medium term. “At this time of national crisis, we all have a responsibility to play our part. At Sigmar, we have adopted a frontline first approach and will deploy all resources available to us to support the national interest. “ www.covidresponsejobs.com is created by Sigmar Recruitment, supported by Candidate Manager, The Irish Times and Communicorp
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Hire for human instinct in the digital era
Hire for human instinct in the digital era
In an age of big data, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), relying on instinct, intuition or gut feel may seem like an inferior system when recruiting talent but it may just be the edge you need to recruit the best. We live in the digital era. Artificial intelligence (AI) guides our choices of restaurant, how we get there, and helps us get home later if we need a taxi. We talk about generations Y and Z as digital natives and organisations throughout the world are actively discussing their digital transformation strategies. It is also having a profound impact on the workplace where everything can be measured and reduced to a series of ones and zeros, and a growing number of activities and processes previously carried out by people are being automated in the drive to reduce costs and improve productivity. But the digital world is not necessarily a better one. Faster and less prone to error certainly, but better is open to question. And hiring people who will thrive in a given workplace is equally important, according to Sigmar head of European recruitment, Shaun O’Shea. The Sigmar recruitment framework addresses three dimensions, he explains, competency fit, motivational fit, and culture and values fit. It has been tried and tested and proven its worth in successful candidate selection over the years, but it also acts as an indicator for the limitations of technology in the recruitment process. “I have been in the recruitment business for eight years,” says O’Shea. “Eighteen months ago, we set up the largest tech-nology recruitment hub in Europe here in the middle of Kerry. We lean quite a lot on technology tools, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotic process automa-tion. I recruit for the technology sector, so I am very pro-technology, but you’ve got to build in human intelligence as well.” Technology has its limitations, he explains. “When you hear people talking about new technologies, they say they are quicker, more accurate and better. They certainly can be quicker and more accurate but not necessarily better. They lack human instinct, that gut instinct. You can use technology quite a lot for the first two elements of our recruitment framework. You can search for competency matches and so on but there is no questionnaire, AI algorithm or chatbot which can tell if the candidate lives and breathes the values of your organisation.” That’s where the interview comes in, when people can interact with each other to tell what they are really like. “People want to know what will happen when your backs are up against the wall, when the organisation is in dire straits, is the candidate a person who can be relied on to live and breathe its values. Technology is important, of course and we use all the latest tools. But we are combining technology with human instinct. We are using it to complement our own capabilities.” No matter how advanced, technologies like AI and machine learning can be prone to the same errors as humans. “They are designed to do what a human or a group of humans will do but will never have human relationship skills and instincts”, he notes. But they can repeat the same mistakes as humans. In the US, when AI was used in an attempt to overcome unconscious bias in the recruitment process it was actually found to perpetuate it. This was because the algorithms use data on previously successful candidates to hire from the next bunch, thereby repeating and possibly amplifying the behaviour of its human predecessors. Indeed, in 2018, Amazon ceased using AI assessment of CVs after it was found that the software was biased against those which include the term “women’s”, such as in “women’s team captain”. Again, this was due to trends in the dataset of previously successful candidates. This is not the only reason to be cautious of an over-reliance on technology. Mistakes are costly, says O’Shea. “The Work Institute published research last year that showed that wrong hires are costing businesses around the world $600 million every year. The average employee in Europe now changes job every 12 months. We have to look at why people leave, and it’s usually because they are not a technical or motivational fit. It’s generally about culture.” “Every organisation needs to hire the right people for them,” he continues. “Every hiring process should be unique, not off the shelf. Technology should be used as an enabler. It can be used for creating a long list of candidates and identifying a large talent pool. You need human input for short-listing and interviewing. If the recruiter works for the company, they will already know the culture. If it is an external recruiter, they will need to learn the client’s culture. I recently spent three days in Stockholm with a client learning their culture. Before that I was in Berlin and Barcelona.” It’s not about organisations having a good or bad culture. “I explain to clients that their culture is their culture. They shouldn’t try to hide it or represent the organisation as something that it is not.” But culture can vary. “It can be different from country to country, office to office, and between sales and production and engineering. You have to understand it, if you are to hire candidates who will be the right cultural fit.” He concludes by pointing out that the human interaction at interview stage is now critically important to hiring the best people. “The economy is now at full employment and financial, accounting, and technology candidates can have five or six job offers at any one time. It’s a two way process now. Candidates are as much as interviewing the company as they are being interviewed. It’s now almost a question of them hiring the company.” Mac Giolla Phádraig adds: “You can take the human out of the stone-age, but you can’t take the stone-age out of the human. Certain instincts are hard wired in us all, some in our self-interest; survival, fight or flight, reproduction and others which are altruistic; compassion, tribal instinct and a societal instinct.” Intuition is when you trust your instinct, which is often perceived as being “fluffy” as a decision-making factor when used to recruit. “We should not pit data against intuition, rather we should use our intuition to develop a hypothesis about a candidate and test that with the data in a experiential way at interview. Afterall, instincts are the fundamental drivers of how we behave and how we feel. I for one, would love to see a new recruit display, compassion towards my customers, tribal instincts towards my team and societal instinct towards the world at large. Use your instinct to hire for human instinct.”
