Market Update: As the weather cools on the East Coast of Australia; the recruitment market for Advisors hots up!

There has been a recent increase in demand for BD specialists at an executive/advisor level over on the east coast of Australia – Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. We are currently working on four roles, all at successful, leading Australian professional services firms; and all with an attractive level of autonomy and a national remit. Whilst one role is tender focused, the other three focus on practice and sector BD as well as client relationship management.  Most of these positions are in the legal sector.  This recent trend ties in to reporting in the legal press about the growth and challenge from national firms in the market in response to the mergers and globalisation of other firms.

So far in 2013, Sydney has delivered quite a lot of opportunity for BD specialists in law and even Brisbane has been relatively busy this year.  However, up until now the Melbourne market had been pretty quiet so to see such a high quality BD Advisor role open up is very exciting. 

For more information on these roles:

• Business Development / Client Relationship Specialist

Based in Melbourne

http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&job=760

• Business Development Advisor

Based in Sydney

http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&job=756

• Business Development Executive

Based in Brisbane

http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&job=764

• Tender Writer

Based in Sydney

http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&job=749

Tip of the week

Keeping your Recruiter updated

One of the best things that you can do as a candidate is share as much information as you can about your career search with your recruiter, this includes all applications you have made directly or through other recruiters.  This is very important especially when you are at the stage of interviewing as, with your permission, we can keep each firm updated on your progress -giving firms the opportunity to speed up the interview process if need be.  At Seldon Gill we aim to be supportive and are focused on developing a long-term relationship with you; wanting to give you the right advice for your career rather than achieving a ‘quick win’ for our business.  And so sharing this information with us also means that we can give you the very best advice along the way!

Specialist roles still require a search solution: Group Communications Manager Opportunity

We are delighted to once again be exclusively partnering with Coffey to recruit their Group Communications Manager.  This is a truly unique and exciting role which brings investor relations, media relations and broader communications together.  Being so specialist in nature, we are currently working on a full search campaign of the market to find the very best person for the job!  A recruitment strategy which has proved popular and necessary for our clients so far in 2013 when it comes to senior and/or specialist roles.

Full details of this opportunity are shared here and our readers are thanked for forwarding these details to anyone they think might be appropriate and interested, or, to give us a call to find out more!

Group Communications Manager

• Based in Sydney
• ASX listed global professional services firm
• Broad role with particular focus on Investor Relations & Media Relations

With over 3,000 people working on projects in more than 80 countries, Coffey has a lot to talk about.

Now they are offering this career defining opportunity for an experienced Communications specialist. This is a pivotal role to the business, reporting to the Group Executive Marketing and Communications and working closely with the MD, key senior stakeholders and the wider marketing communications team.  This role will be focused on positioning Coffey in key markets and to both clients and investors through developing and overseeing the implementation of strategic communications across multiple communication channels to drive the company’s vision, strategy, behaviours and promise.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Investor Relations:  developing and implementing an investor relations strategy; managing the annual report; managing and monitoring social media sites for continuous disclosure purposes.
• Media Relations:  managing all media relationships, positioning of the MD and reputation management; developing and implementing a media/social media strategy; managing media training; crisis and proactive issues management; acting as Coffey spokesperson as appropriate.
• External Profiling:  working with 5 Marketing Communications Managers to ensure that messaging is consistent and all communications channels are properly utilised for profiling activity;
• Employee Engagement:  in collaboration with HR and the MD, managing key communications to the rest of the business.
• Brand Messaging:  working with Group Brand Manager to ensure the new brand language is reflected in all communications.
• Communications Channels:  in all of the above, collaborating with the Digital Communications specialist to ensure all communication channels are utilised.

To be successful, you will be tertiary qualified in communications or a related discipline and have gained 12+ years’ communications experience, at least in part from an ASX listed entity.  You will be able to demonstrate expertise in all aspects of this diverse communications position, in particular investor relations, and with strong media relationships being viewed favourably.  You will be pro-active, open-minded, able to adapt to an evolving environment and have a “can-do” attitude.  You will also be a strategic thinker with exceptional business writing and relationships building skills.

