Category: Australia

OK there is nothing worse than unsolicited advice and over the years I have been given lots of it. I may have given it out as well, probably with good intention rather than malice aforethought. But when I filter through some of the nonsense purporting to be good advice, I discover there have been a few gems. This is about the three rules of business and they could not be simpler:

1. Don’t have partners
2. Don’t employ anybody
3. Always use someone else’s money

Yes it sounds a bit twee but if you strive towards these and consider them goals more so than rules, then they have some merit.

Partners

They cause the most concern. People change, people get greedy and before long you end up with a committee style management  were individuals do what they always end up doing, they look out for themselves

Employees.

Who in their right mind would want to employ anybody these days. Unfair dismissal, payroll tax, theft etc. you train them and then they take everything they have learnt and either use it for the next employer or for themselves.

Money

We all know in construction there is a merry go round of clients paying contractors and contractors paying subcontractors. In most cases everyone is waiting to get paid whilst the costs of running their businesses just keep coming in. So we end up funding the very people who owe us money and how do you build that into shrinking margins.

It is a simple task to highlight the problems of standard companies with partners  employees and overdrafts, so what is the ideal business. I reckon one of my good friends has the answer. He buys electrical cable wholesale. The kind that is used in domestic situations. It is sold in hardware shops, it never changes specification, unlimited shelf life and a large amount can be stored in a relatively small area. He has a simple machine which unwinds the large cable drum and winds it onto smaller cable reels, then he has it picked up by couriers and sent out to he various outlets he services. The business consist of him, his machine and space under his house. On delivery the payment goes straight into his account so he is always paid before he has to pay his supplier.

He has no partners to consider, no whingeing employees, always cash positive, earns a very good income and above all – he is happy doing it.

I find myself in the job market. Trolling seek.com and sending resumes to the ubiquitous employment consultant, and not holding my breath for immediate positive feedback. Having decided on a break from the slings and arrows of site based project management I decided to take some time to catch up on several tasks that have escaped my attention over the last couple of years. New kitchen, car purchases, holiday, writing, catching up with people and most important of all just simply spending time with my darling wife. But lets not get into Shades of Gray, this blog is about the recruitment consultant.

Over the years I have been their client as a candidate and as a customer. I have hired many staff over the years and have been found several jobs through them. I have seen the good and the bad from both sides. So perhaps the simplest way is to categorise them.

The Mate

The Mate wants to be your friend.  Often they will pick up on my accent (Liverpool) and if they are poms (and many are) will instantly assume that I have just arrived in Australia and proceed to put down Australians and try to strike some accord with me because we happen to have been born in the same country. So after a minute of matey xenophobic chatter they tell you how strong your resume is and how they have several positions ideal for you. The trouble is they are often inexperienced and if they can get me as the candidate offside they will have no chance with a perspective employer. Nil out of ten.

The Child

Everyone has to start somewhere. Unfortunately, lack of training and inexperience shows. These consultants tend to dwell in the larger recruitment companies who use them for initial candidate interrogation. Those who are upfront about being simply an initial call, may in time progress, those who pretend to be more experienced than they are, will fall by the wayside. Three out of ten.

The Soldier

These are recruiters that have been in the game for some time. They process information they receive but lack panache. If they are thorough (and some even call you back and remember your name) then they work well for candidates and clients alike. Six out of ten.

The Fisherman

These are the best. They have experience, even understanding what the client wants and only put forward candidates that the client would employ. They are pleasant but not chatty, call you with feedback, understand what the client wants, ask the hard questions of the candidates. But they are few and far between. I have dealt with four of them over the years. I call them fishermen because they understand bait ie the resume, the fish ie the candidate and hooking the client. They score a ten out of ten and will tell you upfront if the position is beyond your experience.

The interesting fact is that they are all female and bloody good at their jobs. Ok open twitter and duck Gerry!