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Ask James Reed: how to ace the job interview

​​​Questions employers ask at interview can range from the standard ‘What are your weaknesses?’ to out-of-the-box questions like ‘How many traffic lights are there in London?’ – James Reed can help you decipher what they are really asking.Find out how to pass your next interview with flying colours with this free webinar, in which James shared insight from his 25 years in recruitment and answered your burning questions.This webinar was the second instalment of a two-part series based on two of his books:- The 7 Second CV: How to Land the Interview- Why You? 101 Interview Questions You’ll Never Fear AgainIn case you missed the first one on CV-writing tips, you can watch it back here.Speaker profile: James Reed, CEO and Chairman, ReedJames Reed has worked in recruitment and careers for more than 25 years. Reed receives forty million job applications a year and has delivered over one hundred programmes to help more than 200,000 people who had been long-term unemployed back into work.The Reed Group currently employs more than 3,800 people across the globe helping to improve lives through work. James Reed was voted Top CEO by employee-ratings platform Glassdoor in both 2018 and 2019, and Reed won a coveted Best Places to Work Award from the same company in 2019 and 2020. This means it is the top-ranked recruiter on the list of all organisations voted as excellent workplaces by employees on Glassdoor.

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Ask James Reed: how to write a stand-out CV

​​​It takes just seven seconds for an employer to save or reject a job applicant’s CV. This seven-second rule inspired James Reed’s book on how to optimise your CV to land an interview.This webinar was the first instalment of a two-part series, in which James shares insight from his 25 years in recruitment, and two of his books:- The 7 Second CV: How to Land the Interview- Why You? 101 Interview Questions You’ll Never Fear AgainJames presented his ideas and advice on creating a CV to impress. This was followed by a 30-minute Q&A session in which the audience put their CV questions to the expert himself and got his invaluable advice first hand.Speaker profile: James Reed, CEO and Chairman, ReedJames Reed has worked in recruitment and careers for more than 25 years. Reed receives forty million job applications a year and has delivered over one hundred programmes to help more than 200,000 people who had been long-term unemployed back into work.The Reed Group currently employs more than 3,800 people across the globe helping to improve lives through work. James Reed was voted Top CEO by employee-ratings platform Glassdoor in both 2018 and 2019, and Reed won a coveted Best Places to Work Award from the same company in 2019 and 2020. This means it is the top-ranked recruiter on the list of all organisations voted as excellent workplaces by employees on Glassdoor.

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Five top tips to attract talent in a candidate-short market

With salaries fluctuating, increased demand for flexibility and professionals difficult to come by, organisations are finding themselves battling for talent.To discuss this acutely candidate-driven jobs market, Reed held a webinar with four of its recruitment experts: ‘The great flirtation: how to attract the best professionals in 2022’. The event featured Reed Chairman and CEO James Reed, as well as Claire Harvey, Managing Director, UK Network, Chris Adcock, Managing Director, Reed Technology, and Lucie Daluiso, Divisional Managing Director, Further Education.The quartet used their industry experience and expertise to analyse the current jobs market, while also providing advice to businesses looking to hire in this environment. Here are five of their most prominent recommendations.1. Benchmark salaries to stay competitiveWith salaries fluctuating, knowing what the market rate is for jobs in your sector and region is critical for attracting talent.While professionals’ priorities have changed over the course of the pandemic, salary is still a critical factor. James noted that a Reed.co.uk workforce study from last autumn found that 39% of professionals rated salary as their number one priority when looking to move role, while over half suggested that their current employer raising their salary would make them less inclined to move.When it comes to using salaries to attract candidates, he added: “I would say to those companies looking to encourage people to move that they will have to pay a premium of 10% on salaries. What I mean by that is that if you find a good candidate who’s already in a job, you’ll get their attention by paying 10% above what they’re currently earning, or 10% above the market rate.”2. Tailor benefits packagesBenefits are an increasingly important part of any compensation package, helping organisations to stand out if their offering exceeds that of their competitors. Chris argued that the way to create eye-catching benefits packages is to be flexible and have individual preferences in mind when formulating them:“While people list salary as their number one motivator, benefits and rewards are very close behind. Benefits packages are really exciting for candidates because they will be looking at things specific to them.“It’s important to have a diverse and flexible benefits package, and to understand what drives individual candidates, so you can put the perfect package to them – there’s no point selling something to somebody which is going to fall on deaf ears.”3. Provide some form of flexibilityFlexibility has shifted dramatically due to the pandemic. Where remote working and other forms of flexibility were once seen as rare perks, they’re now playing a huge part in jobseekers’ considerations when looking for new roles.“We have some fabulous clients – some top companies - who are insisting on everyone going into the office, yet quite a lot of applicants are saying they don’t want to work for them, as they want to work flexibly,” James noted.For those roles which cannot be done remotely, Claire suggested that there are ways companies can incorporate flexibility to satisfy prospective employees, such as operating core hours-style models:“Something we were trialling at Reed, even before the pandemic, was our dynamic working model. It isn’t full hybrid working, but allows people to do the school run or go to the gym in the morning – adding some flexibility within the working day.”4. Engage candidates through the whole process – even after they’ve accepted an offerOne feature of the current talent market has been a huge increase in organisations issuing counteroffers to retain staff. These can range from significant salary increases through to a change of job title or increased responsibility.Claire outlined how to mitigate for this challenge and nurture people through their resignation, especially for professionals who are on longer notice periods: “You must treat that candidate like they have already joined your organisation and really involve them.“You really have to make sure that the candidate is engaged with you from the moment they enter the recruitment process through to the job offer. It’s never been more important to sell your business, so the whole experience must be good – from replying to their application promptly through to keeping in touch before and after interviews and giving them accurate feedback.”Lucie highlighted strategies used to keep candidates engaged while they wait for approval – as sometimes when applying for a job in the prison education sector it can take up to 12 weeks to go through all the security clearance:“We’ve implemented plans where candidates will have calls with the prison they’re going to work in at least once every two weeks, maybe even once a week. For ourselves, we’re trying to encourage a lunch or for people to come into the office – something a little more warm and friendly so that people know where they’re going to be working.”5. Offer a great place to workFor those organisations where workers are fully onsite or working hybridly, offering a wonderful place to work is an excellent way to attract professionals – particularly where people are unable to work remotely.“You need to think about how to make it more attractive to be in the office and how to make it a great place to work,” stated James. “I think being with groups of people, especially for younger candidates, is attractive – if you can create the environment and culture that makes it exciting.”Chris added that creating a fantastic culture and sense of togetherness, particularly in SMEs, is a way organisations can stand apart from their competitors – even if they are unable to match the compensation packages being offered by other companies.To benchmark salaries and benefits in your sector and region, download our 2022 salary guides now.​