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Steadying the Ship in Uncertain Waters: Why Interim Finance Talent is Delivering Real Value This Quarter

finance meeting
finance meeting

Finance Hiring Outlook – Q3 2025

As we move through Q3, many finance teams across Herts, Beds, and Bucks are feeling the pinch.

Forecasts are under pressure, resources are tight, and yet, the work doesn’t slow down.

Whether its audit prep, business partnering, or just keeping the month-end engine running, there is still the need for high-quality support - it hasn’t gone away. But what has changed is how teams are accessing it.

What’s going on locally

From where I’m sitting, businesses are juggling a few challenges:

  • Permanent hires are taking longer to get signed off or just aren’t happening
  • Teams are stretched due to unexpected absences or long-term leave
  • Change projects are still on, but there’s fewer resources to support them
  • Core finance functions are often running on a shoestring

It’s no surprise, then, that more companies are turning to interim finance professionals - not as a last-minute band-aid but as a practical, often strategic choice.

Why interim talent works right now

Interims don’t need a lot of hand-holding. They usually show up ready to get stuck in and sort out the things that have been hanging over your head for weeks (or months). No lengthy inductions or corporate handbooks required. Just a clear brief and a laptop, and they’re off.

Here’s the kind of roles I’m placing these days:

  • Interim FDs and FCs to steady the ship and help prep for year-end
  • Qualified interims to cover BAU while permanent recruitment limps along
  • Transactional temps to take the pressure off AP/AR teams
  • Project specialists to push through system upgrades or finance transformations

It might not be flashy, but it gets results - quietly, efficiently, and without the drama.

Thinking ahead? Why now is the perfect time to act

Waiting until the last minute to plug gaps or add support usually means paying a premium, scrambling to find anyone available, or risking important deadlines slipping through the cracks. And let’s be honest, nobody wants to be that team desperately hunting for a miracle hire in November.

Q3 gives you a golden window to be proactive:

  • Secure the right talent before others snap them up - the best interim professionals get booked quickly, especially as year-end nears.
  • Give your new interim the time they need to get properly up to speed - which means smoother handovers, better results, and less firefighting.
  • Reduce burnout and workload stress on your existing team - a little breathing room now prevents bigger headaches later.
  • Keep critical projects on track - whether it’s closing the books, supporting audits, or rolling out system upgrades.

Plus, interim support can be a great way to test out potential permanent hires without a full commitment. It’s flexible, low-risk, and lets you focus on what matters most; hitting your year-end goals without losing sleep.

If you’re thinking “maybe we should get ahead of this,” you’re already on the right track.

Now all that’s left is a quick chat to work out the best approach for your team.

Get in touch with me, Liz Hawkins, on liz.hawkins@srmrecruitment.com or call +44 (0)7508 956587

 

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What does an efficient recruitment process actually look like in today’s finance market?

job interview hand shake
job interview hand shake

We’ve all seen it: job advertisements are down, application numbers are up, and the best finance professionals are getting snapped up in a matter of days.

In a market like this, having a tight recruitment process isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s absolutely essential.

So what does that actually look like? We asked our consultants what really makes the difference when it comes to attracting and securing top finance talent.

Here’s what they said…

A well-designed recruitment process doesn’t just assess talent, it also sells the opportunity:

The most efficient processes begin long before the first CV is reviewed. A clear understanding of why the role exists, what it needs to achieve, and what the business can offer is critical.

That means sitting down to define not just the job title, but the actual business need. From there, you can shape an accurate job description and brief that reflects both the technical scope and the benefits of the role.

Keep interviews focused, transparent and timely:

One of the biggest frustrations for candidates in this market is lack of clarity/streamlining around the interview process. Many ask upfront: How many stages will there be? Who will I be meeting? What will I be expected to prepare?

We always advise our clients to make this information clear from the beginning. A well-planned process might have two stages, possibly a third for stakeholder alignment, but that’s often enough.

Testing or presentations should only be included if they genuinely reflect the skills needed in the role - not because “it’s what we’ve always done.” If the position requires financial modelling, analysis, or communication of insights, then yes, a task may be appropriate. But explain why, and don’t let it hold up progress.

