Introducing The Drop
The Drop is a new regular series of articles by Lee Young.
I’m Lee Young, a recruitment consultant, business owner, passionate drinks enthusiast and car fanatic with over 15 years of experience recruiting in the global drinks market.
My recruitment career started in 2004 when I joined a leading search and selection business in Leeds. I started out recruiting sales, marketing and operations talent for a range of FMCG and drinks businesses including Nestle, Unilever, Pepsico, Coca Cola and Carlsberg.
After several years working with generalist FMCG businesses, my passion for the drinks industry led to creating and leading a drinks team focused purely on the drinks market. My team of consultants worked with a range of global drinks businesses including Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, SAB Miller, Constellation and Diageo.
In 2009, I set up Fluid Fusion, now in its’ 10th year. I had become frustrated with the ‘boiler shop’ nature of the big recruitment firms and felt there was a more collaborative and informed way of working with clients and matching the best candidates with the best companies.
This blog is primarily focused on recruitment in the drinks market and, I hope, will be informative and interesting for both clients and candidates. Articles will offer commentary and guidance on all aspects of resourcing, career development and recruiting.
Top things to consider when applying for jobs
(Part 1 of 2)
What are you looking for?
This may sound obvious but what are you looking for in a new role?
A step up, a sideways move, more money, less travel, new skills, relocation etc… These considerations will form the fundamental foundations of your search and allow you to hone your applications for jobs. You are more likely to be apply and find the right job for you by thinking about these things upfront.
Waiting and then determining these factors mid-process often leads to disaster e.g. waiting until a job offer is received that requires relocation before discussing with partner/family.
What is the client looking for?
Many job adverts may look similar, but all differ to some degree in what the client is looking for. Study both the advert, company and requirements carefully, the more specific the advert is, the stricter a client may be on experience, skills and specific exposure.
Details such as location, account/category/customer experience, salary and package and skills are key barometers that clients consider in applications, so do you match up?
All present and correct?
It may sound obvious but always ensure you provide an up-to-date CV with current contact details. This is a frustrating issue for recruiters and clients when they cannot reach a candidate because a mobile number is wrong, or an email is one that the candidate rarely uses.
Also attaching a note instead of a CV and stating; ‘Look at my LinkedIn profile’ is rarely a good look.
No money, no problem, right?
Many job postings ask for salary and package details and I certainly understand sometimes that candidates may want to withhold this information. You may be on a higher salary and wish to discuss this with the client at interview, you may want to keep the information confidential until you are engaged in an interview process.
However, much like the fact that jobs adverts that have no salary on them get up to 60% fewer applicants, candidate applications without salary/package details can suffer the same fate. If you do not wish to disclose these details, explain why in the covering letter.