For more information on this role, please contact: Graham Seldon (Melbourne): +61 3 9903 6403 graham.seldon@seldongill.com, or Katie Rosser (Sydney) on +61 2 8064 9530/ katie.rosser@seldongill.com.

5 things law firm hiring managers need to know before hiring!

By Katie Rosser

As you can imagine, we spend a lot of our day talking to candidates about their next career moves; and when describing new opportunities to them there are some key and most common questions that we get asked. It’s worth any hiring manager being aware of these so that you’re ready to brief us at the beginning of a campaign, but also so that you can structure and develop the role in the most attractive way possible.

These key questions are:

(1) Who does the role report to and can you tell me about them

To help with successful recruitment, often firms will consider different levels of candidates (eg mid-senior level Managers).  If you’re being flexible about type of person you’re hiring in terms of seniority, you do need to make sure they fit within the existing team structure and be flexible on reporting lines where possible.  For instance, if the role reports to a Senior Manager – and not a Head Of / Director – it’s unlikely that you will attract a candidate that is already reporting to a Director / Head Of in another firm, etc.

(2) Can you tell me about the team reporting to this role?

For true team management roles the subtext goes way beyond wanting to know the current structure: they want to know about team performance, any issues which would be inherited, and, freedom to grow or change the team.

(3) How many Partners does the role support, and, can you tell me about the PG/Sector/Client Leader?

Candidates do like to know the size and scale of what they’re potentially taking on and the personalities and style of key Partners.  On the latter, they want to know commerciality, appreciation of BD/marketing, Partners expectations from the role and similar.

(4) Why has the role become available?

This is of huge importance to most candidates.  Particularly when seeking to tempt people away from other firms and roles, they will be keen to do their due diligence and uncover any issues so they know what they would be walking into.  We all know it’s a small market.  If the role has been recruited 3 times in 2 years, or, the predecessor didn’t last beyond the probation period, the market – prospective candidates – will know.  Rather than avoid the issue or develop a vague message to market, it’s best for employers to tackle this head on in the brief so that an explanation can be provided to candidates – of course, then focusing on what would make the next match for the role successful.

(5) What would the biggest challenges be in this role?

Again, due diligence.  Candidates want to focus on discovering what the tough parts of the role would be before taking it on.

Whether working with Seldon Gill or hiring directly, it’s obviously imperative to get the story and messaging around the role right and to be prepared with all this information; as when that star candidate calls, if the answers are not available, or not delivered in the right way, that may be enough for you to lose them.

Salary Review Meetings and How to Handle them!

By Katie Rosser

At this time of year in Australia, many people start to think about their end of year performance review – particularly in relation to potential for a salary review. Our end of financial year has always been end June and – despite some firms now working to the UK calendar of end April – overwhelming, most reviews still take place in the run up to end June.

Review meetings can be tough to handle for both the team member and the Manager, but in this blog I’ll be focused on how to handle reviews of your own performance.

The key thing with these meetings is to be prepared.  People too often focus straight on the salary review without enough focus on the performance review which must come first.  Go back to your last year’s review and any mid- year appraisals and remind yourself of what you were praised for and also what you agreed to improve / develop / take on.  Be prepared when you go into the meeting to be able to well articulate how you have succeeded in doing this since last year’s review period. If you have received and kept written praise from the business it can be worth having this to hand too.  Many larger firms will have a review system which focuses this conversation for you and your Manager – but if yours does not, take responsibility for making sure all the right points are covered.

Also, be realistic.  We all need to continually grow – what could you be doing better, and, where so you recognise you need training or support?

When seeking a salary review, it is important to show your value and worth to the firm with this information. Your aim is to show why you are adding more value than 12 months ago when your salary was last set.  It’s also important to do your market research before the meeting to know your worth more broadly.  You may not like what you find if you are already being paid at the top end of market salary ranges as it will make an increase less likely (as your Manager will have done the same research), but all the same it’s important to know this walking into the room.