Timeliness doesn’t mean rushing decisions:

It means being collaborative, decisive, and respectful of the candidate’s time and other options. In this market, it’s not unusual for strong finance professionals to receive offers within 7 to 10 days.

If your process stretches out over three or four weeks without clear updates, you’re likely to lose them.

Good finance candidates, especially in London and other major hubs, often have multiple offers. Speed signals seriousness.

Structure for stronger hires:

What’s working now is simple: clear communication, timely interviews, relevant assessment, quick feedback and discussion around training, mentorship and leadership.

These steps help avoid counteroffers, keep candidates engaged, and give them confidence in your business. They also show that your company has strong internal processes and decision-making.

The sooner your new hire starts, the sooner they can take pressure off your team, drive improvements, and contribute to the business.

In summary

An efficient hiring process in finance isn’t about cutting corners, it’s about cutting out confusion.

When you combine clear role definition, structured interviews, and a well-managed timeline, you not only move faster than the competition, but you also attract stronger, more serious candidates.

If you’re reviewing your hiring approach or struggling to move quickly in the current market, we’d be happy to talk through how we support clients in making the process more streamlined - without compromising on quality.

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Career Journey Spotlight: Q&A with Jason Smith, VP International Finance at Papa Johns

client Q&a - Jason Smith
client Q&a - Jason Smith

Luke Higgs, Regional Director at SRM, recently caught up with one of our long-standing clients, Jason Smith, to hear more about his career, his role at Papa Johns, and his experience working with SRM on a major finance recruitment project.

Q: Tell us a bit about your career to date – what led you to your current role at Papa Johns, and what does your role involve?

I’ve been lucky to work for some fantastic organisations with great leaders and teams. My career has always been in finance, working with consumer brands in the leisure and hospitality space. That’s included big corporates like Whitbread and TUI, as well as private equity-backed companies like TGI Fridays and David Lloyd.

Breadth of experience has always been important to me – I’ve worked across a wide range of finance disciplines, from commercial business partnering to accounting, financial control, shared services and finance transformation.

The opportunity at Papa Johns came about unexpectedly and quite organically – it started with an informal catch-up with a former colleague, which eventually led to me being offered the role. I’ve now been here just over a year. The international business covers around 2,500 restaurants across more than 40 countries, so it’s a broad remit. I lead the finance team and am responsible for finance strategy, planning, and commercial decision support.

Q: What’s been your biggest challenge – or biggest success – in the role so far?

I’d never worked in quick service restaurants (QSR) before, so it was a new environment for me. I’d say my biggest success has been leading the transformation and implementation of a new in-house UK finance team. Alongside that, I’ve been focused on providing financial leadership to our operations teams – helping to keep everyone aligned on the areas that really drive performance.

Q: In your view, how has the role of a finance leader evolved over the years?

It’s changed a lot. When I started out, finance was much more focused on reporting and control. These days, finance leaders are expected to be strategic advisors – not just number crunchers. With the sheer amount of data available now, we’re able to support faster, smarter decision-making. It’s not just about managing the budget anymore – it’s about helping shape the future of the business.

Q: What advice would you give someone just starting out in a finance career?

A few things, really:

  • Try to get as much breadth of experience as possible, rather than specialising too early. When you’re looking at a new role, think about how it will set you up for the next one and how it fits into your long-term career plan.
  • Get under the skin of the numbers. Really understand what’s driving them, and spend time with the operations teams – that’s where you’ll get a real understanding of the business.
  • And finally, focus on building strong relationships right across the organisation. It makes a big difference.

Q: We recently worked with you on a large recruitment project to hire 15 finance professionals into your team. Why did you choose SRM as your recruitment partner?

Recruitment is all about relationships – both from a client and a candidate perspective. I’d worked with SRM before on specific roles when I was at TUI, and they always understood the brief well. This was a large-scale project that spanned different locations, so working with one recruiter who could cover the full geography made sense.

Q: How did you find working with SRM on this project? What did we do well?

It was a good process overall. SRM provided dedicated resources for the different types of roles, which worked really well. They really understood the roles and the kind of candidates we needed – the quality of the shortlists was impressive.

Q: Were there any challenges during the project, and how did you overcome them?

There are always challenges when it comes to recruitment – it’s just the nature of it. But we tackled them by working closely together and making decisions quickly when needed.

