The occupation identity crisis – What’s in a name?

Remember the days when it was easy to tell a person’s job from their title?  A simple time when the name of a job was clear and uncomplicated, without ambiguity or grandiose descriptions making it virtually impossible to determine what the person actually does?

Some of us can barely remember those days, and it’s no wonder considering how carried away employers are getting with increasingly “creative” job titles.

Window Cleaners are now going by the title of Transparent Wall Maintenance Engineer, while Trolley Pushers are becoming known as Logistical Shopping Cart Technicians.

Whether these titles are supposed to sound more impressive, or simply be memorable and eye-catching, they are causing confusion and bemusement for many.

Employment Office Managing Director Tudor Marsden-Huggins has seen some eyebrow-raising job titles in his recruitment career.  Although some inflated job titles may seem creative and fun, he says it’s important for employers to ensure the title accurately reflects the position, and can be taken seriously by clients and colleagues alike.

“A job title’s primary purpose is to communicate what the employee does and who they do it for.  It needs to make sense and accurately reflect the job’s responsibilities. A title needs to be functional first and foremost, before you think about injecting a little fun, humour or more impressive language,” he said.

Some companies follow a set formula when assigning job titles, but it’s a growing trend to throw the book out the window and grant employees the power to choose their own title, with mixed results.

“There are obvious issues with professionalism if a job title is outrageous or exaggerated.  It can also be overwhelming and confusing to deal with a company where everyone’s job title is ambiguous or humorous. The more complicated the title, the more confusion surrounds the role which could eventually lead to unrealistic expectations from customers, colleagues and even the employee themselves.

“Despite being a nice way to inject some personality into your work, a creative title may not suit every industry or organisation.  Be mindful of your company’s branding and reputation, and make sure you present yourself and your role in a manner consistent with the rest of the organisation.

“If you work in a creative role, there is likely to be more scope for an innovative title, but be mindful of the boundaries,” Marsden-Huggins said.

Often, it can be the CEOs and Managing Directors who are the worst offenders, with some branding themselves as ‘Head Honcho’, ‘Chief Troublemaker’, ‘Head Cheese’ and ‘Innovator-In-Chief’.

Here are some examples of interesting job titles that caught our attention at Employment Office:

  1. Receptionist – Director of First Impressions
  2. Window Cleaner – Transparent-wall maintenance engineer
  3. Nightclub Bouncer – Eviction Technician
  4. Bartender – Beverage Dissemination Officer
  5. Trolley Pusher – Logistical Shopping Cart Technicians
  6. Deputy Manager – Grand Master of Underlings
  7. Counsellor – Problem Wrangler
  8. Call Centre Manager – Chief Chatter
  9. Recruiter – Talent Delivery Specialist

Can’t find the right candidate? Maybe they’re not looking?

At Employment Office, we often are tasked with attracting candidates to seemingly impossible vacancies.  The challenges might be a remote location, a rare skill set or even a combination of the two but the results are often the same; we deliver a qualified talent pool to our clients and give them the transparency and choice they need to fill the role.

Our clients often remark that we’re using the same media they use (generalist job boards, local newspapers, etc.) but our results regularly surpass their own efforts.  One of Employment Office’s key points of difference is our ability to attract Passive Candidates.  This article will focus on the Passive Candidate attraction strategies Employment Office’s Recruitment Advertising and Marketing Specialists use regularly to deliver superior results.

What’s a Passive Candidate?

A passive candidate is not currently in the market for a new opportunity, either because they are already employed or because they aren’t looking for work. It is estimated that between 75% and 90% of candidates consider themselves “passive” which means that, at best, an advertisement on a generalist job board or in the positions vacant section of the local newspaper will only be visible to 25% of the total market while the remaining 75% are currently not looking for work and won’t ever know about your opportunity.

How do we do it?

Employment Office has a number or strategies we regularly use including LinkedIn targeted candidate searches, creative uses of newspaper advertising space such as advertorials and recruitment advertising in the news sections instead of the careers section and Eshots which is a product only available through Employment Office.

