Beans & Laundry: Employment Review Websites

In English Common Law, a man's home is his castle. Today, with every aspect of our lives spilled out on social media, poured over by friends, family and the wider nosey public, and with views of our homes from every angle on Google, a man's home resembles more of a fish bowl. According to market intelligence firm TNS, who interviewed 72,000 people across 60 countries, 56% of adults admitted to using SM to spy on friends and family. Getting the gossip has never been so easy. Having conquered individual privacy, recently Social Media has tuned its all seeing eyes towards our places of work, corporations and companies, exposing their inner workings and internal politics. This is the focus of employment review websites, where employees can spill the beans about their current or former company for all prospective employees to see. It is a phenomena that was born out of product review sites.

Leading the way is Glassdoor, with employee reviews of around 130,000 workplaces and close integration with Facebook and Google+, while job boards, eager to increase their appeal, have started to include reviews. Indeed started it's online reviews in 2011. It now has over 1 million reviews with 200,000 added each month. Rather than being the slate-fest one imagines this turning into, Glassdoor encourages positive comments - its hard to search for negative reviews and there is no 'lowest rated' company. Roughly two thirds of comments indicate satisfaction with current jobs. Employees can also leave anonymous salary info, interview questions and photographs. Companies can sponsor their own pages on the site (a good transparency strategy) and even promote their vacancies on the pages of competitors with less glowing reviews. In December, Glassdoor released its first 'Best Places to Work', with many tech companies and fast food employers featuring in the top 15.

A prime example is Hill & Knowlton's (now H&K Strategies) Worldwide page on Glassdoor, and here's the Indeed page, where the company scores more highly. This can be filtered down to the UK and there's a salary scale available - but you have to sign up to the site. Clearly, PR firms are making their way onto the profile listings and, while it all needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, it will become the go-to first point of information for many prospective candidates, especially entry level. Time to make sure your staff are happy, brush up the exit interviews and sponsor your company page.

It's not all one way traffic though, as a new start-up, KarmaFile, promises to provide fair and honest co-worker ratings. If it works, this could become the go-to point of call for hiring managers outside of personal networks.

Academania: Re-Assessing Vocational PR Degrees.

In December, an interesting article appeared in the Schumpter column of the Economist. The article talks about the huge disconnect that exists in some parts of Europe between the high levels of unemployed under-24s and vigorous complaints from companies that say they can't get hold of the right people. Strong evidence of this comes from management consultancy McKinsey, who surveyed employers in nine countries (including the UK) and found that 43% think they can't find enough skilled entry-level workers. Indeed, medium sized enterprises (50-500 staff) had an average of 13 entry level jobs open, while large employers had 27.

In their report, McKinsey argue a large part of the problem is that educators and employers inhabit parallel universes and need to work more closely and with greater empathy - a revamping of vocational education which, outside of Germany, has been shunned by parents and employers. Of course, the focus of this report and the Economist article is on vocations such as technology, utilities and construction rather than soft-skilled professional services.

But I was reminded of this article from PR Week, a few years old now, in which the PRCA reported that a third of those PR Agency heads surveyed said a PR degree made candidates 'less attractive'. This post on the Peppermint PR blog from around the same time (2009) echoed this, while Simon Martin, in his blog on the subject, qualified his feeling a little further, regarding how many courses are actually worth accreditation.

However, there have been significant changes in both the market and the economy since that PR Week article was written. For one, Social Media has added to the activities and job descriptions possible in PR. Another change is that university fees have spiralled out of control, prompting Tash Pert to ask on PRMoment, "Is a PR apprenticeship scheme or a degree more valuable to students?" (August last year). It's worth a read, as the comments that follow show that in many cases, misconceptions of what a PR degree involves still exist.

Over the last few years of rising tuition fees and improving school grades, there has been fierce competition between Universities. There is little doubt that the youth of today, who wish to take advantage of the technology at their disposal, are brighter and better educated. That's the youth of today, not ten years ago mind you (the viewpoint that many PR degree refuseniks are commenting from). PR degrees have transformed in step and addressed the theoretical-practical divide. To highlight this, take a read of this excellent blog post by Jamie Garantziotis, where he compares the degree he completed with what it should include today. What's remarkable is the breadth of training, theory, practice and experience he received then. Admittedly, he lives in Australia, but many of the top UK courses already include modules he suggests as part of their courses.