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Benefits of Using a Recruitment Agency
Benefits of Using a Recruitment Agency
What is the best job to apply for? Do I have the right experience? Is my CV presentable? How do I prepare for this interview? Job seeking can be daunting and it can be very hard to answer all these questions yourself. The natural inclination for many is to look at job hunting as a numbers game and send your CV to as many companies and vacancies as possible. Surely, by the law of averages, you will get in somewhere, right? This approach is outdated and will extend your job-hunt time significantly while putting you in danger of missing out on that perfect job. Using a reputable recruitment agency offers you dedicated professional assistance to guide you through the process from start to finish while offering a wide variety of benefits; CV Help Recruiters invest their time in you and your CV. Your CV is your first opportunity to make an impression with the decision makers in the company you are applying to. Therefore, it is important to go through it with a fine-tooth comb to ensure your skills and experience are a match to the specific job requirements. Recruiters are well-versed at teasing out relevant information that may correlate to the specific job specifications from your employment history. You will then be advised on how to make your CV stand out from the others, with the aim of securing an interview with your desired company. Relationship with the Company and the Hiring Managers Sigmar Recruitment has established long-standing relationships with large multinationals, SME’s and start-ups across a variety of industries. Our recruiters have a direct line to the HR departments and decision makers in the companies that we hire for. We know when the jobs are coming up, what they are looking for both in terms of specific job requirements and cultural fit. Through liaising with hiring managers, our recruiters are able to ascertain the real requirements for the job, exactly what they are looking for in a candidate. Navigating Recruitment Management Systems Direct applications are becoming a thing of the past. If you have applied direct to a company, we cannot represent you for that company for a period of 6-12 months, under their Recruitment Management Restrictions. This means that an application that you haven’t put any thought into can hold you back from applying to your dream company for several months. Further to this, it is important to note that an application isn’t role specific and Recruitment Management Restrictions could apply even if you simply create a profile on a company website and don’t necessarily apply to any jobs. If you see a role advertised that is of interest – Contact your dedicated Sigmar Recruitment Consultant to see about them submitting an application on your behalf! Feedback A recruiter can provide you with timely feedback at every stage of the process, offering both formal and informal feedback. On the contrary, a direct application can often result in frustration whereby you, being any one of a hundred applicants on that day, apply directly and hear nothing back. Recruiters have a direct line of contact to the hiring manager expediting the process. Recruiters can also forward on your thoughts on the business and interview panellists after the interview, which may be able to put you in an even better light. Interview preparation So, the recruiter has submitted your (now amazing) CV to your dream company, and you have secured an interview… Now what? You will be provided with extensive interview preparation to ensure that you will be fully prepared to wow the interviewer. Over a coffee or a brief meeting at a time that suits you, you will go through mock interviews, be provided with insights on what the companies are looking for, what type of questions they ask and offered guidance on how best to answer them. You will walk into the interview confident and ready to knock ‘em dead! Negotiate on your behalf Negotiating salary and benefits can be unnerving, so why not leave it to the experts? Recruiters spend five days a week negotiating terms, conditions, salaries and rates. Recruiters are well-versed, they know what to ask, how to ask and what is attainable. It’s Free The service that recruitment agencies provide for the candidate is free of charge. The company that hires you will be charged a fee when you start working but this will in not affect you in any respect. If you are looking to move jobs or simply want to see what’s out there contact get in touch with us by email or call. If you are coming from a different background/industry/location pop onto our website: www.sigmarrecruitment.com and reach out to any of our dedicated Recruitment Consultants.
