Halloween is a scary time of year…

With Halloween just around the corner, we thought it was the ideal occasion to talk about what we find horrifying in recruitment.

The Job Seeker

We are proud of our ethos, often going above and beyond to help a job seeker in Digital Marketing. This has resulted in re-writing hundreds (if not thousands!) of CVs which would likely land the top spot on an employer’s “to review” pile.

Recently this has translated to us writing a few blog posts explaining how to write a great CV and optimising it with spook-takular keywords. A great CV is the first step to getting your foot in the door, so get it right before beginning the process. You don’t want to burn the bridge before you have even laid the foundations.

Something we have witnessed recently is lying on a CV – where a job seeker has consciously refused to state an employer who they have previously worked for! This is haunting,  inexcusable and a deception to the employer. It will not help your application/career when you are found out.

Do not lie, instead be frightfully honest, don’t keep skeletons in the closet! If there is something on your CV that you fear stating, use the opportunity during an interview to explain why. We tend to say that everyone is allowed one false career move, so don’t hide it, instead, lay all the facts on the table / your CV.

We also expect any candidate to be fully prepared for an interview. Make sure you do your due diligence in advance of meeting your potential employer. Although there are many ways in which to do this (such as researching the team on LinkedIn, reading industry blogs, speaking with any contacts you may have), the most important is to look at their website! We do work in a Digital world after all.

Chillingly this is something we have twice witnessed as of late; a job seeker who is eager for a new role not looking at the website of the company they are interviewing for! Unbelievable. Startling. Shocking. Not only is this a demonstration of exceptionally poor preparation, but it says to the interviewer that you do not care. Enter that interview at your own risk. Don’t be surprised if you receive some gruesome feedback if this is you.

During an interview, there are many things you should and shouldn’t do, issues we have visited in previous posts. Please do heed our advice and hope that a black cat does not cross your path.

If you are currently job seeking in Digital Marketing, get in touch with the team.

The Employer

We thoroughly enjoy working closely with an employer, learning as much as we can about their business, culture, employees, their USPs and more. We like to sink our fangs into a conversation with the hiring manager to learn all that we can, thus building up a detailed overview of the entire company. This will help us understand who they are looking to hire, from their technical expertise to what tickles their funny bone. Even if we believe the ideas are witchful thinking, we always strive to find utopia.

One bugbear which has previously occurred is when the hiring manager has a dead-pan approach to revealing information about the business. We want to know as much as we can as to best represent you and hold your hand during the recruitment process. We want to know the subtle details. What is it that makes your company boo-tiful? Of course, we understand some things cannot be disclosed, but unique entities and snippets about the business can be the difference between landing an incredible candidate and an okay one.

We ask a lot of questions, our initial conversation with you will probably be long, but the result is you will have a recruitment partner who is not scared when representing you to a job seeker.

Another thing we have recently encountered is a lack or organisation on behalf of the employer. Yes, an interviewee should do their preparation, but so should an employer. Is the interview a 2-stage process? Is there a task to be completed? Who will they be meeting? How long would you expect the interview to take?

If you are haunting for an exceptional digital marketing professional, whether SEOOOOOOOOO, PPC, Content Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or so on, allow them to best present themselves by supplying all the necessary information at a reasonable time. Don’t spring a task on them the night before the interview!

Get your pumpkins in a row by talking to our specialist recruiters and make sure everything is prepared; if it’s not, don’t be surprised if what turns up to the interview strikes a remarkable resemblance to that of a zombie.

You’re In For A Treat

Although we can’t always promise you candy, we’ll never trick you with false promises and lofty expectations. Our specialist recruitment agency was founded on the premise that we would propose a professional and personal recruitment service; offering a unique combination of expertise in both headhunting and Search Marketing.

We are in a privileged position where we do not have to go knocking door to door to find new clients – our unique connection to the leading Search Marketing conference network, brightonSEO, means we are exposed to many incredible employers, throughout brands and agencies. If we are already your recruitment partner and you are looking for a new addition to your team, reach out to your clockworkTalent contact. Or, if we have never spoken before, you can find out more about our recruitment process by reading our website: Recruiting.

If you are job seeking or hiring in Digital Marketing, then we would love to speak with you. You can reach the team via 0203 7514108 OR [email protected]. We promise not to scare you. We will endeavour to make the recruitment process a tale of romance rather than horror.