Recruitment Channel Report 2009 - Top-Consultant.com€¦ · PAGE 13 Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2008 Introduction Having looked at the recruiter survey & findings

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Management Consultancy

Recruitment Channel Report 2009

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The 12 months that have passed since our last recruitment channel survey have proven to be a watershed for consulting recruitment with the majority of consulting brands revising downwards their recruitment needs in the face of repeated economic shocks. No longer does the war for talent prevail and those recruiters that are still active are once again enjoying their pick of candidates as more candidates come onto the market chasing fewer live opportunities.

Now in its 8th year, this unique report aims to help both recruiters and consulting candidates alike as they engage with this dynamic market. It is compiled from two surveys: a comprehensive survey of management consultancy candidates (877 individual responses this year, with just under 8,000 responses in total over the last eight years); and a separate consultancy recruiters’ survey, which was completed both by those in management consulting firms and also by members of recruitment consultancy firms specializing in consultancy placements (142 individual responses).

Taken together, I hope we have generated the definitive resource for planning recruitment campaigns and maximizing the effectiveness of candidates’ applications.

Our thanks go to all those that contributed to the surveys and also to Richard Stewart and his team at Mindbench (www.mindbench.com) for sponsoring this report.

Bryan HicksonManaging Directorwww.Top-Consultant.com

Part I - Recruiter poll resultsRecruitment trends 5

Retention rates 9

Part II - Recruiter channel survey resultsIntroduction 13

Candidate Attraction - Key findings 15

Recruitment channels 18Corporate sites 19

Personal referrals 21

Newspapers 22

Recruitment agencies 23

Internet job sites 24

Future trends in candidate application behaviour 25

Candidate intentions 26

Choosing recruitment agency suppliers 29Best individual recruitment consultants 30

Top 20 recruitment firms by reach 31

Top 8 recruitment firms by praise 32

Choosing internet job site suppliers 33

Conclusions 34

Thanks to our sponsor

http://www.mindbench.com

Recruiter poll resultsData collected from 142 management consultancy recruiters

Part I

Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2009PAGE 5

The downturn has significantly impacted on recruitment for this coming year. When asked of their plans for 2009, recruiters quantified that:

• 50% had scaled back their hiring targets for 2009 as a result of the recent economic uncertainty. (Only18% reported this in the 2008 survey.)

• 34% reported that major recruitment campaigns for 2009 have not yet got underway as consulting firms were waiting to see if a recession was looming. (Up from 22% last year.)

• 38% report that recruitment budgets for 2009 are being scaled back in light of changed market sentiments. (Just 9.4% of respondents reported this last year.)

• 12% have recruitment on hold as a result of market uncertainty. (This is a significant rise from just 1.3% this time last year.)

Over the last 12 months the sales pipelines of firms both big and small have shortened significantly. Some firms have just a few weeks work booked rather than several months despite firms significantly dropping the minimum project size thresholds they would have pursued in years past. This is a major factor in firms’ hesitancy to restart hiring.

Recruitment trends

Top-Consultant.com PAGE 6

Recruiters’ expectations have changed significantly since this time last year.

Only 24% of recruiters expect to make more hires this year compared to last year (the figure was 50% in 2008).

But it’s important to note that this is a question about expectations for the future rather than actual hiring activity and as such it demonstrates a massive sea-change in expectations for the consulting market since we ran the survey in the first months of 2008. That was a time before the full impact of the downturn had been realized and at that time the expectation was that half of the firms polled would be hiring more aggressively than they had in 2007. Of course, recruitment slowed down significantly in the second half of 2008 and this recruitment target data suggests that recruiters are not expecting a recovery to 2007 levels in 2009 at least.

Figure 1: 2009 vs. 2008 recruitment targets

10 %

20 %

30 %

0 %

0 %

2008

2009

Source: Top-Consultant.com Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2009

Make considerably more hires than last year

Make slightly more hires than last year

Make as many hires as last year

Make slightly fewer hires than last year

Make considerably fewer hires than last year


We asked two new questions this year in the recruiter survey. Here is the first:

The hot sector areas are likely to be Public Sector, Purchasing & Supply Chain, Energy & Utilities, Healthcare & Pharma, Education etc.

