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Press Release: NRF Awards Winners 2011

Press Release NRF Awards Winners 2011

NRF in association with Irish Independent

Parc Aviation “FLY AWAY” with 4 awards at NRF Recruitment Industry Awards 2011
Parc Aviation scooped the best agency of the year award for large agency whilst Recruitment Plus scored Best Small Agency for the 2nd year in row, at the 5th annual recruitment awards which took place on Friday evening, (25th November 2011) at a gala awards ceremonyin The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin. This was the biggest event ever held by the NRF with more than 320 attendees at the Ceremony which was presented by RTE’s Pamela Flood.
Robert Walters clinched the award for Best Agency Online Service for the second year running whilst Careers Register won the Accountancy and Finance category for ‘Best in Practice’.
Parc Aviation and Recruitment Plus were hailed by the judges as ‘leaders in their industry’. The judges found them to ‘have clear roadmaps of where they want to be, their commitment to the customer came across very strongly and they are completely in touch in what is required of them. Staff retention is testament to what they have achieved and in both cases professionalism has shone through’.
Parc Aviation got off to a winning start from the beginning of the night. First up to the winning podium for Parc Aviation was Nikki King who was awarded one of the coveted Graduate of the year awards.  Also receiving recognition in the ‘Best in Practice’ category they won Best in Practice Technical, Engineering & Science and the Best Practice in “Specialism” Awards.
Sigmar’s Peter Nunan was awarded Recruitment Consultant of the year narrowly beating off stiff competition from the other 6 shortlisted nominees who were,Grafton Recruitment’s Kevin Clarke, Lisa Collins from Hays, Sandra Mc Guirk from Parc, Lisa Russell from Servisource, Louise Delany from Quest Recruitment and Karen Kavanagh from Noel Recruitment. Sigmar were also awarded Best in Practice Sales & Marketing for the 2nd year running whilst Shaun O’ Shea was another winner of the Graduate of the Year award.
Servisource took the Best in Practice “Healthcare” and O’Reilly Recruitment took the Best in Practice “Light Industrial”.
CPL was awarded Best in Practice “IT & Telecoms” and Misty Plotner received a winner award for Graduate of the year.
Osborne Recruitment took the Best in Practice “Office & Secretarial” and Joanne Murray received a graduate of the year winners’ award.
Noel Recruitment took the Best in practice Hotel & Catering for the 4th year running and Karen Kavanagh took a winner award for Graduate of the year.
Designed to identify and reward excellence in recruitment in Ireland, the initiative was open to all NRF members and judged by an independent panel.
FULL WINNING LINE-UP AS FOLLOWS:
  • BEST AGENCY ONLINE SERVICE – Robert Walters
  • RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR – Peter Nunan Sigmar
  • BEST IN PRACTICE – HEALTHCARE – Servisource
  • BEST IN PRACTICE – ACCOUNTING & FINANCE – Careers Register
  • BEST IN PRACTICE – OFFICE & SECRETARIAL – Osborne Recruitment
  • BEST IN PRACTICE – IT & TELECOMS – CPL
  • BEST IN PRACTICE – HOTEL & CATERING – Noel Recruitment
  • BEST IN PRATICE – LIGHT INDUSTRIAL – O’Reilly
  • BEST IN PRACTICE- SALES & MARKETING – Sigmar
  • BEST IN PRACTICE – TECHNICAL ENGINEERING & SCIENCE – Parc Aviation
  • BEST IN PRACTICE – In a Specialism– Parc Aviation
  • AGENCY OF THE YEAR – SMALL – Recruitment Plus
·         AGENCY OF THE YEAR – LARGE – Parc Aviation
·         NRF Cert RP Graduates of the year – Karen Kavanagh Noel Recruitment, Nikki King Parc Aviation, Joanne Murray Osborne Recruitment, Misty Plotner CPL and Shaun O’Shea Sigmar Recruitment.
The panel of judges were; Tony Lambert – CEO, Fingal Chamber of Commerce, Patrick Meehan, Invictus Management, Gillian Econopouly, Recruitment Employment Confederation UK, and the online award was judged by Sorcha Corcoran of Silicon Republic. Chairperson of the Judging Panel, Tony Lambert told the delegates how challenging it was for the adjudicators to elect a winner in a lot of categories. Not only had the volume of entries increased on every other year since the awards began but the sheer quality and outstanding excellence was evident in all applications. To be on the shortlists this year was in itself an achievement.
NRF President Mr. Colin Donnery (FRS Recruitment), “It was a fantastic celebration of our industry and the industry should be proud of all it has achieved over what has been another hard and turbulent year for some. Resilience and determination has shone through and this was echoed by the number of entries to this years awards and the turn out at the ceremony. The atmosphere in the room was one of great camaraderie and respect amongst our industry.”
The NRF also awarded Mary B Cremin with an Honorary Fellowship Award. Director of NRF Geraldine King gave the delegates a little bit of history of how Mary came to be one of the most respected names in the Industry. Even though she is now retired her reputation and her passion for excellence will always be remembered.
The National Recruitment Federation is a voluntary organisation set up to establish and maintain standards and codes of practice for the recruitment industry. Representing member companies throughout Ireland the NRF focuses its attentions on providing these members who have opted for self-regulation with the best possible service in terms of communication, support, advice sharing and problem solving.
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The National Recruitment Federation will hold it’s fifth Recruitment Industry Awards tomorrow #NRF11

