Top-Consultant 2011 Recruitment Channel Report

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy

    Recruitment Channel Report 2011

    Sponsored by

    http://www.top-consultant.com/uk/career/appointments.asp?sel_firm=43342http://www.top-consultant.com/uk/career/appointments.asp?sel_firm=43342http://www.top-consultant.com/
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    TABLEOFCONTENTS

    Introductory note 3

    Sponsors message from Huntswood 5

    Part I - Recruitment and retention trends 6

    Part II - Recruitment channel use and Social Media 16

    Part III - Historical trends in recruitment channel use

    and Recruiter & Media Awards 22Newspapers 23

    Internet job sites 24

    Recruitment agencies 25

    Individual Recruiter Awards 26

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    INTRODUCTION

    In producing this report or the last decade, weve

    served a consulting industry that or the most part has

    been used to enjoying double-digit annual growth in

    revenues but that has also had to battle with sta

    attrition rates that oten breach the 20% mark.

    This ten year period has also seen the consulting industry

    hit by two downturns, the milder one induced by the

    dot-com crash and more recently the more prolonged

    and painul reversal o ortunes brought about by the

    global nancial meltdown.

    Hiring suered during both these downturns, in part

    owing to the growth trajectory o the industry but

    more so because o the reduced sta attrition that these

    economic conditions induced. With ar ewer people

    leaving rms, ar less replacement hiring was needed;

    and its replacement hiring rather than growth-induced

    hiring that is ultimately the bigger driver o hiring demand.

    Growth prospects within consulting remain ragile.

    By ar the largest practice areas are nancial services

    and the public sector. When both are ring on allcylinders the industry powers ahead. At the outset o

    the economic downturn, nancial services practices

    suered considerably but continued spend by the

    public sector helped to sustain the sector. During the

    last year, weve seen the total role reversal that we

    predicted namely a rebound in the health o nancial

    services practices oset by a considerable deterioration

    in public sector spend.

    The pattern so ar in 2011 seems to be that a broad range

    o private sector practices are enjoying heightened

    demand, increasingly supporting the nancial services

    practices in reviving consulting rms ortunes. However

    the public sector order book remains precarious and

    whilst the climate is more avourable than during 2010

    no-one is expecting any dramatic revival in public sector

    consulting spend.

    Taken as a whole, the prognosis is thereore that

    consulting revenues can be expected to continue theirslow improvement, but that a return to double-digit

    growth or consulting as a whole is ex tremely unlikely.

    For candidates looking to secure a role within consulting,

    the ar more positive news is that sta attrition rates

    have shot up during the last 9-12 months. Firms are

    consequently having to increase their hiring activity

    quite considerably. Theres something o a snowball

    eect here too the more candidates see consulting

    employers looking to hire, the more they consider

    whether their careers are better served staying put or

    moving to pastures new. With pay disparities avouringthose who choose to move, all the ingredients have

    been in place or this sta attrition-uelled hiring revival

    to take o and take o it has over the last year, with

    campaign volumes in January 2011 some three times

    higher than wed seen in January 2010.

    Continued on next page...

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    Which means o course that our recruiter contacts

    are increasingly anxious to know the most eectiveways to source consulting hires; and in an era where

    a ar wider range o media are there to be considered.

    With both monetary and hiring personnel resources

    constrained, everyone is trying to determine which

    channels are deserving o investment and which

    are most likely to produce the required hires. We

    very much hope that this report will help to address

    these issues or the recruiters amongst you.

    Last but not least, our thanks go to the 133

    consulting employers / recruiters who took part

    in our client survey and the 1,216 consulting

    candidates who participated in our candidate poll,

    without whose responses this unique data could not

    have been produced. We hope you derive valuable

    insights rom this report and as always look orward

    to serving your needs as the year unolds.

    INTRODUCTION

    Tony RestellCo-Founder and Director

    Top-Consultant.com

    IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

    In Summer 2011 we will be publishing

    the all new second edition o

    The Defnitive Guide to UK

    Consulting Firms.

    Submissions are now being accepted rom

    consulting employers wishing to have a

    ree company prole in the directory o

    consulting employers contained within

    this guide. The rst edition attracted more

    than 160 company proles and more than

    15,000 copies o the guide were distributed.