And here is the second new question in this section:

In order (highest first) we have IT/Software Development, Business Process Improvement, Project/Programme Management etc.. It seems that consulting firms are being forced to focus on pitching for work that has a payback of less than 12 months as clients want spend to be profit enhancing or profit neutral within the current financial year. So strategy work is much harder to sell; restructuring/change projects are on a stronger footing.

1 = Least likely7 = Most likely

Automotive / Aerospace

Chemicals

Distribution / Logistics

Energy & UtilitiesEngineering & Manufacturing

Facilities Management

Financial Services

General ManagementHealthcare & Pharma

Information Technologies

Leisure / Lifestyle

Public Sector

Purchasing & Supply ChainRetail / Consumer Goods

Science / Research Technology

Telecoms, Media & Entertainment

Transportation

Education

Figure 2: In which sectors is most recruitment activity expected within consulting?

0 1 2 3



CRM

Business Process Improvement

Economics & Environmental Cons.

Finance / Accounting

HR Consulting

IT / Software Development

Marketing & Sales

Outsourcing

Project / Programme Management

Strategy

Technology

E-Business

0 1 2 3

Figure 3: Which functional areas do you expect to be most active through 2009?



We asked: “Which pools of candidates do you expect to make most of your hires in 2009?”

The most likely source of hires through 2009 remains other consulting firms. The appeal of experienced hires from industry remains unchanged in rank and scale at number 2. The appeal of experienced hires from the public sector is on the rise while at the same time the attractiveness of recruits from the City is falling.

Interestingly, the appeal of University leavers and MBA finalists is down for the second year running which inevitably spells talent shortages of those with 1 or 2 years consulting experience when the market picks up again.

This heightened focus on the hiring of experienced hires – and the lower priority attached to the hiring of finalists – means it is critical for recruiters to optimise their campaign approaches for recruiting experienced hires. Part II of this report provides excellent insights in this respect, being based on candidate data from 877 experienced hire candidates.

Experienced hires from other consulting firms

Experienced hires from Government for other public sector bodies

Experienced hires from the City

MBA Finalists

University leavers / Finalists

Experienced hires from industry

0 1 2 3 4 5

Figure 4: Most likely source of hires in 2009




The UK consulting market as a whole is experiencing a median rate of staff loss of just under 10%, which is more or less unchanged from 2008 when the figure was only slightly above 10%. In fact, this year’s results are remarkably consistent with the attrition rates reported last year in each of the segments.

It is interesting to note that this time last year, the expectation of candidates was that attrition rates would worsen significantly with 65% of respondents saying that they were more likely to move jobs in 2008 than they were in 2007.

Recruiters were far more accurate at that time in forecasting that attrition would actually ease slightly through 2008 and indeed this has been the case with fewer consultants being prepared to raise their heads above the parapet and join the job market through the onset of the downturn.

Looking forward to the next 12 months, 31% of recruiters expect attrition to worsen through 2009 (2008 figure was 26%) and 38% anticipate that attrition will ease (also 38% in 2008), suggesting that not much change is expected overall in the. So there is not much change expected overall in the historically low attrition that the profession is experiencing at this time. However, some recruiting will still be needed just for firms to stand still in terms of headcount.

Retention rates – how are they likely to evolve in 2009 compared with 2008?


Figure 5: What staff attrition rate has your consulting business experienced in the last year?

32%

23%

14%

4% 1%

5-10% attrition rate

0-5% attrition rate

25%+ attrition rate



27%10-15% attrition rate


Every year we ask recruiters to tell us, from exit interviews that they have conducted over the past 12 months, the sorts of roles that consultants are moving on to. The most popular destination for consultants leaving their firm in the past year has, once again been another consulting firm, followed by Jobs in Industry, the City and so on.

Comparing this year’s data with last year’s we can see that though moving into industry/’client-side’ remains consultants’ 2nd most favorite destination, the appeal of this move has fallen over the last 12 months. In the same period,

the appeal of the public sector to consultants looking to move has leapt from 6th to 3rd. More consultants are moving overseas to join a consulting firm than ever before but the appeal of moving into a City role is at an all time low – until 2007, the City had been a popular destination for consultants looking to hang up their laptops and improve on their rewards.

We also asked recruiters “What other factors are pushing consultants to change jobs in the current market?” A selection of responses follows:

“Individuals with lower skill-sets are being offered fewer assignments as the client demand for quality grows. This affects their bonuses, leading them to seek alternative opportunities elsewhere.”