www.JobsBoard.ie is sponsoring the
National Recruitment Federation’s Recruitment Industry Awards. Here is the Irish Independent Appointments page today:


The National Recruitment Federation 5th Recruitment Industry Awards - Click for a full size image


320 people are expected making it the largest NRF event ever (at least that that I can remember). I am excited about presenting the award to the Best Recruitment Agency.

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National Recruitment Federation Conference 2011

Jonathan Campbell at NRF 2011The Conference entitled ‘Recruitment 2011 – The Way Forward” in City West Hotel on Thursday 12th of May focused on the dynamic tools and skill sets the industry needs to embrace in order to approach the coming year with confidence. With a line up of excellent speakers from around the globe, a full schedule has been designed to arm the delegates with training, advice, and tips to enhance their business skills well into the future.

NRF President Colin Donnery said, ”The Irish economy has probably had its most challenging 12 months ever but there is an optimism returning to businesses in most sectors. The recruitment sector has proven its resilience during this period with agencies providing the flexible staffing solutions that have helped our clients get through the worst and grow into the future. Impending changes in legislation this year will have an impact on how we do business in our temporary labour markets so it is vital we are ready for all eventualities. With this in mind we have chosen a strong line up of Global expert speakers who will impart information on trends, legislation and what the future holds for the Recruitment Industry in Ireland.

With the new impending legislation for Agency workers coming into effect in December this year the Federation invited the NRF members to bring along their HR Clients. It resulted in the probably largest attendance of any NRF Conference lately.

Speakers:
Mr John Perry TD at National Recruitment Federation Conference 2011Mr, John Perry TD

Wikipedia: John Perry (born 15 August 1956) is an Irish Fine Gael politician. He is currently a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Sligo–North Leitrim constituency,[1] and the Minister of State for Small Business.

Perry was born in Ballymote, County Sligo. He was educated at Ballymote National School and Corran College, Ballymote. Perry was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1997 general election for the constituency and has retained his seat since.[2] In 1997, he became Fine Gael spokesperson on Science, Technology, Small Business and Enterprise, and the Border Counties. In June 2000, he was appointed Assistant Director of Organisation and Deputy spokesperson with special responsibility for Border Issues. He held this post until February 2001.

Between September 2002 and October 2004 he was Vice-Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications and Natural Resources. He has also served as Chairman of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee. In October 2004, he was appointed to the position as party spokesperson for the Marine, in Enda Kenny’s Front Bench. He was demoted from the Front Bench after a reshuffle following the 2007 general election. He was a member of Sligo County Council from 1999 to 2004, representing the Sligo–Strandhill electoral area.

In July 2010, he was appointed as party spokesperson on Small Business.[3] On 10 March 2011, he was appointed as Minister of State for Small Business.

