New Recruitment Agency for Accountants and run by Accountants
[Deleted User]
Posts: 0
Hi
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a new recruitment agency that specifically caters to recruiting in the accountancy profession. What makes this agency different from the rest is that our recruitment consultants are actually accountants rather than sales people, which is what you usually find within the recruitment profession.
There are two main benefits of having accountants as recruitment consultants:
For the employer
Accountants understand the true needs and objectives of a business and that of their employees as they have worked in the same roles they now recruit for which gives them a better understanding over traditional recruitment consultants.
For the job seeker
As accountants, we have been in the same position ourselves over the years, trying to secure our next position within a company. For this reason alone, we have a better understanding of the frustration job seekers can face with recruitment agencies. This is where we do things differently and value our candidates like we do our clients. We treat our candidates the same way that we would have liked to have been treated when we were candidates ourselves.
If you would be interested in becoming either a candidate or client, please visit our website for more information on who we are and what we are about.
www.briceparker.co.uk
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce a new recruitment agency that specifically caters to recruiting in the accountancy profession. What makes this agency different from the rest is that our recruitment consultants are actually accountants rather than sales people, which is what you usually find within the recruitment profession.
There are two main benefits of having accountants as recruitment consultants:
For the employer
Accountants understand the true needs and objectives of a business and that of their employees as they have worked in the same roles they now recruit for which gives them a better understanding over traditional recruitment consultants.
For the job seeker
As accountants, we have been in the same position ourselves over the years, trying to secure our next position within a company. For this reason alone, we have a better understanding of the frustration job seekers can face with recruitment agencies. This is where we do things differently and value our candidates like we do our clients. We treat our candidates the same way that we would have liked to have been treated when we were candidates ourselves.
If you would be interested in becoming either a candidate or client, please visit our website for more information on who we are and what we are about.
www.briceparker.co.uk
0
Comments
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Fellow AAT Members and Students
Please join our Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages to interact with other job seekers and view our vacancies soon to be advertised.
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brice-Parker-Financial-Recruitment/498404680172510
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Accountancy-Finance-Jobs-UK-4631314?gid=4631314&trk=hb_side_g
Twitter - https://twitter.com/BriceParkerFR0 -
I like the approach and have bookmarked your site.
Although the website is full of generic stock photos that don't make you look any different to the next recruitment agency. Unless of course you really do have a fantastically photogenic team!0 -
deanshepherd wrote: »I like the approach and have bookmarked your site.
Although the website is full of generic stock photos that don't make you look any different to the next recruitment agency. Unless of course you really do have a fantastically photogenic team!
Thanks Dean
You are correct, they are stock photos the same as any other recruitment agency, or any marketing company and for that matter, any accountancy firm would and do use. As it says on our website, we are different from the rest for the simple reason that we are actual time served accountants and not sales people like other agencies. We don't advertise that we are different from any other agency because we use actual photographs on our website. :001_smile:
I am glad that you took the time to visit our website though as that is one more person who now knows about us.0 -
I agree with with Dean
Your 'About us' page would be much better if it gave a brief description of each consultant's specialisms and accountancy experience.
Best of luck with it though.0 -
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Recruitment is fundamentally a sales job and some of the statements made on the website are... not entirely accurate of the industry... and look a bit idealistic. Of course it helps to have professionals who are knowledgeable in their chosen fields but ultimately, if they're not commercially minded - and not all accountants are - then you have no business.
But good luck with it anyway. Out of sheer curiosity, can I dare ask how many placements you've made so far?0 -
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Recruitment is fundamentally a sales job and some of the statements made on the website are... not entirely accurate of the industry... and look a bit idealistic. Of course it helps to have professionals who are knowledgeable in their chosen fields but ultimately, if they're not commercially minded - and not all accountants are - then you have no business.
But good luck with it anyway. Out of sheer curiosity, can I dare ask how many placements you've made so far?
I know that you are in Recruitment, but it is fair to say that a lot of agencies have very little knowledge about the industry they recruit in. This is the point that I am trying to put across. I also believe that agencies need to change their mindset that candidates need them more than they need candidates. This may be true but it is only true since agencies have become gatekeepers to jobs which is to the dismay of job seekers.
The reality I think is that agencies are not going away so it is important for sustainability and competitive advantage that agencies learn to build long term strategic relationships with candidates as well as clients.
It is very rare that a candidate will say "I only deal with agency X as they best represent me". This may become more frequent if agencies change their perception of candidates. This is something that I am trying to do.0 -
I can't remember the last time I saw an original website.
