Blue Sky PR » PR for recruitment

Case Study: Using LinkedIn to tackle business issues

Vickie Collinge — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:53:35 +0000

The Company

Foyne Jones is a specialist recruiter of sales, managerial and executive appointments within the construction supplies and manufacturing sectors. With a background of professional sales within organisations such as Travis Perkins and Jewson, founders Jonathan Foyne and Peter Jones launched the company in 2003 in order to utilise their specialist sector knowledge.

The Challenge

Having recognised there is a lack of females in the construction supplies and merchants industry, Foyne Jones wanted to look at ways of addressing the issue and attracting women to the sector.

The Solution

BlueSky recommended a LinkedIn campaign, beginning with a survey across a variety of industry relevant groups to understand the full extent of the issue. The results of the survey highlighted that not only is there a limited number of females in the construction supplies and merchants industry, but also that this topic was of interest to many people across the sector.

In response, BlueSky set up a LinkedIn Group with Foyne Jones aimed at bringing together Women in Construction Supplies and leaders across the sector to tackle the problem. Within 24hours the group had over 40 members, with a large proportion immediately taking part in the discussion.

What they say:

“LinkedIn is such a major tool for recruiters. We’ve had a great response to the group so far and I’m looking forward to using the group more to tackle the issue of getting women into this male-dominated arena.” Peter Jones, Director of Foyne Jones

How to write a press release

Vickie Collinge — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:23:10 +0000

A press release is the most basic and most important tool for communicating with the media. Why? Simply because journalists and editors have become used to them and know how to deal with them or, in the majority of cases, how to delete them from their inbox.

A good press release encapsulates a story to gain media attention – a bit like a good mailshot in the recruitment sector. As with a mailshot it needs to be targeted, be relevant and communicate quickly and clearly. Here’s an example of one we did for a client which ended up getting both domestic and international coverage over the course of a whole year:

Workplace diversity a “glorified PR stunt” according to UK accountants

Despite the proliferation of formal initiatives and policies to promote diversity in the workplace, only a minority of Britain’s accountants are convinced that they are anything more than what one described as a “glorified PR stunt.”

According to a survey carried out for the financial recruitment specialist, Hewitson Walker, only 35% of those questioned thought that formal diversity programmes were having a real effect on the companies they worked for.

“We’ve got a programme, which is supposed to ensure that we’re recruiting people from all different types of backgrounds and ethnic groups,” says one ACA, working for a major investment bank, “yet practically everyone at senior level is still white, middle class and male. Where’s the diversity in that?” A female part-qualified CIMA in another bank had a similar jaundiced view. “There’s supposed to be a level playing field here, but the only women who really get on are those who are willing to forego a family and commit completely to the bank,” she says. “There are a few at senior level with children but if they ever get to see them it must be a minor miracle.”

When asked why employers set up diversity programmes, 54% believed that it was to generate good PR and 73% thought that it was because they feared prosecution under discrimination laws. Only 29% believed that companies had a genuine commitment to creating a diverse workforce at all levels.

However, despite their apparent cynicism about progress towards it, the majority (85%) of the 170 accountants questioned thought it was a highly desirable aim.

“There’s obviously a degree of cynicism about how committed large companies are to diversity because power in these institutions often still resides in the hands of a markedly un-diverse group,” says Hewitson Walker’s Phillip Attenborough. “However anyone who thinks that they are not committed to changing this in the medium to long-term is kidding themselves. Organisations of this size and scope aren’t doing this for any fluffy, altruistic reasons. They know that there is a compelling business case for mirroring an increasingly varied customer-base. And they also know that if they want to recruit and retain the best people in the market they need to be fishing from the widest possible pool of talent.”

OK so why did it work so well?

It’s about a subject that is already widely discussed in the press so we already knew there was an appetite for this sort of material and that it was likely to keep up for some time if not indefinitely.
It’s controversial – it doesn’t just tell you want you know already.
It’s based on the views of a group rather than just one person or organisation so has extra ‘credibility’.
Its headline grabs immediate attention.
Each paragraph has something to say – always work on the basis that if a sentence or paragraph doesn’t tell you something or develop the story then strike it out.
It has ‘human interest’ – you can read quotes from the real people behind the research telling you what they think.
It’s short and to the point, but contains enough material for a journalist to build an article around it.

Recruiter Q&A: webrecruit

Vickie Collinge — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:21:10 +0000

For some recruitment businesses the decision to undertake PR can be a hard one. Recruitment is hugely results driven and ROI is easily measurable. PR is different and can take some time to see results. This month we speak to Lucy Heskins from webrecruit about the value of PR.