Peter Cosgrove at National Recruitment Federation Conference 2011Chairperson: Peter Cosgrove, Vice President NRF
Peter joined the NRF committee in July 2009 and was elected to the role of Vice President in October 2010. Peter started his career in banking with JP Morgan before working with PWC in London as a management consultant. He began his career in recruitment in 2000 with Robert Walters, subsequently with Hudson in 2003 and currently is a Director with CPL. Peter has a strong background in running a sales business as well as turning businesses around through strategic and operational initiatives demonstrated in recruitment roles and previously in his PWC career. Peter is a regular contributor to the national media on areas of recruitment, assessment and retention as well as a speaker at industry events. Peter is also a Board member of the not for profit organisation Junior Achievement an organisation targeted at keeping students in schools to improve their education.

Colin Donnery President National Recruitment Federation Conference 2011Colin Donnery, NRF President
Colin has been working in the recruitment industry since 1998. Initially working with an international IT consultancy he has also managed agencies in the Sales and Marketing, Hospitality, Engineering, construction and scientific sectors. Colin has been working with FRS Recruitment since 2003 as general manager , FRS specialise in the provision of bespoke labour supply and permanent recruitment solutions across all sectors in Ireland and internationally.

Frank Collins at National Recruitment Federation Conference 2011Frank Collins, NRF Legislation expert
Director of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs at Parc Aviation Limited.
Frank is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants in Ireland and has a Bachelor of Business Studies Degree from Trinity College. He also lectures in Trinity College on the Business and Information Technology Degree course.

Tony Goodwig at National Recruitment Federation Conference 2011Tony Goodwin, Antal International
Tony Goodwin is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Antal International, a global management and executive recruitment company and one of the fastest growing business services organisations in emerging markets such as China, Eastern Europe and India. Antal now has 92 offices in 32 countries around the world. A graduate of Middlesex University, Tony trained as a Chartered Accountant before moving into financial recruitment where he ran operations for HW Group (now part of Hudson). In 1993, spotting the potential of the new professional employment markets in the former Warsaw Pact countries, he set up his own business with an office in Budapest in Hungary and named the company Antal – Hungarian for ‘Tony’. Since then Tony and his team have developed substantial businesses in highly challenging environments across the globe, including both Russia and China. Tony has completed a book ‘How They Blew It’ which was published in July 2010. In June 2010, Tony was named as one of the country’s top businessmen after being awarded a prize at the Ernst & Young London & South Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2010.

Ann Swain, APSCO
Ann Swain is the Chief Executive of The Association of Professional Staffing Companies, formed by the merger of the Association of Technology Staffing Companies and the Forum of Professional Recruiters in January 2009. APSCo provides a strong and united voice for those recruitment firms involved in the acquisition of business professionals on behalf of their clients on a permanent or flexible basis. Ann has a wealth of experience in the professional recruitment market as a recruiter, manager, trainer, sales director, managing director and spent a few years on the client side of the fence as an HR Manager. She was the founder, in 1988 of Learning Curve, the specialist recruitment industry training company which was acquired by the Delphi Group in 1997. Ann’s first, very successful, business book ‘The Professional Recruiter’s Handbook’ was published by Kogan Page in 2009 and has become a business best seller. Ann is a well-respected authority in our industry, a hugely popular international speaker and a passionate advocate for the UK Recruitment Profession.

Jonathan Campbell at NRF 2011Jonathan Campbell, Social Talent
Jonathan has worked as a Recruiter in Ireland and the Caribbean for the last 13 years but now runs Social Talent, a talent acquisition consultancy and agency that specialises in providing technology and social media services to recruiters. The team at Social Talent build talent communities; develop employer branding strategies, train internet recruiters & source recruitment staff for clients globally. Since forming late in 2010 they have worked with most of the leading recruitment agencies in Ireland and also work with corporates in the legal, technology and financial services sectors.