“Not willing to take responsibility for rounded aspects of the role - i.e. not wanting to be seen as business development people.”

“The biggest reason people leave consulting is to move into a corporate where they will travel less and also have the chance to see the impact of the changes and recommendations that they make.”

“Redundancy and requests from employers to make contractual changes, i.e. move to a 4 day week, in order to cut costs.”

“Lack of clear pipeline - ‘decision paralysis’ surrounding new projects/budgets for new work.”

Figure 6: What types of roles are consultants moving on to?

Job in industry

Consulting overseas (moving to Australia, Dubai, etc)

Job in the City (Investment banking, private equity, etc)

Set up of own business

Job in the public sector

Another consulting firm in the UK

0 1 2 3




For the first time in the eight years that we have conducted this survey, increasing remuneration is not the biggest single driver for consultants to change jobs – and the fall in the number of consultants citing this reason for moving jobs is remarkable with 54% of consultants last year and just 33% this year. Last year’s number ‘2’ ranking – ‘Career Prospects (promotional track) looks more promising elsewhere’ and number ‘3’ – ‘Too much time spent travelling leading to dissatisfaction with work/life balance’ have both leapfrogged pay and reward this year suggesting that consultants’ career priorities have shifted as the downturn has deepened with career building/longevity and work/life becoming more important than pay and reward.

So, just as we suggested last year, delivering on career progression promises can be a significant differentiator between firms. Similarly, travel demands made on consultants also continue to be a key reason for dissatisfaction and the willingness of firms to allow home/remote working is another area that could pay dividends in terms of staff retention.

Figure 7: Exit interviews - Reasons given for consultants leaving

Career prospects more promising elsewhere

Desire to work in a smaller consulting organisation

Dissatisfaction with excessive travelling (work/life balance)

Dissatisfaction with quality of consulting assignments

Dissatisfaction with excessive evening & weekend work

Desire to work in a larger consulting organisation

Better remuneration packages elsewhere

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%


Desire to move overseas or move location

Remuneration & promotion policies deemed to be intrasparent or unjust

Employee feels let donw by current employer

Inadequate staff training

Recruitment channel survey resultsData collected from 887 management consultancy candidates

Part II


Introduction

Having looked at the recruiter survey & findings – the market & trends as described by recruiters – we now turn to consider the candidate perspective.

This part of the 2009 Top-Consultant.com channel report looks at the channels that candidates and the consulting recruiters that they engage with choose to use, candidates’ preferences for those channels and how those preferences have changed and are changing still.

Over the years we have solicited and collected responses by promoting the candidate survey through a number of consulting news sources. This year we went out of our way to further broaden the reach of the candidate survey.

54% of the 877 respondents were reached from approaches to candidates made via CV database searches (including Monster, Jobsite, Totaljobs), LinkedIn and from various consulting firms encouraging their staff to take part in the survey.

The balance of responses came as a result of a direct Top-Consultant mailer to our readers.


Trends are based on data collected from just under 8,000 management consultancy candidates over the past 8 years.

Candidates from all the major consulting firms, including Accenture, Atos Consulting, Capgemini, PA Consulting Group, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC, Bain, EDS, IBM, Logica, Microsoft, Oracle, Siemens, SAP and Unisys once again participated in their hundreds this year, plus many consultants from niche consulting firms and potential industry hires looking to move into consulting.

Profile of respondents:

Most this year were Strategy consultants (21.9%), then Change Management consultants (21.7%), or Programme Management consultants (17.2%).

Those specialising in Telecoms, Media & Entertainment were the most numerous this year (15.8%), then Public Sector specialists (13.8%) and Financial Services (Retail F.S. focus) specialists (11.5%).

63.1% of candidates have changed jobs within the last three years.


Let us now look back at candidate activity over the last 12 months and specifically the channels used to look for new career opportunities. Every year we ask candidates to record the channels they used and the number of applications that they made through each. Collating that data allows us to analyse the penetration performance of the channels and the share of applications achieved from each of the 5 major recruitment channels.