Another tip when angling for a salary increase can be to offer to take on more projects and add to your job description.  Before you do this, think seriously about your capacity to take this on and continue to deliver to the best standards.

Sometimes you might be hoping for a promotion as well as a salary review.  It’s good to remember that often you need to be stepping up and doing several key aspects of the role, proving yourself, before actual promotion.  So offering to step up and take on more can bode well moving forwards.  Also, one needs to be realistic, as the team structure may not allow for a promotion as this time. Or, despite your own views, your Manager may tell you that you’re not ready. If this is the case, it’s important to listen first and then ask positive questions about what you need to achieve to work towards this over the next few months.

It’s also important to understand that a salary review at the end of year is by no means automatic or to be assumed even if you have performed well. It might be that the business is not able to give reviews this year due to external market drivers; or that you are already being paid at the higher end of market rate. Try to be understanding and react without emotion. Perhaps you can ask for another review meeting in 6 months time and ask to keep lines of communication open on this point.

Communication style is key in these conversations.  Whether you get a salary review this time or not, how you conduct and present yourself in the meeting when discussing both your performance and your salary will be noted and so here’s another opportunity to build your internal reputation.

What not to wear…

One of the most important things about an interview is what you wear. It sounds simple and so is often something that we don’t think to cover during our interview preparation and guidance, however, there are still those that get it wrong and this can be fatal to the interview process.  How you dress does play a huge role in what impression people form of you and it’s commonly accepted that the impressions made in the first 5 minutes of any meeting will play a huge role in its success.  How you dress will show the interviewer in part how you will present yourself to your internal clients and to any external clients if that’s part of the role.  It’s a huge part of relationship building and vital to the success of any marketer.

In the legal sector, simplicity is key – neat, clean and professional.  You can show a flavour of personality but should err on the conservative when doing so.  It’s also important, whatever your level – including those starting out, to make sure you’re wearing a suit or at least, ladies, highly professional dress and suit jacket.  Interestingly, we have recently learned that in the London market, more modern (and less formal) corporate dress is accepted and adopted at many UK law firms – even during the interview process – and so this is a point for those relocating to Australia to take particular note of.

In most other professional services firms (accounting, engineering, etc) the advice would be the same, though there are exceptions.  In architecture for example, wearing  a tie would be unheard of and would not be in keeping with the organisation.  Arriving at a design or architecture firm in a tie might alienate you from the people you’re meeting and create concerns about your cultural fit or overly formal style – in this instance, ties should be left at home.  The best thing to do if you’re unsure is to ask us at Seldon Gill before your interview!  We will have been into the offices and met the people you’ll be meeting so can clarify any queries about dress that you may have.

By Katie Rosser

It’s all about Asia…

It’s been a busy couple of weeks at Seldon Gill and our regular readers will know that Graham Seldon spent all last week in Hong Kong attending the first ever APSMA Asia conference which we proudly sponsored, whilst Katie Rosser has been holding the fort in Australia.

Taking the opportunity to meet with many of our clients and candidates, Graham was pleased to be briefed on numerous new opportunities in both Hong Kong and Singapore which are either already active or about to come to market.  One thing we at Seldon Gill really enjoy about our relationships with our clients is the level of mutual trust, information sharing and conversation that we have with them.  What this means for candidates is that Seldon Gill is often aware of the career opportunity before the Job Description is written, final sign-off is secured and really before anyone else in the market knows about it.  Often Directors of BD at firms will ask us to start talking to our very best candidates about a role, discreetly of course, from this very early stage.  There have been several examples over the years of us placing people into roles before the opportunity went to market – sometimes with no other candidates ever being considered.

There are a handful of these roles in Asia that we are now working on at Seldon Gill – discreetly and without advertising.  And so if you’re interested in moving into a new role over the next few months – it pays to reach out and have a conversation with us to make sure you hear about these roles from us.

