How sociable are you ?

This is an article submitted to Tax Grotto by Pro-Tax.

Social Media Recruitment

The statistics are that Linked-In has over 200 million members and that the have a new member every two seconds. They certainly claim they are the future of the recruitment market. True, they are an exceptional ‘live’ database and many members will update their Linked-In profile far quicker than their CV. We have even heard that one recruitment agency has stopped using their own in-house candidate database in favour of Linked-In. This, I sense, is quite extreme especially if you consider that Linked-In may have a limited shelf life. We are now in a market place where pretty much everyone can be found online, including Linked-In, Facebook and Twitter, no matter what generation you are from. If you want to get recruited, you need to get social!

Less published adverts

There has definitely been a decrease in hard copy advertising; this is due to social media recruitment, better networks and online advertising, so jobs are not always published in magazines. Companies are also pushing their own internal recruitment teams to hire directly and furthermore they are offering mouth watering referral fees to employees who can refer ex-work colleagues or friends. Lastly, in an austere economy one of the first casualties of cost cutting is advertising. When the market recovers fully, we will certainly see more magazine adverts appear.

Where are all the jobs?

This is a common cry from candidates who are searching for a new role. As specialist tax recruiters we have our ear firmly to the ground when it comes to the volume of tax vacancies in the market place. What many candidates do not realise is that the volume of jobs is still out there; in fact the trend is that there is 12% more jobs now than this time last year, they are just not in the usual places. By that I mean historically you could contact two or three market leaders in tax recruitment and get all of the live roles in the market place. Now the landscape has changed. Yes, you will still speak to the market’s tax recruitment specialists but you also need be ‘social media’ aware. This comes in the form of being on Linked-In, having a Facebook account and following tweets.

Employers recruiting directly

There is no secret that employers are attempting to directly recruit tax professionals. It’s probably never been easier for them with access to job boards, Linked-In and Facebook. Again, the economy dictates that some HR and Recruitment functions now have more capacity to focus recruiting directly, especially if they only have a low number of live vacancies. The recruitment agencies just have to work closer with their clients and not see this as an affront on their business. It is therefore essential as a candidate that you work in partnership with one of the industry’s preferred tax recruitment agencies. Clients are cutting down on the number of recruitment agencies they use, so it’s paramount that you opt for an established brand.

Market more fragmented than ever

The major tax recruitment specialist agents in the UK market have on average between 25 – 40 employees but their market share has dipped slightly with the advent of these ‘one man band’ outfits. The truth of the matter is that candidates should never put their eggs in one basket and registering with two agencies is better practice, especially if you are looking for a role in Commerce & Industry. Recruitment agents that tell you otherwise are fearful of their competitors. But it’s not simply how many recruitment agencies you register with, but which ones. You need to select your agency carefully and consider their brand image, are they recognised as a market leader, do they have a sufficient coverage for the market you want to work on? Do they have good testimonials, this is always proof they are respected by their clients and candidates alike.

The future of tax recruitment

There will always be a significant place for the ‘old fashioned tax recruiter’ who has strong client relationships and networks – social media recruitment is not a client’s ‘silver bullet’ to replace them. Tax Recruiters just need to change to a shifting market, embrace social media and realise the fact that clients will try and recruit directly. What does this mean for candidates? Well, firstly your first port of call would be to still speak to your recruitment agent(s) but also to be available online, even if you are not actively looking. Statistics show that over 30% of new hires simply were headhunted or were approached and decided to move. As the economy picks up we will see more tax recruitment via the traditional methods such as agency or hard copy advertising, but for now candidates need to think of all the various channels that they may be recruited by, and ensure they are visible and social.

Pro-Tax is one of the UK’s leading tax recruitment agents and are preferred suppliers to the Big 4, Top 100 accountancy practices, the FTSE 100 and 250 and leading Investment and Retail Banks. For further market commentary or to discuss your next move or hire, call Pat Keogh, Managing Director on 020 7269 6311 or email pat.keogh@pro-tax.co.uk