LinkedIn Targeted Candidate Searches

An upgraded LinkedIn account (monthly charges apply) will give you access to the world’s largest professional network.  With extremely powerful search tools, you are able to narrow down your candidate results via current and former employers, current and former job titles, location by postcode or town/city.  Once you’ve decided upon candidates you would be interested in hearing from, you can send them a personalised InMail message alerting them to your opportunity.

Creative Newspaper Advertising Options

While newspaper job vacancy advertising has consistently been dropping in terms of volume and return on investment over the past decade, many companies including Employment Office have employed print advertising in new or creative ways.  Advertorials in particular can be very effective.  A recent example of Employment Office employing this strategy included a paid article written by one of the newspaper’s journalists that focused on the career highlights of an employee and directly adjacent to the glowing article was a position vacant advertisement that directed prospective candidates to our client’s opportunity.

Advertising within the main news sections including Business or Sports is also a fantastic way to complement your active candidate attraction.  While only a portion of newspaper readers will peruse the Careers section, most or all will read the EGN and, when they do, they’ll see your opportunity.

Eshots – Employment Office’s Ace in the Hole

Through an exclusive partnership with the generalist job board, www.applynow.com.au, Employment Office has access to a database of registered candidates who have expressed their interest in future career opportunities that suit their requirements for employment.  The database includes candidates of all skill sets, everything from general labourers and retail professionals to CEOs and General Practitioners.  Employment Office will create a customised employer branded email template that highlights our client’s opportunity.  A key point of difference between this product and other recruitment alerts is that the message is very specific to your opportunity where the majority of other email alerts feature a large number of positions lumped together which forces you to compete for candidate attention.

If you’d like to learn more about Passive Candidate attraction, Employment Office has a team of dedicated recruitment specialists who are able to answer any questions you might have.  Don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call your Account Manager on 1300 366 573.

Three Things to Check Before You Hire

Finding the perfect candidate for a position is a costly process in itself. While it is worth the time and money spent if you do find the right person, hiring the wrong person can cost businesses around two-and-a-half times the yearly salary of the employee in question.

To avoid this, here are three things we suggest you check in order to help you find the right person for the job:

Skills testing

After the initial interview, it is important to test the preferred candidate on the skills required for the position. There are a range of tests that you can ask your candidate to complete to check that their skills are up to scratch and are consistent with the skills listed on their resume.  One of the most common today is a computer literacy test, testing a worker’s competency on the Microsoft Office Suite.  Skill assessments are also available to test accounting awareness and skills, knowledge of particular software programs and typing speed.  Finally, there are a range of behavioural tests to test a candidate’s emotional intelligence and personality traits.

These skill tests do not have to be not the be-all-and-end-all for your favourite candidate. If you find that your preferred candidate’s skills in a particular area are not at the level ideal for the position, and you still want to get them into the business, you know that you will need to spend some time with them refining that skill, rather than being surprised later.

Reference checking

Many employers do not see the value in reference checking because they believe that if a candidate has this person listed on their resume, they do so for good reason: in confidence that that employer will not give a bad reference. Nevertheless, reference checking is a good way for employers to gain an insight into their preferred candidate as a worker and also to discover areas in which the candidate may have needed improvement. If asked, past employers are more likely to touch on a candidate’s area of weakness when they have given a generally positive reference.  Bear in mind that permission from the candidate to contact referees should be obtained, and these referees should be people that the candidate reported to in their most recent role.

Police checking

Police checking is not something that is required for every role. However, if you know that there are restrictions on working in your particular industry with a criminal history, conducting a police check on your candidate is imperative. Finding out later that the person you’ve hired has a criminal record and is no longer allowed to perform their role will result in a lot of wasted time and money, as well as disappointment on the part of the candidate as well as your business.

Some areas that require candidates to have a clean criminal record include teaching, childcare, law and correction, health, government roles, managerial positions, and public passenger services.

Hiring the wrong person for the job can result in a huge amount of your business’s money and resources going to waste. Taking the extra time to follow these three steps and find out the right information about the candidate means that you can be confident that you’ve hired the best suited candidate for you role.