​SUPPLY CHAIN TALENT TODAY: THE PERFECT STORM We’ve just had our management meeting here at Pod Talent, and from everyone’s reflections it is clear that we are in an incredibly busy market, especially in the UK and USA. Below is a summary of the current Supply Chain talent market, reasons for market conditions and some useful tips for companies hiring right now. ​​THE STATE OF THE MARKET: Our live project numbers are double the levels of Q4 2020, even though we are being more selective about the projects we are taking on. We are also working on more roles now than we were in Q1 2020, before the pandemic started. The proportion of newly created roles we are working on is far higher than usual. Many quality candidates find themselves in a high number of interview processes. Many Supply Chain candidates, especially within certain skillsets, are getting headhunted daily by companies and recruiters. We are seeing salaries for some roles being offered at 40% above top end of advertised salary. A higher than usual volume of counter-offers are being presented to candidates trying to move roles, in some cases successfully retaining the individual!​CAUSES: It feels like a bit of a perfect storm at the moment. Here are some of the key reasons for the current market dynamics: Supply Chain being recognised as a critical function: the pandemic has put a spotlight on end-to-end supply chains and companies are increasing their investment and focus on the area – especially within small and medium sized businesses. Supply chains are being re-evaluated: new roles are coming from new needs of businesses. This started pre-Covid but change is happening more rapidly now. Brexit bites on talent: The UK can no longer rely on international hiring to plug skills gaps, and this is not going away anytime soon. Coming out of lockdown: Many people are reassessing their lives and looking to make career moves as we come out of lockdown. People also feel more confident about moving roles now than during the height of the pandemic. Lack of culture and collaboration time: The extended period of isolated working will have led to a disconnect between people, company, and culture. This is impacting staff loyalty in new ways. ​​WHAT CAN HIRING COMPANIES DO ABOUT IT? Winning the war on talent generally requires a fantastic focus on candidate experience. In candidate short markets, businesses need to show increased agility, otherwise candidate experience will not be enough. Here are some top tips: Be agile: larger businesses need to accept that some of their traditional processes will not work in this market because they are competing with more agile, smaller businesses for the same top talent. Increasing pace and removing boundaries between hiring manager and talent is key. Be flexible on candidate profiles: you don’t need an exact match to get a great employee, as long as you focus on ability and behaviours. Be prepared to sell: moving jobs is not just about money. Candidates want a challenge, they want more responsibility, they want to make a difference. Understand the unique selling points of your company and your vacancy, and make sure the candidate is told about them! Expect to pay more: sometimes we just have to accept market dynamics – and the market today is saying that end to end supply chain professionals have been undervalued, until now. Supply Chain salaries are on the increase. You may want to consider re-benchmarking your salary ranges to ensure you are up to date with the new market. Interviewing is a two-way process. Recognise that a great candidate experience today is a major advantage: lots of candidates you have in process are working remotely and disconnected from their current employer. This gives you an opportunity to make them truly feel like they can belong in your organisation. Beware fixed term contracts: hiring someone today on a 6 or 12 months fixed term contract does not guarantee they will remain for the duration. If they were looking for a permanent opportunity when accepting your fixed term opportunity, it is quite likely they will continue to look. ​If you would like to discuss your current Supply Chain career search or are struggling to hire talent and want to chat, reach out to me on lucy.morgan@pod-talent.com ​​​

HOW TO: ASSESS DEMAND PLANNERSDemand planning is crucial to many large or growing businesses, especially in FMCG. It is a specialist and highly sought-after skill, making it a challenging role to recruit for; there are almost always more vacancies than there are available planners. Planners have to use their analytical skills and commercial acumen to take into account large, complex data sets, as well as a whole range of other considerations, to make an educated guess as to what is going to sell and therefore how much product to manufacture. Too little and you lose out on sales; too much and product goes to waste. This article gives an insight into what to think about when assessing demand planners, and what questions you can ask in an interview.IndustryAs with any supply chain role, industry background is often important. Trying to plan the retail demand for fruit and veg, which needs to be purchased by the consumer within days, is very different to planning the demand for power tools, which do not expire. Conversely, grocery is comparatively cheap and an amount of wastage can naturally be expected, whereas an over-optimistic demand plan for consumer electronics could be extremely costly, especially when they become old fashioned.Questions interviewers can ask:What makes your industry background unique?What considerations do you need to take into account regarding inventory parameters for the products you plan for?How many SKUs do you plan for and what are they?What seasonal or promotional implications do you need to take into account when demand planning?Is shelf-life something you need to think about in your current role?Competencies:Can you give me an example of when you have transferred your skills between roles or industries before? How did you go about this change?Can you talk me through the process of how you create a demand plan within your current role?What challenges do you think you would initially face when transferring into our industry?​StakeholdersAsking about a demand planner’s key stakeholders is important because it gives us a good insight into their responsibility and visibility within a company. Some demand planners are used to generating forecasts which are then signed off and handled by a manager; others play a highly accountable role in a global formal S&OP process; others again will handle key customer accounts and hold close relationships with the relevant external stakeholders. It is important to find this out in order to gauge how comfortable a demand planner will be in your company and what skills they have beyond analytics and forecasting.Questions interviewers can ask:What is your current team structure and who are your key internal stakeholders?Who are your key external stakeholders and how do you interact with them?Do you have the final say in your own demand forecast? Who do you present it to?What is your involvement in S&OP?Competencies:How would you respond if you feel a key customer is being overly optimistic with their sales forecast? Tell me about a stakeholder you have had a challenging relationship with. What did you do to overcome this?​CovidThe effect of the coronavirus pandemic on supply chain is extremely topical. Company industry has largely governed whether a business has boomed or crumbled under the lockdown restrictions over the past 12 months. Unprecedented constraint in supply or the sudden inability to sell through the usual channels meant that the sales figures on which demand planners usually rely to build future forecasts became obsolete. Probing into how candidates dealt with a period of such irregularity is a great way to assess their skills and adaptability.Questions Interviewers can ask:What was the effect of Covid on your business?From a supply chain perspective, what was the biggest thing you learned during 2020 & Covid?What did Covid change about the way you plan demand?CompetenciesHow are you planning to account for the possibility of further interruptions to your supply chain in the next 1-2 years?How will you adapt your forecasting method to adjust to the easing of restrictions this spring/summer?​Systems & LanguagesThink about how important skills like these are to your vacancy. It may be extremely useful for a customer demand planner to speak a foreign language! Is Excel the bread and butter of your operation, or have you just rolled out SAP or a statistical forecasting tool? Sometimes these skills will be less important compared others, but they are important to think about when identifying the ideal candidate. In essence, there are a lot of factors to consider when thinking about the role a demand planner will play in your business and this will dictate what sort of candidate you look for to fill these vacancies. A variety of the questions above should provide some useful guidelines for what to look out for and how to ask relevant interview questions.​If you'd like any additional or similar advice, feel free to drop us a line on info@pod-talent.com

