Phil Wright

In Q2 of this year in the UK the average Perm Consultant made 4 placements and the average Temp Consultant made 6 placements. (UK) When we looked at the consultants at the Top 5 agencies on Recruiter Insider for Candidate Experience, we discovered that: 🚀 the average Perm Consultant there made 5 placements 🚀 the average Temp Consultant made 10 placements. In Q2 alone, the agencies with the highest candidate experience scores made 1 extra Perm placement per consultant and an 4 extra temp placements per consultant. Highlighting as always the impact candidate experience has on your placement numbers. The data doesn’t lie, an improved candidate experience means more placements. But if you are not measuring this you can improve it either. So if you want to make more placements get in touch with me. The data doesn’t lie!

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General election. Seasonality. Tough market. The perfect storm? I wish this month's Firefish Software recruitment industry performance update were more positive, but it's been a challenging month across perm, temp and contract. TL;DR🚀: - The total volume of placements decreased by 8%. - Temporary & contract placements decreased by 6%. - Permanent placements decreased by 10%. Further insights📖: - Jobs created decreased by 8% in June however placements made were still 2% higher than June 2023. - Total applications decreased by 14% on the month. - Only the Finance & Accountancy sector delivered positive growth on May. Full sector-specific performance 🔮: https://lnkd.in/eQ3WNK78

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🚀 Exploring Solutions to Developer Turnover? 🧲 Tech recruitment is a constant challenge, and in Brighton, retaining top software development talent requires innovative strategies. Are you struggling to attract skilled developers due to the allure of London's booming tech industry? What tactics are you using to stand out? Retention is key. How do you maintain a motivated team excited about your company's future? Turnover can disrupt team unity and company culture. For retention innovation, are you leveraging flexible work options, competitive benefits, and career growth opportunities to make your offer more appealing? Do your workplace practices promote both technological advancement and a sense of community, enhancing Brighton's tech scene allure? Let's exchange insights and strategies to strengthen Brighton as a premier destination for software developers. Join the conversation! #BrightonTech #TechRecruiting #ICPSearch #SoftwareEngineering #SoftwareEngineers

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Feeling Ghosted by Recruiters? ‍👻 Don't let your applications disappear into the void... Our blog post unlocks the secrets to standing out and landing your dream job in the competitive UK market. Learn how to craft a compelling application, showcase your value proposition, and build a strong network amongst a number of great tips... Click the link below to level up your job search: https://bit.ly/4f0HeTR

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Another case study highlight 🚀 "limitless scaled a telecommunication unicorns UK & EU Engineering team" Hiring managers or key stakeholders hiring, please read 👇 A limitless partnership... 🚀 🤝 Defining EVP 🤝 Designing a custom outreach campaign 🤝 Plugged in directly with stakeholders via Slack to improve communication 🤝 limitless IR35 product for peace of mind 🤝 Streamlined interview process 🤝 limitless candidate aftercare process implemented Case study successes... ✅ Reduced time-to-hire by 84% ✅ Saved over 130 hours of individual hiring managers time ✅ 1.6-1 CV to interview ratio ✅ 3-1 CV to hire ratio ✅ 8 days average time to hire ✅ 7 hires made with 100% offers accepted ✅ 100% retention rate with key relationships built with candidates ✅ Slashed historical recruitment costs by 18% across the project ✅ Limitless Search and TaaS bound partnership introduced If you are a hiring manager or key stakeholder within your organisation where you are experiencing growth pains within your software engineering, product and data teams and the above success has peaked your interest, please book a meeting on the link in the comments as I would love to present this full case study to you and understand how we can replicate this success for your organisation 🙌

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For me, there are only really two types of recruiter ... 'Sideline' recruiters and 'Embedded' recruiters. Sideline recruiters - generally on the outside, looking in. Will refer to themselves as ‘specialist’ but are too transactional in their approach to build a network of any substance. Will often make short-term decisions due to fear of missing targets and will ultimately burn bridges. Embedded recruiters - you guessed it - are embedded within their industries. Part of the ecosystem. Their knowledge of their market goes way being able to recite the ‘science’, 'the tech' or 'the leading companies'. It’s knowing whose hiring and why/when/how they hire. Having your finger on the pulse with long-term partnerships prioritized above all else. Both types of recruiter are able to make placements and score fees. I know this first-hand as I regretfully started my own recruitment career way more 'sideline' than 'embedded'. It's these experiences that have helped shape the way we approach recruitment at Metric. So much so that we made 'Partnerships' a company value and doubled down on training everyone in the business to be fully embedded within their industry. Laser focused on building a meaningful network and long-term relationships. Tenure within your industry certainly helps. However, where we really stand out, is our track record of developing $600K - $1M+ billers in their very first full year in recruitment. Something that is completely unheard of in our industry. Why am I telling you this? We are actively hiring across our Metric Bio and Metric Geo brands. Sophie Whiteley is leading our experienced hiring - so if you want to join the standout recruitment business globally - make sure you're connected with her! #execsearch