• Corporate websites

• Personal referrals

• Newspapers

• Recruitment agencies

• Internet job sites

Candidate attraction - Key findings


Our 877 respondents were asked to record how many applications they made through the five major recruitment channels. This produces one measure of the importance of each recruitment channel within a recruitment strategy – the share of CVs produced per channel – and what is immediately apparent is that, like last year, internet job boards and recruitment agencies are critical in generating candidate applications – together they account for 70% of applications made (up from 60% last year).

The share of applications achieved by corporate sites is fairly steady compared with last year (14%). Personal referrals’ share of applications has fallen this year (down to 11%). Newspapers, as always, bring up the rear.

Figure 8: Share of applications - 2009



What’s also apparent when we look at the channel penetration figures (the percentage of candidates that actually submitted an application via each of the channels) is that no single channel alone will reach all candidates and that a multi-channel approach is essential to saturate the market.

Recruiters must consider both market penetration and share of applications when deciding on the balance of channels to use. Though internet job boards generate lots of applications, they still do not reach all candidates. Put another way, what the channel penetration figures show recruiters are not just the percentage of candidates that they are reaching via each channel, but also the percentage of candidates that they are failing to reach.

Internet job sitesPersonal referrals Corporate sites Newspapers

70%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

60%

Figure 9: Channel penetration - 2009

Recruitment agencies


80%

10%


So, recruiters should consider both market penetration and share of applications when deciding on the balance of channels to use because, by way of example, though internet jobboards and recruitment agencies generate lots of applications, they still don’t reach all the available and active candidates.

The survey now examines the volume and penetration of each of the different recruitment channels separately:

• Corporate websites

• Personal referrals

• Newspapers

• Recruitment Agencies

• Internet Job Sites

We shall examine the trends that have evolved over the 8 years that we have been collecting data and, together with what respondents have told us they will do the next time they job hunt, the trends that emerge will allow predictions to be made about future candidate behaviour and channel use.

Recruitment channels


Over the last few years we have seen a fall in the number of candidates making applications directly via corporate websites. Free text survey responses have suggested to us that much of the reason for this fall is that the perception of corporate websites is that they were primarily designed by the firm to

streamline the application process rather than to maximise direct applications. This year, we’ve seen a rebound in the use of corporate sites and now 46% of survey respondents report that they made direct approaches last year.

But those increased numbers of users have been making fewer applications overall through this channel – perhaps mainly as a result in the fall in the number of opportunities to respond to in today’s tougher market.

Corporate sites

18%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

16%

Figure 11: Share of applications - Corporate sites

2002/03


2%

0%

2006/07 2007/082005/062004/052003/042001/02 2008/09

2001/02 2004/052003/04 2005/06

50%

40%

30%

Figure 10: Penetration - Corporate sites

2002/03


20%

10%

2006/07 2007/080%

2008/09


But how do candidates find themselves making applications direct via corporate websites?

This year we were keen to investigate the different sources of visitor/application traffic that corporate websites enjoy so as to begin to be able to quantify the ‘indirects’ that the other channels drive to the corporate sites – so we asked the candidates a new question.

Most candidates (60%) that made applications to corporate websites already knew of the firm and navigated straight to the website to make the application; 30% of candidates made direct applications to firms they had first seen advertising on internet job sites; 22% were prompted to make a direct application by a personal contact; 18% of candidates making direct applications identified target firms using search engines; 13% found out about opportunities that they subsequently applied to directly via recruitment agencies.

It’s apparent that if firms want to maximise direct applications that they must consider engaging with the other channels.

Figure 12: If you submitted applications via corporate websites, what prompted you to visit their website?

Prompted to visit website by personal contact

Discovered firm was advertising opportunities via newspapers

Discovered firm was advertising opportunities via agencies

Existing knowledge of firm and surfed directly to website

0 20% 40% 60%


Search engine listng

Discovered firm was advertising opportunities via internet job sites


For the last eight years, bounty schemes have consistently achieved high market penetration generating applications from ~2/3 of all candidates. What’s more, as we shall see later, they have also been the most highly-preferred way for candidates to make recruitment applications in management consultancy.

Personal referrals will never be able to generate a massive share of applications – few consultants are so well-connected to be able to leverage many approaches through their networks – and indeed this year the share of applications achieved through personal referrals has fallen to just 11%. However, it would not be

wise to discount entirely the impact that the continued growth of online social and professional networking may make to the effectiveness of this channel.