Then perhaps a little more research would have helped.
How about this, this and this..
If you are trying to say that your business is different from the rest then you have to prove it and your website is usually the first port of call for showing that to be true.0 -
deanshepherd wrote: »
OK, fair enough...they are different and quite good.
I would imagine it quite pricey though to have that made for you.0 -
deanshepherd wrote: »
I took your advice. I am happy with the site but I do feel a bit like I have sold out to sales.0 -
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I know that you are in Recruitment, but it is fair to say that a lot of agencies have very little knowledge about the industry they recruit in.
With respect DJ, that is an unfounded and frankly naiive comment, IMO based not on your experiences as an actual niche recruiter but rather as a previously unsuccesful candidate yourself. So no, it's not fair to say at all and can I please ask how you qualify this statement? Economics dictate that if an agency can successfully exist on the high street in such tough times, it clearly does know it's industry, it's rather candidates who are unrealistic about their own potentials, sadly often overstating them.
Many candidates - and some on this forum - have branded recruitment agencies as being all useless simply because they have been unsuccessful in landing them a job. What they fail to acknolwdge - and which you do, to your credit - is that for every single job, there may well be thirty, forty, fifty or more applicants. Someone WILL indeed get that job but there are inevitably gonna be a lot of failures. It's never about 'luck of the draw' or the agency not knowing it's business but rather a candidate's skill set, experience and company fit not being good enough for them to fill the vacancy. Ultimately, if candidate X didn't get the job it's simply because candidate Z was that much better in the agency's and client's eyes.0 -
Thanks for the spot.0
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Nit picking I know but your menu tabs are placed over your telephone number.0
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Nit picking I know but your menu tabs are placed over your telephone number.
I had the same problem but just wondered if it was because of the browser I was using.
Another small suggestion from me... on the homepage I know I need accountancy or recruitment services, I really can't be bothered to read the text underneath so it would be nice if the icons were links.
And your TEL and FOLLOW US are in caps but the Email is not.
And on about us - financial recruitment - the find out more button is covering some of the text.
On the accountancy page, why is "free" and "no obligation" in speech marks? Is it not really free?
And I'm really not going to waste my time watching a 6 min piss-take video on 'street accountants' in Australia.
I didn't go any further.
Have you thought about using a web developer rather than wix?0 -
Ditto to Gems comments and - would suggest having your website designed by a professional if you want to give the appearance of being a professional organisation. (Sorry my partners a printer and graffic designer and the professional touch will show big time)
Best of luck with your business0 -
With respect DJ, that is an unfounded and frankly naiive comment, IMO based not on your experiences as an actual niche recruiter but rather as a previously unsuccesful candidate yourself.
I have dealt with over 20 recruitment agencies in the past and even though some have taken the time to research the industry including qualifications, others have not. I don't think it is professional when I have had to distinguish between ACCA and CIMA to some.This is my own personal experience.0 -
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I had the same problem but just wondered if it was because of the browser I was using.
Another small suggestion from me... on the homepage I know I need accountancy or recruitment services, I really can't be bothered to read the text underneath so it would be nice if the icons were links. OK - Will change
And your TEL and FOLLOW US are in caps but the Email is not. OK - Will change
And on about us - financial recruitment - the find out more button is covering some of the text. Must be a browser issue - will check
On the accountancy page, why is "free" and "no obligation" in speech marks? Is it not really free? It highlights the fact clearly for the client to see. What makes you think it is not free?
And I'm really not going to waste my time watching a 6 min piss-take video on 'street accountants' in Australia. Some people will, some people won't watch it. They have a choice.
I didn't go any further.
Have you thought about using a web developer rather than wix? Expensive and something that we may consider in the future. It is a shoe string start up.
As above0 -
Just checked on the IE browser and it is slightly different but I can't see any of problems stated in the comments above. Are you using Firefox?0
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Had a look at the website. Somehow I dont think advertising both accountancy and recruitment services on the same website works. Also, the link to yourstaff "coming soon", sort of implies you havent actually got any staff. There are alot of website that use the term "we", but you just get the feeling it is a one man band just trying to make the business look bigger. Could be totally wrong, but your website looks like one of those.0
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No disrespect to you DJ, but I honestly don't think you know what a recruitment consultant actually does, qualified by your ongoing insistence that your agency is not being about sales but rather about candidate welfare. Anyone who's ever worked in the industry knows it is ABSOLUTELY a sales job: recruitment consultants don't always necessarily need to know every little thing about their specialist industry (and accountancy isn't that specialised to be honest): just the bare bones can be sufficient, they can bluff the rest. However, they do need to be very good sales and people-people. They spend most of their day on the phone 'biz-devving' and negotiating with clients for their custom. With candidates usually being in plentiful supply for accountancy, it's not as much focussed on them as you appear to believe.