Kingsley AikinsKingsley Aikins, Networking Matters
Managing Director of Kingsley Aikins and Associates and is also Senior Advisor to The Ireland Funds having served previously as CEO of The Worldwide Ireland Funds. Previously he was Executive Director of the American Ireland Fund and founding Director of both The Australian Ireland Fund and The Ireland Fund of New Zealand. He formerly worked for CTT and the IDA. Kingsley is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. Since 1976 the Fund has raised over $350 million for philanthropic projects across the island of Ireland and around the world. The fund is driven by members of Ireland’s worldwide Diaspora. Kingsley was also contributor to the Farmleigh Conference in 2009.The presentation covered both diaspora issues and networking: specifically the importance of a comprehensive global strategy that covers trade, investment, tourism, education and philanthropy and will shed light on what other countries are doing in this area. He outlined his four stage approach: Research, Cultivation, Solicitation and Stewardship.

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National Recruitment Federation Winners 2010

NRF 2010 Winners

Picture says more than words…

NRF RECRUITMENT INDUSTRY AWARDS 2010

AWARDS CATEGORIES

1. BEST AGENCY ONLINE SERVICE – Robert Walters

2. RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR – Hazel Whelan (Recruitment Plus)

3. BEST IN PRACTICE – HEALTHCARE – Locumlink

4. BEST IN PRACTICE – ACCOUNTING & FINANCE – Sigmar

5. BEST IN PRACTICE – OFFICE & SECRETARIAL – CPL Resources Plc

6. BEST IN PRACTICE – IT & TELECOMS – Vantage Resources

7. BEST IN PRACTICE – HOTEL & CATERING – Noel Recruitment

8. BEST IN PRATICE – LIGHT INDUSTRIAL – Flexsource

9. BEST IN PRACTICE- SALES & MARKETING – Sigmar

10. BEST IN PRACTICE – TECHNICAL ENGINEERING & SCIENCE – CPL Resources Plc

11. AGENCY OF THE YEAR – SMALL – Recruitment Plus

12. AGENCY OF THE YEAR – LARGE – CPL Resources Plc

Read the full review on Jobs Market.

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Career CV Recruitment

JOB SEEKER Workshop in CORK, NOVEMBER 10th

Following the Recruitment Workshop in Dublin, Peter Cosgrove from Hudson Recruitment is holding the same in Cork. There is a Galway Workshop planned as well. Date and location will be confirmed here closer to the date.

JOB SEEKER EVENT CORK NOVEMBER 10th

The National Recruitment Federation is hosting a free job seekers event on November 10th.

Location: Imperial Hotel, South Mall,Cork
Date & Time: November 10th at 6pm to 7.30

The talk will be presented by Peter Cosgrove of the NRF and will cover the following:

• Writing a world class CV
• Where to find the next job
• Advice on dealing with recruitment agencies
• Improving interview skills and techniques
• Networking skills
• Negotiating salaries

If you would like to have a recruiter take a look at your cv please can you bring along a copy as there will be a cv clinic afterwards.

Please email: director@nrf.ie to register your place.

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Recruitment Agency

NRF Awards 2009

The National Recruitment Federation Awards 2009 was really a great night. It was the celebration of the recruitment industry and it was really amazing how positive it all was. Recruitment in Ireland has gone through its worst years for decades. After excellent Recruitment Conference earlier this year, the Awards Ceremony to be even more uplifting, one couldn’t really expect. It is the people in the recruitment industry in Ireland, the National Recruitment Federation members, and all their representatives present last Friday, that made it all as great as it all was.

Elaine Roddy, NRF Director deserves a special thanks for organizing it all (Yes I was there a few hours earlier to check how the things are going with the organization! :)).

Frank Collins, NRF President – made the shortest speech possible, making sure the dinner doesn’t get cold. On a serious side Franks work with the NRF shows outside of the NRF organization, making him a as respected person in the recruitment industry in Ireland as he is.

Mark Fielding, CEO ISME - NRF Awards 2009

The panel of judges were made up of Sean O’Meara, Former Chief Executive of Young Advertising; Kirsty Kirkwood, Former European Head of HR at State Street Ireland and Mark Fielding, CEO of the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, (ISME). Ex-MD of Computer People Ltd, Grainne Martin was a new addition to the panel this year as a recruitment advisor.