How to: Assess Supply PlannersWhen on the hunt for new supply planning talent, it can be difficult to work out what types of profiles and backgrounds are best suited to your company, supply chain model, and product portfolio. We search for talent for a huge variety of clients, and we speak with supply planners every day. There are some questions that we almost always ask in order to efficiently assess potential candidates against client criteria, and this article should give some pointers and ways to think when interviewing supply planners. Industry Food, beverage, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, household, kitchenware: a planner’s industry background will often be the first sign as to a candidate’s suitability to your vacancy. Do they have to think about shelf-life in their day-to-day role? What about hazardous or controlled materials? Thinking along these lines shines a light on why clients often desire prior experience in their own industry. Questions interviewers can ask: What makes your industry background unique? What are the challenges associated with managing a product like yours? Is shelf-life something you need to think about in your current role? OR what sort of lead times are you used to working with suppliers on? Competencies: Can you tell me how you have developed the skills that would enable you to transfer into working with a product like ours? How would you manage a situation in which delivery of a very short shelf-life product is delayed? Suppliers How many suppliers does the candidate manage, and where are they based? Do these suppliers provide raw materials, components, or finished goods, and is the planner involved in a manufacturing process? These questions are helpful in trying to understand the complexity of the supply chain that a planner is involved in, as well as getting a gauge on the lead times for the product. A supply planner in a UK company that sources fresh food ingredients from a few local suppliers is likely to have a very different set of expertise compared to a planner who deals with homeware manufacturers in China. Questions interviewers can ask: Where are your suppliers based and how do you communicate with them? Are you dealing with raw materials or finished products? What is your involvement with production planning and the manufacturing process? Who are your key contacts within suppliers? Competencies: How would you deal with a supplier who is consistently underperforming? What would you do if the lead time for an important component is suddenly extended? Stakeholders Who are the candidate’s key stakeholders in their role? Do they communicate externally with suppliers, manufacturers, and customers, or are these comms led by in-house account managers or more senior team members? Does the candidate collaborate with demand teams in an S&OP process or manage 3PLs? These sorts of questions will help you judge how comfortable a candidate will be in your particular company, or how much they will have to learn. A supply planner familiar with the structure and process of a blue-chip supply chain may struggle to cope with the hands-on, end-to-end nature of roles in start-ups. Questions interviewers can ask: What is your team structure and who are your key internal/external stakeholders? Are you involved in procurement, logistics, or customer service? Are your suppliers part of your company, or 3rd party? Competencies: How do you approach an S&OP process, and what is the reason for it? Tell me about a stakeholder you have had a challenging relationship with. What did you do to overcome this? How do you facilitate a collaborative atmosphere in your workplace? Systems & Languages Think about how important skills like these are to your vacancy. If both your supplier and customer base are in the UK, your supply planner probably doesn’t need to speak Finnish. Is Excel the bread and butter of your operation, or have you just rolled out SAP or Oracle? Sometimes these skills will play second fiddle to many other factors, but they are important to think about when identifying the ideal candidate! ​To summarise, different supply planners will have a huge variety of knowledge and expertise depending on their background. But there are some key questions you can ask in order to differentiate one candidate from another and judge their suitability for your particular role. We may not be supply planners, but we know a lot about them! If you'd like more advice on assessing supply chain professionals, feel free to reach out to me on oliver.williams@pod-talent.com ​

​Changing job and relocating during Covid 192020 has been a year of reflection for all of us, and for many people part of their plan for the future involves changing jobs, some because of circumstances outside of your control and other who have been prompted to consider the future and realised they want a change. However, moving roles during a global pandemic means there is more to think about, so we have put together a guide to give you some things to think about before you decide to move role generally, and some additional advice on moving during Covid and relocating too. What to consider before you decide to move roles? What are your overall career goals? How will this move have an impact on achieving those?Is leaving your current company the best way to achieve your goals? Or could you look at internal options?Why are you looking at this move now? Have your personal circumstances changed, do you want more progression or are you looking for a more stable environment for instance? Knowing what is motivating your move is key to being able to explain it to future hiring managers. Also if you can’t answer this question clearly, are you sure you actually want to move role?What are you bringing to a future employer? It is a busy market at the moment, and knowing what your key skills are and how they will benefit your future team/company is a real advantageWhat sort of role are you looking for? Sounds obvious, but sometime requires a bit of thought- perhaps you love the operational side of your role but have less interest in managing a team, or you want a project based role that keeps you on your toes- understanding your own expectations and requirements make it much more likely that a recruiter can help you find the right next move What culture are you looking for? Think about what you like and dislike about your current/previous workplaces. Where did you enjoy working the most and why? What sort of business is right for you next? Relocation? The right role that matches all of the above might not be on your doorstep, so before you start consider if you are looking for something commutable or if you are open to searching further afield (and if so, where?). Don’t forget to talk to your family etc. before you make a firm decision! What factors should I consider due to Covid?The biggest consideration about moving roles during Covid is job security, more so if you are leaving a permanent role. Global pandemics shouldn’t put you off moving role, because with uncertainty there is also opportunity, but you should consider whether a place you are joining is going to offer at least some level of job security. Ask questions like how has Covid affected them? How has the business performed due to Covid? What changes have they had to make? The best thing to do here is be totally honest and ask the questions you need to for your own piece of mind.Location & RelocationMany companies are still in a state of limbo regarding office arrangements and long term flexibility so while looking for a job right now you may need to be comfortable with a bit of ambiguity around that as it’ll be hard for a company to give you loads of certainty on their future working from the office/home arrangements as they may not have fully decided.Rules are changing all the time and there is a good chance you might accept a new role and never have seen the office- but all of companies we are working with have done a great job putting in place remote onboarding processes and really doing all they can to make people feel a part of the team even remotely.Not seeing the office when you live in the same city as your new role is one thing- but what if you are thinking about a relocation?The first thing to know is it IS still possible- remote working has in fact sometimes made it easier for people to join the team before the full physical move takes place. The biggest change we are seeing with relocation processes at the moment is the timescale involved- where once you might have accepted a job, moved the family and started once your notice period was served, that process is now likely to take a good deal longer with travel restrictions changing regularly. For the right role and location this shouldn’t be a deal breaker- just bear in mind you may not get to pop over to your new home town for a look around or house hunting visit before you start work- it’s quite likely you will be working for your new company for at least a month before making those trips, so doing your research is key- find out about schooling, housing etc – and don’t be afraid to speak to new colleagues and ask questions to help to you get a local perspective.There are lots of things to consider when it comes to re-locations- and it’s as important, if not more so now, that you are 100% sure of these before you commit to a role. Re-locating a new team member is a big move for an employer as well as the candidate and you want to be as certain as you can be that you have made the right choice. Also, you don’t want to accept a role because you can start it without relocating, and then cold feet about the move when it’s too late.Key things to consider about relocation generally in our experience are:Family requirements - are the family on board, will your partner have the possibility to find work in your new location, what are the childcare options available, will you need an international school, can you easily travel back to your ‘home’ country if needed?Financial - cost of living varies hugely across the world- having a like for like salary does not mean you will take home the same amount every month. Taxes also may vary so make sure you have looked in to NET pay so you have a realistic picture. Company benefits can vary from country to country as well- in some places its common to get a car, others offer public transport allowances – don’t assume it will be the samePractical - will you need language lessons in your new country? Is your place of work centrally located or rural? Do you need a visa/work permit? Are you planning to ship all your furniture or move a pet etc.? You might need to speak to a recruiter or employer first to help you answer some of these questions before you start planning a big move to the other side of the world.Obviously everyone has their own circumstances, so the best approach is to be fully open about what you need and share as much info as possible with your recruiter and new employer who will do what they can to support you.The team at Pod have supported multiple people who have relocated since lockdown began, so if you would like a chat about this or any other element of your job search please feel free to reach out to us. You can reach our Head of International, Caroline, on caroline.crotty@pod-talent.com Moving jobs is a big step at any time - and during this period of seemingly endless change in the world it can seem even bigger- but the opportunities presented in these new times also offer exciting opportunities for people ready to make the move, so hopefully this article has helped you decide if now might be the right time for you.​​​​

