You may know I spend some of my time as an Associate Career Transition Coach with Penna, the UK's #1 provider of Outplacement services.
I happened to be the coach asked to travel to South Yorkshire one recent sunny morning to support a bunch of guys shell shocked at the closure of their manufacturing site. One of them was a very impressive chap who we shall call Paul, for that is his name.
Paul had spent over 20 years as an aerospace engineer in the RAF, and his CV was hugely impressive. He had left so as to be more settled with his family in the local area. Now, just 6 months into working in "Civvy Street", he was to be made redundant. Here's the story of how we got from zero to 30,000 feet in just a few short steps...
Paul thought he might like to go back into aerospace engineering, but had no contacts in civil aerospace - and no notion how to go about networking in this area. The military option had of course passed.Harder still, he really didn't want to uproot his young family. That ruled out Toulouse, & probably Bristol too. In fact, it didn't take long for us to agree there was only really one commutable target company: none less than Rolls Royce.
I mentioned how I was LinkedIn with an ex work colleague who was now at RR in a senior Resourcing role, and that if he was interested, I could maybe drop him a note to mention our chat. I hadn't spoken to this chap in a long time, but had exchanged several Linked in messages over the years. A long shot, but worth a go I thought...
That evening I did just that. It turns out my contact is now operating at Global level, but no matter - he responded swiftly, positively and massively helpfully - contacting the relevant Resourcing Manager on my behalf.. Within 24 hours, his Resourcing Mgr and I were Linkedin and exchanging messages. My client Paul was more than impressed, and I put them in direct contact.
Jump forward just one week: Paul had not only spoken with RR, but was now on his way to Derby to meet with them. The chat went very well, despite there being no vacancy as such. That evening I received a very encouraging note from my contact, relaying that Paul had come across well and there might just be a possible role for him.
The rest happened in a blur: 2nd interview, a fabulous role sketched out, soon after offered - and immediately accepted. Paul is over the moon, as is his family. RR have a high quality recruit on their hands at no cost to them at all... and Paul will soon be providing technical advice and support to RR clients across the world.
The moral of the story... Linked in is amazingly powerful.. and incredibly swift.
Without it, I 'd never have kept in touch with my ex colleague. Paul may well have applied speculatively to RR, as do many others every month.. but by his own admission, he could not have dreamed of landing such a plum role so quickly.
Without it, I 'd never have kept in touch with my ex colleague. Paul may well have applied speculatively to RR, as do many others every month.. but by his own admission, he could not have dreamed of landing such a plum role so quickly.
My reward? That warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from a job well done - and added confidence that the "new world" of talent acquisition is taking hold.
Helping in house recruiters develop innovative and cost effective ways to hire talent directly is my passion.. I'd be more than happy to come talk to you about it.
e: mike@hinterland.uk.com
e: mike@hinterland.uk.com