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What’s The Cost Of A Bad Hire?
What’s The Cost Of A Bad Hire?
€13,100. Yes, seriously. A 2018 survey by Adare Human Resource Management estimates this to be the average price tag on a botched recruitment process in Ireland – and it’s only set to increase. With Irish business’s annual turnover exceeding the European average of 7.4% with a whopping 11%, and unemployment levels dropping to the lowest in a decade at 5.4%, it’s a jobseeker’s market and the pressure is on for companies to secure the best applicants in the shortest amount of time. It’s therefore impossible to overstate the financial benefits of using a recruiter to streamline the hiring process. Time is of the essence The longer a job vacancy remains open, the costlier it will be. The company is losing revenue every day that position remains unfilled. It is possible to work out roughly how much an open role costs a business using formula such as these. Recruiters work fast. They understand the interest in filling the vacancy as quickly as possible and act with a brisk efficiency enabled by years of practice in this specific field. Using a recruiter reduces the time it takes to find the candidate right for a position. Find the hidden gems It is getting increasingly competitive to secure strong applicants who are fielding rival offers from multiple companies, due to the aforementioned high turnover and low unemployment rates. However, using a recruiter taps into a category of contenders invisible to the untrained eye – passive candidates. Skilled workers who are not actively searching for a new job could be ideal applicants for a posting. According to a 2015 LinkedIn report, 70% of workers are not currently seeking a new job. Recruiters know how to seek these people out, widening the talent pool into a talent ocean! Save on Training A 2017 survey revealed that, on average, American businesses spend $1,886 training each new employee. Recruiters advise companies to hire candidates with the most experience and prior training available, reducing the amount businesses then have to spend on training them. Avoid a Bad Hire When you’re losing out on revenue each day from an empty position, it can be tempting to fill it as soon as possible with a candidate who may or may not be suitable for the role. However, that €13,100 figure is a strong argument for utilising all resources available to you to ensure that you select the right candidate – such as using a recruiter to streamline and advise your search.
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Why Job Seekers Should Use Recruiters
Why Job Seekers Should Use Recruiters
In this modern era of hyper-connectivity, with smart devices that are so smart you can be contacted through your wrist watch, is there value in using a third party to help you find a job or are you better off going it alone? Well, with the global market seemingly more turbulent than ever and every company sending out similar soundbites on why they are the best, it’s increasingly hard to know what path to choose as a jobseeker. Jobseekers have never had it better with companies creating novel ways to attract new talent. Whether it’s a mini-golf course on the roof, an onsite masseuse, gym membership or yoga classes, it shows companies are aware of employee turnover and that the job itself isn’t enough to attract and retain talent anymore. However, on the other side of things, a job for life is clearly a thing of the past for most of the labour market, unless you’re a health professional or a teacher. This means more diversity in a person’s career, certainly among millennials, under 25’s and graduates in particular. This also means more disruption in previously stable careers and the need to diversify people’s skills and keep an eye on the market. It’s a dynamic environment in recruitment with marketing and internal recruiters partnering to attract the best staff, so why use a recruiter? Industry Knowledge Most recruiters specialise in one niche of the market and as a result become market experts within their sector and can give you a complete roadmap to the lay of the land. Going it solo will mean that you will have to do your own research about each company you are applying for who will each have their own unique requirements. Your recruiter, however, will be able to provide you with a company background, describe the team structure, the key aspects of the role and what exact experience the hiring manager is looking for. A recruiter will help you decide whether the position is for you and keep you updated as things develop in the market you’re in. Recruitment agencies provide a completely cost-free service to jobseekers. They only charge the companies hiring, so why not have unlimited access to the inner workings of the company you’re applying to and assistance for free? Direct Line To The People In Power Recruiters have a direct line to HR directors and hiring managers. Why not make the most of this? With a direct line to the people in power, you get the inside information on what makes a company, a department or even a specific job so exciting. If you have high goals of progression or want to work on a set type of projects, you won’t find this information through a job advert and may not realise if you have made a mistake until you’re in the job. Another aspect a recruiter can help with is when it