Q: What advice would you give to someone thinking about working with a recruiter? How can they get the most from the partnership?

Make sure your recruiter really understands the brief – not just the job description, but the type of person who’ll thrive in the role. Don’t be afraid to be challenged either – a good recruiter will offer alternative views and help you see things from different angles.

get in touch

Huge thanks to Jason for taking the time to speak with us!

If you are looking to hire for your Finance team or make a career move yourself and seek a specialist recruiter who truly understands the market, we're here to help. Contact Luke Higgs in the first instance on lukehiggs@srmrecruitment.com or call +44 (0)7947 272862. 

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The changing face of FP&A

FP&A
FP&A

Over the past few years, the role has FP&A has changed more dramatically than most areas of in-house finance and, with the implementation of AI, this is likely to change further in the coming years.

This is SRM’s guide to the changes and what you may need to do to make the most of your FP&A function...

The rise of the Business Partner

You only have to look back 5-10 years to see the extent to which finance and, with it, FP&A have changed. Gone are the days where bigger businesses will have a core central-housed Management Accounts team and Group-level FP&A function. Both of these teams, whilst commercial in nature were very much reporting focused and, at most, preparing a yearly budget.

As businesses have begun to harness data, FP&A has been embedded into the business unit level (sales, marketing, IT etc). This business partner role (core management accountant skillset with a storytelling element) has allowed FP&A to zoom out of the business and move away from the reporting elements as this is now covered by the partners.

This has meant that FP&A has more time to shape strategy (using data) than ever before.

Powered by analytics, AI and automation

Traditionally FP&A functions were powered by large Excel sheets and basic manipulation, vLookups etc. This allowed them to efficiently review static data and prepare budgets, however, it made most other trend analysis difficult.

Tools such as Anaplan, Workday Adaptive, and Planful have allowed more dynamic long-term models to be built, meaning businesses can lean on FP&A data to create rolling forecasts as opposed to static annual budgets.

The more forward-thinking teams are also harnessing AI to look into AI-driven predictions into revenue and cost behaviours. This will ultimately affect the bottom line.

Real-time vs retrospective

Although FP&A has always been seen as the forward-thinking part of finance, most of its work was still based on data from the previous month.

By channelling integrated CRMs, ERPs and operations systems with new insight tools such as Power BI, Tableau and Looker, FP&A is now able to support the CFO with real-time data and thus improve the decision-making process.

Dashboards are one of the lower hanging fruits when modernising FP&A.

Scenario planning as standard

This has become the most obvious result of the other changes we have discussed. With more time due to the business partner model and more powerful data analysis tools, FP&A has become the fulcrum of scenario planning.

Not only has it allowed for more agile planning cycles (monthly, quarterly vs once a year), it means that specialist and long-term planning can be performed. For example, well resourced FP&A teams can, and do, run multiple complex planning scenarios that will take in; growth, recession, supply shocks and even acts of god, like pandemics etc.

This use of data, accountancy knowledge and computing power can really aid decision-making beyond anything previously.

A future-proof FP&A team

This is what we would see as a future-proofed FP&A team which would allow any business to harness technology and data to improve planning capabilities:

Group FP&A (core)

Head of FP&A

  • Leads the function, owns forecasting, reporting, planning and business partnering.
  • Partner to CFO and C-Suite.

FP&A Manager

  • Budgeting and forecasting lead, owns planning cycles and rolling forecasts.

FP&A Analyst (multiple)

  • Consolidations & reporting analyst, creates dashboards, supports board and investor reporting.

Scenario & Strategic Modelling Analyst (possibly multiple)

  • Builds long-range plans and ‘what-if’ models.
Business Partner layer

Finance Business Partners (multiple)

  • Supports individual business units (sales, marketing, IT etc), own planning, forecasting and analysis for their unit.
  • Translate financials into business insights.
Data, Systems & Analytics FP&A (increasingly no longer a ‘nice to have’)

FP&A Systems Manager

  • Admin for Anaplan, Adaptive, Pigment etc.

Finance Data Analyst/BI Analyst

  • Connects FP&A with BI tools (Power BI, Tableau, Looker).

Automation & RPA Lead

Helps automate data ingestion, report generation etc.