Consultancies that are able to mobilise an effective internal referrals scheme will be at a distinct advantage over competitors who cannot.

Personal referrals

10%

5%

0%

15%

Figure 14: Share of applications - Personal referrals

2002/03


2006/07 2007/082005/062004/052003/042001/02 2008/09

50%

Figure 13: Penetration - Personal referrals

2004/052003/04 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/092001/02

40%

30%

2002/03


20%

10%

0%

60%

70%

80%


In the main, the historic newspaper advertisers (direct employers and recruitment agencies) have continued to switch spend to online solutions - newspapers have suffered most in the last 8 years with candidate penetration levels having fallen very considerably indeed down to just 24%.

Some newspapers are countering this and looking to maintain what remains of their share of applications by offering a number of agglomerated industry

special editions to advertising clients. Despite this initiative, newspapers are now responsible for less than 8% of applications and respondents to this year’s survey.

Newspapers

18%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

16%

Figure 16: Share of applications - Newspapers

2002/03


2%

0%

2006/07 2007/082005/062004/052003/042001/02 2008/09

2001/02 2004/052003/04 2005/06

40%

30%

Figure 15: Penetration - Newspapers

2002/03


20%

10%

2006/07 2007/080%

2008/09

50%


The use of recruitment agencies rebounded during the upturn but is falling once more. In candidate-rich years when consulting firms can more easily recruit directly, recruitment firms tend to suffer in terms of candidate penetration – and this year’s data suggests this is happening once again. However, approximately 2/3 of all candidates will make approaches using recruitment firms and this year’s survey free text responses were full of positive feedback for recruitment firms that bears witness to a continued appetite for working with the best firms

and appreciation for the expertise that they offer.

The share of applications achieved by recruitment firms has remained fairly steady suggesting that candidates are making fewer applications on average through recruitment firms than they they were this time last year.


2001/02 2004/052003/04 2005/06

50%

40%

30%

Figure 17: Penetration - Recruitment agencies

2002/03


20%

10%

2006/07 2007/080%

2008/09

60%

70%

80%

90%

10%

30%

0%

20%

Figure 18: Share of applications - Recruitment agencies

2002/03


2006/07 2007/082005/062004/052003/042001/02 2008/09


Internet Job Sites enjoy the highest share of candidate usage.

Internet Job Sites achieved just under 70% market penetration this year having taken share from other channels consistently for the last 8 years. It is possible that their use is plateauing: time will tell.

In terms of share of applications, we have seen over the last 6 years that candidates have been becoming more selective about the roles they respond to via internet jobboards. This past year we have seen an increase in the average number of applications made with just over 40% of all applications being made through this channel.

Internet job sites

2001/02 2004/052003/04 2005/06

50%

40%

30%

Figure 19: Penetration - Internet job sites

2002/03


20%

10%

2006/07 2007/080%

2008/09

60%

70%

10%

30%

0%

20%

Figure 20: Share of applications - Internet job sites

2002/03


2006/07 2007/082005/062004/052003/042001/02 2008/09

40%

50%


Future trends in candidate application behaviour

Candidates confirmed that these trends are likely to continue into the future.

Respondents were generally more enthusiastic about using every channel going forward, but in comparative terms we can say that:

• Personal Referrals remain candidates’ preferred route• Internet Job Sites usage well-established• Recruitment Agencies drop from 2nd to 3rd• Corporate sites increasingly preferred• Newspaper demise likely to continue

Meaning that job board and recruitment agency strategies remain key to saturating the market. However, the comparative picture of recruitment channels that has been relatively static historically is becoming more dynamic.

1 = least likely to use in future5 = most likely to use in future

2001/02

2002/03

2003/04

2004/05

2005/06

2006/07

2007/08

Figure 21: Future trends in candidate application behaviour

Newspaper adverts

Corporate sites


Internet job sites

Personal referrals

10 2 3 4Source: Top-Consultant.com Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2009

2008/09

5

Figure 22: Market saturation

40%

0%

Shar

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pplic

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20% 80%Candidate reach



Candidate intentions reinforce the view that attrition will worsen over the coming year.

