Exciting times ahead…

I have fantastic news that I can’t quite tell you all about in detail just yet. What I can tell you for now is that it takes what I do for candidates and clients to a whole different level and will see me joining some truly brilliant people in an unrivalled setting. Watch this space!

SVP100

So I did it! Just…

I was awake early and got over to Paddy’s and then Ellie drove us to Newmarket for the sign in, briefing and to allow us to get ready. I felt pretty nervous if I’m honest but put the five visits to the toilet down to just that and didn’t make the connection to the sickness and diarrhea bug that my Mother and Father-in-law have been laid low with these last few days. I should have.

The race started at 7am and Paddy and I led it out and onto the turn at Devils Dyke, which is one of my favourite parts of the course. I felt very lucky to be at the front of the race going through there and settled into a decent rhythm. As we got to mile five I knew I was going to have problems and just before mile six I had to dive off the path and run into the woods, ripping off my hydration pack as I went. I shouted to Paddy not to wait and that I’d catch him up. At this point I genuinely thought I would. My bowels were going to explode and I didn’t want to be another photo on the internet of a running fail. So after doing my impression of Eddie the Eagle and losing about 12 minutes after getting out wipes and sorting myself out I was back on the trail. Between mile 10 and 25 this happened a further four times putting me about an hour down. At mile 30 I threw up everywhere and decided to go to mile 33 which was the third checkpoint where I had arranged to meet Ellie and if it was no better I was going to call it a day.

My stomach was cramping really badly and I must have looked awful when I ran into the station as Ellie looked a bit concerned at the state of me. I checked up on Paddy who was I was told flying and this gave me a real lift so I decided to push on. I also found some Ibuprofen 400’s in my pack and decided to start popping them, which after a while kicked in and made me feel a little better.

At mile 40 I hooked up with Simon (aka Magic) and we were to end up running the rest of the race together. We chatted and ran and walked the nasty hills and shuffled our way into checkpoint four and then checkpoint five.

I’d not been able to get a signal all day on my phone so borrowed Magic’s and phoned Mills to discover that she had also been suffering with the bug during the day.

We picked off a few runners over the last five miles and made our way into the finish where we crossed the line together and as we had been wherever we were on the course, were greeted warmly. I was met by Mills and Rosebud and Carl and Daisy (straight back from their holiday – thank you both, you are great friends) and decided to jump in the car and head home.

After something to eat and a shower my body started to shut down. I got really cold and had to put four layers on and my quads, calves, string and toes all started cramping. Day over, I went to bed.

Some stats…

I ran 64:34 miles in 13 hours 34 minutes, which was just under two hours inside the cut off for my start time. Given what happened to me I am happy just to finish.

I burnt just over 7000 calories.

I took 15 salt tablets and 10 Ibuprofen 400’s.

I lost count of the number of stiles I had to climb over.

Some thank you’s…

To everyone involved in organising and supporting SVP100. You are all brilliant and it was a great day.

To everyone who sponsored me or wished me well. Thank you, your money will make a difference.

To my wife, family and friends. Thank you for all your support. Going back to my wife she really has been an angel throughout all of this. She’s put up with me being out all day running and made lots of adjustments to our eating as a family that have all been primarily for the benefit of me. Thank you Millsy x

To Ellie, thank you for your support and kindness yesterday. I won’t forget it.

A congratulations…

To my good friend Paddy on your awesome run. Sub 12 hours is amazing and whilst I wish I could have run it all or most of it with you I’m not going to beat myself up given what happened. There’s always next time.

So I’m a member of the 100km club which feels pretty special this morning. Next is a 50k followed by a 47 miler. Both should be a walk in the park given what I went through yesterday.
See you all soon.



JRx

Sponsor me?

Today I am using the blog to blatantly shake the charity tin one last time. I hope you’re all okay with that. Apologies if not.

In a little over two weeks time, on the 16th August I shall pull on a charity running vest for the very last time. After this run I will still be running, but just for fun, so I am going out with a bang on two fronts.

Firstly this race is to give back to Macmillan. They’ve helped my family, they may have helped yours, they may help yours, they may help mine again. Regardless, they are consistently brilliant people doing a difficult job in difficult circumstances.