Mark Fielding, CEO ISME & Ivan Stojanovic, MD Employ Ireland

Photo by Ian Wortley of Jackie Brown Medical

I spent most of the evening chatting with the judging panel of the NRF. It was interesting to hear their reasoning for awarding each award. Mark Fielding, CEO ISME
Made it the most clear by defining the ‘Passion’ as what made the largest impression on him. He was amazed by the quality of shortlisted companies this year, and admitted it was really hard to choose one in each category.

It was also the eve of the Lisbon Treaty Referendum that night, and we had a chat about that. I was shocked the day later realising that Marks prediction of the outcome of the referendum was absolutely correct – he predicted the percentages exactly as the results published a day later! Well done!!!

NRF 2009 Disco

As a true night out – National Recruitment Federation Awards 2009 ceremony culminated with a live music and dance… With most of the cameras way out of focus to capture any of that!

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Recruitment Agency

NRF Awards 2009 Winners #nrf2009

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Interview: Peter Cosgrove

Peter Cosgrove of the NRF will hold a talk for job seekers on September 30th in the Grand Canal Hotel for up to 100 people. To register please email director@nrf.ie.

This is a pilot test free jobseekers workshop by NRF. The presenter Peter Cosgrove agreed to meet me over a coffee and we had a short chat about the upcoming event.

Interview with Peter Cosgrove

What is Free Jobseekers Workshop?
The National Recruitment Federation (NRF) felt that it would be of great value to the members if we were able to help recruitment consultants in a very difficult period. Given the amount of candidates on the marketplace it is inevitable that recruiters are spending more time speaking with candidates but often therefore not getting enough time to talk with clients. This job seekers initiative is to help recruiters put candidates in touch with a free event that they will benefit, as well as giving recruiters more time to focus on speaking to clients to get new assignments for their candidates.

Why has the NRF decided to run this event now?
I think there is a lot of negative press out there and unfortunately recruitment consultants are getting some of this even though they are often just the messengers. This is something they can do for their candidates that they will hopefully appreciate and improve the overall brand of the NRF recruitment agencies.

What does the event cover?
The event is designed for all levels of candidates and is to highlight that the market is completely different and your cv and approach to finding a job has to be also. Specifically it will cover:

• Writing a world class cv
• Where to find the next job
• Advice on dealing with recruitment agencies
• Improving interview skills and techniques
• Networking skills
• Negotiating salaries

Where and when is it happening and how do you register?
The job seekers workshop will run on September 30th from 6PM to 7.30PM at the Grand Canal Hotel, Dublin 4 and will be presented by NRF Committee member, Peter Cosgrove. A cv clinic will follow the event so bring a cv. To register please email your name and contact details to director@nrf.ie but remember places are limited.

Give one good reason why candidates should attend?
Everyone will learn something from this event and if you are proactively looking for a job there will be tips in this presentation that I guarantee will help every job seeker get their next job!

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Free Jobseekers Workshop

The workshop will run for 90 minutes and will cover:
• Writing a world class CV
• Where to find the next job
• Advice on dealing with recruitment agencies
• Improving interview skills and techniques
• Networking skills
• Negotiating salaries

The goal is to provide insight and support to candidates who are currently in a difficult job market. Free Jobseekers Workshop is targeted at all levels of candidate, from junior through to senior management.

Where & When?
September 30th from 6PM to 7.30PM at the Grand Canal Hotel, Dublin 4 and will be presented by NRF Committee member Peter Cosgrove.

Register
To register a candidate for the NRF Jobseekers Workshop or offer your services for the CV Clinic please contact the NRF office on 01-8161754 or email name and contact details to director@nrf.ie

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Recruitment Industry Awards 2009

National Recruitment Federation (NRF) is launching its Recruitment Industry Awards 2009, a gala awards ceremony on Friday, 2nd October 2009 at The Four Seasons Hotel, will once again be presented by RTE’s Pamela Flood.