OPTIONAL LAYERS

M&A Analyst

  • Deal modelling, investment appraisal.

ESG/Impact Finance

  • Tracking sustainability & social performance metrics.
 
Get in touch

If you’d like help to build your FP&A team or find your next career move, please contact Rob McKay in the first instance, on robmckay@srmrecruitment.com or +44(0)7376 802264

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Navigating a difficult employment market: actions, challenges and opportunities

finding a job
finding a job

Are you struggling to find a new role while the job market is ‘flat’? Do you feel like you’re wading through treacle?

Here's some actions that can be taken to increase your chances of success when the market is challenging.

Stay positive – the market is undoubtedly tough!

Some context; the latest “KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs” survey published this March, concluded that we are “amidst a 28-month contraction in the job market” and “growth in starting salaries has slowed, reaching the weakest pace in four years”.

Commenting on the latest survey results, Jon Holt, Group Chief Executive and UK Senior Partner KPMG, said:

“While it is still a wait and see approach to hiring, with February data showing companies continue to hold back on recruitment, the softer decline could be an indication that expectations of further interest rate cuts and better than expected recent economic data are starting to release some of the pressures on business.

“But several headwinds to growth remain, and we should expect a Spring Statement that is fiscally constrained due to growing spending pressures and global uncertainty. Despite this uncertainty, businesses which are well capitalised will be looking for signals to support future planning and growth, and with that will come confidence to invest and create jobs.”

Clearly there is nuance to this and there are still areas and levels of the wider market that are proving to be resilient, but its fair to acknowledge that 2025 remains a challenging market for many candidates. Clearly for a CFO and a General Counsel (for example) or the most senior department head roles this is especially prevalent.

Commitment to the search:

Balancing personal commitments (we are all human after all!) with a focused job search is the largest inhibitor to being consistent in a search, so a few ideas around combating this would be:

  • Set realistic goals and SMART targets: Define what you want to achieve in your job search and set realistic timelines, that could be encapsulated around your current bonus timetable for example. What searches am I doing today? How many job applications shall I try and make today? Or, how many of my contacts in my network shall I reach out to?
  • Create a schedule: Dedicate specific times each week to job search activities, such as networking, applying for jobs, and following up with search firm/recruiters.
  • Leverage your network: Regularly connect with your professional network to uncover opportunities and gain insights (head to our website for specific advice around this).
  • Stay organised: Keep track of applications, follow-ups, and networking activities to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Who am I? How you position yourself:

  • Make sure you are tailoring each application: each and every hiring manager is looking for something different. A well-written job ad will highlight the most important criteria in the first few bullet points – so make sure you promote these achievements – put them at the top of your list, sell yourself and re-jig your responsibilities to reflect this.
  • Assessing how to present your proposition: don’t be afraid to ask your recruiter to run through your pitch prior to your interview – remember they have been talking to the hiring client, they should know what they are looking for and can help make sure you pitch is ‘on point’.
  • Reaching out and connecting to the line manager for the role via Linkedin, for a role you feel passionate about, carries no negative stigma in this market. Also consider people that may have a connection into the recruiting company that may be able to facilitate an introduction.
  • Another angle would be to ask someone in a professional capacity on their perceptions on your areas of strength and areas to consider. This may also help frame your thinking and how you market/position yourself.
  • The final point would be around your LinkedIn profile (check out this article more in-depth advice on this) – the importance of this as a “sales document” in many ways, but also ensure your profile is properly optimised from a keyword perspective and interacting with LinkedIn. Liking/commenting on other people’s posts will ensure your profile continues to be well optimised for search/recruitment firms and the direct hire market. Also be sure to follow companies that interest you.

Follow up is key… timing can be everything

“I never hear anything back”: frustrating as it is, both agencies and in-house talent teams are dealing with significant volumes of applications so don’t be afraid to give them a polite nudge.

  • Timing your follow up: Try to refrain from sending an email or making a call immediately after you’ve submitted your application. You are better off noting the name of the job poster, and the closing date for the role, then give your CV time to land and be assessed alongside other applicants.
  • Personalise your follow up: No “Dear Sir/Madam” or “To whom it may concern”. Send a personalised, polite and professional email, referencing the position and your relevant skills. Keep it succinct.
  • … and if you can’t work out who to talk to, then pick the phone up to the agency, or the in-house talent team and just ask.