To give a full picture of activity and opportunity in Asia, here is some detail of what we’re currently working on:

• BDM / Senior BDM roles

Whilst there are several HK and Singapore based positions on our website, these are primarily entering latter stages.  http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&locationid=11

There are 5 law firms in the region that are soon to go to market to source these professionals in HK and these firms are already talking to Seldon Gill about being introduced to the best talent.

• Coordinator / Executive roles – One magic circle firm will soon go to market in HK and is already talking to Seldon Gill.  There are also 3 other Coordinator/Executive positions that we are advertising and actively working on at other firms:

http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&job=750

http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&job=748

http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&job=747

• Bids specialists – a senior, regional proposals opportunity at an international law firm – http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&job=724
• For the adventurous… what about a move to Jakarta? – http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job&job=744

For more information about the market and/or these opportunities, get in touch with Katie Rosser on Katie.rosser@seldongill.com or Graham Seldon on Graham.seldon@seldongill.com

APSMA Asia Conference Review

At Seldon Gill we have been “banging the Asia drum” for nearly a decade,  telling candidates and clients that that the size of the marketing community, on the ground, is growing at a rapid rate.  Yesterday, as 140 delegates crowded into the inaugural APSMA ASIA conference, it became clear just how large this community is.  A sold out crowd, with a wait list of more than 20 and nearly 100% attendance, the APSMA Asia conference already rivals Australia; and in a few years I have no doubt that it will be THE destination conference in the region.

Admittedly this flawlessly organised event (a testament to the collaboration between a cohesive committee of volunteers) was smaller in scale than most conferences; just a 1/2 day and only 3 sessions, followed by a cocktail reception; but what was so obvious was the insatiable appetite in the room for knowledge, sharing and networking.

The theme of the event, Putting Clients First, explored the skills needed to ensure successful  professional relationships, how technology can help build profile and build networks  and finally, in a client panel session, how professional services firms can ensure they are effectively listening to and servicing clients.

It was an ambitious programme, given the limited time and the large, mixed level audience and at some points I felt the content was aimed more at fee-earners than marketers, however all the sessions were a good reminder to marketers that what clients actually want is simple, clear communications between them and their professional service provider.  Glossy brochures and flashy events are of less importance than open and clear, commercially focused dialogue; proactive sharing of industry trends and innovative, useful thought leadership.  This, we were told, is what clients want.  A back to basics approach, albeit with the use of the latest trends in technology.

At the cocktail party afterwards, held in the impressive and modern offices of EY, the mood was celebratory.  Seasoned marketers rubbed shoulders with young and ambitious new comers to the industry; and at one moment as I introduced someone that I placed in HK in 2001 to someone else we placed in 2013 I realised how enduring this market has become and how full of opportunities it still is. Many of our candidates who went there “for just a few years” are still there, still enjoying their jobs and now realising the enormous benefit to their career that a move to Asia has made.

No other market in the World offers professional services marketers as much as Asia, both in and out of work.

So for those of you still contemplating a move here, hurry up, because like the APSMA ASIA Conference, now that the word is out, places will be limited.

Getting the most out of a Conference…

On Thursday Seldon Gill is sponsoring the inaugural Asia-Pacific Professional Services Marketing Association’s (APSMA) conference in Hong Kong, with the theme ’Putting Clients First’.  It’s a momentous event for the industry and has been achieved by the hard work and dedication of APSMA volunteer committee members, who have worked tirelessly for over 7 years to establish training and education programmes for APSMA members. The conference sold out in less than 2 weeks and is expecting nearly 140 delegates.
The stakes are high, because to be successful every delegate has to come away satisfied that the investment in time and money was worth it.  But successful conferences are not limited to the content delivered on the platform.  Here’s how you can maximize your conference attendance:

Switch Off and Switch On

Turn off the smartphone / blackberry / PDA and engage the learning side of your brain. If you are good at your job you will already have made plans for how urgent things will get done in your absence.  Checking your email every 5 minutes doesn’t make you look important, it makes you look disorganized, disinterested and not worthy of the investment your firm has made for your attendance.

