Food Job Blog: The inside track on Food Recruitment and Careers

..so another huge food industry surprise comes out of the blue - the 'merger' between Greencore and Northern Foods. Everybody probably knew that Northern were not the force in industry that they once were, and from a recruitment point of view, once Northern 'centralised' this function it became very difficult to work with them in anything other than a purely 'transactional' way.

So what does the 'merger' do for recruiters? Will this mean another colossal centralised department, with 15 suppliers on a faceless PSL and fees at 12%, no opportunity to visit site and meet with line managers. No opportunity to look around the factory and really get a feel for the processes and the day to day issues from 'the horses mouth'?

Almost unanimously, the factory teams don't like this 'centralised' approach to recruitment. Neither do candidates.  The factory teams like to work with recruiters that they know and have chosen because of their capability and service. The best candidates expect us to have met the factory teams and had a good look around the factory - how else can a recruiter sell the role accurately and effectively.

In my view, which ever way you look at it, the 'centralised' approach to recruiting only serves to downgrade the whole activity unless the relationship is extremely strong and exclusive, and the savings achieved by driving down PSL rates are arguably 'wooden dollars' as ultimately the best placements are not made this way.

...just on my way out to visit a client to discuss a new brief. It's a client who knows me really well, has been giving me briefs consistently for five years. I know their factory inside out and have recruited 67% of their manufacturing team to date. The role is with me exclusively, allowing me the time to do a thorough search and screening exercise. The client will pay full fees because they appreciate the 'value-add'
If I have time later in the week, I'll have a glance through the 'portal' at the 12% fee roles I'm sharing with 15 other agencies. Then I'll sit down and prioritise my workload.

It has been really interesting in the last six months when working with major retailers, foodservice clients and food manufacturers whenever the topic of Food To Go comes up.

There is a real buzz of activity in the market about where this product category can go now... Are we going to follow the US (as always) and see the dominance of the triangular sandwich finally slip from pole spot?

I suppose it all comes down to how you define the category, but what is clear is that everyone is bringing new thinking to the sector. For too long the sandwich at lunch time has been the prime driver of the category, and yes there have been some significant developments into breakfast eating on the go, but there is so much more the industry could do.

And what about hot eating Food To Go? Or evening meal / snacking that isn't a Ready Meal. In the US hot sandwiches are a major product range, for example, with the addition of dipping sauces and side salads etc. These developments can mean a complete new way of selling in store of course - hot serve cabinets have been springing up in most petrol stations, but could you imagine how M&S would cope with that? Waitrose were interested in the EAT chain of sandwich, salad and soup shops, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside.

So if I were a Business Delevopment Manager, on in NPD or Marketing, I would be keen to get into the Food To Go sector just as it embarks on a complete re-definition of itself. The retailers are clearly keen to revitalize the sector, whilst the coffee shop and sandwich chains are always looking for more market share from each other. It's certainly a time to bring new ideas to the market.

What conclusion do you draw when a first class honours graduate with sparkling A level results bombs when completing Verbal and Numerical tests - that they are not bright? Or they didn't practice enough maybe? What happens when a candidate with low qualifications passes with flying colours? What conclusion do we draw then? Possibly their mate did the test for them? Or had they done the tests lots of times?

I for one believe in testing, and I also believe that there is always a need for bright, numerate and articulate individuals in my business or in our client's operations.

I do question though the high level of inflexibility concerning scores. How many candidates's careers have been adversely affected by missing out by 1 or 2 percentile on tests?

Maybe acceptable ..but only last week I spoke to a very dynamic Operations Dircetor who has reached this level at a very early stage in his career, who said they had failed tests at a company and been rejected - and the following week passed the same tests to accept his current role. Who lost out and how can this be right?

I think the businesses who run the tests should offer more help and assistance and perhaps be held more to count by candidates who need to get through their tests.

Because even though the tests are often seen as a key influencer in the decision making process, they should only be used as part of a selection process and frequently they seem to become the defining criteria. As a result, are strong candidates slipping through the net?

Wrong or right?

Recruitment is changing all the time. As recruitment companies continue to seek out the best possible candidates, they are more often that not having to tune in to new channels. Since the introduction of social media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook, recruiters have the opportunity to search large databases of potential candidates, whilst increasing the visibility of their vacancies on social sites such as Twitter and AudioBoo.

These media channels are by no means brand new - they have been used and discussed at an alarming rate since their introduction in the mid-2000s.

And what's more, people have by no means ignored these new channels. Many were proactive and jumped on the bandwagon from an early age, forming 'social media' consultancies to advise organisations on how they can best use the likes of Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace etc.

But what does the future of recruitment look like in line with social media?