Why do you use PR?

PR is an effective way to get our brand out further. We recognised that in order to build our brand and communicate with publics we wouldn’t have reached otherwise, PR needed to be a key part of our strategy.

The Web has helped us to push out our messaging much quicker than had we opted for just traditional methods such as print. Whilst these are still extremely useful, the likes of online magazines, newsletters and blogs have helped us tenfold to distribute our messages.

Increasingly, it’s also important for reputational management. By issuing a statement on our website or answering questions in real-time on Twitter or Facebook, we are seen to be much more responsive to our publics.

How do you measure ROI?

PR, for us, takes a drip-feed approach; it’s a slow burner that helps to promote our services over time.

We measure our ROI in many different ways. The most straightforward way is to record the number of features and comments at the end of the month, as well as talk to our customers to find out how they learned about us. Google analytics is also important too, as is the number of visitors to the blog/website after a release has been published.

With our increasing use of social media, however, we find it goes much further than this. We are able to track who re-tweets us, shares our content and comments on our blog – all important metrics that enable us to increase our brand awareness.

What would your advice be?

PR is a crucial part of the marketing communications mix, it allows you to manage your brand and communicate with audiences you may never have thought possible. Many people associate PR with getting column inches in the paper. In fact, the Web has enabled anyone to publish and voice opinion on virtually any subject, and the tools are in most cases, free-to-use.

I strongly suggest to anyone considering using PR to jump in straight away, learn about the different distribution methods and identify where your target audiences are. Of course this can take time, and you may not always have the resources, but it is an activity worth investing in that will ultimately differentiate you and your business.

The role of PR in building your brand – a BlueSky presentation

Vickie Collinge — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:08:11 +0000

Our own Managing Director, Tracey Dunn, appeared on stage at the Recruitment Agency Expo today to talk to the crowded theatre about the role of PR in building and communicating a brand and its evolving nature. Her points were certainly well received, but for those of you who couldn’t make it, here are a few of her key recommendations when it comes to building your brand profile:

A good brand grows your reputation and trust, making your organisation more attractive to not only potential clients, but also some of the best talent in the industry who you might want working for you
Don’t think that just because you’re an SME, start up or a new division with a limited budget that you can’t afford to (and therefore shouldn’t) raise your profile. Look at some of the smaller things you can do to help build brand awareness instead
PR can help build a brand by getting your voice out there in the public domain. If you are regularly appearing in the press talking about things you can sensibly be talking about – trends, skill shortages, recruitment and retention challenges for example – you will be seen as an industry thought leader and perhaps even a leading figure in your specialism
Press coverage is a great tool to use in pitches as it shows your views are sought after. It is also much more impactful and has more credibility than brochures, websites and other marketing collateral
When you go out to the press, make sure you target the right people by researching the publications in advance, looking at their interests, columns and which journalists write about what topic
Make sure you have something news worthy to say – latest survey results, your opinion on current industry news and business announcements for example

But if this all sounds a bit too scary, you could always just give BlueSky PR a bell instead!

Tracey will be back on stage tomorrow at 12:50pm in Theatre 1 – why not pop by to hear the full presentation.

Recruiter Q&A

blueskypr — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:30:22 +0000

For some recruitment businesses, the decision to undertake PR can be a hard one. Recruitment is hugely result driven and ROI is easily measurable. PR is different, and can take some time to see results. With this in mind, we thought we’d feature a Q&A with a recruiter who uses PR, and why they do so. This edition we speak to Adrian Kinnersley, MD of multi sector professional recruiter Twenty Recruitment Group

Q: Why do you use PR?

A: We use PR to reach our three main audiences – clients, candidates and potential employees, Without having a PR strategy in place we simply wouldn’t get ourselves in front of the right people in the right way. PR has been instrumental to our success not only in winning new business, but also in reaching specialist candidates because the coverage we have gained has positioned us as real experts in our field.

Q: How do you measure a ROI?

A: The biggest ROI we have seen is winning a new client by ensuring that we use our press coverage as an inherent part of our pitch. We took a piece of coverage to a client meeting which featured us talking about the energy trading space in a commodities publication. That really differentiated us from our competitors and won us the assignment. We also monitor our website traffic following blog posts, and the increase in Twitter followers over each quarter.

Q: What advice would you give to recruitment businesses considering PR?

A: Remember that the effect of your PR efforts may take some time to show, and it needs a sustained approach. It might take a couple of months before the phone starts ringing following an article you have written, but be patient and remember to use the coverage gained in your own marketing to clients.