    To nd out how your rm can get

    involved, please email Sacha Jacksonon

    [email protected].

    http://www.top-consultant.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.top-consultant.com/
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    As a business that has spent the last 15 years recruiting

    management consultants, both into consultancycompanies and into industry, Huntswood is delighted

    to be supporting the tenth Top-Consultant.com

    Recruitment Channel Report.

    I think wed all agree that the market has been

    particularly turbulent over the last ew years. Like you we

    have watched the nancial services re-bound, and the

    public sector consulting decline with interest. Salaries

    are on the rise, regrettable attrition rates are on the rise

    and hiring needs are growing. There is undoubtedly a

    war or talent raging.

    Firms that want to attract and retain the best talent needto consider the opportunities, personal development

    and working environment they oer. They should also

    be willing to oer pay rises to existing talent, and think

    careully about the channels they use to source their

    new recruits.

    This report outlines the rise in company attrition rates,

    it conrms the death o newspaper job advertising,

    and continues to hint at a rise in social recruiting,

    but with some interesting statistics. LinkedIn has

    risen up the list o places that potential consultants

    look or their next role, but is still ar rom top-dog.

    However I would suggest that LinkedIn is becomingthe headhunters tool o choice, and executive search

    techniques are becoming more common in contingent

    search assignments. Twitter is being used by many as a

    listening tool to keep up-to-date on industry news, but

    not yet as a real area or recruitment.

    Those o you who read the Huntswood ortnightly

    editorial in the Top-Consultant.com newsletter will be

    very aware o the private sector consulting resurgence;

    pharmaceuticals, energy, utilities, consumer goods,retail, telecommunications and o course nancial

    services, are all recruiting heavily at the moment. So are

    the recruiters that service these markets.

    Hiring Managers are united in their opinion that the war

    or talent has started, and the majority are clear that

    they want to win it. The problem is that a lot o these

    rms are turning to a recruitment industry that has

    suered rom three years o lack o investment and are

    under staed to deal with the rise in requirements. This

    report also highlights the crucial role that recruitment

    businesses play in the process; choosing the right

    recruitment partner is thereore all the more important.

    Huntswood has a page in this report where you can see

    more about us or yourselves. For now, I will leave you

    to enjoy this report, and wish you the best o ortunes as

    you look at implementing its recommendations.

    We are elated to be partnering with Top-consultant

    to publish this report and to guide rms in their

    recruiting (and are delighted to see ourselves very

    much recommended!). Later in the year, job-seekers

    will be given a similar opportunity as Huntswood and

    Top-Consultant.com partner up again to produce the

    salary benchmarking report, and the second edition oThe Defnitive Guide to UK Consulting Firms .

    Find out more here.

    SPONSORS MESSAGEStephen HumphreysRecruitment Manager

    Huntswood

    http://www.huntswood.com/recruitment/ideally-placed.aspxhttp://www.huntswood.com/recruitment/ideally-placed.aspxhttp://www.huntswood.com/recruitment/ideally-placed.aspxhttp://www.huntswood.com/recruitment/ideally-placed.aspx
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    Recruitment and retention ratesData collected from 133 management consultancy recruiters

    ONE

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 7

    Our interactions with clients over the last months, together

    with the survey data collected in January 2011, point to a

    number o signicant actors that will shape the hiring market

    over the coming year:

    1. The threeold increase in hiring activity that weve seen over

    the last year broadly in line with our predictions in the last

    report is expected to gain urther ground with the majority

    o rms expecting to accelerate hiring in 2011. Indeed a

    signicant minority o rms oresee very aggressive hiring

    activity this year, uelled in part by publicly stated intentions

    to gain market share.

    2. The data on hiring demand by practice area supports the

    view that a hiring upturn is now very much underway across

    the majority o private sector consulting practices. Financial

    Services is o course a hot-spot, but the hiring revival now

    extends ar wider than that. The counter to this o course is

    the public sector, where the hiring picture will remain bleak

    or much o 2011.

