Where do you go when you need multiple roles filled, and quickly!?

Background

After an exciting new business win with retail giant, Holland & Barrett, they were in quick need of five new starters; SEO and Performance Marketing Executives of varying seniorities and disciplines. Not only were they on a very tight timescale, but they were also very particular about the type of candidates they wanted to consider, to ensure they would be the right cultural fit, as well as an ability to get on board with the brand and growth plans. After spending some time running their own campaigns, Holland & Barrett felt they had exhausted the market and their own resources, so decided to seek out a specialist recruiter.

Approach

As always, at Beyond The Book, we like to start the process with a thorough meeting, so we hopped straight on a video call with the hiring managers. Before talking through the individual roles, we took the time to get to know Holland & Barrett, the structure of the organisation, their values, and their team culture. Using this approach allows us to effectively brief prospective candidates, not only on the role but on the whole opportunity. What is attractive about the company/brand? What are the benefits? What are the growth and development opportunities? What is the working model, is it remote, is it hybrid? What is their interview process? All the questions that we know are important to candidates.

Once we knew all there was to know about the company and the brand, we got down to the nitty gritty and dug deep into understanding each individual role, and what they would like to see in the people they meet.

Senior SEO Content Executive

Senior SEO Outreach Executive

SEO Content Executive

Technical SEO Executive

Performance Marketing Executive

All the above roles are very technical and required a solid understanding of what was to be expected, for the eventual candidates to be successful.

To kick things off, we went straight to our exceptional pool of candidates who are already known to us at BTB; an incredible group of talented individuals who are actively on the lookout for new opportunities. Regardless of whether we are working an active role, we are always proactively engaging and qualifying candidates who we know our clients will need, now or in the future.

Due to the current demand in these skillsets, it meant being creative in our approach, tailoring our searches and putting together targeted lists of prospective candidates. Knowing how busy the market is and knowing how many messages candidates are receiving from hiring managers and recruiters, it was important to carefully select each recipient and put together a bespoke message which speaks to them personally. At this point, we launched a full campaign, which includes advertising on our website, job portals and LinkedIn (Recruiter license), as well as using a targeted search method to reach out to potential candidates. We always take the time to fully qualify every candidate we speak to before briefing them on an active role. This way we know it will be the right fit for both the client and the candidate. Understanding their reasoning for a career change, and what is most important to them in their next opportunity, allows us to manage the process more effectively.

Client Relationship

Having an ongoing and frequent dialogue with the hiring managers at Holland & Barrett was paramount to the success of this campaign. We received quick and substantial feedback on all candidates, meaning we were able to home in on exactly what they were looking for, as well as keeping candidates engaged throughout a busy and fast-moving market.

Each eventual candidate would have been met, fully qualified, profiled and presented to Holland & Barrett, quickly invited to an initial virtual interview, then subsequently sent a task, and invited to a 2nd interview. All job offers were swift and desired salaries either met or went above the candidates’ expectations, which is so important.

Outcome

Within a four-week timeframe, we were able to successfully place five roles for Holland & Barrett, working closely with them to find the very best people, demonstrating our expertise, but also our ability to find those unique gems that our clients often need. Having an exclusive relationship with Holland & Barrett meant we were able to maximise our approach to this campaign, leaving no stone unturned, as well as allowing us the time and reassurance that we could fully qualify candidates before sending them; a luxury not often possible in a competitive process.