Expos, Forums and Networking Groups

[Rob Brunt]

Hi all,

I am UK based recruiter and I have an increasing number of Australian companies coming to me seeking help with sourcing tradespeople from the UK. 

I am therefore keen to get your thoughts on the following:

- As a candidate, where do you look for vacancies in Australia where the employer specifically wants candidates from the UK? (eg. job boards, LinkedIn, websites, etc)

- Are there any good expo's on moving to Oz, webinars, recruitment fairs etc around the UK (I am struggling to find them post-lockdown).

I have roles coming through for maintenance electricians, mechanical fitters, fitters/turners, diesel mechanics with several different employers and an ongoing requirement for forklift technicians. Sponsorship is available and I will post the vacancies on here soon as we are currently in discussions regarding what relocation assistance they will provide.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Many thanks

Rob

[Steve Elliott]

Hi Rob

You are not alone in your search. I would say there are literally hundreds of companies searching for qualified candidates either directly or indirectly through recruiters.

It's an interesting conundrum as often candidates and employers both look in the wrong places. Candidates typically look at the job websites eg Seek but rarely get anywhere (for various reasons) and employers either try and do it themselves or turn to recruiters with very mixed results.

The Australian expos in UK, while they promise lots, often they fall short of expectations. I have seen large Australian  corporates send over HR teams to recruit at these expos but the generalist expos are simply that, too general. My advice would be to focus on two or three roles you are recruiting for in volume and identify expos, conferences or publications which attract these people.

For example in Brisbane last week we had a truck (lorry for Poms!) expo and in two weeks we have an automotive trades expo. Both are huge and will likely attract candidates. The UK has similar expos every weekend but they are not cheap!

I have some first hand experience of several large recruitment programs which were incredibly successful.  They key is that they were very targeted on speciific occupations where the corporates themselves developed a business plan. They knew the locations where the candidates lived and or where they were likely not content in their roles, they placed strategic adverts , obtained media exposure and invited expressions of interest. The teams literally arrived in the UK and held back to back interviews for several days in a row. They returned to Australia, shortlisted candidates and returned several weeks later to conduct secondary interviews. Interviews occurred in pubs, hotels, rented offices and even park benches on the banks of the river Thames. Some very clever marketing techniques were also used to attract candidates which made the Aussies stand out from the crowd. 

One project resulted in 200 job offers another 50. 

The key is recruiting needs to be very targeted and strategic and needs to incorporate knowledge and expertise beyond identifying candidates who have the right skill sets and qualifications. 

Also another very big consideration is to consider casting your net wider than the UK. I have come across several instances where both employer and recruiter thought the best talent pool existed in the UK. The reality was infact, the best candidates came from elsewhere in Europe.

My best advice is to do your research, develop a plan, sell the plan to the employer, then build a good team then execute. You also must not underestimate the value proposition to the candidate and understand there is so much more involved than a local UK recruitment mandate.

It will be an expensive exercise and the employer needs to understand that and must be willing to make the investment. It should not be a hard sell if you know the facts and can demonstrate the value proposition.

Good luck.