Blue-Skies-Brochure

RECRUITMENT SPECIALISTS FOR MARKETING, AGENCY & CREATIVE

CONTENTS03 - 04 Hello from Blue Skies

05 - 06 Recruitment Types

07 - 08 Recruitment Specialisms

09 - 10 Route to Recruitment

11 - 12 The Talent Search

13 - 14 Advertising Your Vacancy

15 - 16 What Our Customers Say

17 - 18 Writing a Job Description

19 - 20 Interview Tips

21 - 22 Why Blue Skies

01 BLUESKIESCAREERS.CO.UK 02 BLUESKIESCAREERS.CO.UK

03 BLUESKIESCAREERS.CO.UK

HELLOSpecialists in Marketing, Agency and Creative Recruitment Since 1998.

Established in 1998, Blue Skies has sourced outstanding talent for the UK’s leading brands and businesses. With offices around the UK, we believe that we can use our comprehensive knowledge of the UK marketing, agency and creative industries to make a real difference to all of our customers by offering a truly personal experience.

Blue Skies ManchesterCenturion House,129 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WR t: 0161 631 2781

Blue Skies StratfordThe Ministry, 2 BirminghamRoad, Stratford-Upon-Avon,Warwickshire, CV37 OBHt: 01789 293 893

Blue Skies LondonThird Floor, Ashley House,18-20 George Street,Richmond, TW9 1HYt: 020 8241 9070


RECRUITMENT TYPES

PERMANENT

FREELANCE

Whether it’s a brand new position or an established role within your business, our consultants will work with you at every step of the recruitment process to ensure you find the perfect candidate. We can provide you with the perfect foundations for advertising your vacancy, whilst our extensive search and screening process ensures that only the very best candidates are presented to you for interview.

Using freelance resource can be a great way to manage busy or transitional periods within your team. At Blue Skies, we have a team of dedicated freelance consultants who work with a nationwide network of professional freelancers. We take the hassle out of hiring by including your freelancer on our own payroll system and covering all legal obligations employers have towards freelance employees.


AGENCY

From automotive to technology and beauty to leisure, our clientside consultants specialise in sourcing the skills and experience needed for your business, whatever the sector you operate within. Investing in people is the cornerstone of success in any business and with more than 17 years of experience under our belts, we’re perfectly placed to ensure you invest in the very best.

CLIENTSIDE

Our team of agency consultants are experts when it comes to recruitment within the dynamic world of marketing and creative agencies. We have long-standing relationships with many of the UK’s leading agencies and have dedicated consultants who can fill vacancies at all levels across all areas including digital, events, branding, integrated, shopper, PR and advertising.

CREATIVELike you, our creative consultants are constantly on the search for the new, the exciting, and the thought-provoking. Over the years they have worked with agencies, businesses and talented creatives who have produced the most innovative work in the industry. Working solely on creative they are immersed in the market, day in, day out.


RECRUITMENTSPECIALISMS

We understand the dynamic nature of the marketing, creative and agency industry which is why we are experts in recruiting for them.

Through being specialists, we are able to build close relationships with our aspirational clients, as well as creating a talent pool of the strongest

candidates in the industry.

• Brand management• Campaign management• Category management• CRM• Events• Generalist marketing• Internal communications• Market research • New product development• Product management

MARKETING DIGITAL MARKETING

• Analytics• Content management• Digital campaign management• Digital media• E-commerce • Email marketing• SEO / PPC• Social media • Traffic management


• Artworking• Art directing• Copywriting• Creative teams• Editing • Graphic design• Illustrating • Photography• Production management• Project management • Studio management• Styling• Visual merchandising

CREATIVE

• 3D visualisers• Digital design• Email and flash design • Traffic management • UX / UI• Web development

DIGITAL CREATIVE

• Account management• Agency management• Business development• Digital• Events• Media planning• Project management

ACCOUNT HANDLING

• Communications• Crisis management• Events• External affairs lobbying• Media monitoring• Media relations• Online community management• Public affairs

PR


ROUTE TO RECRUITMENT

We follow a six-stage service plan to ensure that your route to recruitment is as straightforward as possible.

The first stage of the brief is arguably the most important of the recruitment process. We take the time to understand the key requirements for your role, as well as your business. We then use our resources to ensure that we find the best candidates available at that particular time, as well as advertise your

role to our extensive network.

We know your time is precious, which is why we qualify each candidate, checking their eligibility before we send you a shortlist along with full profiles. During the interview stage we ensure the candidates are fully prepped and we will oversee the whole process – no matter how many stages there are! We will manage the final offer to ensure the best outcome, but it doesn’t end

there – our aftercare service is unrivalled too.

We offer upfront advice at every step of the process, ensuring your time is concentrated only on the very best talent available at the time of

your search.