Of course, there are many advantages to an academic degree - such as the ability to question and probe issues deeply, think about wider context, and in some cases gain technical knowledge (such as medical understanding for a role in medical education or healthcare PR).

But it's also true that the argument that 'one can learn the skills on the job' can be flipped on it's head. One can learn life 'on the job'. How many agencies prise the ability to think creatively over the ability to think deeply? 'Thinking deeply' is not a phrase I encounter on many job specs, whereas 'experience' and 'creativity' are. What's more, several PR degrees now include studies in business management, or organisational behaviour, allowing the student the best of both worlds in many ways - a more traditional academic side combined with practical training - as described in this blog entry by Gemma Clarkson of Raw Creative in Leeds.

While I meet very few entry level PRs, those that I have met over the last two years who have had PR degrees have been very well equipped to start working in an agency immediately, without the agency needing to invest in the start-up training usually required. Rather than learning less useful information, such as the history of PR, they have had a practical focus and some serious training. Some degrees as good enough that the students leave with press release writing, new business pitching and big brand experience as well a year spent in internships. Above this, they glean an understanding of PR and Comms in the wider context of marketing, a knowledge of the most successful PR campaigns of the last ten years, an exposure to communications within clients (such as internal comms) and some personal theories about how PR can influence an organisation. Surely you want someone like that in your agency?

If you're a senior member of an agency right now, you have probably read some books by prominent peers. Maybe you've studied the market and the competition - read the odd blog by a PR professional. Why? because it makes you more informed, increases your creativity and contributes to your market knowledge. But did you do this when you were a new Account Executive starting in an agency?, or did it come as you grew into your vocation? Now imagine employing someone who has studied all of this intensively for three years while receiving all the tools they need to start in a job straight away. Writing for Octopus Communications blog, Samuel Jamieson touches on this in his own reassessment for his PR degree.

On the other hand, one often hears about the academic achievers who look great on paper but can't articulate themselves well and flunk the press release test.

Then there's the argument that leavers feel superior and try to reinvent the wheel as an account executive. Or they want to be hired at SAE level. Of course, there may be some case of this, but it's one of those sweeping generalisations that is supported by very little evidence. From my experience, most PR students are trying their utmost simply to get the best chance of a foot in the door in this competitive market, and many have six to 12 months internship and work experience. They are not coming to the market wide eyed and totally naive and few have illusions of grandeur.

Ultimately, at the final reckoning, work experience and personality are the most important aspects of an entry level hire. But you wouldn't disregard a business management student for a job in business management. And in the same way, for hiring managers to dismiss PR graduates simply because they studied for this vocation is both arrogant and foolhardy.

The PR industry should encourage PR course providers to improve further, include intellectual rigour in the courses and provide more training, as opposed to shunning the gift horse.

And it's time the value of these degrees was re-appraised

Christmas: Use It, Don't Lose It.

Everyone looks forward to the Christmas break, with dreams of over doing it on Christmas food and dozing off in the living room. But in this last blog post before Christmas, we look at the ways in which the Christmas break can be both a good time to job hunt, as well as valuable opportunity to brush up your CV and online profile.

Traditionally, Christmas has been the period when things slow down. Companies take their foot off the gas, and job seeking is put off until the New Year. But the last couple of years have been different. In fact, for PVR, this time last year was our busiest period. The main reason for this is that many companies who had been keeping agencies in a holding pattern before signing off on new business had budgets cleared before Christmas, and suddenly agencies needed to hire staff. This was true for a handful last year, while this year other factors, such as the recovery of the economy in Q3, should make this situation more widespread. Indeed, we're already receiving new briefs each week for brand new roles in agencies - unusual for this time before last year.

So this is in fact a golden opportunity for searching. And not only that, the week long break should also provide ample time to update your CV, compile a great portfolio of work, and make sure your online profiles are up-to-date.