Judges:
Mark Fielding, CEO ISME,
Kirsty Kirkwood, former European Head of Staffing, State Street
Sean O’Meara, Former Chief Executive, Young Advertising
Grainne Martin, Ex-MD of Computer People Ltd

The Jobseekers Choice category is where you can have your say about who is the best Recruitment Agency of the National Recruitment Federation at Survey Monkey

Here are the agencies shortlisted for the award:
Approach People
CaterAssist
Clark Recruitment
CPL Recruitment
Elan IT
Executive Connections
FRS Recruitment
Global Medics
Grafton Recruitment
Hudson
Jackie Brown Medical
Julia Ross
Logiskills
Noel Recruitment
Nuparc
Parc Aviation
Prosperity
Recruiters
RecruitmentPlus
Robert Walters
Servisource
Sigmar Recruitment
Star Recruit
Three Q Catering
Vantage Resources

Voting Rules:
Only one vote per person. Participating parties cannot vote.

The closing date for the nominations is (was) today at 5PM. So if you are reading this – sorry, you are too late for Recruitment Industry Awards 2009!

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Independent: Headhunters hit by the recession

independent-dublinBy Anne-Marie Walsh Industry correspondent, Monday June 15 2009

OVER a third of recruiters have lost their own jobs, due to the record hike in unemployment.

The industry dedicated to matching vacancies with workers has itself been decimated over the last 12 months with a total of 4,500 jobs lost in what was once a 12,000-strong sector.

Many employment agencies have drastically reduced their staffing levels as the numbers signing on soared by 97pc.

The group representing employment agencies, the National Recruitment Federation (NRF), saw just a handful of clients go to the wall but has recorded a massive drop in the number of employees.

NRF president Frank Collins, said he knew of one agency where staffing levels plummeted from 12 to just one person, and another where they fell from 28 to eight.

He said “green shoots’ were visible in some sectors of the economy, although employers were waiting to see if this would lead to a recovery.

Managing director of recruitment website employireland.ie, Ivan Stojanovic, said his business survived purely because it was not heavily dependent on placement adverts.

“Recruiters have been the hardest hit of any sector,” he said. “As time goes by, it’s getting worse and worse. I believe the figure of those who have lost their jobs in recruitment could be around two out of three.

“If there are no signs of the unemployment rate dropping, we are facing the current Spanish rate of 18pc.”

However, Mr Collins was more optimistic about the prospects for recruiters following a pickup in ads in the past few months.

“January and February were the worst months, but since then it has picked up,” he said. “Recruiters had to cut their cloth to suit their revenue.

“Without placements, there is no revenue.”

Anne-Marie Walsh Industry correspondent

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National Recruitment Federation 2009

National Recruitment Federation 2009The National Recruitment Federation Conference today was far better than I expected. To be honest I was a bit afraid to go there knowing what the Recruitment Industry is going through in the last months. There are a number of people I have heard assessments quoting more than 60% of the recruitment consultants been made redundant in the last 6 months. The figure of about 5000 to 6000 thousand recruiters being laid off was also mentioned today during the NRF 2009 conference.

The choice of the venue was excellent, the service was really good thanks to the number of sponsors of the event. There was even a draw for a big, big shredder!

The conference itself started with a bit of politics, changes in the legislations, status in Europe and similar topics relevant to the Directors and the Business Owners in the recruitment industry. After the (quite good) coffee, it was all concentrated about positive aspects and actually quite uplifting! One presenter after another, and I actually felt better and better. I am really glad I was a part of it, since I did hear interesting ideas and thoughts today.

Here is what I scribbled on my NRF Annual Conference 2009 Block (I am a freak for freebies!). It is just a random collection of quotes from various speakers:

Recession Trend: Get rid of the middle man! – Recruitment Agency is a middle man!?

National Recruitment Federation will:
Reduce cost
Publish a new web site
Do more PR and Marketing
NRF Certificate will be introduced for each recruitment consultant. Pilot will start in June, and the real recruitment certification program in September 2009.