    3. On balance rms are expecting a urther deterioration

    in the sta attrition rates suered during 2010, with these

    rates already approaching 20% or some rms. Osetting

    this is candidate data suggesting ewer candidates intend to

    move this year. For those practices that do need to hire, this

    may make the task more challenging still especially as the

    demand is increasingly or very specic hiring proles. There

    are several repercussions o this, the most notable being that

    public sector consultants cannot easily be redeployed to

    other practice areas; and that candidates increasingly need to

    seek out those openings where their skills and experience are

    a perect match. Simple hiring o high calibre consultants is

    now something o a rarity rms have specic roles to ll that

    are project-critical and only an exact match will do.

    4. As agged in last years report, the capacity available

    to support the hiring upturn both within consulting

    rms recruitment teams and externally within recruitment

    agencies was dramatically cut back during the downturn.

    Across the sector we are seeing rms now struggle to hirerecruiting resources ast enough to keep pace with practices

    hiring demand. This bottleneck is very serious or the industry

    and we are aware o recruitment rms having to be selective

    about the rms they take on as clients looking at both their

    ee rate agreements and the placement probability being

    oered beore committing to service an account.

    SUMMARY

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 8

    Analysis o key metrics or the UK consulting industry allows

    us to produce an aggregate hiring prole or the industry. As

    the table shows, required hiring volumes as a % o existing

    headcount averaged around 33% during the boom years. This

    gure ell to around 2% during the recent severe recession,

    which explains why the hiring market has seemed quite so

    morose in 2009. By contrast, it is rising sharply with every

    month o 2011 that passes and or the year as a whole is likely

    to have reverted to a hiring requirement o 23% o existing

    headcount.

    This statistic explains why recruitment agencies have

    experienced a rapid change in ortunes in the last months,

    particularly when set against the backdrop o a sector that

    has shed 1/3 o its pool o recruiters during the downturn. It

    also explains why job board advertising volumes have beenpicking up consistently during the last months.

    There are a couple o interesting implications to be drawn

    rom this table. Firstly we can see that hiring demand is very

    largely driven by the worsening in attrition rates - and should

    attrition worsen urther still, this will translate directly into

    hiring demand increases over and above what is stated here.

    Secondly the only thing stopping the numbers rom looking

    like theres a war or talent on a par with the 2006-7 era is

    the ill health o the public sector market. I we were to look

    at the private sector alone we would see a talent crunch not

    dissimilar to that witnessed during the last boom.

    Figure 1: Required hiring volumes

    Boom

    years

    Recent

    past -severe

    recession

    Modesteconomic

    recovery

    Market Growth 15% -12% 2%

    rom ee rate

    increases2% -4% -1%

    rom volume growth

    (billable days)13% -8% 3%

    Growth that can be

    ullled through Spare

    Capacity

    -5% N/A 0%

    Recruitment needed

    to uel growth8% -8% 3%

    Attrition rate 25% 10% 20%

    Required hiring

    volumes as a % o

    headcount

    33% 2% 23%

    Staf attrition driving demand

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 9

    Why not try advertising

    or consulting

    candidates on

    Top-Consultant.com?

    Our low-priced advertising

    packages allow you to see

    or yoursel the types o

    results that recruiters are

    experiencing by placing

    their job listings on

    Top-Consultant.com.

    Clickhere to nd out more

    Market growth

    For much o the last decade the UK consulting industry has

    enjoyed revenue growth rates approaching 15% per annum.

    This has almost entirely been achieved by an increase in the

    volume o billable days sold, rather than by ee rate ination

    a consequence o the act that procurement departments

    have driven an increasingly hard bargain with consulting

    providers.

    By contrast, many rms in 2009 saw revenues decline by 10%

    or more - making this the most distressing year the consulting

    industry has ever endured. 2010 has seen a return to very

    modest levels o growth - driven principally by resurgence in

    Financial Services consulting.

    In 2011 we can expect a very similar trajectory to be ollowed.

    The private sector rebound is likely to extend across a broader

    range o practice areas and provide a boost to growth; but

    public sector appetite or consulting spend will only improve

    marginally.

    Spare capacity

    In the boom years a modest volume o new client wins could

    be resourced by drawing on employed resources currentlyon the bench; but any sustained increase in demand

    translated quickly into the need or additional hires. During

    the severe recession we have just endured, the situation was

    rather reversed, with consulting rms needing to scale back

    signicantly on their consulting headcount to avoid a massive

    ballooning in underutilised sta. An interesting eature o

    the modest upturn we are now experiencing is that growth

    is unlikely to be able to be resourced at all by drawing on

    consultants on the bench.