Secondly this run is a kind of sadistic celebration. Those of you that know me well enough know that Storm was started as I needed to be close to home after my wife was diagnosed with cancer. That in itself seems an age ago now. The great news is that she was given the all clear just before Christmas last year which we are all still chuffed to bits about. Her journey was long, arduous, painful and despite all our family care and attention, sometimes lonely. To recognise her feat I will be running a 62 mile trail ultra on the 16 August from Newmarket to Manningtree along the Stour Vally Path. Having done the training I can safely say that although totally different, those elements of length, pain, loneliness and arduousness are most certainly in there.

If you could find a few pounds to sponsor this great cause Macmillan would be delighted and I would be honoured.

The link to the race is here http://www.svp100.co.uk

The link to my fund-raising page is here https://www.justgiving.com/reynoldsruns/

The furthest I’ve ever run is 40 miles so this represents a fair jump in distance. Just to make life difficult there are time bound cut offs in there as well so it isn’t just a case of having a leisurely stroll around the countryside. This is a proper foot race and although I am now very excited about the challenge ahead, I’m also a little bit fearful as well. Will let you all know how I get on.

Many thanks.

The dinosaur in the room

I got told I was “old school and ancient” at a recruitment seminar last week. I have to say it made me smile, especially when later in the conversation the guy used the word “dinosaur”. He said that technology is and will continue to change the recruitment industry in every way to the point of not needing “traditional recruiters” like me.

So I brushed off my spurs and swung myself up on my really high horse to deliver my belief, and hopefully that of a few others, that technology will never replace recruitment completely. It continues to change the identification, screening and interviewing element most certainly but it will never do the actual recruiting. For that you need to have built meaningful face-to-face relationships in order to have the difficult conversations about counter offers, as well as offer and acceptance negotiations. So with technology, the identification part of the recruitment process will I agree become easier. The actual recruitment part will become harder though because of the lack of actual meaningful engagement at the beginning of the process.

The really good candidate pools (which are also shrinking by the way) are people who have both career options as well as opinions. Going back to counter offers as an example, more and more candidates are building a better understanding of their worth these days through the use of the internet and social networking sites. As those talent pools get smaller and the candidate knowledge gets better (that’s a good thing by the way) you will see more and more counter offers. In order to navigate counter offers you need to have great relationships with candidates and clients alike. You won’t get these from technology, they’re old school skills, learned and honed over the years by great recruiters or dinosaurs if you want to call them that.

Nowadays it is easier to hide behind technology rather than do things in person. In my last role I used to sit next to a guy who would email me rather than talk to me because it was easier he said. We all do it. We text, we email, we messenger, we InMail. You need technology in your recruitment model but you also need human interaction. That in itself is nothing new but the skills are maybe dying out as the new breed of key search recruiters with a distinct lack of consulting skills and even sometimes a lack of technology skills are ushered in. If you need me I’ll be in Jurassic Park.

Storm is 5 years old

Storm is now five years old and this month I have afforded myself a little time for reflection on the things I’ve learned during that time. I thought I’d share ten things that I’ve learned in the blog.

It truly has been a wonderful journey and to get to this point is no mean feat given that I started the business during the recession and have driven it through it and out the other side.

Thank you to all the clients, candidates, partners and suppliers that have worked with me over the years. It’s been a privilege on my part.

Ten things I’ve learned…

1. Treat people as you would like to be treated and stop worrying about what other people think about you. It’s none of your business.

2. Try not to judge people based on a set of circumstances you got second or third hand.

3. Low cost very rarely means good value and it pretty much always means disappointment.

4. In terms of ranking, listening is a more valuable skill than speaking. Being able to do both at the right time in a conversation is the key to unlocking relationships.

5. Winning business is a marathon, not a sprint.

6. Balance and goals outside of work are important to your wellbeing.

7. Most of the stuff I worry about doesn’t happen.

8. You can’t compare businesses. They are all different.

9. It’s okay not to have all the answers. You’ll still get there.

10. Don’t take life too seriously. Laughter and having fun is not optional.

Recruiting. It’s all a bit different these days.

Another year of being a recruiter ticked over for me recently and I couldn’t help but reflect how different the job is today to what it was three years ago to say five years ago to let alone eighteen years ago when it all began for me.

The way I work now is far more about human interaction than it has ever been and my offering has always had a strong human interaction element so for me to notice the change in percentage of that element of my work must mean it is significant. This got me thinking about why this may be so and I have come to the conclusion that whilst with the wealth of online platforms means that candidate identification has undoubtedly got easier, the actual recruiting part has got harder.

