How many tools do you use for Purchasing and Supply Chain recruitment?

The recruitment demand for procurement, purchasing and supply chain professionals continue to show strong growth.

The BJD Group has seen the demand increase significantly during the past year, over 200% for purchasing and over 170% for supply chain positions. Similarly, there has been a marketed increase in the number of purchasing and supply chain professionals registering and using our web site www.bjdgroup.com

To understand these significant trends, a review of this sector was undertaken that has highlighted the factors and considerations that indicate the changing approach to managing client vacancies and the candidate job search.

This applies particularly to the public sector where the activity for purchasing and supply chain staff is particularly buoyant and the need to leap forward to the latest best practice methods is urgent.

However, the shortage of suitably qualified candidates is highlighted in the Economist (March 27) where it mentions that the proposed savings from better purchasing made in the Budget Statement by Gordon Brown are somewhat ëshakyí as less than of procurement staff are qualified.

Our recent survey of how purchasing and supply chain professionals seek opportunities has shown the marked importance of using multiple web sites against usual sector focused journals or national media outlets.

The familiarity, working knowledge and economic access to these web sites is essential in using them effectively in the recruitment process.

The generalist web site recognises the importance of being open to use by niche sector specialists and have tried to make their search facilities easy and friendly for the candidate.

Perhaps most importantly there is the auto e-mail facility whereby the candidate can enjoy an immediate alert of suitable vacancies, usually within 24 hours of the requirement becoming live.

It used to be that clients seeking to recruit for a buyer or supply chain manager would do their own media advertising. If the responses are disappointing the client is then back to square one plus incurring the wasted cost of an expensive advert and the administration support managing the responses!

We at the BJD Group provide a service that will identify appropriate candidates by employing some or all of the following tools:

1. Media advertising
2. Databases
3. Networking.
4. Specialised Websites
5. Generalist web sites

The first 3 points are well established in the recruitment processes, it is points 4 and 5 that have contributed to the more recent developments.

The key issue with web sites when managing a specific vacancy, is understanding what are the best sites to use, how to use them, should it be a generalist site or a specialist site or combinations of both.

Summary

The usage of web sites by candidatesí has shown a rapid growth and so it has become increasingly more effective recruitment tool for attracting appropriate candidates.

In fulfilling a recruitment need it is essential to utilise as many recruitment tools as possible that are appropriate to the particular position. The professional use and management of web sites and notice boards are increasingly effective recruitment tools to support the more conventional recruitment processes.