The Art of Professionalism:

Why Ghosting Your Recruiter is a Bad Idea

In today’s competitive job market, candidates strive to present themselves as polished and professional individuals.

However, there is a growing trend that undermines this pursuit of professionalism: ghosting recruiters.

Ghosting, the act of abruptly cutting off communication with someone without any explanation or warning, has unfortunately made its way into the realm of job hunting.

While it may seem tempting to avoid an uncomfortable conversation or potentially burn bridges, ghosting your recruiter is ultimately a poor decision.

In this blog, we will delve into the reasons why ghosting your recruiter is detrimental to your professional reputation and long-term career prospects.

Burning Bridges

When you ghost a recruiter, you sever a potential professional connection. Remember, recruiters are often well-connected within their industries.

By leaving a trail of unanswered emails, unreturned phone calls, or simply disappearing from the hiring process, you risk damaging your professional reputation. Word can quickly spread about your lack of professionalism, making it difficult to secure future opportunities within the same industry or even with other recruiters.

Unforeseen Consequences

Ghosting may seem like an easy way to avoid an uncomfortable conversation, but it can have unforeseen consequences.

The professional world is surprisingly small, and people talk.

You never know when your paths may cross again with the recruiter or someone they know.

Failing to maintain professional decorum can come back to haunt you when you least expect it.

Impact on Employer Reputation

Recruiters often represent reputable companies that invest time and resources in the hiring process.

By ghosting a recruiter, you not only disrespect the individual but also the organisation they represent.

This reflects poorly on your character and may result in your application being flagged in their system, making it challenging to apply for future opportunities within that organisation.

Missed Learning Opportunities

Every interaction, even the uncomfortable ones, can be a valuable learning experience.

Engaging in a constructive conversation with a recruiter allows you to gain feedback on your application, interview performance, and areas for improvement.

By avoiding these conversations, you miss out on an opportunity to grow and develop your professional skills.

Ethical and Professional Responsibility

Ghosting your recruiter is simply unprofessional and unethical.

The recruiter has invested time and effort in reviewing your application, scheduling interviews, and providing updates throughout the hiring process.

Failing to communicate your decision or intention to withdraw from the process is disrespectful and reflects poorly on your integrity.

Maintaining professional etiquette and being transparent in your communication demonstrates your commitment to professionalism.

Conclusion

While ghosting may be prevalent in some areas of social interaction, it has no place in professional settings such as job hunting.

Ghosting your recruiter can have far-reaching consequences, impacting your professional reputation, future opportunities, and the reputations of the organizations and individuals involved.

Instead of ghosting, it is important to communicate respectfully and professionally, even if it means declining an offer or withdrawing from the process.

By upholding a high standard of professionalism, you will build a positive reputation and open doors to future career prospects.

Remember, the way you treat others in your professional journey can have a lasting impact on your own success.

 

 

Employers: What benefits are you offering to attract and retain top talent in 2023?

Are you struggling to recruit and attract top talent? If so,  what changes have you made since the pandemic?

Recruitment has changed and if employers want to retain and attract top talent, changes need to be made too.

The main factors that influence candidates when changing jobs are the cost-of-living increase and the potential for hybrid working. The employers who will attract top talent are offering these options, as well as better salaries and tangible benefits like healthcare and pensions, and the opportunity to working from home a few days per week.

What are the main work force trends and is your company up to date?

1.Remote working is here to stay and remote jobs are growing. It’s time for employers to invest in remote work technology, make more jobs remote, and expand their hiring pools globally.

2.Skills are becoming more valuable than degrees. The global labour shortage has impacted hiring trends, where companies are prioritising skills over degrees. That’s not to say degrees are not important, however, degrees with a year’s placement are worth their weight in gold. Applicants should consider this when looking at a degree. This will give them an advantage once they graduate.

3.Posting jobs with salaries will attract more talent and eliminate time wasting for both employers and candidates. Money talks and this is the most important thing you should put on your job advert. Advertising a job without a salary is a waste of time. If you were in a job and browsing the market ,would you apply for a job with no salary displayed? Therefore, employers are losing top talent that otherwise would have applied.

4.Feeling valued is one of the reasons candidates look to move jobs. Yes, we are all busy, however, sometimes stopping and giving a bit of recognition is all that is required. To employers it may seem irrelevant, or minor,  but to an employee it can be the difference in staying in their job.