And clients aren't stupid either... they can spot an agencies unrealistic sales pitch about being different from all the rest a mile off: they don't necessarily want different, they just want better. As an example, accountancy practices pretty much all do the same thing - some just do it better than others.
But as I said before... good luck with it and it's nice to see you're being proactive by striving to help others.0 -
No disrespect to you DJ, but I honestly don't think you know what a recruitment consultant actually does, qualified by your ongoing insistence that your agency is not being about sales but rather about candidate welfare. Anyone who's ever worked in the industry knows it is ABSOLUTELY a sales job: recruitment consultants don't always necessarily need to know every little thing about their specialist industry (and accountancy isn't that specialised to be honest): just the bare bones can be sufficient, they can bluff the rest. However, they do need to be very good sales and people-people. They spend most of their day on the phone 'biz-devving' and negotiating with clients for their custom. With candidates usually being in plentiful supply for accountancy, it's not as much focussed on them as you appear to believe.
And clients aren't stupid either... they can spot an agencies unrealistic sales pitch about being different from all the rest a mile off: they don't necessarily want different, they just want better. As an example, accountancy practices pretty much all do the same thing - some just do it better than others.
But as I said before... good luck with it and it's nice to see you're being proactive by striving to help others.
Thanks Robert.
I am however fully aware that recruitment is a sales job and how its about getting the sale and talking a load of crap to get it. I don't agree with it though and believe there is a better model.
Do you not think that if a model was based around putting the client and candidate first rather than the sale then that creates differentiation and becomes a preference?0 -
Do you not think that if a model was based around putting the client and candidate first rather than the sale then that creates differentiation and becomes a preference?
All recruitment agencies would say and do the exact same thing. Excellent customer service is nothing new. If they successfully fill a role, make a sale, win a contract etc with repeat business ahead then that just underwrites it. And going slightly off topic, but no business should ever make a sale at any cost. IMO, it's a fallacy when people say the client/customer always comes first. Who pays their wages? A good salesman wins a sale but should always think pragmatically first. Bad salespeople may also win sales but often to their company's detriment. Therefore an employee's first line of loyalty should always be towards their employer not the client. If your employer goes bust, the client will simply just go to another supplier... there's rarely a shortage whatever industry you're in. Not so easy to find another willing employer though.
To be truly different from the rest you need a unique selling point that the others don't offer. You just need to find it.0 -
To be truly different from the rest you need a unique selling point that the others don't offer. You just need to find it.
I was under the impression that being trained accountants and not sales people was our USP. Would you rather recruit an accountant from an accountant or recruit an accountant from a salesman?0 -
I was under the impression that being trained accountants and not sales people was our USP. Would you rather recruit an accountant from an accountant or recruit an accountant from a salesman?
My answer? It honestly doesn't really matter as long as the candidate is employable. Besides, when I temped for Reed Accountancy in 2008, many of the recruitment consultants there were actually trained accountants, they were just very outgoing - not all accountants are meek stereotypes and - and made more money from being recruiters than accountants.
I'm sorry to ask DJ, but do you honestly know what a headhunter actually does? A football agent doesn't need to be able to play football to sell his client to a club. Likewise, an accountancy recruiter doesn't need to be able to complete a set of accounts or an IT consultant able to build a computer from scratch to pitch a candidate who can to a client that's willing to employ them.0 -
Hi
Being accountants might give you you something, but (and this is me coming at this as a client and candidate) making it work will depend on you linking this internal aspect of your business to a tangible benefit to the client on the outside.
How people have progressed through their careers or found good staff has come up on numerous apocassions whilst I was studying on courses and through other networking and talking to colleagues since I qualified, sooner or later recruitment agencies are mentioned. I would place money on at least eight out ten of these people regarding recruitment agencies as necessary evil rather than something they feel added value to either their job hunting or employee recruitment, although there are agencies regarded as better or "nicer" than others.
Given the above, you're business being founded and run by accountants might give the clients/candidates some extra confidence in your abilities and a better rapport but you'll need to be able to provide something the client/candidate can really value that they don't get from other agencies if you are going to make good of your USP.
Neil0
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