    Those whose public sector assignments have been drying

    up and who nd themselves lacking a billable client project

    to work on do not generally possess the private sector

    experience, sector knowledge and commercial acumen

    that is being demanded by the rebounding private sector

    client base. Hence a growth in private sector client work is

    translating immediately into the need or new hires and

    hires with very specic skillsets at that.

    Staf attrition

    The last piece o the puzzle is the expected deterioration in

    sta retention rates that the industry will ace in 2011. Given

    that career moves or many have been severely restricteduntil just recently, it is no surprise that as recruitment has

    picked up more and more consultants have started assessing

    their prospects with alternative employers. With attrition

    at many rms now close to the 20% mark - and a mild

    urther deterioration expected this year - this is clearly the

    dominant driver in hiring demand . Any underestimation o

    sta attrition rates would translate directly into the need or

    greater numbers o hires and that is a actor we must keep in

    the back o our minds as the year unolds.

    http://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspx
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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 11

    Fundamental to our assertion that incremental project wins

    will not be able to be staed by consultants on the bench is

    the expectation that public sector demand is tailing o and

    private sector demand is on the up. By asking employers

    to identiy the areas they expect to be undertaking the

    most hiring we have been able to prove that this is indeed

    the expectation or 2011 and also to identiy some other

    interesting growth projections by practice area.

    A score close to 1 in our chart indicates rms expect to

    undertake little or no hiring in that practice area; while the

    greater the number the more hiring is anticipated. Two

    signicant changes leap out at you rom this chart. Firstly

    we can see that at the beginning o 2009 there was a minute

    amount o hiring in Financial Services expected to take place;

    yet one year on this has leapt to being the single biggestarea o hiring activity. As the largest source o private sector

    consulting spend, this change o ortunes in Financial Services

    is particularly welcome as we look to 2011 and hope that the

    year will again produce modest growth or the consulting

    industry as a whole.

    Equally stark though is the collapse in hiring expectations

    within the public sector practices. The single largest area

    o growth in the 2009 survey, the sector slumped in 2010

    and 2011almost the mirror opposite o the trend seen in

    Financial Services. It explains why growth expectations or

    consulting in 2011 are not more buoyant.

    Elsewhere there is a welcome upturn in hiring expectations

    across a broad range o private sector practice areas, with

    Energy & Utilities, Technology and Telecoms / Media /

    Entertainment practice areas leading the way.

    Likely hiring patterns by practice area

    Figure 4: Recruitment activity by practice area

    1 2 3 4

    Financial Services

    Energy & Utilities

    Technology

    Telecoms, Media & Entertainment

    Healthcare & Pharma

    Information Technology

    Purchasing & Supply Chain

    Retail / Consumer Goods

    General Management

    Engineering & Manufacturing

    Distribution / Logistics

    Transportation

    Chemicals

    Science / Research

    Automotive / Aerospace

    Public Sector

    Facilities Management

    Education

    Leisure / Lifestyle

    2009 2010 2011

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 12

    When asked to provide the same steer on the types o

    consulting expected to be contributing to hiring demand,

    the picture was again one o a broad-based recovery. For

    the second year running, Business Process Improvement

    specialists are likely to be in greatest demand, with Project /

    Programme Managers not ar behind.

    Most encouragingly or the health o the sector as a whole is

    the increased appetite or strategy consulting hires. Strategy

    consulting is oten seen as a bell-weather or the state o the

    consulting industry as a whole, so the continued resurgence

    in hiring expectations here is most welcome.

    The notable roller-coaster within the data is in the area o IT

    consulting / sotware development. This market remained

    buoyant or some time ater the broader downturn inconsulting had taken hold. The resulting hiring cutbacks took

    place later than elsewhere in the market and the rebound is

    expected to be similarly staggered.

    Likely hiring patterns by type of consulting

    Figure 5: Recruitment activity by type o consulting

    1 2 3

    Business Process Improvement

    Project / Programme Management

    Technology

    Strategy

    Outsourcing

    IT / Software Development

    E-Business

    CRM

    Finance / Accounting

    Marketing & Sales

    HR Consulting

    Economics & Environmental Consulting

    2009 2010 2011

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 13

    Staf attrition to accelerate urther?