Au revoir but not goodbye

blueskypr — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:06:22 +0000

I’m not very good at these things, but let me give it a go anyway…

Some of you know and some of you don’t, but tomorrow marks my last day at BlueSky and the end of an era!

Almost four years ago I started my journey at BlueSky HQ as a fresh-faced graduate knowing not very much about the world of recruitment, or PR. Fast forward to 2011 and well, I still look as young as I did back then, but like to think that I’m older and wiser. It has been an interesting few years – we’ve had the recession but also the boom in social media and the digitalisation of both the PR and recruitment worlds. What’s more I have seen the company grow and have very much enjoyed being a part of it. Some of my highlights include our many trips to the waffle house, several drunken evenings at the Recruiter awards (we’ll save those stories for a rainy day) and of course meeting all you lovely people along the way.

So a big thanks to Tracey, Adrian and the rest of the team for being so brill to work for / with and helping me grow into the PR ‘rocket in your pocket’ that I am today! And thanks to all the journalists, clients, and tweeters that I’ve had the pleasure of working with.

I’ll still be tweeting in some capacity so you can continue to follow me or follow @blueskypr and the rest of the team for all the goings on at BS HQ.

Well that’s about it folks – I’m going to wrap up before I get too emotional about my last BlueSky blog. But as they say, it’s au revoir not goodbye…

I couldn’t agree more, Mr Sartre

Adrian Barrett — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:35:24 +0000

When well-known Gallic philosopher/writer, Jean-Paul Sartre, came up with the phrase, “Hell is other people” , he very likely wasn’t commenting on the problems of talent planning in an SME. Far too busy quaffing red wine, smoking Gauloises and womanising was good old Jean-Paul. But the famous phrase does strike a bit of a chord in sunny Hertfordshire. Here we are in a rapidly growing PR company doing some really good work with great clients, both in the UK and overseas, yet finding the right people is a constant, migraine level headache. PR companies in London seem to be falling over people queuing up on the pavement. Out here it’s like finding the proverbial ‘needle in a haystack’. Yet London is rubbish. Crowded, dirty, expensive, an underground system that hasn’t been properly updated sine the day it opened, useless, over-priced pubs, miserable, over-stressed commuters….and these are just the good bits. And here it’s lovely. I can see fields out of the window. You can drive to work. People say hello in the street. It’s like the Shire out of ‘Lord of the Rings’ (except people are a bit taller). So stop giving me an ulcer. Come and work here – it’s brilliant. Now!

Do Recruiters give themselves negative PR?

blueskypr — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 14:23:09 +0000

I am new to working within the recruitment sector but getting here hasn’t been the best experience, and I have to admit that it left me feeling somewhat negative towards recruitment consultancies. However since working at BlueSky I have met a lot of highly professional individuals within the sector, who are already changing my view that maybe recruiters aren’t all bad.

In my job search experience I have come across some great consultants – they have listened and understood exactly what I want, then fixed me up with a good interview. However, the majority I have encountered, in both small and large agencies have been terrible. Without naming names, I have found some consultants to be rude and pushy. They haven’t read my CV properly and they don’t listen which results in them contacting me about jobs that are of absolutely no interest to me and completely unsuitable. Here are just a few examples:

‘The salary is £10k less than your current wage – I think you should go for it anyway.’
‘The job is in Norwich – I think you’d be great for it – would you relocate from Aylesbury?’
‘The job is for a finance officer, I know you have a degree in marketing and pr, but I’d like to put you forward for it.’

Since leaving university, I’ve never been without a job and I’ve never been desperate enough to take any old position. So the number of inappropriate opportunities I’ve received along the way has got me quite used to saying ‘no’, which I have found out is not a word accepted by all recruiters. One wanted to put me forward for an interview, ‘an opportunity I’d regret if missed’. The role wasn’t for me so I said no… several times. After speaking to a pushy consultant I was passed onto an even more relentless manager who informed me that if I didn’t go they wouldn’t help me in my search any more. I’ve never spoken to them since!

And it’s not just me – a colleague of mine relayed the sorry tale of a consultant asking her to change her CV so that her skills would fit a position they were trying to fill! The consultant guaranteed the interview, but the fact that my colleague didn’t have the required skills and wouldn’t be able to do the job didn’t even cross their mind!

This is why I get wound up with some recruiters; do they really realise what they are doing or how they are coming across to candidates and clients? In my experience, I can only think of 1 or 2 consultants out of about 10 who were professional and really had my interests at heart.

If I’ve had a bad experience with a recruiter then I will tell others not to use them. I’m sure that goes for a lot of people, including clients. Word of mouth is a very powerful tool, and now with social media you can reach millions!