comes to negotiating salary, the recruiter will know exactly what can be negotiated and keep things on track. You can focus on performing in the interview and the recruiter can handle all the awkward/difficult conversations. Your Own Personal Advocate Who doesn’t want someone singing their praises? With a recruiter you have your own personal cheerleader getting face time with people in power and telling them in no uncertain terms that you were made for this job and could do it blindfolded like Sandra Bullock in Birdbox. In all seriousness, a recruiter is trained find out your best qualities in relation to the job and make sure you don’t get missed by the hiring company. They can also help with CV re-design and know the best ways to catch the eye of the employer. Also, as mentioned, people are jumping jobs a lot more now which has previously been a serious red flag for employers. However, your recruiter can help explain your motivations and elaborate on your CV in minute detail to get over the initial hurdle of pre-screening. Practice Makes Perfect Interviews are a minefield. Say the wrong thing or react the wrong way and you will be stuck in no man’s land with no way back. Nike have a motto “Think training’s hard? Try losing”. Every day a recruiter prepares people for interviews, so let the experts show you how to ace every interview. They have the practice that can make you perfect! They will already have given you the background to the job, the hiring managers and the company, so the next logical piece of the puzzle is on the interview process. Recruiters will have reams of documentation but will always tailor the preparation for interviews to each person to maximise the value. The difference between you and the next person competing for the job is usually a small margin. That could mean that advice from a recruiter, who has placed plenty of candidates in jobs, could be the reason you succeed in getting the role. The future is bright for job seekers with more opportunities than ever. Partner with a recruiter who knows the industry, the companies hiring and who can help make the jobs market easier to navigate.
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6 Qualities of a Great Recruiter
6 Qualities of a Great Recruiter
Being a recruiter isn’t for everyone but if you have these qualities, it could be the perfect role for you… Target Driven Recruitment is a competitive industry, so a recruiter needs to be driven and work well under pressure. As a recruiter, you will have weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly targets to achieve. It’s a target driven career, so a person in recruitment needs to be motivated by targets and enjoy working to achieve long-term and short-term goals. Confidence Recruiters are often extroverts. A recruiter needs to network and interact with people on a daily basis, so it’s important that the recruiter is confident. It’s not only about being confident enough to network but to make others confident in you. It’s important that a recruiter shows confidence so that their client, candidates and their team is confident that they can deliver. Curious Someone who has an interest in digging for information and is naturally curious is an ideal recruiter. Being vigilant and eager to ask a lot of questions is the type of person who will find out everything they need to know and share the most up to date relevant information with candidates and clients. Curiosity killed the cat, but it made the recruiter. Superb Communication Skills A recruiter deals with people constantly so it’s important for them to be excellent at communication. Communication in every sense must be perfected by the recruiter and this means listening as well as talking and also written communication. There is administration work involved in recruitment so having good writing skills is very important. Marketing/Sales Skills In recruitment you will be selling the benefits of using your company to both jobseekers and employers. Sometimes you will even be seeking out new business by doing research on who’s recruiting and phoning around to talk to prospective clients. A recruiter needs to know how to market and promote the roles they are trying to fill for clients, as well as market their candidates to clients. If a recruiter has a handful of ideal candidates for a role and the client refuses to consider any of them, then the they probably aren’t suited to recruitment. A large part of recruitment is selling and if you don’t have negotiation skills or selling skills it’s probably not the job for you. Mentally Strong Recruitment comes with a lot of failure and I mean a lot! Sometimes you just miss out on your target, or your candidate pulls out of the process because they get another job or the role you were working on gets filled by someone else. Rejection is part of being a recruiter, but a great recruiter knows how to deal with it. We’re not saying in order to be a great recruiter you must accept failure and not react to it, but when things go wrong a great recruiter can deal with the disappointment and be equipped to self-motivate themselves to keep trying. Thinking about working in recruitment? Why not work at Sigmar? Contact careers@sigmar.ie
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Ever wonder what it would be like to work as a Sigmar Recruiter?
Ever wonder what it would be like to work as a Sigmar Recruiter?