​It’s no secret that building a strong network can be critical to your career success. And in the internet era, it’s easier than ever to build and maintain a strong professional network using LinkedIn. With 675 million monthly users, 40% of whom use LinkedIn on a daily basis, LinkedIn is by far the best place to conveniently and easily build a professional network, especially in the current environment of Covid-19 where non-essential face to face meetings are strongly discouraged. As a result, knowing how to use LinkedIn to network is one of the key skills that can lead you to success within your career, and can be an incredibly helpful tool when searching for a new job. The following article focuses on how to find and connect with the relevant people in your industry, the right way to build meaningful relationships on LinkedIn and how to maintain them as your network grows. Whether you’ve just created your profile or you’re an experienced LinkedIn user, I like to think there are some tips here for everyone!1) Optimise your profileThe first step you need to take before going out to find new connections is to optimise your profile. Speaking from personal experience, when I receive a connection request, the first thing I’ll do is check the person’s profile to see whether they are relevant to my personal network. Details such as your headline and photo are particularly important as they will be the first thing that the person sees when you send a connection request!In order to make sure you’re all set in terms of profile optimisations, I’d recommend reading over my previous article, How To: Create a LinkedIn Profile here2) Finding the right people to connect withYou don’t want to connect with just anyone – you want your connections to be relevant to your space, ensuring you are finding the best people to support you in your professional development. When building your network, you can approach a number of different types of people. These can include:• Agency recruiters• Internal recruiters• Current and previous colleagues• Current and potential suppliers and customers/clients• Peers in similar businesses• People who work in businesses you’d like to work for• Content creators and authorities in your industry• University AlumniIn order to find the right people to connect to, decide which of the above you’d specifically like to search for. For this example, I’ll look for Agency Recruiters in my field. You should use LinkedIn and Google to search for companies specialising in your specific industry – in this example, I’d look for Supply Chain Recruitment Agencies. You can then look up these companies on LinkedIn and go to the “People” section on their page to find their individual consultants! If you’re looking to find the people who can help you get a job at the company, it’s best to search for “Recruiters”, “Talent” or “HR”. A great tip is to use a Boolean search to search for multiple search terms at once – in this case, you would search for ‘Recruiters AND Talent AND HR’ to find all three at once rather than running three separate searches! It’s also worth following the businesses you’re interested in, as you’ll then not only see all of their content and business updates but be the first to see when they post a new job! I’d especially recommend following Recruitment Agencies in your field as we generally aim to post industry content from our networks, and can be a great central source of industry news!3) Sending a connection requestSending a connection request is very simple but is often overlooked! Not only does it help to explain why you’re looking to connect, but it shows a level of effort and personalisation that a simple connect request does not.When writing a note with your connection request, you are limited to 300 characters, therefore your note has to be concise and to the point. Generally, you want to explain who you are, and why you are looking to connect. An example of a good note might be:Hey Example Name, I hope you’re well. My name is Sam and I’m a Logistics Recruiter here at Pod Talent. I’m keen to expand my network and would love to connect and see if we can work together in the future!4) Maintaining your networkOnce you’ve started connecting with people, it can be tough to stay in touch with and keep up with everyone in your network! If you have hundreds, or even thousands of relevant connections, it’s tough to message everyone on a regular basis to stay in touch. The best way to maintain your network is therefore through posting and engaging with relevant content on your LinkedIn home page. Reshare news from your industry, post about insights you’ve gained from your role, share your achievements; I could write a whole article about content and relevant industry posts! The key is to post things you are genuinely interested in and want to start a conversation about.You also should engage with content that you are interested in which other people in your network have posted. Like the posts you are interested in, comment on posts you have insights into and reshare posts that you think your network would benefit from. When you then feel the need to get in touch with someone in the future, they’ll know you and will recognise you as a valued member of their network.​5) Using LinkedIn when you’re actively looking for a new roleAs well as being helpful for networking and industry news, LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool for finding a new role. There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to finding roles through LinkedIn, but to summarise the key things:• Change your profile to show you’re open to new opportunities, and use the Open To Work banner on your photo• Set up job alerts on LinkedIn roles for jobs you may be interested in, and check LinkedIn Jobs regularly• Contact agency recruiters in your field! As well as being able to help find a role, agency recruiters can provide great insights into the job market, salary expectations and potential career paths• If you’re immediately available, and/or are open to relocation, mention this in your profile as it can widen the possible jobs recruiters can bear you in mind for. Ensure that you have a location on your profile rather than just “United Kingdom” as you won’t show up when we search via LinkedIn Recruiter without a location!​Building a network on LinkedIn definitely takes time, but can be a great way to further your own professional development, meet new relevant industry contacts and find a new role in the future. With LinkedIn being such a huge platform, it’s a critical skill to develop, and hopefully this article has provided some initial insights that can help you to build out a strong, useful LinkedIn network! ​

​How To: Prepare for a video interview​Interviews are stressful. It takes research, preparation, and time. And even after all that – a lot of it depends on your personality and the cultural fit, which many hope to express during a face-to-face stage. With lockdown making it almost impossible to have face-to-face interviews, we could be heading into a world where face-to-face interviews as we know it, could become extinct. From supporting countless candidates and clients going through the virtual interview process for the first time, I have identified and summarised some of my top tips to help you prepare for your virtual interview. Double check your set-up Don’t leave it till the last minute to trial out the software, hoping for everything to work. Even the best platforms like to test your nerve, and you don’t need the additional stress right before the interview – trust me! Our AdviceCamera and Audio: Log on early to check your camera is working and that your audio is connected. Always join the video call with your camera on as most interviewers will expect you to join ‘in person’. If the interviewer does not have their video on, you can ask if it’s OK to turn your camera off, especially if it is distracting you. Test run: To check everything is in order, try and arrange a couple of video calls with your friends/family to assess the video and sound quality using the software that you'll need for your interview – leaving plenty of time to sort out any technical issues. Connection: Internet has a habit of disappearing when you need it the most. Connection issues are not unusual, so it’s good to prepare for it just in case. You can ask your recruiter or try to make sure that the person interviewing you has your contact details, or that you have theirs, in case of any technical issues. First impressions countIt’s not only important to be on time, but as this is the first time the employer is going to meet you make sure everything is ticked off from your lighting, wardrobe and background. Our Advice Lighting: Although it might sound obvious, make sure you are visible and that the room is well lit. You can check this in your webcam set up or by giving your friend a call. If your video is looking a bit blurry, try and give the webcam a quick clean. Surroundings: Think about the background you decide to position yourself against – make sure it is not distracting and the area looks tidy, with things like the hanging laundry moved out of the shot ;) Wardrobe: Aim for smart-casual, unless recommended otherwise by the employer/recruiter. It is best to wear safe solid and neutral colours, as they are the most camera friendly. Patterns e.g stripes could create visual issues for some cameras. Find a quiet place Just like at any interview, you want to be away from distractions. Our AdviceMake sure you set up in a quiet place where you are not disturbed and can focus entirely on the employer and the interview. Tell the people you live with that you have an interview scheduled to prevent interruptions, and close the door of the room (and the window if needs be!) to avoid any unwanted background noise so you can hear the employer, and that they are able to hear you.Avoid distractions: It is easy to feel more comfortable in your home setting and get distracted by your phone or e-mail. Make sure you turn your phone over or leave it in another room, and switch any email pop ups or other notifications off. It is noticeable when people aren’t paying attention or are reading something else.During the video call You should now be all set for a video interview. However, while on the call there are a few things that are important to remember. Our AdviceCamera position: Make sure your camera is at eye level to provide the illusion of eye-to-eye contact. If you don’t have a laptop stand, try setting up your device on a couple of books or something similar. Make sure you are not sitting too close to the camera, I would advise staying an arm’s length away. Eye contact: To convey impactful body language virtually you should try and make eye contact with the camera by looking directly into the lens, as if you are looking into someone’s eyes. This is likely to feel a little weird, so definitely try and practice speaking at the camera lens prior to your interview. What else? Remember the employer can see you – so try to not look down to read your notes. If you would like to have your notes or CV near you, try to split your screen in half to have a video on one side and your notes/CV on the other side. Make sure you aren’t reading during the interview, as this is noticeable, but you can glance at your notes/CV if needs be. Also keep a notebook near by in case you do want to make any notes. Most Importantly… Be yourself and let your personality shine! The employer will try to get a sense of who you are and try to decide if you would be a good fit for their team so even though video interviews can be a weird experience, try to not let this get to you. Once you've done the above, check out our full interview preparation guide which has some great tips on everything else you need to prepare for your interview here. Good Luck! ​