5.Offering a variety of benefits can also attract talent. Standard benefits now can be health care and pension.

• I have a client who offers free lunch to all staff daily, worth £5, this is a great benefit as we all know the cost of food has increased.
• Even having flexi- time for when an employee can you start and leave can help, however this depends on the type of your business as not all firms can offer this.
• One company I worked for gave you your birthday off, or the day off .This was a great perk and they definitely retained staff.
• Recognising staff who have been loyal to the company for a number of years by increasing holiday entitlement can retain staff. Again, staff need to feel valued.
• Investing in upskilling and training staff, especially for those staff who want to progress within the company

6.The early bird catches the worm and this couldn’t be truer than in the hiring process. I cannot emphasis the important of making decisions quickly. Indecisiveness will cost you, losing your preferred candidate. It’s a candidates’ market and candidates have more choices than ever. When planning to recruit, plan the length of time you want to conclude the process. Companies can recruit and hire staff within 2 weeks, however that depends on industry and skills shortages, no longer does it need to be 4 weeks or more to recruit.

If you are struggling to recruit and need help shortlisting and identifying candidates for your company, please contact Cathy Moran at Cathy Moran Recruitment for advice

Email cm@cathymoranrecruitment.com

Or call 07751856436

 

Qualified Accountant up to 45k Derry/Londonderry

Due to continued growth and success this well-established construction and property firm are looking for a Group Accountant who will report directly to the Group Finance Manager.

This role would suit a qualified and experienced Accountant with minimum 2 years post qualifying experience who is looking for progression.

The ideal candidate will be hard working and self-motivated with an eye for detail.

This is a rewarding role for the right candidate.

The Role

• Prepare job costing reports and profitability tracking including liaising with other departments to obtain and verify information.
• Verify and prepare valuations.
• Prepare, liaise with external accountants and submit year-end statutory accounts including supporting reconciled schedules for multiple group  companies (UK & ROI).
• Assist with preparation of monthly/other accounts and analysis.
• Prepare and submit VAT (UK & ROI) returns and assist with queries.
• Liaise with peers and external parties to resolve VAT/PAYE/CIS/RCT queries.
• Assist management with development of the finance function.
• Prepare and submit other statutory returns.
• Assist in the preparation of the annual budget and forecasting.
• Assist with financial analysis on ongoing operational projects within the
• Ad hoc reporting / tasks.

Skills and experience

• Be a qualified accountant (ACCA/ICAI), with at least two years PQE or qualified by experience.
• Hands on experience in job costing (preferably within Construction industry)
• You must have a good understanding of different rates of VAT
• Preparation of management accounts is required, preferably within the construction industry.
• Experience in year-end statutory accounts for NI/UK and ROI jurisdictions.
• Excellent working knowledge of computerised accounting and related systems.
• Experience of identifying areas for improvement plus implementing internal efficiencies and systems of control desirable.
• Ability to take accountability and work on own initiative without supervision as well as within a team.
• Strong attention to detail
• Have strong technical accounting knowledge, excellent communication skills and strong Microsoft Office (in particular Excel) skills.
• Experience working with Sage 50

Top Tips finding a New Job in the New Year

Are you looking for a new job and don’t know where to start?

The process of searching for a new job can seem lengthy and complicated, but the good news is that there are plenty of job opportunities out there.

Here are a few tips to help you land that job.

• Make sure your CV is up to date, with plenty of relevant content on what you do in your current job.
• Start from your most recent job and work back. Make sure you do the same with your education and qualifications.
• If the opportunity arises, add in a cover note explaining why you are looking for a new job and a brief summary of skills, qualifications and experience. This is particularly useful if you want to change industries or job type and have transferable skills.
• You should also tailor your cover letter for each job you apply for.
• Set up Google alerts for the type of job you are looking for.
• Register with online job boards (these should be free).
• Find a Recruiter or Recruitment Agency that will help you and build a relationship with them. If you email a CV and don’t hear back, follow up with an email or a call.
• Recruiters prefer proactive candidates: that way we know you really want a job!
• Be selective in the jobs you apply for. Make sure you read the job description and have the relevant experience and qualifications required.
• Have your profile on LinkedIn and join industry groups online in your preferred industry.
• Speak to your network of contacts and let them know you are actively looking word of mouth can be the best recommendation.
• If you haven’t had an interview in a long time, brush up on your interview techniques. This can be the difference in securing a job or not.
• Don’t forget to dress appropriately for interviews, as first impressions count.
• Finally, show your personality at interview: smile and open up and don’t use one-word answers. Employers want to find more about you and to see how you will fit into their organisation.