Here at Sigmar our Recruiters work hard but have a lot of fun along the way. Check out what it's like to spend a day as a Sigmar Recruiter... If you want to be a Recruitment Consultant in Sigmar. Check out our job opportunities here
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What You Need To Know Before Meeting A Recruitment Consultant
What You Need To Know Before Meeting A Recruitment Consultant
Recruitment agencies see hundreds of people pass through their doors on a weekly basis. However not all candidates show up prepared. Truth is you will get a lot more out of meeting with a recruiter if you spend some time preparing and thinking about what your next ideal career move is. At the same time, you also want to impress a recruitment consultant, as a consultant is only going to want to put forward the best candidates to their clients. So, with that in mind, here are some tips to keep in mind when meeting your consultant; Meeting a Recruitment Consultant is not an interview, but it kind of is… Meeting your recruitment consultant will be informal compared to a real interview. The recruitment consultant wants to meet face to face to chat about your experience and what you’re looking for and discuss any opportunities they have available. However, even though your recruitment consultant isn’t the person who is going to hire you, they have relationships with people who could. You should treat your meeting like it’s an interview. Act professional and do your best to impress this person who has the power to get you the job you want. Dress Formally… For minimal effort, dressing to impress is important. Even if your office attire isn’t formal usually, dress smart (ideally formal but smart casual as a minimum) when meeting your consultant. This says to your consultant that you are taking your job hunt seriously and it also reassures the consultant you will present yourself well to their clients in interview. Be on Time for the Meeting… Again, consultants are assessing you to see if you are suitable to present to their clients. Being late screams unreliable and they will question whether you would do the same for a client interview. On time suits recruiters best because they usually have back to back meetings and being too early or late will put their entire schedule under pressure. Be Prepared… Even though it’s an informal chat, you should still be prepared and be confident speaking about your experience. Checking over your CV to be sure or saying you don’t remember won’t make your recruitment consultant confident that you can present yourself well in an interview with their client. Don’t be Afraid to be Honest… The more information you give your recruitment consultant, the better understanding they will have of your career aspirations and goals and in turn they will be able to provide you with positions you are interested in applying for. Inform them of your priorities (salary, benefits, location, title, culture etc.) and what you are and are not flexible on. Knowing this information will prevent you being presented with opportunities you are not interested in. Follow Up… At the end of your meeting with a recruitment consultant, they will present you with open positions for you to consider applying for. Ideally, they’ll all be perfect for you but if not, don’t be afraid to let your recruiter know. Give them feedback and stay in touch with them, in some cases a recruiter can become a lifelong career advocate. If you want to get the most out of your meeting with your recruitment consultant, always come prepared. Not only with it impress the recruiter, but it will get you one step closer to finding your perfect job.
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Recruitment Agency Myths
Recruitment Agency Myths
Recruitment agencies are often underestimated. A lot of people aren’t aware of the value a recruitment agency can have on a person’s job search or a company’s search for candidates. We have created a list of the most common myths associated with recruitment agencies, to set the record straight once and for all… “Recruitment Agencies are Expensive” One of the most common assumptions people have with recruitment agencies is, that you have to pay an agency to help find you a job. This is completely false. The way it works is that a recruitment consultant receives a fee from their client for placing relevant and qualified candidates in a job. You don’t pay the recruiter; the recruiter is paid by the agency they work for and the company who hires the jobseeker. “Companies can look after their own Recruitment. Agencies are Obsolete” Finding the right employee can be a long and complex process that even the most established human resources department in a large company can find difficult. Many companies utilize the expertise of recruitment agencies. With agencies having such a large bank of candidates on file and their own pool of specialist recruitment consultants dedicated to finding talent, recruitment agencies are invaluable to companies struggling to fill certain roles. “Recruiters don’t have Industry Knowledge” Often people think recruiters don’t understand the industry they are recruiting for. This is incorrect. Reputable recruitment consultants specialise in the areas they recruit for and have vast product knowledge of their market. Often a recruiter has a background in the area they recruit for or he/she is trained in that area so they understand what is required to work in that field. “Recruitment Agencies don’t care about Jobseekers” The perception of recruitment consultants is that they don’t care about their candidates and only want to place them in a job so they can make their commission. This may be true of some agencies, so you want to make sure you work with a reputable company. The success of recruitment agencies is dependent on the quality of the candidate’s they put forward to their clients i.e. your success is their success. Therefore, your agency should be working with you to find you a suitable position, provide you with detailed interview preparation and essentially hold your hand throughout the process.
Resource centre
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CV Tips
CV Tips
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Interview Tips
How to ace that upcoming interview
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Personal Branding
Building your brand online and offline
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Salary Guides
Benchmark your salary
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Career Planning
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Work Smarter
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Jobs Market
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Graduate Advice
Graduate Advice
Career advice for graduates