​How to: Design a great interview process​It goes without saying that an interview process is incredibly important to a business, whatever the level of person you are hiring for. Hiring someone into your business is a costly activity, both from a time and money perspective, so you want to get your process right.The interview process is also incredibly important to your strategy for attracting great people to your business, and it is often the best process that wins the war on talent. So if you want to hire great people, you need to put some thought into this! We work with hundreds of businesses and have managed thousands of interview processes, so here are our top tips for designing a great interview process:Getting started:Timing – a recruitment process should be timely and shouldn’t drift on for weeks on end. Block time in your diary for all interview stages, and get them pencilled into your colleague’s diaries too, so the time is already set asideStakeholders – think about who you want to be involved in your process internally and why, and then make those stakeholders aware of your requirements.Job Description – you need a JD before you start; if you don’t have one you can check out our article on writing a great JD here. But writing a JD is important as it’ll help you identify what you need from someone in this role core technical skills, behaviours, KPIs etc -and then you can translate this into your interview plan.Stages – consider how many interview stages you want to have. For junior-mid level roles 2 stages are normal, for senior level roles 3 stages is more normal. Then work out which of your stakeholders you want to be in which stage, and what each stage might cover. There is some advice on this below.Activities – outside of just normal interviewing, do you want to include anything else? Verbal or numerical testing? Personality profiling? Some sort of IT skills test? A presentation? If you are doing this you should get prepared first; figure out what you want and how you’re going to include it. Read the candidate’s CV – always do this well in advance of the interview, not 5 minutes before and definitely not during! Read the CV, get a sense of the person you’re interviewing, and consider if there are any questions about their CV that you want to ask at interview. Make sure any of your stakeholders interviewing the individual have the CV and do this too. Designing the interview processYou need to start by planning out what you want to cover, you should consider the following:A motivations interview (what someone is looking for, why they are looking, what they like/dislike, what they want long term, what motivates them etc.)A technical/CV interview i.e. going through their experience, can they do the role?A behavioural/competency-based interview – is this person the right fit to my business culturally and do they have the right behaviours for this role? More on this belowAnything else? If you’re doing a presentation, what is the topic? Set it now so you and your shareholders know. If you’re doing testing, what tests are they? When and how will they be used?A typical interview process would usually follow the above pattern with motivations and CV/technical first, followed by competencies at second stage, followed by “anything else” such as a presentation. Most commonly, any tests are done between first and second stage. Designing an interviewBefore you do an interview, you should prepare what you want to ask. You don’t need to be overly scripted, but for consistency from candidate to candidate, you should have a set of core questions at each stage, to make sure you hire the best person.Below is some advice on different interview types:Motivations interview This will help you to understand if someone is a good fit to your organisation based on what they want to do, why they are leaving their last role/looking for a new role, what they like and dislike doing, what their long term expectations are and what motivates them. You want to make sure there is a match to your organisation, so you don’t hire someone who might leave quickly! N.B. this doesn’t need to be one interview stage, it can easily be combined with a CV/technical interview. Questions you could ask include:What has made you decide to look for a new role? What do you/did you like most about your previous job?What didn’t you like so much?What did you like about your current/last business’ culture?What didn’t you like?What is on your wish list for a new role? What are the top 3 most important things a new role should offer you, to make sure you accept it?What is your 5-year plan career wise, where would you like to be?CV run throughThis seems quite obvious but you need to prepare by reading someone’s CV in advance, highlighting things you want to ask about, and preparing technical questions to make sure they can do your role.Questions you could ask include:Tell me about your key responsibilities in X role?What were you measured on?How did you perform against those KPIs?What did your team/business structure look like?Talk me through one of your key achievements within that role?What are your key strengths? What about key weaknesses? You can also include specific questions you need to ask that fit your role i.e. delve into their 3PL management experience or understanding how they ran an S&OP process. Prepare these in advance as it’s a good idea to ask all candidates the same thing to compare against each other. Competency based/behaviours interviewCompetency interviews test someone’s behaviours in a role i.e. HOW they do things, not just what they have done. Two people could have done the same role, but only one might do things in a way that will fit your business. A competency-based question will ask a candidate to give an example of a specific activity from their career history or will ask a scenario-based question to test how someone thinks. You should start by reviewing your JD. Go through each of your desired behaviours and then think of questions to ask to test those behaviours, in line with the job itself. For example, if you were recruiting a Logistics 3PL Manager and you wanted someone with excellent communication skills, you could ask questions such as:Tell me about an external stakeholder you’ve had to work with who was challenging to deal with, how did you overcome it?Can you tell me about an improvement that you made by working with your 3PL, how did you go about it and what was the outcome?Imagine you are working for us, our 3PL are regularly missing SLAs and you’re tasked with improving their outcomes, talk me through the steps you would take to do this?As you can see, from asking the above questions you should be able to find out more about the skills a candidate has, but also how they approach things in the workplace. Competency interviews and values/internal competencies You can also use a competency interview to screen someone against your internal competencies or values, if you have them. For example, Pod has a value of excellence, so we ask questions such as “can you give me an example when you’ve worked beyond your job description, to deliver a piece of work for your business?”, or we have a value of creativity, so we might ask “can you give me an example of a problem you’ve solved for a client, and what solution you used?”. We also have a core competency of commercial awareness, so we would ask questions such as “can you give me an example of when you’ve used industry news to grow your revenue?”.Creating a competency based interview is often difficult, so if you need any support with designing this, you can speak to me on lucy.morgan@pod-talent.com and I’ll be happy to advise. And lastly, what else?FEEDBACK! – I can’t stress enough how important this is and it is linked to preparation. You have prepared your questions so you should make sure you take notes during an interview. It will help you to compare candidates, but it’ll also be something you can share with other interviewers who are involved in the process, who can add their own notes. I would recommend you create a template sheet for this based on your interview process. Also, don’t forget to give a candidate feedback -whether they are progressing or not, they will really appreciate it! Timescales – remember that delays can lead to losing a good candidate, and that if a candidate doesn’t hear from you, they will automatically assume it’s a “no” and try to move on from your opportunity. If you have planned your process and used a process for collating feedback, you should be able to get back to someone and plan next stages quickly. Also, if someone is a “no”, you should go back to them with some detailed feedback from your notes, it will be appreciated and useful for the person. Allow a candidate to ask questions – in each interview, allow a candidate a chance to ask questions at the end. It’s a two-way process and they need to be able to ask things that will help them to know if your job and business is right for them.Sell – never forget that an interview is a two-way process and you should be selling to a candidate. The first aim of an interview should be that the person leaves the room wanting to work for you. Prepare your intro, sell your business, sell the role. Try to be conversational and don’t just jump from question to question, let the person you are interviewing see who you are as a person, so they can see themselves working for you! Tests and additional activities – if you need advice on what to use and how to build these, give us a shout. The only additional thing I would stress is to make sure you know WHY you are doing these activities and what value they add to your process, don’t just do them for the sake of doing them. That’s it for now. If you would like some advice on creating an interview process, developing specific questions or even building a feedback process, I’d be happy to have a chat, so drop me a line on lucy.morgan@pod-talent.comDon’t forget to check out our other advice, such as “how to: build a JD” – here. ​

