Interview with a Recruiter - No 3

An Interview with George Thompson - MD of Harrison Scott Europe Ltd

Having spent the earlier part of his career in retail management, George Thompson's first involvement in recruitment was in 1987, when as Director of a London based plc he was one of the main driving forces behind the company's diversification into recruitment.Within a relatively short time the company boasted a high profile client base with companies such as Glaxo, Carl Zeis, Nikon and many other blue chip names.
George was then headhunted to join Harrison Scott Associates. However, before he joined Dominic he spent a number of months in the U.S observing the methodology used by the top recruitment companies. This proved to be the inspiration for Veriqual®.
George plays a major role in every Industry in which the company is involved, but is best known in the Printing Industry where he has had many articles published and in late 2001 was voted by Printing World as the 34th most influential person in the whole Industry. In this highly respected magazine he is described as " without doubt the highest profile print career management specialist".

How did you get into Print/ Packaging Recruitment?
I was a director of a recruitment company that served the pharmaceutical and FMCG industries. As most of these companies were household names the people, mostly at middle management level had an over inflated view of their own importance. In 1986 I started to deal more in print and found the MDs much more down to earth and more enjoyable to deal with. I then decided to specialise in print, packaging and paper and have enjoyed all my years serving these related sectors.

What advice would you give to Job Seekers on landing their perfect job?If you are offered an interview do as much research on the potential employer as possible. Everyone knows that you should look at their website thoroughly and if you can, get their figures from companies house however the best research is tracking down someone who works for the company and ask what they are like to work for. Even if you don’t know the person you will be surprised how helpful people are. Us Brits are a good lot.

What is your “killer” interview question you always ask?
“Please think about your most significant accomplishment. Now can you tell me all about it.” I can learn so much information about the person from this one question.


How can Job Seekers attract your attention and stand out from the crowd?
Show past results. Many CV’s talk a good game however the ones that stand our are “When I joined the company the turnover was X. I did Y and the result was Z”. It is no good saying that you joined a company at £10m and it is now £14m and implying the increase was you. I once bought shares at Vodafone and the shares rose by 127% during the time I had them, however that had F all to do with me. You have to specify what you did that contributed to the increase in turnover or the improvement of productivity.

What can we do to attract new talent to our industry?
Offer the prospect of training and a career path.

What is the strangest job you have ever had to fill?
I could make myself appear really “windsweap and interesting”, as Billy Connolly would say and make up one like I had a client in China who wanted to recruit someone to drink alcohol on their behalf for business entertainment, as she didn’t want to appear rude by not drinking. (For those of you who understand the Chinese business ethos you know that this is a real job). Problem is that although we have a reputation for being a light hearted company to deal with we are ultra conservative in the types of jobs we will take on. We don’t take on any work outside of print, packaging and paper and the jobs are all account exec to MD. Put us down as boring for that question.

Tell me about your funniest story in recruitment? This candidate, who was virtually unemployable as he had 15 jobs in 10 years, must have had a right good bevy and decided that evening to send one of my consultants an email telling us how useless recruitment companies were. The email included a number of choice words. The next morning, after sobering up and realising that we may be useful to him in the future, sent us an email to say that he had a break-in, someone had stole his laptop and luckily for him the police recovered it within 4 hours. During that time, the thief got an internet connection and then proceeded to send rude emails to people in his address book.


What is your “ideal” job?
Head of auditions at a Lap Dancing Club.

What are your hopes and aspirations for the next 12 months?
I hope that our clients have a much better time financially than they have had in recent times.

A simple explanation of Social Media

There is a lot of talk about social media, social networking etc and I think this video from Commoncraft explains it so well.

An Interview with a Recruiter - No 2

An Interview with Mark Lennard, MD of JPL Group.


JPL Group was established as a recruitment agency in 2001, its Directors have a wealth of recruitment and industry experience in excess of 30 years.

Our proven success in the Print, Direct Mail, Packaging and Publishing sectors has been achieved by our positive vision and key values which are Accountability, Teamwork, Innovation, Leadership, Integrity and Passion. By combining these key values into our work ethic we produce the ultimate recruitment service.


How did you get into Print/ Packaging Recruitment?