If you need help finding a job, email cm@cathymoranrecruitment.com with a cover note of the role you are interested in.

Alternatively, click on this link to view jobs:

Employers,are you struggling to Attract and Retain Candidates in Today’s Challenges Market?

Are you struggling to recruit the right staff, or find you are you having trouble attracting the right talent for your organisation?

September marks the end of the summer, and with everyone back to work, recruitment has never been so challenging and Now is the time to invest in your current staff and be open- minded when recruiting.

You can no longer rely on posting adverts online or on job boards: you need to widen your recruitment net, otherwise you won’t fill those important roles. Working with a Recruiter you trust can alleviate this, a trusted recruiter knows the market well.

• The first thing to do is don’t delay in your recruitment process, it’s all about timing.
• If you have CVs, start reviewing them asap and make contact with candidates even by telephone call to double- check they are still interested. You can do an initial screening call which will speed up the process.
• If you have a closing date, do not wait until it has passed to review CVs: by then it could be too late.
• Remember good candidates will not wait around the old saying, “ the early bird catches the worm” and applies equally in recruitment.
• Start interviewing ASAP, and ideally at the start of the week. Remember most candidates who are in employment need to hand in 4 weeks’/ one month’s’ notice and if you wait until the middle or the end of the week , this could run into another week.
• Don’t have candidates hanging on:, make decisions quickly. This reflects on your company and how you work. People like to work with companies that are decisive and don’t delay when making decisions. Your recruitment process reflects this.
• Review your salary structure and make sure it’s competitive. You will no longer be able to pay below the market rate.
• Review company benefits to attract candidates. Since the pandemic, this has made a game changer when candidates are moving jobs.
• You need to not only offer a competitive rate but also additional benefits e.g., pension, health insurance and maybe additional holidays which can be accrued with service, rewarding loyalty:, things like giving candidates their birthday off can be a sweetener.
• Flexible working or hybrid working is something that’s here to stay. This can be very difficult for companies that can’t offer this due to business demands. If this is the case there could be something else you could offer, even one day working at home or finishing early on a Friday.
• Make sure when you are interviewing you are aware of candidates who are just using the opportunity to get more money from their current company.
• This will depend on your interviewing techniques and how you ask the relevant questions of candidates. If you establish this at the start of the interview, it will save you a lot of time.
• Make offers asap: don’t delay.
• Check references immediately and even ask candidates if it is ok to ring their referees and get the reference confirmed on paper too.
• Check when they can start, ideally the sooner the better. This is where it can all go wrong, so keep in touch during their notice period.
• Send out an offer letter as they will want something in writing before they hand in their notice.
• They will also want a contract, too. Most candidates prefer this before starting so you may have to adapt your procedures. Just because it’s been this way before, doesn’t mean you can’t change it now.
• If you want the right candidate, you need to be flexible
• Timing is everything in recruiting staff so ensure you keep in touch with candidates once they hand in their notice and confirm a start date.
• Then make sure you are in touch regularly every week until they start. This is when they can change their mind right up until they start
• You as an employer need to put an effort in to keep in contact during their notice period. They could have had another interview after they accepted your offer and decided to take it.
• If this happens, you will have wasted anything from 4-12 weeks trying to recruit and then you have to start again, costly and very time consuming.
• Once they start, make sure they have an induction to the company and are made to feel welcome. This doesn’t cost money but will ensure your candidate settles in well
• In conclusion, recruiting is very time- consuming and costly, especially in today’s challenging market. Putting an advert online or job board is no longer enough, invest in a good Recruiter you trust who will spend their time focusing on filling your vacancy while you can get on with your business.
• In today’s market, this is essential

If you need help, please get in touch, and please also check out my testimonials to hear what my clients and candidates say.

Email cm@cathymoranrecruitment.com or call 07751856436

Thanks Cathy