Job offers and wedding invites!

By Jose Cofone - Guest Blogger. Recruitment market update from the inside...

It’s all doom and gloom in the travel job market if the media is to be believed, but working on the front line of recruitment in travel gives me a great insight as to why you shouldn’t give up.

Early reports are suggesting that bookings for 2009 made in December and January have been better than expected with a good proportion of our clients expressing a desire to recruit more staff if sales continue. One of our tour operator clients (to USA) recently advised us that sales are already 20% up on 2008 figures.

Where redundancies have affected numerous industry staff, forward thinking companies have used this flood of experienced professionals to bolster their teams, so the skills your previous company have lost, your future company will benefit from.

September 11 saw mass redundancies with business travel especially losing staff to sectors outside of travel. When the market recovered, the sector struggled to fill vacancies and we saw a relaxing of requirements with many staff moving from leisure into BT and an increase in their salaries and working conditions.

At the moment the market is screaming out for strong sales professionals - for contractors based both overseas with languages and in the UK, B2B agency sales and strong marketers. Job seekers need to look at their transferable skills and understand that although their previous company did not need their skills, other companies will do! Job seekers need to market themselves to the maximum potential and not to give up.

I recently placed a candidate, who was made redundant. He has over 11 years industry experience and was interviewed by 8 different companies and was beginning to get despondent. On Friday he attended an interview and was offered the job on the spot. My client had seen what all the other companies had missed. My candidate was so happy that he invited me to his wedding!

The market is improving. Clients are always on the look out for exceptional candidates. Many are taking the opportunity to hire temporary staff while trading is uncertain, which can lead to all sorts of opportunities never considered before. There is light at the end of the tunnel and as Winston Churchill once said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty!” Keep your chin up and don’t give up!

Jose Cofone
Senior Recruitment Consultant
New Frontiers

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