My business has always been in the recruitment industry for the past 15 years when I first started out working for an IT recruitment company in the City, JPL Group was born at the same time as my daughter Jessica Paige Lennard so hence the name JPL, no fancy marketing strategy but just her initials! The only problem now is my son is questioning why he hasn’t a company set up in his name? JPL Group first started out in the world of IT recruitment and specialised in the recruitment of technical staff for the legal technology sector such as Law Firms and Legal Technology software houses and our technical division is still growing and busier than ever and can be reached at www.jplit.co.uk . Another recruitment business that I set up before delving into the world of Print was Medirec, which was as it suggests in the name - a Medical recruitment company, recruiting staff into the NHS. Medirec was sold to a PLC 18 months ago to make way for future growth into our core business which is JPL Group that specialises in Print, Packaging, Publishing, Direct Mail and all areas of Direct Marketing. The print and packaging side of our recruitment strategy was born out of intense research into the sector and sheer hard work and very long hours. To succeed in recruiting for the print sector it made sense to utilise the skills of people that have worked in that industry rather than just in recruitment and hence JPL Group recruited and now have 3 people out of its team of 12 that are industry skilled and are a great asset to us for industry knowledge.

What advice would you give to Job Seekers on landing their perfect job?

Information is King. You need to know lots about what you want to do and why you want to do it. Don’t just pick an idea out of thin air and ‘give it a go’. Work out what you want to do and the reasons behind your decision, ask yourself what your motivation is, what your aspirations are and how you can achieve these goals and if you are capable at this stage in your career. Always push yourself outside of your comfort zone and that way you will always be over achieving. When going to an interview you need to know the ins and outs of your potential employer. Research the company in depth, if the info is not on the net then call company and ask them or the recruiter who has put you forward for the role. Ensure that you have 5 key questions before attending an interview that you want to ask which are relevant to the role that you are going for. We provide some really useful tips on being successful at an interview on our website at www.jplgroup.com under our candidate advice section.

What is your “killer” interview question you always ask?

Ok, Well if Sir Alan had asked our “killer” question at his screening process before the Apprentice series started this year then maybe, just maybe, Lee McQueen would have not been his final choice! Our question is a cringe worthy one so here goes…..

“It’s a common fact that on the majority of CV’s people will place 90% of truthful and factual information. The remaining 10% is made up of enhanced and fabricated information or putting it bluntly - plain lies. What part of your CV represents this 10%?”

Now the response that I get when asking this question can be varied but if people actually do tell the truth and explain that maybe some part of their CV may have been slightly exaggerated then it says a lots about their character to be bold enough to admit this ‘exaggeration’ and why they felt the need to do this. I’m not saying that I condone this sort of action but at least if I am told the truth about what they have done it gives me a choice about them rather that not knowing and taking their CV for gospel.

How can Job Seekers attract your attention and stand out from the crowd?

We receive around 500 CV’s a week and that’s a lot of CV’s to read and yes we do read every single one of them! So what puts one person above another? That’s a good question which has some definitive answers which are as follows… Keep your CV concise, just don’t waffle about areas of your career that are just not of any relevance to the career that you are now seeking. Don’t use any silly fonts, you’d be amazed with the style of some CV’s that we receive! If you are applying for a particular role, lets say a Senior Sales Person position, then there is no point in elaborating and getting carried away with talking about your wonderful experience as a Production Manager – its just not relevant to the role that you’re applying for. Ensure that you tailor your CV to the positions you apply for – that means talking more about your experiences relevant to the job application and not ‘flowering’ your CV.

What can we do to attract new talent to our industry?

We are working closely with the BPIF who have a great scheme in conjunction with ProSkills to encourage school leavers to join the Print Industry the scheme is called PrintIT and it’s a major initiative to encourage young people to embark on careers in the UK printing industry and so far 600 schools and nearly 38,000 students have taken part. This is a great project and we welcome this to the sector to ensure that we don’t experience a major issue in talent moving forward over the years.

What is the strangest job you have ever had to fill?

This ones not in Print recruitment but when I was involved in Medirec our Medical recruitment company, we had to recruit for a mortuary technician, who would basically look after the dead bodies in the morgue. A bit of an unusual position to fill. Obviously the individual did not need much personality and had to be good at working on his own!

Tell me about your funniest story in an interview situation?

The lip licker. I interviewed an individual who continually licked their lips throughout the interview to a point that I thought I was going to start licking my lips… It was very strange and I point it down to their nervous disposition but never the less I could not wait for the interview to end and it did end very quickly, all of about 20 minutes.

What is your “ideal” job?

Thats a trick question isn’t it? Ok, my “ideal” job would be running a national newspaper as Editor, something like the Telegraph or the Times, being able to report on real news stories and gain a wealth of knowledge on all subjects that really matter to us. Now that was the serious answer, if you’re looking for a more light hearted response then I have always fancied my chances as a Radio Presenter maybe on a phone in style show – Don’s ask why because I don’t really know the answer! Maybe its something in me from a previous life?