​How To: Create a LinkedIn ProfileLinkedIn is a fantastic tool to use while searching for a job, and once in a role, to enhance your career and improve your professional network. However, I know that I personally had no idea how to use LinkedIn properly; what my profile should look like, who to connect with and ultimately how to use it to help me find a job. It wasn’t until I started in recruitment that I learnt just how useful LinkedIn can be, and so hopefully we can help you to start using LinkedIn to your advantage. The first step to LinkedIn is creating a strong LinkedIn profile. Anyone can create a LinkedIn profile, but if you’ve got 3 connections and no profile photo, you might as well not have LinkedIn! This article, the first in a series on the basics of searching for a new role, will focus on exactly how to set up a LinkedIn profile that will get you noticed, and then how to use this profile to start building your network!​Photo – It’s a well known statistic that profiles with photos get 14x more views. You need a LinkedIn photo if you’re going to use LinkedIn effectively – make sure you keep it professional! LinkedIn have recently introduced a #opentowork filter you can put on your photos which, if you’re actively looking, is useful to have.Headline – This is important, and often overlooked. You want to explain who you are and what you’re looking for in about 8 words. For me, I’d have put “International Relations Graduate searching for Recruitment Graduate Roles”. Keep it short, keep it to the point. Summary – This is where you can elaborate a little bit more on what you’ve done, and what you’re looking for. Keep it relatively brief, but make sure you include any key skills and words that can show up in searches! Experience – This is where the lines start to get a bit blurrier and it becomes a bit more challenging. Should you include the time you worked as a lifeguard one summer? Is being social secretary of your university society a position to put under experience? Should you put those three week internships and placements? Be smart with your experience. Be selective about what you post, and only post things that are going to be relevant to a hiring manager viewing your profile for the roles you’re looking for. You can use the volunteering section and the education section to write about university societies and extra-curricular activities! Be sure to outline what you’ve done at each role and key learning points and achievements. Skills – Add any relevant skills you have onto your profile. These help with getting noticed in searches and can help people know a bit more about you and what you can do! Be sure to add any additional languages you speak fluently – not the first level on Duolingo!Education – You’ll want to keep it simple here. I personally recommend Sixth Form/College, then your university, course and final grade. If you were close to the grade above (e.g. 69%, 2:1 final grade) feel free to put the percentage. There’s a section for Activities and Societies which is great for adding in any extra-curricular participation. Recommendations – Recommendations are a really strong addition to your profile. I see a lot of new profiles with recommendations from friends, which can cheapen any real reviews and recommendations you get in the future. Therefore, I’d recommend keeping it to real recommendations only – reach out to previous employers, lecturers etc!CV – You’re able to upload your CV to LinkedIn. If you’re actively looking for a new role, it’s well worth doing as it allows recruiters to quickly find out a bit more about you, and gives your contact details. For advice on building a CV, please see our article hereYou’re done! Now you can start using LinkedIn to help you with your job search and your career. Get out there and start looking for any relevant people to help your job search. Watch this space for a new article next week on exactly how to use LinkedIn, so go connect with me and keep an eye out if you’re interested! And lastly, if you’re interested in a career in Supply Chain, you’re in the right place already. Get in touch, let’s have a chat.

How to Write an Effective Job Description Putting some time and thought into your job description is an essential part of your recruitment process. Not only is this one of the first things a potential candidate will see about your business, it’s also your new starter’s guide to succeeding in their new role. So it's a pretty important document. Starting from scratch can be a daunting task, but as a recruitment business we've seen thousands of JDs, and as part of our service when working on roles we support our client in developing their JDs as well. So from our experience, we've tried to make an easy to follow process that outlines exactly what your job description needs to contain from start to finish.What a job description should include:An overview of the job in a few sentences, summarising the main responsibilities.An overview of the company, which sells your business as much as possible (half a page of text here is good!), you can include things like values, turnover, growth, culture etc. Organisational structure for the team or business (depending how big you are).Key activities - you can split this down under different headings if you wish i.e. if it were a Supply Planning Manager you could split the role into “planning activities”, “management activities” and “wider supply chain activities” for example.Measures of success in the role i.e. what KPIs will this person be responsible for delivering, examples would include forecast accuracy at XX%, On Time In Full at XX% etc. Required/desirable experience, skills and education – again you can break this down until each heading with a few bullet points.You can break this list down into “required” and “desirable” as well, as you probably won’t get 100% of this list from one candidate.Desired competencies and behaviours – this should be an explanation of softer skills you need in the role and an explanation of what you are looking for, examples would be stakeholder management, planning and organisation, resilience, creativity, strategic, hands on etc. Interview process – a short overview of how stages and what to expect, include things like testing and presentations etc. if they are likely to happen.What we offer – you don’t necessarily need to include salary information here, but you can do! List your benefits and reasons to be interested in your business here.Progression and opportunities – remember this is a sales document, if you can, try and give an overview of what typical progression could look like from this role, be it a step up or a move to a different team or office. How to use the job descriptionYou’ve created a brilliant job description, great! Now it’s time to make use of it. Create a job advert that you can advertise on you company website and job boards using the ‘overview of the job’, ‘company information’ (a shortened version), ‘key activities’, ‘required experience’, ‘skills and education’, ‘desired competencies and behaviours’ and ‘what we offer’ sections. You should also share the job description with your HR/Talent team and everyone else involved in the process (including recruitment partners if you are using them). Lastly, you should use the job description to create the interview process – you have a list of required and desired experience plus competencies and skills that you can use to build your interview questions. If you'd like to find out more about creating an interview process, you can read another of our articles here.That’s it! If you’d like any more support with writing great job description or other aspects of the recruitment process, I would be more than happy to help! You can reach me on lucy.morgan@pod-talent.com and 0203 627 2420. ​​

​Optimise your LinkedIn profile with these top tipsSo, you’re looking for a new role and you’ve probably updated your CV, shared it on job boards, contacted recruiters and started applying to roles. However, you may have missed an important step in your job search; reviewing your LinkedIn profile! Recruiters and internal talent teams spend a lot of time actively sourcing candidates on LinkedIn, so you are missing a trick if you profile isn't up to date and optimised. So here's a guide to help you.​Here’s how: Open your settings so potential employers can see your name on search results - Go to ‘me’ - settings & privacy - Edit your public profile - on the right panel tick the ‘Your profile’s public visibility’ button and choose from the options below. The more visible your profile is the more likely you are to stand out. Linkedin have also developed a banner for your photo now which shows you are open to roles, which is great to use if you want people to know you're looking.Optimise your profile for search - Put yourself in the frame of mind of a hiring manager or recruiter, what keywords would they be searching for to find the ideal person for that job? Include these in your job title and all over your profile (but still so it makes sense of course!) and make sure you include all your relevant work experience and employment dates. You can also add skills onto your profile, which help you to appear in searches.Follow companies you are interested in and also follow recruitment companies who advertise in your space and who have a good reputation in the industry. You'll also get to see the roles they post in your feed as well. Don't forget to sign up for job alerts too!Use a professional image that you would want your future employer to see (it also increases search results!). It’s an obvious one, but nevertheless worth mentioning; don’t use a selfie from a drunken night out. Also, make sure the photo looks like you and not what you looked like 10 years ago!Include education and languages - If you speak a second language (or maybe even more than that) make sure you include it, employers are impressed with bilingual candidates and someone may be doing a specific search for languages