65% of respondents indicated that they were more likely to move this year compared with last year, meaning that the pool of experienced consultancy hires should grow. Looking at this another way, candidate intentions suggest staff attrition will actually worsen over the coming year, putting the candidate view at odds with recruiter expectations. It should be noted, however, that these candidate results suggesting that attrition will increase markedly are very similar to those achieved this time last year and we know from the recruiters survey that staff attrition rate stayed low at just under 10%. Historically, the recruiters’ view has prevailed over that of the candidates.

Candidate intentions

Figure 23: How likely are you to change employer in the next 12 months?


Much more likely More likely Less likely Much less likely

10 %

20 %

30 %

0 %

50 %

40 %


On a positive note the majority intend to remain within consulting.

Of those respondents who are planning to change jobs in the next 12 months, the industry can take some comfort at least in the fact that the majority intend to remain within consulting. However, it may well be that consulting’s lustre has dimmed somewhat as the percentage of consultants planning to remain within the profession has fallen from 61% to 51% in just the last 12 months.

Figure 24: In the next 12 months I’m most likely to accept:

Job with a client organisation

Job in the City

Public sector /charitable job

Job with a consulting employer

0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%


Job outside consulting

Not looking to change jobs


We went on to ask: “Are there any other trends or changes you’ve noticed in the management consultancy recruitment market in the last 12 months?”

Here is a selection of responses to this question:

“Fees for freelance consultants are going higher. Salary for permanent jobs are going down.”

“Classical consulting is on the way out. Hybrid profiles and small boutiques stand to gain.”

“Consultants must be multi-skilled and have at least 5 years varied experience in all roles to be considered.”

“People in consulting firms seem to be looking for very narrow and very specific skills not strong consultants with problem solving skills.”

“As the market tightens (for opportunities), we are retaining more of our experienced (e.g., higher cost) resources, causing price-resistance by prospects.”

“Softening demand is leading to employers to lower their retention game. When uptick comes their reactive retention lunge will fail to retain best staff.”


By polling our 877 management consultancy candidates, we are able to recommend suppliers on three different grounds:

1. The best individual recruitment consultants in the UK market

2. The recruitment agents that have the greatest penetration or market reach amongst consulting candidates

3. The recruitment agencies that receive the most praise (and the least complaints) from management consultancy candidates

One caveat we should state at this point is that selection firms are for more likely to feature in this section than search firms. The former interact with huge volumes of candidates, whereas the latter target specific individuals. As such, a search firm that does a lot of work in the consulting space would not necessarily feature in the following sections.

Choosing recruitment agency suppliers


Best individual recruitment consultants

We asked candidates to help us identify the best recruiters based on their own experiences. We asked them:

“If you have been particularly impressed with an individual recruitment consultant you have worked with in the past, please provide their name & company so that we can give them special recognition”

Five individuals received the most praise. They are, in no particular order:

Congratulations to all the individuals acknowledged here and especially to Don Leslie who received the most recommendations and praise of all.

Don Leslie BLT

Rakesh Pabbi Consulting Point

David Lancefield Selecture

Chris Sale Prism

Jason La Bastide Aaron Millar Search

Consultant Agency

Figure 25: Best individual recruitment consultants



As part of the poll analysis, we also track the applications that the respondents have submitted to the various management consultancy recruitment firms. This allows us to chart the reach of the different suppliers. The Top 20 firms by candidate reach are displayed below. As more than 60 firms were mentioned by candidates again this year, all firms appearing within the Top 20 listings are in the top third of suppliers in terms of the reach they have in the marketplace.

As some suppliers are also niche specialists (ie. serve only certain practice areas), it should be obvious that this chart underestimates their reach in those areas compared with the broader recruitment firms that appear towards the top of the list.

The other factor to consider is that some firms will have well-maintained candidate databases that enable them to proactively approach more candidates than this data would suggest. Therefore this chart should mostly be viewed as a barometer for how effective the firms have been at attracting candidates via recruitment advertising over the last couple of years.

Top 20 recruitment firms by reach

Michael Page 1 10.0BLT 2 7.8Hays 3 4.5Mindbench 4 3.4Consulting Point 5 3.4Robert Half 6 3.0Selecture 7 2.7Korn Ferry 8 2.6Prism 9 2.5Hudson 10 2.1Aston Carter 11 2.0Harvey Nash 12 1.7FreshMinds 13 1.7Elan 14 1.4Odgers 15 1.4Huxley 16 1.2Heidrick & Struggles 17 1.0Pacific 18 1.0Michael Warwick Nicholls 19 1.0Robert Walters 20 1.0

Recruitment agency 2009 rank % of applications

Figure 26: Top 20 recruitment firms by reach (% of share of applications)



The penultimate question in the candidate poll is:

“Are there any recruitment agencies you would particularly praise, and why?”

