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Recruiter Spotlight – Chris Hart, Client Server: Recruitment Today and Hiring for Tomorrow

23rd July 2018

Article written by:

iContract

iContract speaks to Chris Hart, Team Lead of IT Recruitment Consultancy Client Server. Chris has over 11 years experience in Recruitment and has worked in Scandinavia and the Dach region.

Chris has also recently created The Recruiter Index, an industry blog and advisory site for recruitment professionals.

We asked Chris for his views on the Recruitment Industry, how the market is currently performing, and how he sees it evolving in the future, plus his top tips for candidates and much more.

How would you rate the current state of the market in recruitment?

It’s very busy at the moment, particularly in the sector I work in, tech, where candidates have all the power. They have multiple options and are being snapped up quickly whether it’s for contract or permanent roles.

There is a struggle on clients’ behalf to attract top talent and this is making them relook at their hiring processes, which of course makes it an exciting time to be involved in recruitment.

Are you seeing Brexit have any impact on the market and what future impacts do you see it having?

I’ve actually not seen much of a change, to be honest. I work with just as many candidates from Europe as I did before the vote. It also surprisingly never comes up in conversation when I speak to European candidates.

As for future impacts, I’ve really no idea at the moment. I guess things will be a lot clearer when we get an idea of what type of Brexit the UK will be getting and what effect this will have on hiring processes.

Do you think there’s been a reversal of fortune between candidate and recruiter, and recruiters are having to do more to entice and appeal to candidates?

I think recruiters have to stand out more. There are so many different recruitment companies out there, and so many are one or two man bands. This naturally gives candidates more options and with that recruiters have to stand out from the crowd and do more, hence why we’re seeing more recruiters embrace social media and content creation with things such as blogs and video. Expect this trend to grow even more.

It’s very difficult nowadays to get candidates to go exclusive but as long there’s an understanding from both sides of the multiple options candidates have, I don’t think it hurts to go that small extra mile and keep that personal relationship going if it’s through a coffee or a quick catch-up phone call.

What tip(s) would you give to a candidate wanting to show more than what’s on their CV to an employer or recruiter?

One thing I always stress candidates to be is fully prepped. This isn’t just the usual stuff like names and job titles of your interviewers; go outside the norm and really do your research. See what the client has been doing on social media or what’s been happening with them news-wise.

Ask questions about the clients (or interviewers) themselves to find out what they like about working in the role and what their own story has been with the company. This gives you a chance to engage with them in a more personal way.

Working in tech recruitment, I’d strongly encourage candidates to bring in physical evidence of their work to an interview in the form of a flash drive or a link to their GitHub. Tech clients want to see a passion for the work their employees do and they like to see candidates that have projects outside their 9 to 5 and don’t just see their role as something they check in and out of each day.

What for you is a no-no when assessing candidates for potential roles?

When looking at suitable candidates for permanent roles, I never send a candidate if I know they are considering contract roles. It’s better for all parties to be clear about where everyone stands and it makes everyone’s lives easier.

Candidates who apply for jobs in more than one country or location is another thing I raise question marks over. I think it’s great that candidates want to work in different parts of the world or new regions they’re yet to experience and I fully support anyone wanting to do this, providing they do their research first. In any role you take on, there’s a lot of boxes to tick and there is a certain emotional investment you have to think about before taking it on. I question then candidates who I’ve seen apply for a large number of jobs that are in a number of different locations. It’s a sign that there’s been no research at all into the bigger picture of what the job will entail; relocation and living costs for example. A recruiter doesn’t want a candidate that will back out last minute from a role because they weren’t aware of these costs.

Where do you see the world of recruitment in 5 years time?

I don’t see it changing drastically in the next few years. The fears of A.I killing recruitment off are slightly over-exaggerated I feel. I can see it advance in the future and it will no doubt aid our work on a basic admin level by helping recruiters sift through C.V’s.

I also see a lot more freedom in the way companies allow recruiters to work in. Remote working will become more common and we’ll see companies expand their presence geographically because of this. The impact of technology today means recruiters need only a laptop and a phone to do their work.

We’ll also see recruiters stop asking candidates what their salary is, and focus on more on what they consider their value worth to be. This is something that’s been happening a lot in Scandinavia and I can see the U.K adopt this trend.

There will also be a continual surge in content with more recruiters embracing new ways to promote their work and the roles they’re advertising.


What do you think about the future of recruitment? What other big changes do you see happening?

And what are your top tips for candidates?

Have you seen the latest contract roles Client Server have posted on iContract – search for the latest tech roles HERE

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