that you can speak! You can add these in the skills section of your profile (alongside many other things!) Make sure your contact details are visible if you are actively looking. Add your CV onto your profile – you can add documents in the “about” section. Of course, only do this if you are happy for a range of people to see your CV and if people know you are actively looking. Build your network - Connecting with industry peers will not only increase the amount of content you receive in your newsfeed, but mean you also have access to news and updates relevant to the roles you’re interested in. Participating in discussions and commenting on relevant posts is a great way for you to build your network and form relationships. Also linkedin is a great place to ask for advice and people are open to networking, so if you connect with someone and there is something you want to ask, it's always worth trying! Check your profile regularly - Don’t let a message from a recruiter or potential employer sit in your inbox for days! It might be worth downloading the LinkedIn app so you get notifications straight away.Ask for recommendations - start with your old managers, stakeholders, customers and clients. It’s also okay to ask your friends, however, from a hiring manager’s/recruiter’s perspective, think about the credibility of the people you are asking. Use the job search function - for a lot of companies (and recruiters!), linkedin is the first place they advertise roles and you can apply using your linkedin profile really easily (which is why it needs to be up to date!). You can also set up job alert emails from the jobs page, so that you'll get a daily email with jobs that look relevant to you, so you can be the first to apply! ​Follow these tips and you will quickly see improvements in how often your profile is viewed, which should ultimately help in your job search. Good luck! ​

A guide to help you improve your chances of a successful interview​Interviews can be nerve wracking, and they aren’t an everyday activity. Remembering what you do in your role day to day can be more challenging than you think when put on the spot, so preparing well is important. In fact, the number one reason people are rejected at interview stage is for reasons relating to being under prepared! ​This guide will cover:Step 1 – ResearchStep 2 – JD & CV comparisonStep 3 - Preparing for a competency based interviewStep 4 – Tests and presentationsStep 5 – Questions you can askStep 6 – Tips on managing nerves ​Step 1 – ResearchResearch your interviewers – check out their LinkedIn profiles, it’ll give you some insight into their remit and their background.Check your journey – make sure you know where you’re going and how you’re getting there and plan your leaving time, leaving room for error – being late for an interview is unprofessional and will make you more nervous and stressed before it starts.Research the company – visit their website, read the ‘About Us’, ‘Careers’ and recent news pages in detail until you become familiar with them (also google recent news stories). If the business sells a product or is a retailer, try and get out and see them in real life in store. Try and find out what type of interview it’s going to be and how you should prepare. Ask your recruiter or whoever has contacted you to arrange the interview for this information.Dress code – find out what it is before you go, you don’t want to over/under-dress for an interview as it’ll make you more nervous, so it’s best to ask. Ask if you need to bring anything to your interview – some people like you to bring a CV or sometimes security gates will need your ID, so it’s best to ask just in case. ​Step 2 – JD & CV comparisonRead your CV and make sure you know exactly what is on there! You are likely to be asked questions relating to your achievements and responsibilities. Start to think about your day-to-day responsibilities in each role, your achievements, things you are proud of, projects you’ve worked on etc. This will bring these things to the forefront of your memory, helping you to recall them on demand. Read the JD in detail. From this, you can compare your CV and experience to the job description. You should try and think of tangible examples of where your experience matches the job description i.e. if the JD says “responsible for a 3PL tender process” and you have done this, go through the process you went through, steps you took, what went well, what the outcome was. Again, to bring this information to the forefront of your memory.If you don’t have experience of any of the responsibilities, don’t panic! Instead, think of transferable skills you have or similar projects you’ve worked on. ​Step 3 – Preparing for a competency-based interview​A competency-based interview will ask for specific examples of your experience or will challenge you to consider how you would approach a task. This may seem simple, but if you’re not prepared (and the interview has made you slightly nervous) you are likely to get a blank mind! To start, you want to think of some examples of the following things:Your greatest achievement Projects you’ve worked onChanges you’ve implementedProcesses you’ve implementedManagement successes Challenges you’ve overcomeThings about yourself you’ve improved Cost savings you’ve made ​Next, you want to use a structure to put these examples together. We recommend using the STAR technique:S = situation – give a short overview of the background of the situation you were inT = task – give an overview of your task within the situation. What did you have to achieve? A = action – talk through what you did within this situation. The interviewer will be looking for information about you and what you did and why, so remember to talk about yourself in the first personR = result – what was the outcome of your actions relating to this task? Use tangible, measurable results to give this part of the answer.Your answer should take around a few minutes to give, so it’s not too long but also isn’t too short. Quite often in competency-based interviews, the feedback is that someone didn’t give enough depth, so make sure you follow this process to give a thorough yet succinct overview. Also, it may feel silly, but practise this out loud if you can. ​Step 4 – Tests or presentations​Testing​Verbal, numerical and logical reasoning tests are increasingly common at interviews and can in some cases be a pass/fail consideration in the recruitment process. Below is some advice to help you out:Practise is essential! Most of us haven’t done a test since school so we see a dramatic difference in pass rates between candidates who practise and take tests seriously and those who dive straight in Remember to do tests in a quiet location where you won’t be disturbed. Most tests are timed, and you can’t start and stop them Work methodically through questions, again most are timed so figure out how much time you have per question and try and stick to thatAccuracy is often measured, so if you don’t know an answer, or you are running out of time, it wont necessarily benefit you just to guess! Here are some helpful links to practise tests:Numericalhttps://www.graduatesfirst.com/numerical-reasoning/http://www.cebglobal.com/shldirect/en/assessment-advice/example-questions/numerical-reasoninghttp://www.practiceaptitudetests.com/numerical-reasoning-tests/?utm_expid=16273815-19.kVPGtK53T3q0uJSYeI7C_w.0&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.practiceaptitudetests.com%2Fnumerical-reasoning-tests%2Fhttps://www.assessmentday.co.uk/aptitudetests_numerical.htm#freeVerbalhttps://www.graduatesfirst.com/verbal-reasoning/http://www.cebglobal.com/shldirect/en/assessment-advice/example-questions/verbal-reasoninghttps://assess.shlonline.eu/default?action=url&key=fb5e9d5bbf4e0ahttps://www.assessmentday.co.uk/aptitudetests_verbal.htmhttps://www.practiceaptitudetests.com/verbal-reasoning-tests/Logical reasoninghttps://www.assessmentday.co.uk/logic/free/LogicalReasoningTest1/https://www.shldirect.com/en/assessment-advice/example-questions/inductive-reasoninghttps://www.graduatesfirst.com/logical-reasoning/​Microsoft testshttps://www.isograd.com/EN/freetestselection.phpPresentations​Presentations are often used in recruitment processes, so here are some top tips:Read the question and review all data given, you need to make sure you answer the topic fully and that you don’t fail to use any helpful info you’ve been givenFind out HOW you should present your presentation at interview – can you email it beforehand? Should you bring a laptop or a USB? Should you print it?Get someone to review your presentation for you – spelling mistakes, incorrect numbers, misplaced animations or general issues with the look of the presentation can work against you Don’t create slides full of text! Use words, images and graphics on a slide and have notes to talk around them If you have relevant experience in tackling something you are presenting on, don’t forget to use the opportunity to sell your skills for the role Practise presenting before you go – make sure your presentation takes as long as you have been given, try not to be short of time and don’t go over time​Step 5 – Asking questionsDuring your interview you will get an opportunity to ask questions, so you should have some prepared. Rather than asking the basics (salary range, benefits, working hours etc.) you can use this opportunity to ask some great questions that will help you learn more about the company and the opportunity.Great questions will be about the culture, the people, management, processes and things they want to improve, here are some examples:​If I was hired into this role, what would success look like in my first 6-12 months?What are your current challenges as a (supply chain/marketing/finance/logistics etc.) division? (make this relevant to the role of course!)If you could make one major improvement to your business, what would it be?What characteristics make someone a good cultural fit to the business?What are your company (or team) goals for the next 12 months?​Step 6 - Managing nerves​Getting nervous about an interview is totally normal, so don’t worry too much! Most people get nervous and in some cases, can help you perform better. However, here are some top tips for overcoming nerves so you don’t lose focus:Make sure you are prepared – the more prepared you are the better you will feel about the interviewPrep in plenty of time for the interview – finish prepping the night before and don’t do anything more on the day of the interview or leave it all to the last minuteArrive on time – running late or rushing will only make you more nervous. Arrive early so you can have some time to collect your thoughts in a nearby coffee shop or in the carpark! Make small talk – when you’re collected from reception, you’ll have the time to chat with your interviewer, this is a great time to break the ice and warm you up for your interviewWaffling – often happens when you’re nervous! Do not fear silence in interviews, if you need a second to think, do that, don’t speak to think. Also, if you find you’ve been waffling on for a while just stop and say, “so to answer your question” and wrap up your answerMind blank – again, this will happen when you’re nervous. But don’t panic! Pause and take a breath to gather your thoughts or ask for clarification on a question if you don’t fully understand it. ​That’s it – best of luck with your interview! ​