It can also be a good time to prepare for interviews. If you've interviewed people before - this should be fairly easy. Sit down with your CV, and pretend it belongs to someone else that you are going to interview. Then make a list of all the possible questions you would ask if you saw your CV. Then, back in your own shoes, make sure you have pithy answers for all of these. If there are questions that could be answered simply by tweaking the CV - then make sure you change those details. If you've not interviewed anyone before, you can do the same exercise, but also take a look at our previous blog post on the key interview questions.

So for Christmas, some forward planning is best. Plan what days you'll work on your CV and online accounts. As when the Christmas cheer starts to take over, working on your next job will be the last thing on your mind. So have an activity plan for the holiday and stick to it. This will get you off to a flying start in January, and hopefully land you a fresh job for the New Year. This is one of the best times to do those things you wish you had time for - don't lose out.

Interviews: How Long Should You Wait?

This is a frequent question I discuss with my other half, mostly regarding queues for the checkout and waiting for buses. But I was intrigued recently to read a blogpost on the black coffee blog on behalf of marketing job board OnlyMarketingJobs. It suggests that candidates should be made to waitin reception for extended periods before an interview in order to filter for determination and enthusiasm. So rather than posting the usual idea that it's up to candidates to decide how long to wait (which it is of course), I'm turning it around and asking clients how long they are prepared to keep them waiting and how this affects their recruitment process.

Why You Should SEO Your LinkedIn Profile

If you've been anywhere near these blog posts over the past few months, you'll know how valuable LinkedIn is as a recruitment tool. Indeed, as the number of Talent Acquisition Managers rise, there is a trend for them to use smaller headhunting and recruitment agencies that form closer bonds with their clients and work on a more exclusive basis. These smaller agencies (like PVR), instead of spending valuable capital on expensive bespoke databases that have to be constantly maintained an updated (a full time job in itself) - can use LinkedIn as their main database. LinkedIn self-updates and provides functionality over and above any recruitment database.  But it relies on you, as a potential jobseeker, to keep it up-to-date.

At PVR, we still have a database, but it's a fluid and straightforward process unlike the hulking, creaking old style bespoke databases that many of the larger recruitment firms still use. The problem with those old style databases is that their data is nearly always out of date, especially in fast moving environment like PR, where the average job tenure remains around the 2 year mark. In an effort to reduce manpower in their maintenance, they now often come with CV scanners that automatically pick out words from a CV. With some companies, you even have to upload the data online yourself, direct in to the database, to register with the firm. Of course, this fully relies on the CV to have all the right key words in it. These automatic systems will use these key words to produce a shortlist for a given role and will auto-email the people on it. Ever signed up with a large recruitment firm or job board and received lots of calls and emails regarding totally irrelevant jobs? That's why smaller firms like us don't use them, and rely more on personal engagement.

LinkedIn, by comparison, is more personal, reliable and up-to-date.

Therefore, ask yourself - have you used all the key words that describes your skills and what you do - the clients you work on and what sectors you cover?  Have you added skills to your profile?  Have you used the alternative ways to class your work? (An example might be buzz monitoring, social analysis and insights - all of which can mean the same thing). Even if you aren't looking for a job right now - I'm sure you'd rather be more visible to searches?  Remember than LinkedIn can be used to search, identify and contact skills matches for just 1st degree connections, as well as 2nd and 3rd degree potential contacts.

In the fast-paced, highly competitive market that we now have, having a relevant profile has never been more important.

The PR/ Marketing Consolidation: The Rise of Content

Last week PR week issued a story entitled "Wider remit for PR professionals in a touch job market".  The story is apparently based around what is clearly a release from business analysts Pearlfinders, that suggested two things. Firstly, that the number of senior in-house appointments in Q3 2012 has significantly fallen compared to the same period last year. Secondly, that within that group, the number of communications professionals shifting into CMO or integrated roles has risen by 6% to 8% - giving rise to the headline. So, the market is tough, and roles are becoming more integrated.