Review/re-review your expectations

  • Most job seekers start off with a ‘golden wish list’ of criteria for their next role/challenge, whether that be location, hybrid working, job title or industry. In a sluggish and competitive job market, its definitely worth taking a step back periodically and reassessing “what is really important to me”. If you do make changes to your expectations, remember to communicate them to your network, recruiters etc.
  • Consider the Contract/Interim market – we recognise that there are candidates who may have been unfortunate to lose their role, and this doesn’t need to define you. Do speak to an interim specialist if your circumstances dictate that you can consider an temporary or interim management contract – there could be questions around IR35 and Limited Companies you may have, if this isn’t an avenue you’ve considered before.
GET IN TOUCH

If you’re a finance professional looking to make a career move and need some help, please get in touch with Paul Craggs (permanent roles) and Rob McKay (interim roles) in the first instance on: paulcraggs@srmrecruitment.com and robmckay@srmrecruitment.com

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Tom Harrington joins SRM’s Finance recruitment team in London

Tom Harrington Finance Recruiter
Tom Harrington Finance Recruiter

We’re delighted to welcome Tom Harrington to SRM Recruitment as a Principal Consultant in our London finance recruitment team. Tom tells us a bit about himself and what prompted his move to SRM. He'll also share about the roles he’ll be working on, and his advice for hiring managers and job seekers in the current market.

Tell us a bit about yourself? 

I am a father of two, a keen sports fanatic and someone with a keen interest in politics and economics. When my two boys aren’t keeping me occupied, I like to get out for a cycle or enjoy football with friends. One of the things I enjoy the most about recruitment is having your finger on the pulse of the economy and finding out about some amazing businesses in all sorts of industries.

Tell us about your career to date? 

I have been in the finance recruitment industry for 13 years, initially working part-qualified roles, interim contract positions.  For the past 7 or 8 years i've focused on qualified mid to senior finance positions. This has typically been in investor-backed, high-growth businesses, across a range of industries but with a bit of a focus within the B2B markets such as energy, construction, tech infrastructure and professional services. 

What prompted your move to SRM?

I wanted to join a specialist boutique agency, with a presence and ability at the senior end of the job market.

What was it that appealed to you about working for SRM? 

I was really impressed with the leadership team. They all have impressive careers to date, are market experts and operate with honesty and integrity. They have also built a business with a great culture where consultants are treated as individuals and allowed to thrive.

Tell us about your remit at SRM? 

My remit is qualified finance at the mid to senior level. This includes roles from the recently qualified Management/Financial Accountant to Finance Manager, Financial Controller up to Finance Director.

What do hiring managers and job seekers like about working with you? 

I like to really listen to people so that I can better understand their situation, their backgrounds, and their pain points. That way I can give them an individual tailored service. I always try to be upfront and consultative, so that we can work together to reach their goals.

What’s your top piece of advice for hiring managers right now? 

Retain an open mind on candidates. There is a perception at the moment that the balance of power now sits with the employer and that the market is flooded with candidates. While there is some truth in that, it is still challenging (as it always is) to recruit top talent. This can sometimes result in businesses missing out on some real superstar candidates. Despite them being highly motivated to join their team, they were overlooked simply because they haven’t for example worked in the same industry or they haven’t used a specific accounting system. 

What’s your top piece of advice for candidates right now? 

My advice for candidates is to take time to prepare a well thought out CV and don't over complicate it with alternative formats. When you have a certain amount of career experience, there is a danger you just add your current role in at the top of your CV and move everything else down the page. Without re-evaluating the existing content this often results in a very long CV. So, be sure to assess the whole document and be ruthless when deciding what will help you to achieve that next step in your career.

GET IN TOUCH

Need help to hire or find your next finance role? Contact Tom on tomharrington@srmrecruitment.com or call +44 7777 156692. You can also connect with Tom on LinkedIn here

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Why the Home Counties is still a serious contender when it comes to Finance careers

home counties home worker

As an experienced finance recruiter in the Home Counties, we’re a big fan of the region and know that it has always, and continues to, offer great opportunities for both employers and job seekers alike.  For those who seek a compelling alternative to London, the counties of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire offer flexibility, regional growth, and a more balanced, fulfilling professional life.