Recruitment Agency Marketing consists of:
B to B – Pass the Gatekeeper
B to C – Brand yourself as a place for a job hunter to go when looking for a new job

Premier Group – Positive News Monitor (helps staff noticing and concentration on the positive news)

CPL – ‘…We will come out as a different industry…’ – A comment that really made me thinking, especially with the ‘Evolve’ message from The Chairperson: Rowan Manahan

There was also an interesting choice of presenters, since right in the middle of the conference we had a very good Stress Management presentation. I was wondering for some time – what is this doing in a National Recruitment Federation conference? Then again I felt it actually relaxed me, and felt it helped the people sitting around me as well. So good choice of the presentations – well done the organisers! Irish recruiters are stressed these days. Half of the people in the industry has been made redundant in the last half a year? Actually I cannot think of a better therapy than stress and anger management.
keithbohanna LinkedIN
The LinkedIN was mentioned as well. There is still about 40ish jobs in Ireland on LinkedIN (only). 2 of those have been from the people in the NRF 2009 audience. I am guessing Prosperity?

There is no Irish Recruiter utilising YouTube.

The Targeted advertising that Facebook enables was mentioned. Want quality candidates? Well you can filter by sex, age (is that even legal?!), country and guess what? The Employer!

Recruitment is in a forced evolution and it ain’t pretty!

Recruiters should ask themselves and even more their clients: What other services could we do for you?

The last presentation culminated the uplifting session really. We even heard about the clear and undisputable signs of the start of the recovery of the recruitment industry. I do not know if it was a too much coffee but it really made me feel great!

On the way out I got a copy of the Irish Times papers, with the sad face of the Prime Minister. The rain was sipping outside. The water feature looked sad in the rain, and empty golf course looked like it is Autumn. Sky was so gray. Stepping out of the hotel from the National Recruitment Conference 2009 was actually a bit shocking. Kind of like falling back into the reality.

National Recruitment Federation 2009 - Sponsors

Anyway, I did bring my camera, and yes I made a few pictures. Thanks again to both the organisers and the sponsors!
(Vicky sais that I am like a stalker! :))

I hope to have a longer chat published here with Frank Collins, NRF President. We spoke today quickly about the changes the NRF is going through in the last five years, and about the plans for the future web site, the recruitment certification announced, and the role NRF is playing now and will be playing in the future.

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Recruit Ireland goes FREE!

Recruit Ireland found itself an a bit funny situation this month. On one hand they are the main sponsor of the National Recruitment Federation Conference later this week. The NRF is the association of the Irish Recruitment Agencies, and most of them are actually Recruit Ireland’s paying clients. On the other hand Recruit Ireland has decided to give Free Jobs Advertising for Ireland’s Employers – that are basically the clients of the agencies, hence their clients. Employers loved it since there is something free for them. We all like free things. Agencies hated it since they lost revenue while their cost (a fee that Recruit Ireland charges) is still the same.

Via the various channels different recruiters have publicly disapproved the move by Recruit Ireland. All the Recruitment Agency blogs and Social Networking Discussions state the clear and strong disapproval with the move. Recruiters feel it’s not a fair move. And they all raised the question – What will their own association (that charges them for membership as well) do about it? The 2009 NRF conference will therefore be very interesting, with the Recruit Ireland as the main sponsor, and 118 agencies, most of them angry (none has spoken anything positive about the move!)

From the Recruit Ireland’s perspective it was probably a – no brainer. They are not managing to sell any advertising to the Employers, and the Jobs site always looks better with the Employers jobs on it. No one likes the 100% recruitment agency dominated web site. So they decided to give it up for free to employers. It will fill their database of potential future clients.

I am really looking forward to the NRF conference later this week since there will obviously be some interesting discussions!

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Blogs

National Recruitment Federation (NRF) Annual Conference 2009

*** PRESS RELEASE ***

National Recruitment Federation Launches Annual Conference 2009 with the good news of 400 jobs filled last week

1st April 2009

The National Recruitment Federation today announced the line-up for its Annual Conference 2009 entitled Facing the Future With Ease – Education, Enterprise & Enthusiasm, which will take place on Thursday, 23rd April 2009 at Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Co Dublin. The Federation which represents recruitment agencies in Ireland, also heralded a more positive outlook in the jobs market with an estimated 400 jobs filled by its member agencies last week.