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Talent Referrals Expanding your reach through word of mouth

Networking & Mapping Identifying the best talent in the market

Investment in Advertising Blue Skies is recognised as one of the biggest advertisers in marketing and creative recruitment

Social MediaOver 70,000 connections

Blue Skies Database65,000 marketing professionals

Blue Skies Website Over 25,000 visits

every month

Blue Skies AppOver 3,500 downloads

Candidate ScreeningEnsuring you only meet

candidates who are right for your role


THE TALENT SEARCH

Our Blue Skies network is extensive, having been built up over 17 years. It enables us to ensure that your role will reach the most suitable and

talented candidates in the industry.

Our 65,000-strong database means that we have marketing, agency and creative candidates instantly available to consider in our search. Our database is UK-wide and accessible from all three of our offices, meaning you have access to top candidates from across the country, who we know are willing to relocate. We extend your reach further through

incentivising our database on talent referrals.

All jobs are featured on our newly-launched website, which receives over 25,000 visits every month, along with our Blue Skies App, which has been downloaded 3,500 times. We are connected across all social media

platforms, with over 70,000 connections.

Our advertising loyalty allows us premium space on today’s main job boards and our candidate screening ensures that you only meet with candidates

who are right for your role.



ADVERTISING YOUR VACANCY

The further your reach, the greater your return. We have strong affiliations with all the key players due to our long-standing history and continual

investment in advertising.

Every month we have advert allocations across all of the featured job boards. This enables us to ensure that your job is appearing in all the right places. Our coverage is across all the marketing, agency and creative industries allowing us to advertise according to specialism and level. Through offering the right coverage we can ensure your role is being communicated out to

the right candidates.

If your role is extremely specialist then we can recommend the best job boards for it to be advertised on, and negotiate the best price for you

as well.

14 BLUESKIESCAREERS.CO.UK13 BLUESKIESCAREERS.CO.UK

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS SAY

We are extremely proud of the companies we have worked with, from small start-ups to leading international brands.

We understand that no two briefs are the same and we approach each brief individually. We pride ourselves on being able to adapt to your business needs and the culture of your company. Our service is of the highest level and consistent across the board, resulting in customers returning and referring new business.


The important thing about a recruitment specialist is that they deliver the right candidates at the right time. Blue Skies put forward candidates who met the brief exactly. I was able to recruit very quickly and without having to sift through dozens of unsuitable CVs – that work had been done for me.JD SPORTS

Blue Skies took the time to gain a thorough understanding of the requirements of the role and matched CVs accordingly. The service I have received has always been very quick and professional. I would strongly recommend Blue Skies to others recruiting.ARGOS

A unique combination of larger business capability and consistency, and smaller independent company personal touches, I would recommend Blue Skies as the leading recruitment agency within the marketing field.WASHINGTON GREEN FINE ART

Blue Skies is a leading marketing recruitment agency. Many of our marketers and digital employees were recruited with their help. They fully understand what we are looking for, understand the company culture and make the entire recruitment process painless. They are incredibly efficient and proactive. I continue to work with them on all our marketing and digital vacancies. CLEAR CHANNEL

Working with Blue Skies is always a pleasure. I was impressed by the time the team took to really understand our company, its’ goals and the brief. This in turn meant we were delighted with the high calibre of candidates presented that were suitable for the role.REED EXHIBITIONS

Blue Skies is one of our agencies of choice when we are looking to recruit as they are extremely personable and friendly; they understand the Bright culture and what we look for in candidates, therefore we always get excellent new recruits who are exactly what we need. Their approach strikes the right balance between not being too pushy, but nicely proactive and I enjoy working with them.BRIGHT CONSULTANCY

I have worked with Blue Skies for a number of years and find them to be responsive, efficient and a pleasure to deal with, from both a freelance and permanent perspective. They’re on the ball and understand our needs. They get Cubo and who we are and often end up delivering the final candidates – mainly because I think they get the type of people that will fit in here. CUBO GROUP

Blue Skies have been a great recruitment partner for us over the last few years, providing us with a number of great team members. They have an excellent understanding of both our business and our team and work extremely hard to match candidates to our requirements.MILk DESIGN

I’ve used Blue Skies for a number of Account Management posts and always found them to be really helpful – they understand the brief, are quick and responsive, keep me up to date and most importantly, have found me some good quality candidates.WUNDERMAN

Blue Skies have helped us find several candidates over the last year. From the outset they’ve understood the brief and tackled it with enthusiasm. CVs are always considered and meet the brief, where we’ve had very specific requirements. I would have no reservations recommending Blue Skies.LIVE & BREATHE


WRITING A JOB DESCRIPTIONWe have put together some handy hints on how to write the perfect job description.

The brief is a vital element of the recruitment process; a carefully constructed brief can ensure that you attract the most suitable people for the role. It enables candidates to clearly assess themselves against the role and understand exactly what kind of person you are looking for.

It is therefore important that the information included is current and relevant to the needs of the position. We have put together some of the things you need to consider when putting your job brief together.