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End of another productive couple of weeks in the UK. Yes, the market has been slow. On the brighter side, several recruitment agencies are looking at: ✅ Consolidation and retaining top performers ✅Diversification ✅ Leveraging efficient delivery models ✅ Optimising costs by focusing on maintaining internal database/CRM against spending on job boards, LinkedIn etc. In terms of the sectors, tech and healthcare experiencing a slight uptick which is always a good news, or shall we say the beginning of good news 😉 Business development still a significant focus for all, hence we’ve experienced an increase in our market mapping services. Tech and outsourcing certainly the areas businesses are considering giving a shot. Because, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” So, if you are a recruitment agency wanting to hire an offshore team member to work for you directly or want to learn about the offshore model, ping me for a free copy of my e-book, “Dummies Guide To Developing Your Offshore Team” today! Want to have a chat, DM me and we can talk.

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HR folks and Hiring Managers are always asking us about salary bands for developers who are early in their career. This piece offers some insight as to what the top companies are offering. The piece shows how Junior developers at the FANG stocks are getting offered three key levers in their packages: base, bonus, and equity. And the piece shows all in and what each component looks like at each company (Apple offers a lot more salary and equity than bonus, for example). If you're trying to recruit top development talent -- it is always important to understand what components are important to the candidate. Some candidates only want base and could care less about bonus or equity others really want the visa versa. Finally, if you don't have all three of the aforementioned levers to play with -- find out what other things are important to them like vacation, the ability to work remotely from anywhere, great benefits, excellent training, and mentorship. You'll be amazed to see what happens when you unpack what's on a candidate's mind about what is important to them.

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Why hire software development contractors I hear you ask? Where do I find the right contractor? Look no further, we've got you! Check out the below video to find the answers and the areas we cover... #contractor #contracting #software #developer #development #IR35 #hiring

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"Why do you think recruitment is so expensive?". If you're looking for a killer open question to ask your hiring managers, then this is it....! In the latest Episode of Recruiting Alchemy, I sat down with Nigel Fox, CEO at Annapurna. We talked about all sorts of things, but this clip really jumped out to me. If youre looking to innovate your GTM and want some help, feel free to contact me [email protected] Hinterview

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First session of day 2 at DTX Manchester. Sink or swim. How To Build and Nurture The Tech Talent Pool That Alligns With Your Long-Term Strategy. Should be good.. If you are looking to take this stuff seriously then get in touch with Esther Olatunji or Luke Owens at TalentskowtAI ☎️☎️ They’ll be able to introduce you to employees in Sales and Software Engineering that will grow and develop in your business. #aihiring #aitalent #kickstartingcareers

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What if just a few strategic performance tweaks could mean the difference between runaway success and millions lost? Join the next virtual London CTOs Lunch Club – Performance by Design: These Tweaks Could Save You Millions on Friday, 8th November at 12:30pm BST, hosted by Aszadur Rahaman, for an eye-opening session on how designing with performance in mind is far more than a strategy—it’s a necessity. In just one hour, you’ll discover how subtle shifts in approach can transform architecture, slash costs, and supercharge time-to-market with scalable, reliable solutions 😊. This session will cover: - Real Case Studies: Walk through high-stakes scenarios where neglecting performance led to major revenue losses. See how a scientific, proactive approach saved others from the same fate. Each story highlights issues like skipped POCs, unchecked performance items, data mismanagement, and silos that cause production chaos. - Proactive Performance – A Non-Negotiable: Learn how to escape the cycle of technical debt and inefficiencies by embedding performance from Day 1. Let’s dive into proactive vs. reactive approaches, discussing and sharing experiences on when each is best and insights on your own challenges and wins. - High-Impact Tweaks with Major ROI: Gain actionable insights into performance tweaks that yield huge returns with minimal disruption. Leave with a checklist of proven processes that CTOs use to optimise architecture, reduce costs, and ensure scalable solutions. Let’s come together online, share stories, and maybe walk away with new perspectives. 🔗 Please register here: https://lnkd.in/eUBuqE6J This event is organised by RecWorks Ltd, a community-driven tech recruitment firm. #CTOLeadership #TechLeadership #PerformanceEngineering #CTOLunchClub #ByRecWorks