And the final question asks candidates to record any disappointing experiences they may have had when working with recruitment agencies. Taken in combination, we are able to produce a league table of the Top 10 most highly regarded management consultancy recruitment firms, as voted by consultancy candidates. Our warm congratulations go to the following eight firms.

Special congratulations to BLT as outright winners and to Prism, Aston Carter and Hudson who received the fewest instances of negative feedback of all.

Top 8 recruitment firms by praise

1 BLT 2 Prism 3 Robert Half 4 Mindbench 5 Hudson 6 FreshMinds 7 Aston Carter 8 Hays

Rank Recruitment firms

Figure 27: Top 8 recruitment firms



Choosing internet job site suppliers

Top-Consultant maintains a considerable lead over both generalist job boards and other niche sites serving the sector.

… and also remains Consultants’ preferred site for finding Management Consultancy jobs.

Figure 28: Which websites do you regularly review for consultancy job opportunities?

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Top-Consultant

LinkedIn

Monster

Jobsite

Exec-Appointments

eFinancialCareers

FT

Executivesontheweb

MCA

TopITconsultant

ConsultantsboardAccountancy Age /


0 10% 30% 50% 70%

Totaljobs

Consulting Ladder

Figure 29: Which do you rate above all others for finding a consulting job?

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Top-Consultant

LinkedIn

Monster

Jobsite

Exec-Appointments

eFinancialCareers

FT

Executivesontheweb

MCA

TopITconsultant

ConsultantsboardAccountancy Age /


0 10% 20% 30% 40%

Totaljobs

Consulting Ladder


Recruitment agencies and internet job boards now account for 70% of all applications made by consultants – make sure you have built relationships with good providers in both these channels.

Personal referral or bounty schemes remain candidates’ preferred means of finding new employment – work on improving take-up of your scheme.

Corporate careers pages are of growing appeal to candidates once again. But remember to be mindful how candidates find themselves on your website especially if it’s likely they will not know your firm already.

Newspapers should be considered when there is a consulting supplement or special edition which act as a draw to suitable candidates; but as a regular recruitment channel for consultants their effectiveness continues to decline.

The Consultancy Careers Fair and Virtual Careers Fair in 2009

This year’s Management Consultancy Careers Fair will take place on the evening of the 8th October and during the day of the 9th October 2009 at The Barbican Exhibition Hall in central London.

The next Top-Consultant.com Virtual Careers Fair will take place on 26th June. A virtual careers fair is very similar to a physical one the only difference being that all interaction takes place online. Candidates will be able to join webinars, visit companies’ virtual stands, chat live with representatives and submit their applications, all from the jobseekers’ locations, wherever they may be.

Book these dates in your diary and contact the Top-Consultant.com sales team now to find out more.

Key messages

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•advertisingonourwebsites

•advertisinginourconsultancy-focusedpublications

•accessingourCVdatabases

• runningbespokecareersevents

•participatingintheannualConsultancyCareersFair

orVirtualCareersFair

CALL TO SPEAK WITH ONE OF OUR TEAM Please call us on +44 (0) 207 667 6880 and ask for Bryan Hickson, Sarah Nutton or Aleksandra Gosciej if you are interested in recruiting Management Consultants, or Graeme Underhill or Stephen Davey if you are interested in recruiting IT consultants.

REQUEST A BROCHUREAlternatively, please feel free to request a PDF brochure detailing our services. You may do this online by visiting the following web links:

Top-Consultant.com – for management consultancy hires http://www.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/Solutions.aspx

TopITconsultant.com – for IT consulting hireshttp://www.topitconsultant.com/brochure.aspx

EMAIL USFeel free to email our Customer Services team with any questions you may have, using the address [email protected].

http://www.top-consultant.com

Documents

Recruitment Channel Report 2009 - Top-Consultant.com€¦ · PAGE 13 Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2008 Introduction Having looked at the recruiter survey & findings