Whilst these massive databases of potential candidates and very easily accessible - to pretty much anyone - both Facebook and LinkedIn are incredibly precious of their data and the privacy of their members. It seems that every other week I log on to Facebook to be prompted to add some new privacy settings that have just been introduced.

And if you're thinking how great it would be to pull all the contact details of the LinkedIn members who work in your industry and put them onto your candidate database, you'd better keep on thinking - as it's practically impossible.

Yes, there is technology and software that can scour page after page of search results and put them in a nice spreadsheet for you, but unless you're willing to risk being banned from LinkedIn for breaching their T&Cs, this is highly unadvisable.

Besides, even if you took that risk, the information you can gather is very limited - no address, no email address, no phone number - all you've got is a name, a job title and a current place of work. Now whilst this doesn't provide you with details to contact candidates directly, it does provide you with a perfect name sourcing tool to go away and head-hunt to your heart's content.

As the gap between recruitment companies and social media is continually squeezed, the introduction of social job seeking sites such as iProfile are making a big impact on the industry.

It will be interesting to see how the next decade pans out for recruitment, what the next big social network might be, and how the gap between the two will be bridged.

An evening with The Observer food critic Jay Rayner and Tim Wilson founder of Ginger Pig was fun and informative. Darren and his kitchen team at The White Swan in Pickering really did Yorkshire proud showcasing just what this great county has to offer in terms of quality produce.

A small group of diners joined together to hear from Tim how from humble beginnings he has developed this fantastic business that is committed to sustainable farming. The Ginger Pig meat is farmed locally in Levisham, Newton and Wyke only ten miles from Pickering, they have their own acreage to grow the crops that feed their animals, a fully integrated business that allows them to maintain tight controls on quality throughout the food chain.

In the beginning it started with sausages from rare breed Tamworth pigs sold to one shop in London - there was only so much pork Tim and his family could eat themselves! From there little acorns grew and they now supply their own shops in London, including at Borough Market, and only five restaurants.

The White Swan in Pickering is the only restaurant outside London where you can eat this fantastic meat. Tim supplies the River Café and St John, but here in Yorkshire it's the same meat, the same great quality at probably a fraction of London prices! The pork belly was succulent and the crackling perfect - if you have not had the Ginger Pig experience you must experience it for yourself - www.thegingerpig.co.uk

How important is provenance and quality and good farming husbandry important to you?

You would think wouldn't you that the first really obvious part to get right would be your name? Wrong! It's amazing how many candidates send in their cv either with their name spelt incorrectly or without a name altogether - thank goodness for email addresses, because they are usually a dead giveaway. Another particularly prevalent omission is an actual address complete with postcode - basic I hear you cry, well you'd think so wouldn't you.

I think that one of the problems is that people prepare a cv for themselves and then let it sit and fester on their computers until they decide to apply for a new job - but what they forget to do is to check that all their details are still correct. For instance, are they still at that address with the same contact details and are they still with the same employer? Also, are they actually elligible to work in the UK? We have literally hundreds of applicants every month who don't have the right to work here and even though it's stated quite clearly on the website that they need not apply, they still do. The lesson here for all is - always read the advert properly to judge whether you are a suitable applicant.

Actually, composing a good cv is very easy if you follow the golden rules - Check that your name and contact details are complete and correct; Always put your current/last employer first - company name and position; If you are/were employed by a multi-site company, please remember to indicate what that site did, its products, services and customers etc.
All this information is really essential to us in order to help you.

All of the above makes it an absolute dream to process a cv - new or old - and we do have many thousands on the database just like that. However, it's worrying to see how many people can't spell or use correct grammar - even those just coming out of education - in fact, they may be the worst culprits. Now that's depressing! Bear in mind that your cv is your initial selling tool and prepare it accordingly.

Everyone who works for Focus Management really wants to help candidates to find their ideal career paths, and we'll do everything we can to get a successful outcome, so help us to help you by reading your cv again before pressing the 'send' button and bring a smile to someone's face - mine as Database Manager!

A recent email from Premier Foods has caused a lot of furore with suppliers of staff to the giant food manufacturer. In short, Premier Foods have "invited" recruitment agencies to sign up to their Preferred Supplier Program (PSP) for a fee of £10,000. This begs a number of questions: Firstly, why? Premier's official response has been that they are looking to reduce their supply base (not just across recruitment services) and are looking to work with fewer but closer aligned partners and this funding would help drive the business forward (a point to add is that no information has been given on where the money will be invested). Secondly, what is the benefit? Premier suggest that "all HR managers at Premier will be briefed as to which agencies are members so that introductions are made easier", be eligible to receive 'Premier Life' (a quarterly magazine published by Premier) and regular updates on the business.