I don’t see top candidates applying for roles any more, I go to them. Candidates are visible 24/7 365 in this technology age where as in the past they used to use a job board, apply for roles, find a role and come off the job board. It’s almost like window shopping, they are now job browsers and they aren’t using job boards to browse. They expect me to go to them as I said earlier. I spend masses of time understanding, influencing, negotiating and delivering on a role, far more than I ever did, and I see it moving more and more this way in the future. I feel that the days of placing an advert and waiting for candidates to proactively apply are over. So finding talent is of course important, but looking after it, managing it and delivering it against expectation is where the real value will be moving forward.

Hiring ‘future’ talent? If not you should be.

I spoke to a friend in recruitment last week and as normal the economic down turn that we have all witnessed over the last four years or so came up. He made an interesting point that whilst everyone is keen to talk about ‘when’ things improve and talent starts migrating in bigger numbers, the reality is that it won’t because it isn’t there. What if what we see and feel now in terms of economic performance is the new normal? What if this is as good as it gets?

It is an interesting thought and it got me thinking about how businesses could and should be looking at their recruiting plans with this being the case.

I have always been someone who aspires to the ‘hire on attitude, train on skills’ mentality when it comes to hiring staff, where possible. Sometimes you do need an expert to build something around, but time and time again I have gone for a great attitude and a solid foundation over a poor attitude and great skill base.

So given the current climate, now more than ever is potentially a great time to be hiring future talent given the lack of top end talent from a skills perspective. To give an example of this, I met with a client before Christmas to talk about a new hire and last week they decided to switch focus from finished article to great potential. I did talk about doing this at the original meeting but accept that sometimes you just have to see for yourself in order to fully appreciate the recruiting landscape.

Finding the best people will always be the most important deliverable from my perspective. So I think that if businesses were to spend more time looking at, understanding, and even where necessary translating their future business strategies it should be possible to identify and generate a pipeline of talent that can be developed and ultimately enrich the businesses they join.

If the UK doesn’t address the need to hire talent for the future we do run the risk of falling even further behind our global competitors. The resistance to hiring future talent has to change, and soon. These people are committed, full of energy and fresh ideas. In order to stay ahead of the tech curve, you need to feed your business fresh ideas and therefore the opportunity to explore untapped markets whilst also addressing your long-term concern regarding skills shortages.

Five and one half months left to SVP100

Training is going well for SVP100 in August this year although I have had a few niggles in February which haven’t seen me clock as many miles as I would like. That said I am on track and the planned miles do get done somehow.

I’m also working with Martin Copping PT again who got me ready for my very first marathon all those years ago. That has been an excellent decision as he has very quickly got to grips with the strength and core elements I am going to need for a 100km race.

Fundraising is coming along and I do feel very blessed by the good luck wishes that have come my way since embarking on this challenge. That said Macmillan and I would be grateful of your donations should you be thinking about doing so.

As part of my training I am booked onto the Cambridge Ultra which is a run as far as you like type race done entirely at night and the SVP marathon in the coming months.

Macmillan have also said they would like to get involved with publicising my challenge so you may even see me pop up in local and regional media as well.

If you’re thinking about taking up running, give it a go. It changed my life for the better and I’m sure you would get something from it if you did.

If you would like to sponsor me you can do so here http://www.justgiving.com/reynoldsruns

As a hiring manager do you sell your organisation and opportunities to candidates at interview?

Last week we had a situation where a candidate went along for an interview with an organisation and during the de-brief he announced that regardless of what they thought of him he wouldn’t be joining them. They just hadn’t sold the opportunity or the organisation to him at interview.


Now I’d like to think that pretty much everybody will know that interviews are a two-way process and that the best candidates are vetting organisations as much as being vetted by them. So it is really important that employers recognise the need to sell their own organisations if they are to attract the best talent, especially in the current market where good skills are hard to find and there is so much competition for the talent that is out there.


In an ever increasingly competitive job search market place, companies must surely learn to focus as much on their employer branding as they would the branding of their organisation’s products and services. Selling your job opportunities, team and organisation is really about selling your brand promise – the functional (we pay well and we look after our people) as well as the intangible (we’re genuinely passionate about our work) dimensions.


Do you really know your customer and do they know your brand?


As in any selling process, it is essential to gain a clear understanding of your customers’ needs, whether they be clients or potential employees, and also importantly to build a clear picture of what the competition is offering. Without this information it is extremely difficult to know how best to position your organisation and its attributes.