How to write a CV Nobody likes writing their CV. Well not many people do anyway. It’s difficult, time consuming and requires some serious thought. You must recall your old work experiences, some of which are good memories, some of which are bad and some you will really struggle to remember! As a result, we think everyone could do with some help, but not everyone has access to an expert. You can use this section as your sounding board. We hope it will help you think about how best to represent yourself on paper and ease the pain of writing your CV.First things first, get in the right frame of mind. This is going to take some time, don’t try and rush your CV. Treat it like an important piece of work and lock yourself away in a quiet place with enough time to dedicate to it. Before you start, you can also download a useful template hereHow to structure a CV:Ok… This is the hard part. Let’s work through putting this together:1. Firstly, you’ll need your name and contact details at the top of a CV, include your address (or location i.e. Kings Cross, London), your mobile number and your email address2. Then you should open with a summary, a few punchy bullet points to engage the reader immediately including:Summary of your experience i.e. 5 years’ experience in FMCG procurement across both direct and indirect category procurement covering HR, Marketing, Food Ingredients and Logistics across both the UK and Europe.Specific skills i.e. experience using SAP and Ariba software and fluent in English and French Education or relevant qualifications i.e. Masters’ degree in Supply Chain from Cranfield UniversitySummary of an achievement i.e. Delivered savings of £5m during 2018 through strategic redesign of Food ingredient category plan across EMEAAnother achievement if possible, i.e. completed Kraft Heinz’s graduate scheme in 2012 and was promoted twice in the three years followingA summary of your career aspirations i.e. specifically interested in a packaging category management role in a business which values sustainable procurement solutions 3. Next, work experience:Work in reverse chronological order, your most recent role should be topList your employer, dates of employment (month/year) and job titleIf the business you worked for may not be well known, you could include a quick summary of the business and what they do under thisNext, list your achievements for this role, keep it to 3-4 bullet pointsAchievements need to be tangible i.e. “delivered £5m in savings through a redesign of UK warehouse networks” Then, list your responsibilities, again keep this to 3-4 bullet points and keep them short i.e. “Managing a team of 5 transport planners, responsible for primary distribution across the UK network” 4. Up next is Education and Training, list your qualifications, institute and grades5. Lastly, list additional information you think are important such as:LanguagesIT skills/systems experienceInterests (if you want to)That’s all folks, you have a first draft of a CV! Some useful dos and don’ts for CV writing:DO get someone to proof-read your CV – grammatical and spelling errors don’t land well with potential employersDO make sure your CV is aesthetically pleasing. It should be easy to read and flow well. Don’t use random fonts (or fonts that are too small or too large), colours or images, it’s unnecessary and sometimes makes a CV harder to navigateDO make sure you haven’t left someone else’s edits, notes or tracked changes in your document.DO have a professional email address, something related to your name or similar. itsbritneybitch@hotmail.com doesn’t look great to a potential new employer (and yes, that is a similar version of a real email address we’ve seen). DON’T lie. There’s no need to cover up gaps in employment or to make changes to dates of employment etc. Honesty is always the best policy.DON’T waffle on. CV sentences should be short and snappy and avoid paragraphs of information. Also, don’t fall into the trap of using a tiny font so you can write more. A CV is a short summary designed to sell your experience; we don’t need a full biography! DON’T have a photo, unless you’re sure it’s a good one. Most people look a bit scary doing their “business face” whilst equally a photo of you drunk in the pub isn’t ideal either. Photos on CVs aren’t necessary so it’s easier not to have one. DON’T include references on your CV, if someone needs them they will ask for them and you don’t want to publicise someone’s contact details unnecessarily ​​

A survival guide for networking eventsFor whatever sins we committed (probably global warming) we’ve all been subjected to networking events. As a professional in the business world, they’re just something you have to endure. You may get lucky and attend these events with a group of colleagues, but realistically, you’re on your own because budgets and sign off rarely let five people attend the same event. So, if you find yourself hurled into a networking event and riding solo, consider us your Robin, your Samwise Gamgee and your Avengers. In other words, here’s a guide to get you through it and 10 tips on how to survive: 1.Look for the other awkward person The truth is that everyone feels awkward and if you see someone hovering about the food table, standing alone, looking uncomfortable or scrolling on their phone because they’re not sure what else to do, then go and talk to them. You’re both feeling as awkward as each other and you can buddy up. 2.Don’t drink the coffee We repeat, DO NOT drink the coffee. It always tastes like dishwater that’s been left in the sun for approximately 243 days before being filtered through, what tastes like, a garden hose. This is not how you want to start your day and it will put you in a terrible mood. Grab a coffee from your favourite bougie barista on the way to the event and save yourself the heartache. 3.Always includeIf you’ve found someone to chat to, or you’ve formed a group of you all chatting and laughing thinking, ‘yes we’ve totally conquered this’, don’t exclude anyone who might want to join your group. If someone is alone and slides up to you, be the first to step back and open the circle. Also resist the temptation to whip out your phone and scroll. That can exclude people from approaching you and starting a conversation. 4.Know where the exit points are When you arrive do a quick scan and find your exit points. That might be the toilet, the food table or maybe even a spare room. If you get stuck in a terrible conversation, or are just feeling overwhelmed and need a minute, you’re going to need valid excuses and a quick route out. 5.Take some chewing gum with youWe don’t need to explain this point. You know what we’re talking about and you never want to be that person. Especially if desperation drove you to drink the coffee. 6.Don’t drink all the alcohol We know we know, sometimes it’s the best bit about these events. However, no one likes a sloppy drunk at their networking event and that’s not why you want people to remember you. You can drink as much as you like later with your friends, but limit your booze now, stay sharp, stay alert. Constant vigilance is necessary at all times. This is war my friends and no-one has ever won a war drunk. (At least we don’t think they have, but we cannot fully speak for Churchill). 7.Make them feel special When you’re talking to someone the goal is to make them feel special, adored and noticed. This means listen more than you talk. Ask questions. Be interested. Don’t keep checking your phone at the same time. Stay present. The basic psychology of humans essentially means we all love to talk about ourselves. It does wonderful things for our ego. It also means that person remembers you and thinks you’re great. When you take an interest in someone, they tend to think you’re a great conversationalist and a wonderful person. (This tip can also be applied to first dates. You’re welcome). 8.Be youIt’s all very well trying to be professional and not get drunk, but don’t forget to bring your whole self to this event. Chat the way you normally would. Don’t try to be what you think they want. Let your personality come out. No one remembers boring people anyway. 9.Research the guests Take a look at the attendee list before you get there and do a bit of research on the people that look interesting. You might be drawn to their job title or company. Find out what their business does and what they’re up to. Connecting with attendees on LinkedIn before the event and arranging to meet up is also a great way of ensuring you have someone to talk to when you arrive. 10.Have some lines ready These might be ‘get out of jail’ lines or ‘join the conversation’ lines. Below are some examples to put in your arsenal, just in case.•‘God the coffee is awful isn’t it. What do you think they did to it?’•‘Hey do you mind if I join you guys, you look like you’re having an interesting conversation’•‘I’m never sure what’s the appropriate way to start a conversation out of thin air, but hi’•‘Do you think these events are awkward for everyone and actually we’re all in the same boat?’•‘Do you fancy standing awkwardly together?’•‘Hey, how you finding the event so far?’•‘That’s really interesting. I hope I get to catch up some more with you, but for now if you’ll excuse me, I just need to make a quick call’•‘No way, how funny. Listen I’ll catch up with you shortly, I’m just going to say hello to a few people I need to introduce myself to’•‘Great talking to you. I’m going to grab some food but chat shortly’ Remember, everyone feels awkward at some point and everything starts with a conversation. YOU’VE. GOT. THIS. We all believe in you. Just don’t drink the coffee.