A couple of further points; after the story broke and the proceeding backlash, Premier were quick to point out that signing up was not compulsory - which begs the question why do it at all? Or is it what they haven't said that needs to be considered "pay up or you will not supply" - in which case agencies will have to ask themselves is there any value in this? It remains to be seen but as one supplier quips "At the last supplier meeting we did get a bag of custard and some OXO, but it was not quite ten grand's worth...."

To step out of my recruiter's shoes briefly for one moment and as a final point to consider, retailers have charged food manufacturers the pleasure to supply them in various guises for a long time - is it so outrageous that these manufacturers should pass on the burden? Possibly not, but I believe with all the recent stories of Premier's cash issues, they may be guilty of poor timing at the very least.

Yes this old topic is rearing it's head again. A small number of our clients have been asking for candidates to work on a pro rata basis rather than their normal daily rate so we thought it was worth stirring the pot and just explaing why that is not the best plan.

If a client is only prepared to pay a lower pro rata rate, and in some instances no expenses, then they are narrowing their audience down to the local unemployed community. That's perfect if you have a Technical Manager who lives 5 miles away who just happens to have worked in chilled food manufacturing, who has good contacts with the major retailers and has led sites through successful retailer and BRC audits. Not to mention they recently won the lottery and don't need to pay their mortgage and they only go to work for the enjoyment of it. Don't let it put you off that they turn up on site in a Bentley! Is anyone getting the point yet? Exactly, a very unrealistic scenario.

If you need a professional interim management specialist who can drop in to your business, make an impact from day one and look after a major function then they need to be rewarded accordingly.

Professional interim managers pay their own NI and don't get paid for holidays. They pay their own professional indemnity insurance and they are away from home every week. They take the risk of finding the next contract and often have to cover themselves financially for breaks in between contracts.

It's not all doom and gloom because they enjoy the variety of working for different businesses, they don't get bogged down in internal politics and they have fresh challenges which can be extremely motivating; which is why the professional interims are not clock watchers and they regularly put in extremely long days.

So, all in all, a benefit for both sides of the party can be had but as the old saying goes, if you pay peanuts... whose that scratching their armpit over there swinging off the coat rack?

Process Development, in my opinion is one of the most critical and exciting roles within a food company. Without a process technologist no new products could be launched, no new packaging could hit the shelves and the development process as a whole would totally collapse.

The process technologist is one of the most valued members of a development team; whether it is said or not, it never goes unnoticed when they arrive at five o'clock in the morning for a trial that doesn't start until nine 'o clock, because a delivery was late or the night shift rejected a ton of pasta sauce. It also never goes unnoticed when, on trial number five they come back to the development kitchen with the perfect product match, even though they have had to personally stand over the steaming kettle five times with the same sauce until it was just right.

The process technologist "just knows" when the garlic puree needs to be doubled from a kitchen recipe and the process technologist also "just knows" when a product simply won't work. The process technologist knows all of this because they are the link between the creative world of concept development and the engine room of the business. This is no mean feat as we all know too well of the healthy tensions between these two very different, but intrinsically linked worlds.

So knowing the importance and the admiration we give our process technologists, I can't help but ask myself why I'm not falling over people desperate to be a respected, valued and critical player in every food manufacturer's development team.

Spaghetti Bolognese. One of Italy's finest meals - and will undoubtedly have reached all four corners of the globe. There won't be many cities in the world you can't go to and eat Spaghetti Bolognese in a restaurant - and on the very odd occasion where you might not be able to, you can always go for Heinz Spaghetti Bolognese in a can - well maybe?

Spag Bol is one of my favourite foods, and certainly my favourite of the Italian variety. There is a large choice of brands and types when hitting the Supermarket floor - I have found that many of the ready meal Spaghetti Bolognese dishes don't have enough sauce and the spaghetti is quite dry once cooked.

I won't really delve into the canned version, as in my opinion it's rather far from the real thing!

The best option, I have found, is Waitrose Bolognese sauce in a tub. It takes 4 minutes in the microwave and is served with cooked spaghetti. It has all the right tastes and enough sauce for 2 people. This is a great alternative to making the sauce yourself using tinned tomatoes - and aside from tasting great, reduces the preparation/cooking time substantially.

In comparison to others and in my view, Waitrose is a much better sauce all round compared to Dolmio and Lloyd Grossmans. And Grossman's just didn't have that edge that Dolmio does, maybe that goes back to my childhood where Dolmio spaghetti Bolognese was always a big treat.

I love experimenting with food and have found that adding bacon, carrots, mushrooms, onions and courgettes into the sauce makes it go a lot further - especially when you have guests round. And not of course forgetting the garlic bread.

Has anyone else found a Bolognese sauce or particular recipe that they love?

Do you see the world of dairy is an exciting one? In food manufacturing the dairy sector offers excellent career progression, it offers state of the art processing facilities, capital investment, and talented and professional workforce. So why do people over look it?