Flying in the face of today’s all-consuming mood of pessimism, depression and fear, the NRF is calling for a revival of the spirit, energy and gutsy innovation for which this country has been praised. For the first year, the Federation is opening the event to anybody in the recruitment profession. For further information call Ph: 01-8161754 or log on to www.nrf.ie

While recognising the need to address the key issues of concern to the industry today, the NRF made a conscious decision not to dwell on the negatives for the entire session. Instead they have decided to incite the steely resolve and indefatigable passion needed to get the industry back on its feet again. Indeed due to the kind support of the conference sponsors and exhibitors (listed below) there is no charge for attending the event for NRF member agencies with just a nominal charge for non-members.

Chaired by career management expert Rowan Manahan (Fortify Services), the conference will be officially launched with an opening address from Minister for Labour Affairs, Mr Billy Kelleher, TD followed by an overview of the industry “today & tomorrow” from NRF President, Frank Collins. (Most notably Frank will be introducing the federation’s education strategy on the day). Alan Haugh of the National Employment Rights Association will look at the state body’s progress to date in fostering a culture of compliance and improving the standards of employment, while Annmarie Muntz of the world employers body EuroCIETT, will give us an insight into the crucial role of our industry internationally.

The conference will then turn its attention to learning from experience as Lucy Gaffney, Chairperson of Communicorps (which has 44 radio stations in 9 different countries) and formerly Director and COO of Esat Telecomm, shares her tales of tackling the ups and downs of the economy over the years and most importantly coming through it in one piece. Inviting us to taking an introspective look at ourselves and how personality types have a strong bearing on how we manage stress, Tempy Cummins of Vision 2 Reality, will provide tips and advice on psyching ourselves up to meet the challenges ahead. Tempy will also give a very important nod to the fact that both owners and managers suffer deeply at these times and could do with a helping hand in motivating themselves before trying to motivate their staff.

Although the economy is on a slowdown, the pace of technological advance is hurtling along at break-neck speed with networking, advice, business deals etc all taking place at a phenomenal rate online. The savvy entrepreneur knows that the future is on the net but many a savvy entrepreneur is also up to their neck in trying to manage their day-to-day business and simply do not have time to find out what’s new and how to do it. Coming to the rescue will be internet communications expert Keith Bohanna (co-founder of dbTwang.com), who will address in particular the area of Blog Marketing with a live demonstration on exactly how to make the sites such as LinkedIn and BlogSpot work for you.

To keep recruiters in touch with their target audiences, chair person Rowan Manahan will present us with some feedback from both employers and jobseekers on what they need from recruitment agencies today therefore helping them to adapt their services to ever-changing demands. And finally, delegates will leave with a strategy in hand for igniting the engines of enterprise once again as consultant Bill Boorman famed for his “Tin Hat Strategy” will present a 13 Point Plan for Business Growth.

Said NRF President, Frank Collins, “The last year and in particular the last 6 months have thrown the industry into an unprecedented freefall. We have of course seen slowdowns before but as the saying goes, the higher you climb the further you fall. Ireland has had it good for so long and are now in the midst of conflicting arguments as to where to turn. The NRF has put much thought into how it can help to provide some answers to questions but most importantly how to inject a little energy back into our hearts so that we can help to drive the economy forward again. I’m confident we’ve created a schedule that will help do just that and I look forward seeing the results.”

The National Recruitment Federation is a voluntary organisation set up to establish and maintain standards and codes of practice for the recruitment industry. Representing approx 120 companies throughout Ireland the NRF focuses it’s attentions on providing these members with the best possible service in terms of communication, support, advice sharing and problem solving.

ENDS

Frank Collins is available at any time for comment or interview. Speakers may also be contacted for interview upon request.

For further information contact:

Elaine Roddy, Director, NRF. Or Frank Collins, President, NRF.
Ph: 01-8161754 or 086-8582085 Ph: 01-8161763 or 087-2840804