As I wrote this title I realised that possibly two thirds of those reading this would have no idea what I was talking about and a third would instantly know and smile…old Yosser .
It was like the reaction I had the other day when I closed a meeting quoting “Young Mr Grace…you have all done very well…to a few sniggers, a guffaw and a few blank looks!
Any way back to Yosser, a great character in “Boys From The Black Stuff”, who for most of the series had one line - ”Gis a job”. To put you old ones out of your misery…it was in 1982!
These days in the battle for talent there is nothing wrong in doing a Yosser…although I do recall he used to head butt people too – probably best to not do that bit of a Yosser!
I welcome such approaches from people who want to be Brethertonians, and I am sure other employers would do so too.
I like building a talent bank. I like having a bunch of CVs I can pull out when a vacancy arrives. Even better, I like having interviewed someone for a job I don’t have available yet, so that when a vacancy does become available I can call them and say “Game on! Come join us!”.
If you are reading this and have talent - you have skills an employer wants. They might not want them now, but they will want them sometime.
So what would I do if I were unhappy where I was and wanted a move? I would update my CV. I would make a shortlist of firms I wanted to work for and contact the Head of the Department and say “Gis a job”. Accept that there may not be a vacancy now, but in 3, 6 or 9 months - who knows?! What’s the worst that can happen??
I have just finished strategy planning at Brethertons and know in the next 12 months I will need 15 additional new people. A whole range - team managers, licensed conveyancers, private client lawyers, apprentices/paralegals, and of course some CILEx and solicitors.
I have my HR team approach candidates via linked in initially, go through current CV’s in our talent bank and advertise externally. As a last resort - a VERY last resort - we pay recruitment agents.
What makes me happy is when we have a vacancy and Hannah in HR tells me “It's ok Shaun we interviewed someone last month, they are in the talent bank and they were great” – EXCELLENT!
So folks, take a page out of Yossers book. Ask a question - its not that difficult.
How do you think I got my role???