I know you shouldn’t tar all recruiters with the same brush, and I know there are some good recruiters out there; this is just the view I have gained from my experience over the years. And having got stuck into reading various recruitment blogs since I have started at BlueSky, it seems I am not on my own. Andy Headworth in his recent blog post advises recruiters to: ‘Look back at yourself through the eyes of your candidates’

Wise words indeed!

5 great PR myths

blueskypr — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 15:59:18 +0000

Following on from Steph’s post on the changing nature of PR, I began thinking about other ‘myths’ in PR. It’s often something that’s misunderstood, as we have experienced firsthand. So here are my top 5 PR fictions – and the facts:

PR is all parties – If the media was anything to go by, we’d all be sipping cocktails, planning parties and basically be too drunk to do anything else – think Samantha Jones from Sex and the City or Eddie and Patsy from Ab Fab. No doubt this applies to a few PRs but the majority of us are busy at our computers, with no cosmo in sight. PR is about gaining quality press coverage and boosting a brand’s visibility and credibility, so that’s what we stick to.
Don’t be controversial – We’re not condoning offering any material of an offensive or shocking nature to the press – please don’t do that – but it is sometimes good to be a little controversial. If you have an opinion on something then share it. Journalists like articles that give a different point of view and you can be seen as a credible commentator for giving your professional judgement.
Tell the media about you – Writing a press release about your new office wallpaper or writing an 1000 word article about how great your new service is may seem like a really good idea but it’s a waste of time. It may be exciting for your company but it isn’t going to interest a newspaper – unless you’re willing to fork out for an advert. Journalists want stories that are going to interest readers, so you need to make sure your idea is newsworthy. Which brings me onto:
We don’t have anything to say – You may not have a huge piece of research to promote, but every company will have a hub of knowledge that they can tap into. Chats with our clients often bring up interesting trends and facts that we use for PR that they hadn’t thought were particularly interesting. If there’s something you have noticed which interests you, the chances are it could interest others – and that’s the basis for a news story.
When it comes to press, the bigger the better – This is a case of quality over quantity. Many businesses dream of being featured in the national press, but is one line in the FT more beneficial than a whole page in media specific to your sector? I’d argue that most of the time it’s not. Targeted PR allows you to reach your desired audience and really demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, which can then be used as a powerful marketing tool. National coverage is of course great too, but it shouldn’t take priority over the press which can add real value.

Recruiters – do you leverage your PR?

blueskypr — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:40:17 +0000

You may have seen our recent post on Greg Savage’s ‘The Savage Truth’ blog (click here!) But if you were unlucky enough to miss it, do not fear, here it is:

Investing in PR is key for recruiters who want to boost their brand in the eyes of their clients, candidates and even potential employees for themselves – however that’s really only half the story. What should recruiters do to really leverage that PR coverage and make sure that great article isn’t quickly forgotten?

We’re always saying to our clients that using PR coverage is essential. Why make that investment if all you do with the coverage is send it to your proud mother or maybe tuck it away in a folder on reception? PR can establish you as a credible and respected commentator in your field – so make sure you shout about it! And not only that, the chances are that whatever you are talking about in the media is going to be of interest to your audience, so sharing this information will be of benefit to them, and they’ll remember you for it.

With the boom in social media it’s easy to spread information at the touch of a button, so maximise on this. Put the coverage and/or a link to it onto your blog, tweet about it, Facebook it, put it on LinkedIn – not only will all your connections see it, some may pass it on to their network too. There are plenty of examples of how stories can spread virally and your news is no exception. And don’t forget to put it on your website too (just be aware of copyright rules).

But don’t just share coverage amongst management and marketing – make sure it is shared with everyone in the team. It can boost motivation and arm everyone with some useful collateral. If a recruiter is in contact with a client or candidate and the company has had a nice mention in the press, they should flag it up. Email the link or mention it over the phone – it will be informative for the recipient, whilst boosting your credibility.

In the same way, PR can be key when it comes to winning new business. One of our clients was pitching to recruit for a big Financial Director role, however he was last in on a Friday afternoon so the odds were against him. Nevertheless he began the meeting by showing the client an article we had ghost written in his name in one of the heavyweight publications in his sector. The client had in fact read the piece the day before, it automatically boosted the tone of the meeting, he won the business and made the fee – that’s a direct return on investment. Turning PR coverage into media packs that consultants can use is therefore another great idea.

So all in all, PR isn’t just nice for your ego – if used properly it can lead to increased credibility, more business and to future PR opportunities which you can use to start the process again!