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2024 is a great year for start-ups and scale-ups that usually struggle to compete for talent against the tech giants. Here's why... Tech leaders are at breaking point. Hamstringed by cutbacks, unable to hire the quality of people they require, and massively open to joining other companies. Their top staff are feeling this and are jaded. We are in a client-driven market. What does this mean? Very occasionally in the tech world, we get a switch from a candidate-driven market, to a client-driven one. In a nutshell, it's about where the power lies. Tech companies need AI/ML, but they need people to create it. As with anything, there are a top 0.1% of people that are 100X more valuable than others, and the battle for their signature is fierce. Usually, the biggest companies attract these people. When there are far less open roles than people to fill them, we get a switch, where the companies gain the power. This mixed with mass layoffs over 2023 has created an unusually large chasm. I track 1000s of top-tier data science professionals. Senior Managers, patent holders, those that wrote the most impactful papers, and those that improved the state-of-the-art across all areas of machine learning. These people are hardly ever "open to new opportunities". Why? They don't need to be. The world is generally their oyster. Now, almost all of the best people I know would listen to offers. The few that won't are at companies that are still doing extremely well. There are far fewer of these than normal. A major frustration is hiring. Of course, I get an insider view of this. As an external partner, I get the complete and honest version. So here it is... Hiring Managers are tired of working with under-resourced teams. They're encouraged to work with growing internal recruitment teams that are ill-equipped to headhunt for the most specialist roles. (There are wonderful internal recruiters, but none can ever do it all). They must work within reduced budgets. They're asked to push the boundaries of the SOTA with unproven technologies seen by C-suite as magic bullets. Overall, this makes it so easy for head-hunters like me to attract the best people. But I'd still rather it wasn't. Why? Because it's still better when we have a competitive overall market, giving chances to the up-and-comers. Keep this up, and there won't be any seniors or ground-breakers. (There will, it always turns around in the end 😉 ) Hiring Managers - keep pushing back. Grads - keep going, it will happen for you in the end. Start-ups/Scale-ups - make hay whilst the sun shines (and give me a call).

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Yesterday I spoke to a CTO who is kicking off a search for multiple new permanent Architect and Developer hires. I immediately noticed their frustration when they told me about a recent negative recruitment process.. “Over 150 CVs received” “Submitted candidates were barely qualified” “Multiple dropouts at offer stage” “Candidates were under-prepared for interviews” After a bit of deep dive, the main issue I identified was… over 8 agencies were onboarded onto the search, all sourcing the same candidates in parallel!! But why is this a problem? Surely using multiple agencies helps companies to reach a wider talent pool and drives competition amongst the agencies. RIGHT?! WRONG! ⚠️This technique often the absolute opposite effect. - Coordination complexity – managing several agencies requires much more effort which can be very time-consuming for hiring managers and HR teams. - Inconsistent messaging – different agencies might present your company & role inconsistently, potentially confusing candidates and sending mixed messages. - The best candidates are already being approached multiple times per day. How do you think they’ll react to being approached multiple times for exactly the same role? - Very few hiring managers have the time to conduct a detailed briefing with multiple different agencies, usually resulting in an over-simplified job description being sent via email, followed by a “we look forward to your profiles”, without taking the time to deep dive in the company sell, nice-to-have vs must-haves, flexibility, process optimisation, etc. 🌟 The solution - Look for a specialised agency who has a proven track-record in the area you’re hiring for. Playing trial and error with agencies who barely understand your market is not the solution when looking for your next crucial hire. - Take the time to conduct a detailed briefing. I’ve lost track of how many times candidates have been blown out of the water by the detail we were able to provide about the client’s situation and what they are looking to achieve by this hire. Spoiler alert – this is never mentioned in a job description. - Set clear timeline expectations and map out the entire process (interview dates, any holidays planned, start date / contract signature by date X). - Arrange a (bi-)weekly update call where both sides can update each other on any challenges being faced, sourced CVs can be discussed, and the search criteria can be adjusted in a quick and agile manner if required. - Avoid moving the goalposts once a search has started. - Provide timely feedback to submitted profiles – active candidates will not wait 2-3 weeks for feedback! I personally avoid accepting any new search if I know that multiple agencies are already working on the same position in parallel. I’d rather stick with my exclusive clients where I know I’m 95%+ likely to actually fill the job. What has been your experience? Share your thoughts and let's discuss! 💬👇 #recruitment #staffingsolutions

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What's the trickiest vacancy you're trying to fill? Often it's not the "Head of xxx" or "xxx Manager". It's a Technical Consultant with 2 years' experience. Or a Junior DBA. Recently it took me 2 months to fill a 1st Line Application Support Specialist role. These entry-level type of positions are critical for any company, but especially for SMEs. In my case it was for a construction business. Technical skills were important but CULTURE fit was massive. Stakeholder management skills were critical in order to deal with a wide variety of different users. We got there in the end, and both candidate and manager are a perfect match! But why so hard to find the right person, when you're hiring at entry/junior level? ➡️ There's not a lot of work experience to go on, so lots more CV screening and interviewing required. ➡️Typically less engagement, so harder to pin down for availablity and commit to interview. ➡️ More susceptible to counter offers. ➡️ Unrealistic salary expectations. What issues do you face when hiring such roles? Comments ⬇️ please!

