To Employ or not to Employ: Part II

Should it really have been this complicated?

Unemployment in the UK is hovering around the 2 million mark yet we found it almost impossible to find a suitable person to fill the role of Senior Surveyor in our Ashford office.

In January 2013 we had advertised the position twice with varying levels of success but finally we found the right person for the job.

Why did it take so long?

In February we received a handful of applications predominantly from UK based Surveyors currently gainfully employed but looking for something more as the industries employment situation has stagnated a little over recent years.  Then in March we were deluged with applications from as far afield as Burma, all seemingly well trained and experienced in their field.  On both occasions we selected our favoured 3 or 4 candidates and found from our selection we had the following combinations:-

• Experience on site, but lacking any formal processing experience.
• Currently living well beyond commuting distance from the office, and not looking to move.
• Perfect for the job, but not currently resident in the UK.
• No experience or qualifications.

All made excellent first impressions at interview but concerns were raised over the solvency of the business being relatively new, and then the expectations of the potential candidates were a little excessive at times given the current market & their knowledge/experience.  

If I were being brutally honest I can see their point of view given the current employment situation it will always be a risk moving jobs & everyone wants as much as they can get, but it still left us high and dry originally, a situation which has now been rectified.  However during the process, not wishing to boast but for the first time ever I was stood up, standing like a lemon waiting for the candidate to show up - no response to e-mail or mobile.  What happened I'll never know but standing there I was beginning to think Lord Sugar has the right idea, just need to think up some suitable challenges which have a Surveying tilt - suggestions on a postcard please......

What are the solutions?

Investment in the future - if only the money and time were available for this.  But right now there are no quick fixes but long term our second employee will be wet behind the ears and straight from school or university to train up but right at the time we needed someone to hit the ground running and lighten the load.  However with an eye on the future we were joined for a week in the summer by an undergraduate looking to gain a little experience in the industry......watch this space for our next recruiting challenge!



To follow the progress of our staff, and business as a whole you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn, as well as through our website - www.rlsurveys.co.uk


Up Date: At the time of writing this all of the above was true.  However at the time of publishing we are back at square one, and venturing into the employment market for a second time!!!  Ideally we are looking for a cloning machine, but I suspect someone with some experience and a little common sense would be a good start.