Relocating for work - what to consider​If you’re considering relocating for a job, then the first thing we want to say is congrats on getting to a stage where you’re thinking of making an exciting move for your career and future. But (there’s always a but), you probably have a million thoughts and worries going through your head right now. Where am I going to live? How will I get to work? Will my family cope with the new surroundings? Can I bring my cat? And so on. We have a lot of experience with managing candidates through relocation and even though we can’t give you an exhaustive list of dos and don’ts, if you are considering moving or have an offer on the table which requires a move, consider these things: Location, location, location…This might seem obvious but if you’re considering a new location, you need to decide what works for you. Consider things such as:City life – if you live in a big city now, are you willing to work somewhere quieter in your new role? And vice versa, if you like somewhere quiet now, could you relocate happily to a big city? Friends and family – if you are moving to be closer to these people, where do they live and what sort of locations could you live to be close to them?Costs and commuting – have you considered how much it’ll cost to live in your new location? Have you considered reasonable commutes from your new office and how much it will cost to get to work? e.g. if you get a new job in central London but decide to commute from Kent, rent might be less but how much time and money will you spend commuting every day? Local communities – you can ask your new employer to connect you with people who have relocated to work for them. It’ll be a great place to go for advice or support,Ensure that your family and friends are on-board The most common reason for somebody pulling out of a job move that requires relocation, is that the candidate’s family does not want to go. So, make sure to include your partner (if you have one) in the process right from the beginning and give them a chance to tell you how they feel about the idea. Also, this may seem random, but we have seen it become an issue before. So, if you have pets and they need to move with you, you should look into how you can go about doing this as from country to country there are different quarantine rules and regulations. Consider your new cost of livingThe cost of living can vary greatly from country to country. You may need to consider the following: Tax systems: Make sure that this covers not just income tax but other elements such as local taxes, national insurance and how tax works on things like pensions and other benefits. Try to get a breakdown showing what your net pay would be. Housing costs: Whether buying or renting, you will need to understand the cost implications. When buying, is there any support that your new employer will be able to offer you? Also, what is the cost of buying a property (such as agency fees etc.) ?Benefits and taxes: These differ from country to country so don’t forget to ask how systems and taxes work for things like pensions, healthcare, schooling allowances, company cars etc. Relocating your belongings: If your new company aren’t organising this for you, you should investigate how much it’ll cost you to move belongings to a new home, especially if you have lots of furniture as international shipping can be expensive! Healthcare – many places may have a different healthcare system to what you’re used to. You should research this before you make a move, especially if you have any ongoing conditions which require treatment and/or medication. For differences in costs in general, from rental to restaurants to public transport and more, you can use this helpful website to compare costs of living from city to city: https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jspTransferring properties There are lots of things to consider relating to where you are going to live in order to do your new role, think about:Renting: can you exit your current rental agreement and are there any financial penalties for leaving early? What is the notice period? If you can’t exit it, when does it end?Home ownership: are you going to sell your house? Are you going to rent it out? Are family going to continue living in it? The implications of any of these options will implicate whether you buy or rent in your new country (or a combination of both!), so it’s worth considering all options and figure out what is best for you.Finding a new place to live: speak to your new employer, their relocation team (if they have one) or friends and family you know in your new country that can help you understand more about the property market and how you can go about finding a new place to call home. If you don’t have any of these things available to you, there’s a wealth of information available online too.SchoolingIf you are relocating with children you will need to consider their educational needs, think about:Availability of schools in the area you plan to move to and whether or not that have space for your children in their respective school classes. You should start this process early on in your considerations to make sure you can find a school place somewhere you and your children are happy with for when they moveTimescales for starting in a new school – these can vary, and some schools only have an intake once or twice a year. If this is the case, you may need to consider relocating at the right time of year (which will impact your start date) or relocating without your whole family first and your children transferring schools at the right timeInternational schools: these aren’t available everywhere so if you want your children to go to an international school you should check the availability of these, whether or not they have space and when your children can start. You should also make sure you build the cost of these into your plans if you aren’t offered this as part of your package. Your new employer or their relocation team should be able to offer you advice, or ask them to introduce you to another parent in the business that can advise you.​If you would like any more advice on relocation please feel free to drop us an email to info@pod-talent.com and we’ll help if we can. ​

​How to Improve Your Job Search – Using Job BoardsIf you’re keen to progress in your job search and don’t mind being contacted by recruiters, we recommend submitting your CV and completing the profile section on job boards such as Reed, Indeed, CV library etc. Recruitment consultants and hiring companies regularly search these job boards for profiles that fit their requirements. ​When submitting your CV to these job boards, there are some things to keep in mind: DO make sure that all your profile information is accurate and up to date.DO make sure you categorise yourself properly by sector and skills according to how the site works.DO focus just as much on populating all the fields that the job board requires – it’s not just about your CV.DO put in salary expectations and keep them realistic. If left blank, you will not appear in over 50% of search results.DO be specific about location. Include your postcode so you come up in searches as well as locations you'd be willing to work when prompted to do so. Make sure your location is on your CV too. If your address is different to the locations you are looking in, because you're relocating for example, we'd recommend stating this or using an address in the area you want to move to. DO make sure you are available to respond to interest in your profile once it’s properly posted, otherwise you will miss out on job opportunities. Keep an eye on your emails as well. DO be careful about putting your profile on a job board if you aren’t really open to new opportunities. You could end up wasting not only your own time but the time of potential future employers and recruiters.DO get someone to proof-read your CV – grammatical and spelling errors don’t land well with potential employers. If you need any advice on writing a CV, you can check out another guide here.DO have a professional email address, something related to your name or similar. itsbritneybitch@hotmail.com doesn’t look great to a potential new employer (and yes, that is a similar version of a real email address we’ve recently seen!). DO use a mix of general job boards i.e. indeed/reed/cv library as well as have a look for any specialist ones in your field i.e. supplychainrecruit ​Simultaneously, there are some things we recommend you DON’T do:DON’T just upload your CV and ignore building your profileDON’T lie. There’s no need to cover up gaps in employment or to make changes to dates of employment etc. Honesty is always the best policy.DON’T waffle on. CV sentences should be short and snappy and avoid paragraphs of information. Also, don’t fall into the trap of using a tiny font so you can write more. A CV is a short summary designed to sell your experience; we don’t need a full biography! DON’T have a photo, unless you’re sure it’s a good one. Most people look a bit scary doing their “business face” whilst equally a photo of you drunk in the pub isn’t ideal either. Photos on CVs aren’t necessary so it’s easier not to have one. DON’T include references on your CV, if someone needs them, they will ask and you don’t want to publicise someone’s contact details unnecessarilyPutting your CV onto job boards and building profiles can take time and effort, but once done it should increase your pipeline of job opportunities. As well as using a job board, you should also make sure your linkedin profile is up to date, so have a look at another of our guides on this subject here.​