    On balance, employers expectations are that in the coming

    year we will see a modest deterioration in sta attrition. We

    would suggest it is a sign o how ar retention rates have

    already deteriorated that these expectations are not worse

    than they are in essence sta attrition cant get that much

    worse now that the 20% mark is looming or many rms. In

    some practice areas rms have also introduced retention

    bonuses to try and reign back the retention problem, so the

    hope that these will have a positive impact is likely also to be

    inuencing the results. Clearly any worsening o sta attrition

    beyond whats anticipated here will give rise to additional

    hiring demand and put a urther strain on recruiters capacity

    to deliver.

    Figure 6: Sta attrition rates 2011

    The ConsultancyCareers Fair 2011

    Taking place on 30th

    September, this yearscareers air gives your rm

    the opportunity to meet

    with 2,500+ consulting

    candidates.

    The brochure will be available on

    3rd May. To request a copy please

    call the Top-Consultant.com team

    on +44 (0)207 667 6880.

    7.5%

    30.1%

    36.1%

    18.8%

    7.5%

    0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

    Staff attrition rates will

    improve considerably

    Staff attrition rates will

    improve a little

    No change in staff

    attrition rates ex pected

    Staff attrition rates will

    worsen a little

    Staff attrition rates will

    worsen considerably

    Staf attrition to accelerate

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 14

    Two interesting ndings rom this years survey are i) that

    consulting rms want overwhelmingly to make their hires

    rom the ranks o the experienced consultant. Whilst in

    parallel ii) theres a reduction in the number o experiencedhires wholl be looking or a new job within consulting with

    increasing numbers planning to either stay put or to look or

    a new role outside o consulting.

    Taken in combination, these statistics paint the interesting

    picture o an industry where not all rms will be able to hire

    in the volumes they need or will have to compromise on

    the backgrounds o those they hire and open their hiring upto a wider range o prospective candidates. Recent history

    teaches us that the latter outcome is the more likely and it is

    our expectation that hiring must have criteria will soten as

    the year progresses and these hiring difculties become more

    pronounced.

    Market will eel tighter

    Figure 7: Desired hiring profle 2011 vs. 2010

    Figure 8: Candidates career intentions or 2009 - 2011

    0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

    Most likely to accept a job with a

    consulting employerNot looking to change jobs in the next 12

    months

    Most likely to accept a job with a client

    organisation

    Most likely to secure some other kind of

    role outside consulting

    Most likely to accept a job in the City

    Most likely to accept public sector/ c harity

    job

    2009 2010 2011

    1

    2

    3

    4

    5

    Experienced

    hires from

    other

    consulting firms

    Experienced

    hires from

    industry

    Experienced

    hires from

    Government or

    Public Sector

    bodies

    Experienced

    hires from the

    City

    MBA f inalists University

    leavers /

    Finalists

    2010 2011

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    Recruitment channel use and the role of social media

    TWO

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 17

    The ollowing candidate job search trends we will be

    presenting are based on data collected rom 10,000+

    management consultancy candidates over the past ten

    years. Candidates rom all the major consulting rms haveparticipated, together with consultants currently working at

    niche consulting rms and potential industry hires looking to

    move into consulting.

    Prole o respondents:

    Most this year were Business Transormation / Change

    Management consultants (25.8%), Strategy consultants

    (23.8%), IT / Technology Consultants (15.9%) and Project /

    Programme Management consultants (13.7%).

    The sectors that candidates this year had most experience oworking in were Financial Services (45.6%), the Public Sector

    (28.5%), Telecoms, Media & Entertainment (25.9%), Energy /

    Utilities (24.7%) and Retail / Consumer Goods (23.4%).

    Survey responses this year were generated via direct mailshots

    to the Top-Consultant.com readership; an invitation sent to all

    screened consulting candidates on the Get Headhunted

    CV database; promotions via Twitter, LinkedIn, Google News

    and Yahoo News, Forum posts and by invitations sent to

    candidates by recruitment agencies.