Is it that we see dairy products such as milk, butter, spreads, eggs and cheese as everyday commodities and we overlook the food chain to get it to the supermarket shelves? Or is it that it is a traditional farming heritage we take it for granted, or is it that celebrity Chefs don't talk about these foods as "trendy" ingredients. Do you remember when Delia Smith used "white eggs" a few years ago and we couldn't get enough of them? Or is it the Government's food regulations to reduce saturated fats that keep people away from considering working in the sector with diets telling us that dairy products are not good for us.

Or is it the dairy industry's responsibility to update us of their developments?

Whatever the reasons are for people not seeing it is an exciting food sector, the facts are that Dairy farming in the UK accounts for around 17 per cent of UK agricultural production and is the single largest agricultural sector at £3.0 billion (Ref Defra).

So next time you buy your pint of milk or your dozen eggs, stop and think of the food chain to get these products to you and of the dairy food sector that could be your next career path.

Having spoken to many middle and senior Operations Managers within the food industry about the challenges they face to maximise production performance, one of the key factors is getting the optimum level of trained 'shopfloor' staff who have the right attitude. The vast majority of these Managers have commented on the strong 'work ethic'.of many migrant workers and the value added skills they can bring. In the past when they have struggled to recruit reliable staff to cover in particular unsociable hours, the migrant workers have often been ia positive solution to a once long term problem.

With the government proposing to reduce the number of migrant workers (excluding those earning over £40,000) and encouraging the unemployed back to work, what impact if any will this have on food manufacturers?

No doubt that there will be a school of thought that if you give people the right training and direction then they can adapt and be productive. But would someone who has been unemployed for some time persevere with the harsh reality of getting up at 4:30am for a 6am shift in the cold conditions of a chilled food manufacturing environment? Time will tell. We hope so.

This is an obvious concern for Management up against the increasing demands for better efficiencies and margins who may have to replace some of their migrant staff . Of course, there are many non-migrant workers within food manufacturing that have a fantastic approach to their work, so is the so called migrant 'work ethic' a bit misleading and are they worrying unduly? Can the indigenous unemployed via support and training be just as effective to suit the needs of manufacturers ?

What's your view?

You find out your pregnant and you are extremely happy. Slightly scared at having to take responsibility for another human being! That is a very daunting thought and perhaps one of the most exciting but scary things you think can happen...

UNTIL

Your child is born, and grows quickly into a toddler. A little human being as opposed to a baby. Then the scary thought that begins to take over your life is - how on earth do you ensure that they are healthy?

You are willing to try anything... You feed them the proverbial meat and two veg. However, if most children are like my 3 year old daughter you will find that eating dinner will never be the same again. My daughter has decided that chicken, sweetcorn and various other foods are not to her taste! So now I begin to think, how do I ensure that she is healthy? How do I get her to eat her meat and veg? Do you decide to chop it all up into tiny pieces that are beyond recognition? Or do you try the car, plane or train chugging along? Well I have found that none of these work!

Do children obtain their taste buds from their parents?

My daughter would rather eat peppered mackerel than chicken. Her father loves spicy food and if he is eating it, then she will too. Whereas I am more of a non-spicy food eater. I love ice cream and my daughter and her father both have a dislike for it. Could it be possible that she has her father's more inclusive pallet? I am more than sure that there have been studies on this but this is not something I spend researching - just a mere thought as I sit across my family wondering why it is they are eating hot pepper sauce when I simple cannot stand it.

The best way I have found to get my child to eat is to sit her in a room full of other children that are all eating what I would like her to eat. Then almost by magic she likes it! So now I spend my time asking other parents what their child is eating and whether a play date would be possible! Crazy? Possibly, but in reality she is not going to let herself starve.

Since its launched in 2003 LinkedIn has become much more than just a means of keeping in touch with previous colleagues, business partners etc. Three years ago when I set up my profile on the business oriented social media site a majority of members within the food industry were commercial professionals, however with a new member joining every second it's no surprise that profiles for individuals from all disciplines within manufacturing can now be found too. This is great for recruiters who can identify people who are not actively in the employment marketplace but as more and more internal HR resourcing teams start to use LinkedIn as a way to identify potential employees, could LinkedIn become the preferred recruitment method?

There is no denying that there are quite a few recruitment success stories as a result of the site, however, a LinkedIn profile cannot manage the process, brief clients in regards to candidates, and prepare candidates about businesses, their strategy and people. It can't match personality and business cultures, nor can it negotiate or debate on a client or candidate's behalf, marrying and challenging expectations.

Given my profession I think you know what my thoughts are but what are your views on the future of LinkedIn verses Recruitment Consultants?