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Bit late to it... but better late than never, right? Rundown of Q2 in Team Java & Kotlin incoming ➡➡➡ 💪🏼 122% of our quarterly target 💸 Highest billing UK team at Understanding Recruitment 🏆 We hit our team incentive 📅 23 new client meetings ✅ 1.09 CV : 1 Interview ratio It's no secret that the last 18 months haven't been the smoothest sailing for the tech market, but one thing for certain is that things are moving in the right direction. What have we got in store for Q3? 💥 If you're looking to scale your engineering team this quarter and need some advice or support, feel free to reachout for a chat about how we can alleviate some of the headaches that come with hiring! #quarterlyupdate #hiring #techrecruitment #java #kotlin

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Recruitment Consultancy ≠ Recruitment Administration (You're probably paying for consultancy, but getting administration) A lot of agencies operate as outsourced Recruitment Administrators, which is fine if that's the service you're paying for. Here's the difference: ❌ Administrators are reactive ✅ Consultants are proactive ❌ Administrators just advertise and then rely on direct applications ✅ Consultants find the absolute best candidates and reach out to them ❌ Administrators won't give you any real market insight ✅ Consultants have a deep understanding of your market & trends ❌ Administrators won't try to understand your business ✅ Consultants work to understand your business deeply ❌ Administrators take job orders and do what they're told ✅ Consultants will guide you on salary, timelines, interview process, etc. ❌ Administrators will ghost you at the first hurdle ✅ Consultants will work with you until the job is finished ❌ Administrators will tell you what you want to hear ✅ Consultants will tell you the truth, even when it's not pleasant ❌ Administrators are transactional ✅ Consultants are bought into your success and have a long-term view ❌ Administrators won't communicate with you ✅ Consultants will let you know what they need from you clearly ❌ Administrators don't know anything about your EVP ✅ Consultants will help shape your EVP, even if there isn't an immediate fee ❌ Administrators add very little value ✅ Consultants help your business scale & give you a big competitive edge To be clear, if you're paying anything above 17% + and your agency sounds like an administrator, you're getting severely ripped off. There are better options, and plenty of exceptional recruiters out there, even if you might have to kiss a few frogs! Equally, if you're expecting a consultant's service but won't pay what it's worth, don't be surprised if you keep being let down by your suppliers. You get what you pay for.

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📢 4 x Placements across 3 clients last week. 🦄 2 @ Tech Unicorn - Despite working with other agencies and using a very large TA function for months, we delivered two AE hires in just 3 weeks! 🌐 1 @ SaaS Platform - From job spec to placement, only 2 weeks. 📲 1 @ Customer App Company - After searching on their own for months, we stepped in and filled the role in just 7 weeks. We are more than just a CV source, reducing time to hire and the number of interviews required. ✅ Our reputation and established network allows us to engage candidates that are not actively looking ✅ The trust we have built in the community also enables us to bring the best candidates to the table, often who have already rejected or discounted the same position they had seen advertised. ✅ We get the data flow and business context involved, allowing us to technical screen our candidates and reducing the number of interviews hiring managers conduct. We have a lot of case studies now. If you are hiring Data or Analytics Engineers then we would love to explain why so many of the UKs top brands are trusting us to make their data hiring easier for them. ☎️📧 Cognify Search

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🎙️Coming soon… Extremely excited to be launching the first series of an exclusive Podcast specifically for the Cloud, DevOps, SRE & Platform Engineering community☁️🚀 I have some FANTASTIC guests lined up from Germany’s leading tech organisations👩‍💻🧑‍💻 We will be talking all things DevOps, Platform Engineering & the Cloud, from the perspective of those leading and engineering the projects🔨🔧 As well as the real life challenges Engineering teams are facing on a daily basis, and how to overcome them💥💪 If you are interested in how some of the best in the business approach their day to day, and want to gain insights and learn from their experiences then this is not to be missed😎🎤 #cloud #podcast #germany #tethr

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