29 Mar2015
Written by Simon Wilkins. Posted in Careers, Employment Contracts, Housebuilding Movers & Shakers, Job Searching, Latest News, Uncategorized
I had a call late one evening last week from a contact. For obvious reasons, I can’t go into any detail because of confidentiality. I do however want to share the emotion and content of the call in order to help others who might find themselves in a similar situation one day.
After establishing that all wasn’t great for my contact, I listened carefully to his immediate problem, frustrations and dis-belief.
21 Jan2015
Written by Simon Wilkins. Posted in Careers, Employment Contracts, Housebuilding Movers & Shakers, Job Searching, Latest News, Uncategorized
Before you say “he can’t spell’, it’s all in the wording.
January is almost over, before it began. No sooner has everyone returned to their desks after a long Christmas break, a third of the month was swallowed up in the first week.
My phone didn’t ring on Jan 5th. I turned the ringer to silent. Why? Several of my clients were expecting updates on search assignments that I had been instructed upon just prior to Christmas and I was determined to make contact with all of them on the 5th Jan.
Time Management not being my best strength, because I work until midnight most days, I just wanted to hit the ground running, in full control of my day and my diary. I succeeded. It worked. It paid off. Why I am sharing this with you?
My message to the world is ‘Eat that frog’. I read a book over Christmas by Brian Tracy called Eat that frog. The book is about managing your time and tasks better.
I’m going to follow the general principles along with another book called Take the stairs, by Rory Vaden.
Headhunting and Search is my passion. I tend not to watch TV or the news. Instead, my year will hopefully be filled with clients search requirements in all sectors of the housebuilding industry. It will include lengthy and in-depth telephone conversations with candidates, helping them reach their career goals.
Many hotel meetings will ensue, with candidates whom are shortlisted for particular roles. I’ve met around 4000 people since 2003 and have a contact database of 16,000 people at all levels of housebuilding up and down the country. Last month, I was in the Midlands, the month before, Devon. I get around.
It doesn’t leave much time for anything else.
Who’s life can I change next? Always for the better, or there’s no point being part of the process. I like to add value to all careers.
You get a call from me, out of the blue – I introduce myself, give you a potted history of my journey in housebuilding, an insight to my former career and my headhunting operation. I will explain why I’m different and what makes me special in contrast to the many recruiters and headhunters out there.
We arrange to meet. We spend 2-3 hours talking about your career aspirations. I exchange a detailed understanding of my clients requirements, the people in the team, what they are like and there will be a full and frank exchange of ideas, suggestions and hopefully, a recommendation for you to meet one of my clients.
Before you set sail, find time to speak with me. I can help navigate and keep you on course. Even through rough times, I’m a really useful resource – able to give best advice, impartial advice and hopefully add value to your situation.
Welcome to my world of Headhunting.
28 Aug2014
Written by Simon Wilkins. Posted in Careers, Employment Contracts, Housebuilding Movers & Shakers, Job Searching, Latest News, Uncategorized
There’s nothing quite like a two-faced recruiter. Elaine Delanna Priestly, wrote about this topic and her book is available called Dirty Rotten Recruiter Tricks, if you would like an education about recruitment companies. I still can’t quite believe that companies still instruct recruitment companies who actively target personnel from their company. I work exclusively within the Housebuilding sector and it’s a small world. My best advice is when someone disappears to another company, do some background checking and find out whether a recruiter was responsible and which one. It might just open your eyes to the unscrupulous workings of certain individuals. There are many tricks recruiters can play and I find it quite unsettling, unscrupulous, unethical and unprofessional.
13 Jul2014
Written by Simon Wilkins. Posted in Careers, Employment Contracts, Housebuilding Movers & Shakers, Job Searching, Uncategorized
You are sitting with your future employers and it’s all going well. The right signals are coming from the hiring managers and they are talking about when you start, how things will be and what they can do for you in the medium and longer term.