01Start the document with the job title, department and any direct reports the role has. Also define who the role reports into and any colleagues from other departments who the employee may work closely with.

02Begin with an overview of the purpose of the role which then leads into the specific day-to-day responsibilities.

03Define concise categories for the document, each containing a clear heading, a brief description of that particular area of the job and its expected outcomes.

04Think carefully about the skills and experience you require for the role. There is a fine line to tread here in terms of guaranteeing you employ not just the right person, but the right skills for the role without falling foul of discrimination laws.

05Include a note to indicate that, as duties and responsibilities change, the job description will be reviewed and amended in consultation with the postholder.

06State that the postholder will carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by their manager.

07Avoid phrases like ‘recent graduate’ or ‘highly-experienced’ unless these are actual requirements of the job. This could discriminate against younger or older people who might not have had the opportunity to get certain qualifications.

08Avoid language that could be viewed as discriminatory on the basis of race, colour, national origin, religion, sex, age, citizenship status and disability.

We are always on hand at Blue Skies to help and advise on this, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our consultants who will happily talk you though the process.


INTERVIEW TIPSHere are our best tips for conducting a well structured and effective interview

Interviewing is a time consuming business, and knowing what questions to ask can mean the difference between a successful meeting and one where you find out very little about what the candidate can actually do. Here at Blue Skies we have put together a comprehensive guide to conducting the perfect interview and how you

should prepare in order to get the most out of every meeting.

01Plan | Read the candidate’s CV beforehand and have your questions prepared.

02Be structured | Follow a format and be consistent for each candidate.

03Vary your questions | Use a mix of open, closed and competency based questions:Closed questions – a closed question can be answered with either a “yes” or “no”. These give you facts and allow you to find out information quickly. Open questions – Open questions deliberately seek more in depth answers and generally begin with ‘who, what, why, how, when, where or describe’.


Competency based questions – these are questions selected based on the competencies required to be successful in the role (i.e. questions that ask for examples of previous performance – the same questions to be asked to each candidate for comparison purposes).

04Let it be a two-way exchange of information | Strike a balance between talking and listening.

05Document for later reference | This is essential! Take notes during the process as these can help overcome the ‘halo effect’ and allow you to compare all candidates after the process is complete.

06Be consistent | Interviews can often take unexpected twists and turns – being prepared will help keep the meeting on track and allow you to steer the conversation back to the areas you need to cover.

07Timing | Try and keep each interview to around an hour in length.

08Legality | Observe the principles of equality and equal employment opportunities.

09Feedback | Best practice is to give feedback to all interviewed candidates to ensure the candidate has a positive overall experience. Make sure that your feedback is balanced, objective, specific and timely.

10Be welcoming | Make the candidate feel relaxed. Be aware of your body language. Turn off your mobile and ensure that you will not be disturbed. Outline the structure to the candidate at the beginning of the process.

And finally; sell yourself. Interviewing is a two-way street and companies are often competing for the best candidates. You need to make sure you are selling the benefits of the role and your company to all candidates. Even if they are not perfect for this specific requirement, who knows what may happen in the future and you would like them to leave with a positive impression of your company! Remember a good interview gets the best out of a good candidate.


FRIENDLY HERITAGEKNOWLEDGEABLE SERVICE DRIVEN

We see our remit as more than just recruitment: we

are here to support the UK’s marketing, agency and creative industries. Central

to this are the close working relationships we form with

our clients.

Over the past 17 years, we’ve worked with businesses of all shapes and sizes, so we

understand how unique your recruitment needs can be.

As the UK’s leading marketing, agency and creative recruitment partner, we know the marketing

industry inside out. We invest heavily in training our consultants so they can find you

the very best talent for your vacancy.

We understand that no client or brief is the same, so we

strive to offer a bespoke, tailor-made service with one point

of contact, to ensure you have the best possible experience.

WHY BLUE SKIESWith 17 years’ experience, we are experts within our industry. We know our

consultants are the key to our business, friendly but professional, they offer you unrivalled service every time.

Whether you represent a global household brand name, or a start-up agency, our service standards remain the same. By working closely in tandem we’ll use our

unrivalled sources of candidates and candidate acquisition techniques to fill your vacancy.

Securing the services of the right clientside, agency or creative professional is never straightforward. When combined with your own unique briefing criteria, such as immediacy, the exact challenges of the role, location, personality fit and sector

knowledge, you need a specialist recruitment partner you can trust to deliver.


Third Floor,Ashley House,18-20 George Street,Richmond,TW9 1HY

t: 020 8241 9070

London & South East:

The Ministry,2 Birmingham Road,Stratford-Upon-Avon,Warwickshire,CV37 OBH

t: 01789 293 893

Midlands & South West:

Centurion House, 129 Deansgate,Manchester,M3 3WR

t: 0161 631 2781

North West & Yorkshire:

blueskiescareers.co.uk

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Blue-Skies-Brochure