Below we outline 7 key factors which make the Home Counties a fantastic alternative to London for both employers and job seekers.

For Employers/hiring firms:

  1. Access to a Skilled Workforce: The Home Counties are known for attracting experienced finance professionals who prefer the balance of working close to London while enjoying a better quality of life. Many candidates with significant experience in areas like financial reporting, audit, and risk management are moving away from the city, giving local firms access to top-tier talent without needing to compete directly with central London salaries​.
  2. Work-Life Balance as a Selling Point: As hybrid working arrangements become the norm, employers in the Home Counties can attract professionals who are eager for a better work-life balance. With less stress around commuting and more emphasis on local opportunities, businesses that offer flexible work options will find it easier to secure talented individuals who might have otherwise been lost to London​.
  3. Strategic Talent Pipelines: The competition for finance professionals may be fierce, but firms are learning to tap into the graduate talent pipeline coming from local universities and training programs. By focusing on building strong relationships with educational institutions, businesses in the Home Counties can secure fresh, ambitious talent who are keen to develop their careers regionally​.
  4. Rise of Contract and Flexible Roles: The demand for contract workers is a growing trend, but this also offers a chance to bring in highly skilled finance professionals on a flexible basis. Employers can tap into a broader talent pool for short-term or project-based work, which often leads to strong long-term relationships or future permanent hires​.

For job seekers:

  1. Good selection of Opportunities: For finance professionals looking to escape the daily London commute, the Home Counties offer a wealth of opportunities. With many firms expanding their operations regionally, candidates can find roles that offer both professional growth and personal flexibility​.
  2. Diverse Career Paths: The finance sector in the Home Counties is expanding beyond traditional roles. Candidates can explore dynamic roles in tech-driven finance, such as data analysis, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting, and financial technology (FinTech). These growth areas provide exciting avenues for professional development​.
  3. Work-Life Balance: Living in the Home Counties offers finance professionals the opportunity to enjoy a high quality of life. With less time spent commuting, professionals can focus on their careers while still enjoying the benefits of countryside living or vibrant local communities. This balance is becoming a key differentiator in attracting top talent​.

Overall, the outlook for finance recruitment in the region is looking to show some signs of positivity with many benefits to both employers and job seekers, it’s no wonder many people are realising the Home Counties is a serious contender when it comes to finance careers.

GET IN TOUCH

 If you’re looking to hire finance professionals for your team or considering a career move in the Home Counties, we know the region inside out and we’re here to help. Contact Liz Hawkins in the first instance, on lizhawkins@srmrcruitment.com or call +44 (0)7508 956587.

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Recruitment Agencies: who to use and why?

So you've recently decided to look for a new job - you've got a great CV, perfect LinkedIn profile and fully utilised your professional network - you won’t need to use a recruitment agency, surely?

Well, maybe not. However, the vast majority of hiring firms will still use outside assistance for most levels of recruitment, and this means you will more than likely need to apply for a role through a recruitment agency at some point.

As a result, before you just randomly send your CV to any old recruitment firm, it is best to think through which agencies you engage with and why.

Which agencies to engage with? 

This choice tends to come down to what stage you have reached in your career so far, so make sure you approach the right type of firm:

Establishment stage – engage with the bigger, larger established recruitment brands. They tend to work with larger PLC businesses and have the reach to offer more choice whilst you gain experience.

Growth to leadership – depending on the salary range (some firms can be fixed on this), we recommend you engage with a mixture of larger recruitment firms and boutique agencies (like us) who build long-term relationships for senior hires.

Board level – depending on salary, we recommend you engage with a mixture of the boutique recruitment firms and the established 'SHREK' (an acronym referring to the five largest and arguably most prestigious) executive search firms.

How many agencies to engage with?

The number of recruitment agencies you engage with for your job search will also depend on what stage of your career you have reached:

Establishment stage – 2 -3 good recruitment firms should be enough. Their scale and reach in this marketplace tends to be strong and should give you everything you need.