    Overall 63.7% o candidates have changed jobs within the lastthree years.

    Are you a ManagementConsultancy Recruiter?

    Once a month the Top-

    Consultant.com team

    update recruiter contacts

    regarding all the newinitiatives were planning,

    ree reports weve published

    and any orthcoming

    promotional oers they

    could benet rom. I you

    would like to be added

    to our recruiter contactlist please email Graeme

    Underhill.

    Candidate pool

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 18

    Let us now look back at candidate activity over the last 12

    months and specically the channels used to look or new

    career opportunities. Every year we ask candidates to record

    the channels they used and the number o applicationsthat they made through each. Collating that data allows us

    to analyse the penetration perormance o the channels

    (how many candidates have used each) and the share o

    applications achieved rom each o the six major recruitment

    channels:

    When looking at which application channels candidates usedduring their last job hunt, it is striking to see three o the

    recruitment channels being used by a ar greater proportion

    o candidates than the others. Recruitment agencies had

    been used by a greater number o candidates than any o the

    other channels; with Personal contacts / reerral schemes and

    internet job boards also scoring highly.

    Candidate activity over last year

    Why not try advertising

    or consulting

    candidates on

    Top-Consultant.com?

    Our low-priced advertising

    packages allow you to see

    or yoursel the types o

    results that recruiters are

    experiencing by placing

    their job listings on

    Top-Consultant.com.

    Clickhere to nd out more

    Figure 9: Application channels used last time to apply or a job

    Newspapers

    Recruitment agencies

    Internet job sites

    Social media

    Personal Contacts / Reerrals

    Corporate Websites

    http://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspx
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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 19

    Social media sites and newspapers generated applications

    rom 30% and 20% o the candidates surveyed respectively.

    The lack o impact o social media is quite a nding though.This year or the rst time weve asked our 1,216 consulting

    candidates to share which social media sites they are active

    users o (where we dened this as having an account that the

    candidate makes use o at least once a week). What is very

    noticeable is that 81% o candidates regularly use LinkedIn,

    56% use Facebook and only 13% use Twitter.

    What is interesting here is that most LinkedIn users in the

    consulting space are not using the site or the purposes

    o making job applications, but rather or networking and

    business development. This suggests that recruiters can reach

    consulting candidates via this platorm, but will do so moreeectively by using it to approach candidates directly rather

    than relying on them to make applications to jobs that have

    been advertised there.

    Also o great note is the nding that contrary to popular

    belie consultants DO nd time to be active Facebook

    users but DO NOT engage with Twitter in any great numbers.

    Certainly when speaking with recruiters over the last year, the

    widespread assumption within our industry has been that

    consultants especially IT / technology ocused consultants

    would be early adopters o the Twitter platorm. These results

    are unambiguous in showing that Twitter has low penetrationamongst consultants.

    The implication or recruiters is that this is a medium best

    used to start a dialogue with individual candidates / clients

    that look o interest, rather than as a medium to broadcast

    messages out to a sizeable audience because a sizeable

    audience o relevant consulting proessionals are simply not

    engaged with the medium as yet.

    Figure 10: Social media on which consultants are active users

    By contrast, many people have assumed that consultants

    simply lead too stressul a liestyle to have time or Facebook.

    This data shows that the majority o consultants are active

    users o this platorm and so this is a ar more eective platorm

    or broadcasting messages or running branded campaigns

    in much the same way as LinkedIn can be seen to be.

    Social Media

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 20

    Looking forward

    When the number o applications made by channel is actored

    in, the lack o impact o social media becomes even more

    pronounced. Social media sites in total produced less than

    10% o applications, compared with the more than 1/3 o allapplications generated by internet job boards.

    Personal contacts and reerral schemes whilst popular

    with candidates are limited as an application channel by

    candidates ability to apply to all the rms o interest this way.

    Sites like LinkedIn may strengthen this route in coming years

    by extending peoples networks urther and more importantly

    by making candidates existing networks more transparent to

    them.

    Corporate sites, meanwhile, have stagnated with an

    application share o around 15%.