Talk to Strangers

Sitting with people you know defeats one of the main reasons you should be attending.  It’s not the theatre or a rock concert, it’s a personalized learning experience.  Sit with people you don’t know, share your knowledge and get to know others in the industry.  Some of the most powerful take-aways from conferences are the friends you make. And sometimes these friends become future colleagues.

Ask Quick Questions

Most conferences have expert panels and this can be a rare opportunity for you to gain insight into a particular point of interest; however don’t hog the Q&A session and don’t ask overly complex questions.  Often the panel members will stick around at the break to discuss particular issues.

Make Notes

Conferences can sometimes be information overload. Making detailed notes allows you to check back later and remind yourself of salient points that resonate.  For iPad users the Evernote app is a great tool and can easily be copy/pasted into a conference report (see last point).

Be social but don’t get drunk!

It may sound obvious, but hours of concentration + lack of food + excitable environment + alcohol can = DISASTER.  I have seen this and I speak from personal experience.  No-one likes a drunk; and your future employer could well be in the room.  We have had candidates rejected by clients in the past because they were drunk at an industry event.  So go easy!

Report back

Sharing the information you have gained at the conference with your team, and providing a conference report to your boss, are great ways of ensuring that you (and your colleagues) will be granted the opportunity to attend further events, thereby extending your knowledge and networks.  Also make sure you fill out the feedback forms to ensure content of future events can be tailored to the needs of the delegates effectively.

Finally, enjoy yourself!  You work hard and this is one of the benefits of being in a profession that values education and in a community that values sharing.

Mind your Language

By Graham Seldon

I have recently been spending time with some American expats who have moved to Melbourne; and we have been enjoying the game of “what do you guys call it here?”, a common refrain uttered almost every time we meet to help them translate everyday phrases and names. Some are quite simple; a ‘traffic circle’ is a ‘roundabout’, a ‘server’ is a ‘waiter’ and ‘filter coffee’ is, well… in Melbourne we wouldn’t utter such a thing!

What has really struck me though is their use of positive words, woven into most sentences. Words like “awesome”, “amazing” and “exciting” that lift the conversations from normal discourse to something akin to inspiring mantras.  I literally walk away from my interactions with them feeling positive, upbeat and happy! Now I can hear some of you muttering that it’s not authentic dialogue. But does it need to be in general, polite conversation?

Many of us have fallen into the trap of peppering our conversations with negative phrases; “I’m getting slammed at work”, “it’s a nightmare in the office today”, “there’s no light at then end of the tunnel”. Phrases such as “I’m back to back, flat chat” have almost become as common a response as “Good Morning”.  It’s actually quite tiring to be honest and disappointing that for so many of us our default position is to look at the downside of our daily experiences, when in reality most of us have never had it so good.

Compare the following workplace interchanges:

Colleague 1 : “How’s your day?”

Colleague 2 : “It’s a nightmare, I’m getting pulled in all directions, I’m flat out, putting out fires everywhere and I don’t have any time to do my job.”

Or

Colleague 1 : “How’s your day?”

Colleague 2: “Great, thanks. It’s really busy which is good, the partners have really begun to understand what I can do for them and now I’m being asked to work on loads of interesting and challenging projects.  The day flies by and I’m learning lots.”

Who sounds more in control? Which one would you want to interact with more? Who is more likely to have a great reputation internally?

When I started my career as a telephone customer services operator for a major UK credit card, we were trained on the use of positive words.  Words that “painted a bright picture”.  I dug them out to see what they were and was “delighted” to “have the pleasure” of re-reading them again.

It has been a “fantastic” opportunity for me to “enjoy” using “lovely” words in my conversations, reminding me that we are “lucky” to have the jobs that we do in the cities that we live in.

So start listening to yourself and if you find yourself lazily relying on gloomy exchanges, STOP.  Turn it around and see what a difference it will make on yourself and those around you.

