The former chairman of direct marketing firm JDA, and the current non-executive chair of Magazine-owning Alvaston Media, is launching a boutique online recruitment firm to right the many wrongs that he sees in the sector.
Hopkins has 25 years of experience in the marketing industry and, in general, has been unimpressed by the recruitment agencies he has found it necessary to deal with.
He explained: “Although there are some very good recruitment agencies, practically every marketing agency owner I know has had an issue with the way some recruitment agencies operate and the list of contentious issues is endless.
“CV’s are simply passed on and not vetted, blanket mailings of candidates are sent out, there is little or no candidate preparation and half the time candidates don’t even know where their CV’s have been sent to.
“There are even more issues surrounding their fees,” he added, continuing:
Agency bod Hopkins
“There is no shared risk with the agencies despite the fact that recruitment is a risky business. The payment terms are due before the end of the probationary period of the candidate, plus there is no refund if said person doesn’t work out.
“Many claim their fees are transparent but I cannot find the rates on their sites, and they never seem to tell the candidates that they charge 20-30% of their first year’s salary to the employer, which makes their application look ‘unfavourable’ compared to a similar or less skilled direct application.
“So I decided to use my 25 years worth of contacts and experience of the marketing industry to do something about it.”
To combat his grievances Hopkins is launching www.agencybods.co.uk, which will see him act as ‘talent broker’ as he attempts to find the right person for the right job - focusing, he says, on “quality rather than quantity.”
He aims to make his endeavour different by charging “only a flat fee of 10% of the candidate’s first year’s salary” and sharing the risk “by giving a 50% refund if the candidate does not pass their three month probationary period.”
He also says that agencybods “will not accept a successfully placed candidate’s details again within six month’s of their appointment.”
In addition to this Hopkins is pledging £5 earned from every successfully placed candidate to charity Breast Cancer Haven. In doing so he hopes to raise £5000 before the end of the year.
A figure that conflicts slightly with his claim that “only a handful” of personally vetted candidates will be placed each month.
Initially the service will operate solely within the M62 corridor, concentrating on the six sectors of PR, print, media, online, creative and DM.
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