    Overall the conclusion rom this years survey is rather

    surprising. Running counter to the hype surrounding social

    media, this data supports the view that many consultants

    are now heavy users o social media but demonstrates that

    candidates do not use social media as a primary source or

    nding a new job. With barely 5% o applications having been

    made via social media sites this last year, rom an audience

    where 81% are active users o the leading proessional

    social media site, it is hard to argue any dierently. This

    nding certainly correlates with the eedback we have had

    rom advertisers on LinkedIn that adverts generally attractapplicants rom people outside the UK and / or outside the

    consulting industry (whereas this survey is o course primarily

    a survey o candidates based in the UK and working in

    consulting).

    Figure 11: Share o applications generated in last job search

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 21

    Candidates were asked to score the likely channels they would

    use when next hunting or a new job, both to allow them to

    change their bias to allow or dissatisactions with their most

    recent job hunt and also to actor in new developmentstheyve seen aecting the market like LinkedIn.

    As you can see rom Figure 12 candidates clearly intend to

    modiy their job hunt strategies only marginally during their

    next job search. What is particularly striking though is the

    chart below where candidates past activity can be cross-

    compared with their intended uture activity the correlation

    between the two is unmistakable! Given this, it seems likely

    that the share o applications employers will receive rom

    each o the hiring channels is likely to remain airly constant

    or the oreseeable uture, barring any major change in the

    unctionality or appeal o the channels over and above whatis oered today.

    Figure 12: Channels most likely to use in uture

    Figure 13: Sources o candidate applications 2011/2012

    Looking forwardShare of Applications

    Low High

    Low

    High

    Future

    Use

    Job boards

    Recruitment

    Agencies

    CorporateSites

    Personal

    Referrals

    Social

    Media

    Newspapers

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    Historical trends in recruitment channel useand Recruiter & Media awardsData collected from 1,216 management consultancy candidates

    THREE

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 23

    Historic newspaper advertisers, direct employers and

    recruitment agencies, continue to switch spend to online

    solutions. O all the channels, newspapers have suered most

    in the last ten years with candidate penetration levels havingallen considerably, down to just 20% in this years survey.

    Some newspapers are countering this and looking to

    maintain what remains o their share o applications by

    oering a number o agglomerated industry special editions

    to advertising clients. Despite this initiative, the share o

    applications made through newspapers continues to decline.

    The Times and Financial Times newspapers are established

    as consultants preerred newspapers when looking or

    consulting jobs. However, as the earlier penetration gures

    show, consulting candidates are ar less likely to apply toroles they see in newspapers than they were a decade ago,

    reducing their eectiveness as a recruitment channel.

    Newspapers

    Figure 15: Newspapers - Which do you rate above all others as thebest source or fnding a consulting job?

    Figure 14: Penetration - Newspapers

    Times FT

    The Economist

    Telegraph Guardian

    EveningStandard

    0%

    10%

    20%

    30%

    40%

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 24

    Internet job sites continue to enjoy a high share o candidate

    usage and while there has been some volatility in job

    boards market penetration over the last years, the industry

    is now mature and over 2/3 o consultancy jobseekers madeapplications or roles that they had seen on job sites in 2011.

    Internet job sites

    Figure 17: Internet job sites - Which o the job sites do you rate aboveall others or fnding a consulting job?

    Figure 16: Penetration - Internet job sites

    When asked to name just one job board, the 1,216 candidates

    surveyed said that once again Top-Consultant.com easily

    retains its lead as the best site or nding a consulting job.

    0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

    Top-Consultant

    LinkedIn

    Exec-Appointments

    Monster

    Jobsite

    eFinancialCareers

    Totaljobs

    FT

    ConsultingLadder

    Executivesontheweb

    TopITConsultant

    Consultantsboard

    Accountancy Age /

    Management Consultancy

    MCA

    Twitter jobsearch

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 25

    Recruitment agency candidate penetration has held up much

    better during the recession than it did during the dot-com

    downturn. It is now picking up in line with the rebound in

    recruiting across the proession and stands at just over 70%.

    As well as asking candidates to recommend the best

    individual recruiters, we also asked them to eedback to us on

    the dierent recruitment rms that they have used. A ranking

    o rms that received the most praise and the least complaints

    was then produced. Congratulations to all rms listed.