Unfortunately, and I have to say this, the figures quoted are laughable. With a tiny and data set of just 57 job moves the sample size is far too small to show any significance. Surely a research firm would know this? Furthermore, 8% of that population would equal 4.56 people. If the increase has been 6%, then last year it was 4.3 people. So if we round those to 5 and 4 people respectively, then 1 more person has taken an integrated role compared to last year. Hardly earth shattering. However, despite the dodgy figures in the article, some respected senior communications figures have shown their appreciation of the suggested trend, including SABMiller Comms Director Catherine May, and  Scott Wilson, UK CEO at Cohn & Wolfe - so we can appreciate that the trend outlined is real.

It was back in October 2010 that I first blogged about the PR/Marketing Consolidation, so it's no surprise that, two years on, this process is still being refined. Digital and Social have required the presentation skills and platform understanding of marketeers, married to the sales, message crafting and network growing abilities of  PR professionals. What this has produced is not some kind of Chief Comms/Marketing Office, but rather the Head of Content - a trend that has been very noticeable within PR consultancies over the last two years or so - including Metia, Bite and Edelman to name just three. Content Strategy is the new "integrated comms" - and a suggest having a look at the blog posts of Margot Merrill at Hot Design Studio who has run an excellent analytical series on the rise of content.

Indeed, it was Bill Gates who coined the phrase 'Content is King' way back in 1996!  A quick read of his article comes across as highly prophetic - which makes the rise of content look like part of a much larger trend, not some kind of market reaction. Indeed, what some people are referring to as web 3.0.

PR People & Recruiters - Why We're All Going Mobile!

As I right this, the future of 4G telecoms in Britain is being launched at the science museum. Not only will this vastly improve the signal in the UK's cities, it will also make it much easier to view TV and video content on smartphones.  Smartphones are in fact becoming our information hub.  In December 2011, eMarketer revealed figures (for the previous year) that suggested that in one day, the average US adult spent 4.5 hours watching TV/video, 2.75 hours using the Internet and 1 hour using the mobile. However, as smart phones have become more ubiquitous (with lower price points and inclusion in price plans), the amount on information that is consumed through them has rocketed. According to digital market intelligence company comScore, the number of European smartphone users accessing news via a mobile browser or app has surged 74% over the past year. The UK has the highest percentage of frequent users, at just under 50%.

Social Media has already seen a sea-change in the way both communications and recruitment are conducted. Mobile is certainly the next challenge. After all, it makes absolute sense that the best time to connect with friends, browse the new releases and check job vacancies is while you are travelling or on a lunch break - and  your smartphone  is the great enabler for this.

Of course, PR as a discipline is slightly further ahead of the game with this than recruitment - with major news sources having gone online some years ago. Most PR agencies now offer some form or social/digital integration and some even offer mobile app development. But what about recruitment?

A recent (November 2011) study by jobseeker market intelligence company, Potentialpark, revealed that almost 20% of job seekers use mobile, while over 50% could imagine doing so in the near future. However, the study found that only 7% of employers had a mobile version of their career site and only 3% had a mobile job app. As 2012/13 will undoubtedly see a large increase in this type of mobile use, addressing the needs of mobile job applicants will become a priority for both recruitment agencies and their clients. The top 5 activities that those surveyed said they would like to do via mobile were:

1. Search jobs (57%)
2. Received job alerts via SMS/email (51%)
3. Track application status (39%)
4. Check calendar with career related events (39%)
5. Read about the recruitment process (39%)

That's going to require a certain degree of investment. Of course, it’s not easy to write out a personal statement or cover letter on a mobile - which may be one of the reasons that 'Apply for jobs' came further down the list of activities, even when ‘Search jobs’ came up top. But as the eMarketer stats revealed, people like to ear mark information on mobile to check out in detail later, when at their PC. And there are always shortcuts - such as prepared, tweakable cover letters uploaded to Skydrive, easily accessed via a mobile.

I expect the next 12 months will see a new focus on websites being optimised for mobile, even further integration with social media and an even great expansion of QR code use and bespoke app development. I also think that careers pages will see an increased use of video content and smart forms optimised for mobile. And these are still early days, so it’s likely that there are brain boxes out there who are nearly ready to launch new innovative tools that will make mobile adoption easier.