Have a great day and thanks so much for reading.

MARKET UPDATE: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MARKETING RECRUITMENT ACROSS THE ASIA-PACIFIC SO FAR IN 2013

By Katie Rosser

“What’s the market like?” is one of the questions we are most frequently asked at Seldon Gill.  As confidante, advisor and service provider to so many firms in this region we are in a unique position to answer this question.  In this article I will run through some of the key themes in each of the major locations we recruit in.

Australia:  It has been a really busy start to the year for us in Australia. From 5 new roles being briefed to us on our first day back on 7 January, it hasn’t stopped. This has been enjoyable for us but a good sign for the market in general. Here are some of the key trends we’ve seen in Australia:

• Sydney and Melbourne in particular have been very competitive for mid-senior BDMs in law firms.  Many international firms as well as some of the mid-tier have already gone to market for these roles in 2013. This competition, coupled with the fact that the most talented BDMs are being heavily retained by their current firms, makes these tough markets to find the right candidate. Melbourne has always been a less transient market than Sydney and is generally a quiet market at the moment with little candidate movement between firms; also a challenge when looking to hire.

Faced with this situation, hiring firms have a choice.  To recruit from overseas – taking the risk of hiring someone you’ve never met in person, waiting out a 3 month notice period (if from the UK), and, paying for and organising a working visa.  Or, to broaden the selection requirements for Australian candidates, ie consider those from the accounting, engineering or financial services sectors, look at more senior/junior professionals or up the salary range and incentives.  Most firms in our experience have looked overseas.  This is because, whilst candidates get tougher to find, law firms are getting increasingly specific about what they are looking for – seeking specific sector development experience and/or dedicated specialism supporting a particular client or practice group.  A few years ago it was enough to be a specialist in law firm marketing, now, at the senior manager level at least, firms expect you to be a specialist in supporting the corporate/construction/DR/ financial services etc area.

• It has been a quieter market at the more junior levels – being Coordinator/Executive level roles.  Until March, most recruitment was happening at a more senior level. However, we are now seeing several roles at this level start to come to market.

• Perth has continued to be a focus for us and there have been 5 law firm BD Manager level roles in that market so far in 2013 (Seldon Gill working closely with firms on all 5, 4 exclusively).  Part of this is the hangover from all the movement in this market last year coupled with the increasing importance of this market for international firms in particular, due to its proximity to Asia.  More and more we’re seeing Perth based BDMs get the opportunity to drive regional or global BD initiatives from this location.  It is now commonplace to recruit from the UK for these roles as the appropriate skill set is rarely found on the market in Perth.  In fact, out of the 5 roles Seldon Gill placed in Perth in the second half of 2012, 4 candidates were British and 3 required firms to provide a visa.
• After a quieter time at the end of last year, Brisbane has been a little more buoyant this year with more movement in the market.  As with the rest of Australia, there have been a number of maternity leave contracts in this market, as well as international, national and State based firms going to market for BDMs and BDAs.

• But what about the engineering and accounting sectors?  You will have noticed that this update is quite law firm centric and this is because it has mainly been the law firms doing the hiring in 2013.  The accounting sector has held less opportunity for professional services marketers following the large scale redundancies in the Big4 at the end of 2012.  Whilst they may well start hiring again later in the year, at the moment any activity is mainly at the more senior end and is discreet.  The mid-tier accounting sector has always been a smaller place of opportunity for professional services marketers in Australia than in the UK for example due purely to the number of firms and scale of teams.  Opportunity in 2013 in this area has been incidental.  Our engineering clients have still been keeping us busy despite some commercial challenges for firms in this sector, many hoping and waiting for large scale project wins before it’s full steam ahead for the rest of the year.  That being said, at the Senior Manager / Head of level there have been some exciting opportunities for professional services marketers and these roles are often an opportunity to develop greater team management experience than in the legal sector due to team structures.

