(Article: PA vs PA, Executive PA Magazine, March/April 2012)

What was your big break?

"I had been a candidate with Key Personnel for over 10 years, and had undertaken various temporary contracts for them. Then in 2007 they placed me in a crucial role in my career at Dollond & Aitchison Opticians.  This role was the real turning point for me with regards to my skills and responsibilities.  The  MD of Key, Mary  Hendry, had always  kept  a close  eye on  me and  had watched me grow and develop over the years and therefore knew my capabilities. I have to admit, I was extremely flattered that she approached me as she has access to hundreds of PAs, but chose me to work alongside her."

What PA/Industry qualifications do you have? How important is it to have these today?

"I have no formal PA qualifications. I am educated to degree level but my degree is in Creative Arts! Personally, I believe all PAs need to be good project managers. Many tasks/requests are thrown at you on a daily basis and you have to be able to manage that 'style' of workload; be a good ‘Starter/Finisher'. I believe the fundamental skills of a PA are focused on flexibility, good organisation skills, being able to think on your feet and always having a 'can do' attitude. I am quite often  the 'face' of the company and I represent  my boss in so many ways, therefore my grammar, ability  to construct various forms of correspondence, create presentations etc. have to be professional and to a high  standard."

What advice would you offer PAs looking to break into the Recruitment industry?

"There is no specific advice relevant solely to recruitment.  All I would say is be prepared for a fast-paced and varied role.  It doesn’t stop and your days can be quite unpredictable due to the nature of the industry."

What's the best bit about working in recruitment?

"We hold regular HR Forums, Thought Leadership Lunches and PA events, all of which I organise and attend. A great deal of our clients attend these events too; this therefore allows me to build my contacts within the community and with the companies our recruitment consultants work with. In my role I do so much more than simply sit in an office."

What are the downsides of your sector?

"Working for a recruitment agency, particularly an SME, your days can be unpredictable. I have to wear a lot of hats and work under the constraints of a smaller workforce so sometimes my careful planning can go straight out of the window, but that said, it does  add variety  to the work that  I do and  keeps  me on my toes! It is never slow or boring."

How do you think working in your industry as a PA compares to PAs employed in other industries?

"I don’t see any major differences to be honest. Industry knowledge will differ depending on sector but fundamentally your core skills are the same."

What's the biggest misconception about your industry?

"There is a common misconception that recruitment consultants are  unskilled and that 'anyone can become one'; however, contrary to this, we are an extremely strategically-driven business with a very clear focus on client and candidate management and it is the consultants who are the very 'skilled' driving force behind this."

If you could pick any other industry to work in, what would it be and why?

"I am a naturally creative person. At Key I also head up the marketing function of the business, so I think something within the creative industries/marketing would be appealing."

How many hours are there in your average working week?

"On average I work between 40-45 hours a week, but there is always flexibility with this."

(Article to be published in the Spring 2012 edition of the IoD Magazine)

Are the days of recruiting through agencies numbered?

Rumours of the demise of recruiting through agencies because of the rise in social media may be exaggerated, says Mary Hendry, Managing Director of Key Personnel

Why do some companies flourish, with growing teams that are nurtured and deliver great performance, when other firms seem to churn a high number of staff, which then fails to deliver the business strategy? Are they using the wrong methods to recruit people? With social media now enabling us to reach out to hundreds of previously unavailable people, will this now change the way we recruit for our businesses and mean that the need for a recruitment partner is a thing of the past? And if so, might this deliver better results? Whether you use social media, your own website or go through a recruitment partner to attract the best people to your business, that’s only part of the puzzle. What happens after you have the CVs is another matter.

The managers that are the most effective at hiring have a robust system they stick to when they embark on a recruiting exercise. There are basic processes you should follow to ensure you maximise your chances of attracting, securing and retaining the right people.

1. Ensure you are clear on what the role is, and where it may develop in the future. Writing a clear job description, mapping out the roles and responsibilities, and the skills and behaviours required, is essential. Getting input from other colleagues on their ‘wish list’ is really worthwhile, too. This achieves buy-in from the team and they feel part of the decision-making process. Having a clear path of ‘must-have skills/behaviours’ and ‘desirable skills/behaviours’ is really helpful to identify the yes’s from the no’s. You should also then use this matrix to form your competency-based interviewing.

2. Are you paying the market rate? Is your benefits package competitive? It’s important to measure how you compare to other employers in your locality/industry so that you keep pace, or indeed remain ahead. If you don’t keep pace, you’ll fail to attract and retain the best people. We conduct annual salary surveys across the West Midlands which we’re happy to share.

3. Have you allocated the right time/ budget for the project? Remember, you’ll have one or more senior team members managing the process. Calculate what their hourly rate equates to and what time they will spend on the whole recruitment exercise. Most managers underestimate the time recruiting can take, and this is exacerbated if companies recruit directly themselves.

Research shows that the following is a typical process when recruiting directly:

• You need to advertise the role.
• You may receive 50+ CVs, all requiring a five minute review by a manager.
• Then a further two or even three-tiered review process from a senior manager to come up with your short-list.
• There may then be a further second short-list required.
• Once you have your short-list confirmed, physical interviews have to take place, approximately 45-60 mins each.
• If short-listed candidates are not right at interview, for whatever reason, you are back to the drawing board and have to re-advertise the role again...

All this time, along with all the admin, is taken away from your day-to-day functions and has a cost to the business that you shouldn’t underestimate.

4. If you decide to work with a recruitment partner, then ensure they undertake to do the following as a minimum:

• Take a full brief of your requirements and visit your premises to get a feel of your company culture (it’s not all about skills, personality fit is equally if not more important). Statistics show that 95 per cent of employers hire on skills but fire on attitude.
• Provide you with a short-list of no more than four to five candidates.
• Will have met face-to-face every single candidate they submit to you, unless there’s a valid reason and you know about it.
• Will have competency-based interviewed the candidates and matched them for your role, both skills and personality wise. Challenge on why they have selected candidates if you can’t obviously see the fit. Some agencies target their consultants on the number of CVs they send each week, so ensure your CVs hit the mark for you, and you’re not contributing valuable time reading inappropriate CVs to enable them to hit their target.
• Have IT-tested the candidates (if appropriate) on their skills level. There are so many tests that can be undertaken now so discuss ones they use and what’s appropriate for you and your role.
• Have checked their eligibility to work in the UK.
• Have proof of their qualifications (remember, degree certificates can be bought very cheaply from the internet).
• Has provided two references from their latest employment that can be checked-out post offer. The offer, of course, being subject to satisfactory references!
• That their fee is success based, ideally once the candidate has passed their probation period.

5. One area that can go wrong, whether you recruit directly or via a recruitment partner, is that few people who actually undertake interviews (unless you have a dedicated HR resource) have had any formal interview training.

Too much of the decision can be weighted on less subjective influences, rather than ensuring the questions are competency-based and have rigour attached to testing the candidate’s suitability. There are some very good interviewing technique courses around. Put simply, clarity and focus are vital if your recruitment is to succeed. You must have a system and stick to it. And no, I don’t believe good agencies will be a thing of the past.