    Our special congratulations go to BLT who have secured the

    top spot or the third consecutive year. Respondents praised

    BLT or the qualities that made them stand out rom the

    competition:

    or being genuinely interested in candidates career

    aspirations

    or going to great lengths to match candidates up to

    suitable roles and not doing so in a pushy manner

    or ensuring candidates are kept well inormed throughout

    the process and or always sticking to commitments

    made to candidates

    and or having great sta and a strong set o contacts

    within the industry.

    Recruitment agencies

    Figure 18: Penetration - Recruitment agencies

    1 Beament Leslie Thomas

    2= Michael Warwick Nicholls

    2= Selecture

    4 Aston Carter

    5 Huntswood

    6 SK Consultancy Solutions7 ChapmanBlack

    8 Prism

    9= Korn Ferry

    9= Heidrick and Struggles

    Rank Recruitment rm

    Figure 19: 2011 top 10 recruitment frms by praise

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    Top-Consultant.coms Management Consultancy Recruitment Channel Report 2011PAGE 26

    Recruiters - available

    throughout 2011

    All premium job listings

    appearing on Top-Consultant.com will be

    added to Jobsite or you at

    no additional cost.

    Take advantage

    by registering or a

    trial advertisingpackage

    Alongside the rankings o recruitment rms, we asked

    candidates to help us identiy the best individual recruiters

    they had worked with. We asked them:

    I 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

    Ten individuals received the most praise and we warmly

    congratulate them all or their success. They are listed in no

    particular order:

    Individual recruiters

    Figure 20: Best individual recruitment consultants 2011

    David Lanceeld and Darren Head rom

    Selecture

    Don Leslie and Sarah Burgess rom BLT

    Sasha Kemp (SK Consultancy Solutions), Paul

    Brown (ChapmanBlack) and Rachel Snelgar

    (Huntswood)

    Victoria Barry-Woods (Aston Carter), Pete

    Nicholls (MWN) and Chris Sale (Prism)

    http://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/choosepackage.aspx
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    Find out how your rm could attract consulting hires by:

    advertising on our websites advertising in our consultancy-ocused publications

    accessing our CV databases

    running bespoke careers events

    participating in the annual Consultancy Careers Fair

    CALL TO SPEAK WITH ONE OF OUR TEAMFor more inormation on Top-Consultants services or i you have any questions about

    the data in this report please contact Graeme Underhill, Bryan Hickson or Tony Restell

    on 0207 667 6880 or email them on [email protected],

    [email protected] [email protected].

    REQUEST A BROCHUREAlternatively, please eel ree to request a PDF brochure detailing our services.

    You may do so by clicking here.

    EMAIL US

    Feel ree to email our Customer Services team with any questionsyou may have, using the address [email protected].

    2011 Top-Consultant.com. All rights reserved.

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/Solutions.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/Solutions.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/Solutions.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/Solutions.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/Solutions.aspxhttp://www.top-consultant.com/http://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/Solutions.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/Solutions.aspxhttp://recruiters.top-consultant.com/UK/clientcentre/Solutions.aspxmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
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    About our Sponsors: Huntswood

    Weve always regarded Huntswood as one

    o the most ambitious and orward-looking

    recruitment rms serving the Management

    Consultancy sector. Back in 2000 they were one

    o the very rst companies to see the potential

    o Top-Consultant.com to transorm the way

    that recruiters would source candidates. Whilst

    others were worrying about how online would

    undermine their businesses, Huntswood were

    ocused instead on how the new mediumwould allow them to better serve their clients.

    A decade on, it is tting that Huntswood should

    be the sponsors o our annual report assessing

    trends within the management consultancy

    recruitment market. Voted by candidates as

    one o the Top 5 recruitment rms serving our

    sector, Huntswood is one o the most enduring

    and well known brands in the market andagain at the oreront o nding ways to use

    the latest online platorms to better serve their

    clients and candidates.

    Find out more about Huntswood here.

    http://www.huntswood.com/recruitment/ideally-placed.aspxhttp://www.huntswood.com/recruitment/ideally-placed.aspxhttp://www.huntswood.com/recruitment/ideally-placed.aspxhttp://www.top-consultant.com/uk/career/appointments.asp?sel_firm=43342http://www.top-consultant.com/http://www.huntswood.com/recruitment/ideally-placed.aspx