• Caution vs Confidence in the market:  It is fair to say that many firms are still behaving with some caution.  However, with the exception of 3/4 firms we have not seen this reflected in recruitment or head-count freezes.  And, despite caution, BD remains of imperative importance to our clients and so hiring an exceptional BD Manager can be the exception to the rule even where there is reticence around hiring.  However, it does mean that it is harder for events or communications specialists to find opportunity as compared to the BD specialists who can prove closer affiliation to revenue growth.

New Zealand: This has always been a smaller market with any busy periods of movement being quite unpredictable and cyclical.  So far in 2013, whilst most law firms have recruited at the more junior (Executive/Coordinator) level, we do have one current Senior Manager role at a large legal brand and have also placed a Senior Manager into one of our global engineering clients based in Auckland.  Caution does seem to have had an affect on the New Zealand based firms’ hiring decisions as there have been situations this year where a BDM has been replaced with an Executive or contractor on departure.

Asia:  Asia has also been an interesting market so far in 2013.  As always, not really suffering from any Christmas slowdown (and very little over Chinese New Year), the market has remained consistently busy and full of opportunity for BDMs in particular over the last 6 months.  Some key trends across Asia:

• As with Australia, there has been the odd communications role, but BD and specialist Bids roles have been the major focus.  (Our regular readers will have seen our update about Bids Specialists having an opportunity to forge great careers in Asia at the moment.)

• Whilst there have been a couple of more senior roles, it has been the junior-mid level BD Managers with the most opportunities to choose from.  And on the flipside, this has been the area most difficult for firms to recruit in due to the competition in the market.  Whilst firms often have a starting preference of candidates with existing Asia experience, already on the ground, they have had to be quick to consider overseas candidates relocating as the number of opportunities in Asia out-weigh talented locally based candidates on the market.  Or in other words, as demand out-weighs supply!  Looking at the candidates we have been shortlisting so far in 2013 (and in the 6-12 months prior to that), many have been located in the UK, mainland Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Dubai.  Our shortlists almost always include someone on the ground in Asia as well but candidates relocating for Asia based opportunities is definitely the current trend.

• Singapore has remained a growing market and we have been working on an equal number of opportunities in Singapore as Hong Kong.  No longer do BD specialists see themselves as specialists in the Asia markets, their focus becomes either the more established Greater China or the still evolving South East Asia.  That’s not to say that BD specialists are unable to switch between the two but there is now a definite separation of firms’ efforts in these two distinct Asia regions.  This increasing focus on BD in South East Asia has led us to work on roles in Bangkok and Jakarta as well this year.  So for candidates looking to make the move to Asia, it is worth thinking about just how flexible you’ll be on location!  It is also worth noting that, whilst a lack of local language skills can sometimes be a barrier to applying for some Hong Kong based roles, these are not a requirement for Singapore positions.

Does location matter?  The answer seems to be “less and less”!  We have noticed a marked increase in firms going to market for positions which offer candidates a choice of locations to be based in (with some offering Asia or Australia bases).  Not only is this a smart move to be able to hire the right person for your team in a competitive market, it goes to show that, in the modern world, it often does not matter where in the region your team member is sat.

Retained Search: These challenges in recruiting the best mid-senior level BDM candidates across Australia and New Zealand have meant a real focus on the more sophisticated hiring firms looking to Seldon Gill for retained search campaigns to secure the best people.  This has been across engineering and law and so far in 2013 we have exclusively partnered with Allens > < Linklaters, AECOM, Beca, Ferrier Hodgson, Baker & McKenzie and two other international law firms on retained search campaigns.  With some drawing to successful completion and others in progress, this has proved the most effective way to secure the best specialists for these firms.

So, all in all, it has been a busy and exciting time for Seldon Gill so far in 2013 which we are hopeful will continue.  For information about the current positions we are working on in these various Asia-Pacific locations, see the jobs pages on our website: http://www.seldongill.com/index.cfm?module=job.  For advice on the best ways to go to market to hire new team members, get in touch with us at katie.rosser@seldongill.com / graham.seldon@seldongill.com.