Locations, Location, Location - AKA does life exist outside of a Capital City?

In my previous blog we were discussing the issues around candidates relocating and over the last ten days it has come to our attention that there are wider issues around where businesses are based and the general perception of those locations.

As a southerner living in Birmingham, England’s official second city no matter what Manchester might claim, I thought that hosting the major global events such as the G8 Summit and Eurovision had placed the City on the world map. This just goes to show how wrong I can be.

My ire was raised by the discovery that there are currently three searches for top Global and European roles, which are to be Birmingham based, being conducted by two London and a German based search firm. This surprised me as Birmingham has offices for most of the UK’s top search firms (including InterSearch) who by rights would probably expect to be asked to pitch for these assignments. Yet, the decision was made to choose London based firms. Do those recruiting companies believe that whilst they can base their businesses in Birmingham, it is bereft of the expertise to recruit its Executives? Or is approaching a firm in a country’s capital the default option?

This led me to wonder; do the other major European countries have this same default option or is it a peculiarly British thing?

Your thoughts and comments on the matter would be welcomed.

Relocation, Relocation, Relocation

These days it seems hard to escape Phil & (The Right Hon) Kirstie on their numerous, and it appears never ending, TV programmes about moving house locally or across the country. One of their oft repeated mantras is that the couples need to talk to each other about what they are expecting from their move, as opposing views regularly lead to major stress levels for the couples and the whole move collapsing.

This has (unexpectedly) hit home twice recently as one assignment collapsed after a candidate accepted a role then discovered his other half wouldn’t move and another was nipped in the bud when the candidate withdrew early in the interview process for many of the same reasons.

Over the many years that I’ve been doing this job it’s an issue that has cropped up endlessly and when I’ve been recruiting international roles it is one of the first questions that I ask candidates. The conversation goes something like this: ‘Have you discussed relocating with your wife/husband/partner?’ ‘Yes, I have and we’re agreed it’s best for my career.’ ‘That’s great news, but have you really discussed relocating. The impact upon your children’s education? Setting up home in a new region? The change in culture and languages?’ My role is not to stop candidates progressing through the interview process but simply to ensure that they have addressed “in detail” all of the issues not simply touched on relocation in a general conversation.

The fact is that relocating in the UK or globally is a big decision and really does need to be thrashed out before starting the job application process. Fortunately we have been able to resolve both assignments successfully before the situation became unmanageable.

If you would like to discuss with one of the Directors any issues about recruiting and relocating employees then please don’t hesitate in contacting us at www.intersearchuk.com