What are your hopes and aspirations for the next 12 months?

We are in expansion mode at the moment and in the past 2 months have taken on 3 new members of staff and we will be continuing our plans for expansion right into 2009 in the UK and other locations. The Print and Packaging industry is constantly changing and evolving and we need to ensure that we keep pace with these changes and tailor our recruitment services to everything that is relevant to the industry that we work in.

An Interview with a Recruiter - No 1

I thought it would be interesting to do a series of interviews with key Recruiters in the industry so we can get to know the people behind the brands a little better. The format will always be the same and I will post a different interview every week over the coming months.

My first "victim" is Simon Horseman, the Managing Director of Straco International. I asked Simon to give me a brief overview of Straco International as an opener.

We are a recruitment and executive search company, specialising in the fields of Advertising, Marketing, Design, POP, POS, Events, Exhibitions or Retail Interiors.
What makes Straco stand out from the other recruitment companies is that we genuinely care about the future of our candidates. Switching careers is a life-changing decision, and can often bring its fair share of pressure and strain. We will work with you every step of the way to help make the transition as smooth as possible.


How did you get into Print/ Packaging Recruitment?
I was headhunted from my role as a sales manager to head up the recruitment arm of a printing recruitment company.

What advice would you give to Job Seekers on landing their perfect job?
Be patient and positive and the right role will come to you.

What is your “killer” interview question you always ask?
What can you offer this business?

How can Job Seekers attract your attention and stand out from the crowd?
By showing loyalty, commitment and a good attitude towards their employer.

What can we do to attract new talent to our industry?
Bring in more training benefits for employers, like tax breaks, and also make the industry a fun market to be in.

What is the strangest job you have ever had to fill?
I had a role in Dubai a few years ago, a sales role with a large graphics company. When the candidate started, it turned out that the job was basically escorting ladies to well to do clients! The guy actually stayed on for a year or so as well (don’t blame him!).

Tell me about your funniest story in an interview situation?
I was interviewing this guy and his front teeth fell out! I carried on with a big smile on my face for the rest of the meeting.

What is your “ideal” job?
The one I have now.

What are your hopes and aspirations for the next 12 months?
To build Straco International into a major player in the design market. We already have a good reputation, as well as contacts in Dubai and Australia, so that’s a start.

Interviews - It's the whole package

I was talking to a customer last week about their recruitment process and how they were getting on recruiting an Account Manager for their Print business. What she told me at first horrified me, then on reflection just confirmed my thoughts about how important every action you take in your life can be.

This customer is seven months pregnant and the weather was humid and warm on this particular day. She was interviewing at her premises and their office is particularly small due to space constraints. She led the candidate to the small office, where the candidate automatically took the big comfy chair and left a tiny hard wooden stool for the heavily pregnant interviewer to sit on. Call me old fashioned, but firstly you wait to be shown a seat and secondly good manners should have dictated that even if you were offered the big comfy chair, your instincts would not allow you to take it and insist the pregnant woman sits down.

By now it didn't matter what the candidate said or did, they were never going to get the job. The customer quite rightly believed that if this individual would treat her like this in a formal interview situation, how would they treat her clients, suppliers and anyone else who interacts with her business.

An interview is to get a real understanding of the person and it's not only about the questions and answers, what you wear, how you behave... it's about all of these things and more.

Prepare for your interview by practicing with your family or friends and if possible try and get someone who doesn't know you to give you an honest critique.

Interviewers take the whole interaction into account not just the questions and answers!

Never Lie you will always get found out.

I am an avid watched of The Apprentice and for those of you that watch will know that Lee (A Recruitment Consultant) lied on his CV.

I couldn't believe that a Recruiter who knows better would have even thought about lying on his CV. It then transpired that he has got a hang up about not having any qualifications. (This is another subject close to my heart... too many people getting degrees and the relevance to the workplace).I'll leave that for another day!

Anyway, back to my point, there is never any justification for lying, embellishing or whatever you want to call it on your CV. You will always get found out. Maybe not straight away, but at some point in the future.

The trust that you have built with your employer will be shattered in seconds, you cannot justify your lie and will look like a prize idiot. Don't ever be tempted to do it.

If you feel lacking in any area of your background, admit it, be upfront. Most employers will admire candidates for their honesty.

Personal development is not an option

Here is a fantastic post by a respected leader in our industry who truly values the importance of development and training.

Think Nick: Personal development is not an option