Growth to leadership and board level – whilst this sounds counter-intuitive, you should be speaking to 10-15 search firms. Roles at this level will almost certainly be exclusive or retained with a single recruitment agency. As a result, you need to build more relationships with more agencies so as not to miss out on that perfect role.

Spend time and do your research

For a successful job search, search firms should still be a core aspect of your approach. As with everything when it comes to seeking that next career move, spending time on understanding who can help you is really important. Do your research and speak to more recruiters if you aren’t getting what you expect. 

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Professional Network: What is it and how best to utilise it?

people networking

So you've just started your job search and the one thing you hear over and over again is: "make sure you speak to your network"!

But what does this actually mean? You may be like the vast majority of the market who don’t regularly network.  You're just too busy with work and family life, and that's fine. But fear not, you’ll actually have more of a network than you think. And using your network is incredibly important when it comes to finding and securing that all important next career move. 

These are the two main networks you should use to facilitate your search: 

1. Traditional network

This will consist of former colleagues and bosses. Whilst not the furthest reaching of networks (as it depends mostly on them having the right job at the right time), it is still important to have other people know that you are on the hunt for a new role. So tell them! You just never know who might know of someone hiring at your level and can recommend you. 

2. Professional network

This is the most important network to make aware that you're on the lookout for a new role. But what is this network? Think of professional advisors (audit partners, lawyers, corporate finance advisors or managing consultants) you have worked with. Their job entails a lot of business development and meeting people in similar industries. They will know more and be a position to mention your availability more than you think. An introduction or recommendation from a trusted advisor carries a lot of weight, so make sure you make the most of these people in your network - keep them informed if you're on the lookout for a new challenge.

Utilise all your networks to your advantage

The more people who know you are looking for a new role, the more opportunities that will come to you. So where possible, use both your traditional and professional networks to your advantage. The world can work in mysterious ways, so do not be afraid to utilise that professionally.

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LinkedIn: is it as important as your CV?

LinkedIn and CV

The job market changes all the time, but there was a point in 2018 when we had a miniature big bang moment: LinkedIn adding the 'open to work' banner. This allowed you to signal to the world that you are actively looking and thus making it easier to for potential employers to find you. Think of it as LinkedIn’s Tinder-fication moment.

But other than the added reach, what does it all really mean when getting ready to start your job search? This article will outline why LinkedIn is fast becoming as important as your CV.

Who is looking at you on LinkedIn?

In short, a lot of people! LinkedIn puts the number at 1 billion globally and around 35 million in the UK alone. Now obviously not all of these people are relevant to you finding your next role, however, 97% of talent professionals (agency recruiters or in-house talent teams) will use LinkedIn everyday for candidate searches. This is a “passive” route to market which, if prepped properly, will increases your chances of finding the perfect role.

How to think about your LinkedIn profile

Essentially, you need to think of it like your CV, but with an added focus on keywords. Why? Well, this comes down to what LinkedIn is. It is to all intents and purposes a huge database, and searchable keywords means you are much more likely to be found.

Open to work – yes or no?

Quite simply: YES.

To reassure new people to the job market, LinkedIn has a built in feature meaning people from the same organisation can’t see if you have switched on the 'Open to Work' banner. 

Format

This should essentially be the same as your CV.  We've another helpful article on just that, which you can access here. 

The differences to be aware of:

Contact details - it's your choice over whether you include contact details on LinkedIn. As long as you regularly check your Inmail, then adding personal contact details to a public forum isn’t needed. However, if you are comfortable with people contacting you directly then you may get more traction by adding them. It ultimately depends on how you wish to be approached.

Qualifications – these should be listed under the 'Education' section. There will be an option under “schools” to find the relevant professional qualification.

Key skills check boxes – when filling out your experience in each of your roles you will be given the chance by LinkedIn to check a number of key skills boxes. Whilst this speeds up the process and makes sure you are hitting the “keyword quota”, it doesn’t tell your story well. By all means use this tool, but make sure to include details on your Responsibilities and Achievements for each role. 

Recommendations – view these as publicly visible references. Two or three will give your profile added weight when people are reviewing it.

Conclusion

Be sure to give LinkedIn the time it deserves. Given its ability to help attract opportunities to you, it is as important (if not more) than the traditional CV. Do not be afraid to put the majority of your recent CV experience directly on to your LinkedIn profile.