I always ask candidates where else they are currently interviewing and at which stage so that I can build that information into the process. There is no point in anyone investing time if a candidate has an offer and is 99% certain they are going to accept. So it not only provides you with an idea of the timescale within which to act in order to capture the best talent, but perhaps more importantly it also provides an insight into how the candidate is being regarded within the marketplace.


Understanding where your organisation ranks against the competition is therefore equally important. We now live in an increasingly brand conscious world, and therefore the strongest candidates are now more likely than ever to base their career decision on the kudos of the brand they have before them. So making a good play of your brand is key to winning the best talent.


If you know that your brand is not as strong as the competition, and this can be down to different factors such as your location, salary, training, hours of work and benefits for example, then you have to be more imaginative in the way you sell your organisation. Pay more attention to the nature of the role, the dynamism of the team, the strength of leadership or the clear career path offered. This was where the organisation fell down yesterday as I know they have a dynamic team, strong leadership and great career paths for their employees. They just didn’t communicate it and then reinforce it.


Selling your job opportunities


The aim of any organisation that wants to grow is to position itself as an employer of choice. An organisation where the cream of the candidate pools gravitate to naturally. You could call it a self-fulfilling promise – the best talent always goes there, because that’s where the best talent is. Achieving that employer of choice status starts with getting the right people in the first place, and that is achieved by understanding what the people you want, desire, and then matching it.


I read an article in the week that talked about the influence of the millennial generation (those who graduated around the time of the millennium) and how they are more assertive than their counterparts from yesteryear and are not shy about asking in interviews ‘what can you do for me?’ The onus being on the interviewer to sell the organisation has never been so strong. It really is time to sell.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Interviews and why there really is no excuse not to be ready.

I’ve had a month or so back on the chalk face after Christmas and there have been lots of interviews to help candidates get ready for since I got back. Interestingly, some of the candidates I have worked with are switched on to the realisation that there are several ways to prepare for the job interview and some of them aren’t. I have had very senior candidates prepare very little and very junior candidates prepare very well. There is no common ground in terms of experience making you more able in this regard.

In my eyes, if you want to succeed in any interview situation you have to do your homework. Hiring managers expect it, why wouldn’t they? You would if you were sat on the other side of the desk interviewing yourself.

So this month I am sharing some thoughts on a wider scale than just the candidates I represent as it is clear many candidates for whatever reason are still in the dark about how to approach this potentially life changing event.

Do your research.

Hopefully you already have a strong interest in the role as you applied for it. If you don’t you shouldn’t be going. Read up on the company history, structure, culture, beliefs and market sector.

Who is the competition that this company competes against on a daily level? Where are they? How are they different?

Read up on relevant news, read press releases, talk to people you know who will have an informed view on the sector the company operates in.

Build a solid understanding of the challenges faced by the hiring manager and the department as a whole. This is key for me. How can your skills, attributes and experience solve the challenges the hiring manager faces? I have found over the years that candidates that can talk well at interview about how their skills and experience will make a substantial contribution to the team by giving examples of how they have in previous or current roles get hired.

So now you’ve got that bit sorted what else could you do to make sure you leave the hiring manager with a great appreciation of your capabilities?

In my experience it comes down to how you present all of the above. You should be able to show great communication skills and that starts with your ears. Listening is very underrated. If you’ve done your homework you should be able to draw on the information as and when you need it. If you are constantly talking you will miss opportunities and once gone it is difficult to get them back. Two ears, one mouth. Remember the ratio and apply it, not just at interview but also in life in general.

You also need to communicate clearly why you are wanting to move and it needs to be valid. Reaching a ceiling where you currently are, moving geographical location, wanting to work with newer technology all work for me as reasons for moving employer. Not being paid enough or falling out with colleagues don’t work for me and need to be discussed with a current employer before you start looking for a new role in my view. If not you will come across as weak when sat in front of a prospective employer.

Be professional at all times, be positive, and demonstrate that you are collaborative, show that you contribute. Make eye contact, smile and be approachable.

Now I’m sat here saying be this and be that but let’s be clear on something. If you’re not normally of this ilk there will be a problem down the line as all hiring managers want to hire at least the person and personality that they met at interview. This exercise isn’t about impression management; it’s about being the best you can be on a daily basis. Every day.

Regardless of what the government will tell you about unemployment levels being at their lowest points for some time, we are I believe in something of a skills crisis across tech at present. There aren’t the candidates or skills in the numbers that business would like to see and it is only going to get worse before it gets better.

That means there are opportunities. Stand out from the crowd. Prepare for interview properly.