Writing a blog the morning after a Rice PowWow is often a challenge. 3 hours sleep, the alcohol-induced brain fog, shaky hands fumbling across the keyboard – all whilst trying to be both entertaining and relevant to the recruitment community. This morning I have no such problems however. At 41 years of age I think I have finally discovered how to start a Friday morning in fine fettle. The secret? Do not go to Danny Doolans.
Not all PowWows are equal, and I found last night’s more enjoyable than most. A good sized crowd, some new faces, some old, and a seemingly engaged bunch of recruiters meant for a fun evening. It was also nice to share a bit of news about what we’ve been toiling away on over the past 6 months, and for those not in attendance, here’s what’s new:
If you’re reading this via our website, you’ll notice it’s all shiny and new. Following some internal changes at the end of last year, we thought it a good opportunity to regroup, refocus, and rebrand. With the help from the good folks at Tenfold Creative, Rice Consulting is no more, and we usher in a new era of Rice & Co. Have a click around the website, and let me know your thoughts. Secondly, there’s our new-ish baby superHUMAN software. As if Rice and JOYN haven’t turned my hair grey enough, we’ve decided to start building software for the Recruitment and HR industries. We’ve actually been developing software for about 6 years, so it’s not a new endeavour, but it was time for our developers to leave the comforting bosom of JOYN, where they previously hid. Unsurprisingly, one of the projects completed by superHUMAN was the new website, and I’m feeling particularly tumescent over some of the new tools, one of which we showcased last night.
Every day a Recruiter calls me asking if they’re paid enough. And every day a Recruitment Manger calls me asking what recruiters are getting paid currently. Every day I provide anecdotal answers to these questions. And like most thing you do every day, I’m a bit over it. Salary surveys are nothing new, but if you knew how recruitment firms collected the data, and how old it is, and how it’s just a tool used by recruiters to get client meetings, you wouldn’t put much faith in it. So we thought we’d build something a bit different. So…want to see if you’re underpaid?
Firstly, click here. Enter your details as accurately as possible (don’t rush or make typos), and hit “Show me”. Don’t worry – it’s totally anonymous. I don’t want your name, your email, your number, or the age you lost your V-Plates at. What you’ll get is a comparison of your basic salary against others with the same experience, and also a comparison of how much money you earn versus others who bill at a similar level. This is helpful to you for a few reasons. Firstly, you might be on to a good thing and not even know it. Secondly, you might be underpaid and you can have a conversation with your boss. Thirdly, you might be both underpaid and not hugely happy, and then that’s useful to both you and I. This living, breathing, live salary survey is also useful to Recruitment Managers. No more guess work courtesy of your truly. Instead, real time data on where the industry is sitting right now. Therefore, better pay reviews, more appropriate offers, and better retention.
Of course, some Recruitment Managers will be nervous of such an endeavour. I must admit, it didn’t occur to me that this was a controversial idea when we built it, so I was surprised by the number of people who described it as “edgy” last night. If you are a boss, my advice to you is “fear not”. Firstly, there’s a 50% chance that you’re paying at or above market rate. Great news. Secondly, if you’re not, then it’s better to know via a salary survey than find out when your three biggest billers leave. And thirdly, there is an opportunity here for all. superHUMAN built this for the recruitment industry, as its “client” was a Rec-to-Rec Agency. However, this could be an incredibly powerful tool for any agency. Imagine an Accounting & Finance Recruitment firm providing live salary surveys benchmarked against the relevant peer group, and then serving appropriate, intelligent, engaging content (or as I call them, job ads) to these potential candidates. If this sounds interesting, just hit ol’ uncle Sean up. There’s also a heap of other tools to play around with – predominantly focussed on the minefield that is commission schemes. Again, check it out and let me what you think.
Anyway, enough from me. Check out the site, play with the tools, have a good weekend, and support women’s football.
^SW
