Recruitment Dilemma

In the real world ‘hidden’ jobs - those jobs given to friends, family and someone you know account for anywhere between 10 and 60% of recruitment.?

In our industry, it’s what? 90%? 95%? 100%?

But is this really the best system? Or just the way we’ve always done it??

There are obvious benefits. If you’ve worked with someone before then you know what they're like, what they can do, and how grumpy they’re going to be when they’re asked (told) that there’s compulsory overtime in week 10 of a full-on shoot.? When we’re thrown together in a team for the duration of production this is important - it can save your team and your sanity to have a known quantity.?

But… we all know the problems. Firstly, we encounter crew shortages which we can’t resolve from just our own contact books. Secondly, this chain recruitment (recruitment by knowing someone) means that our crews aren’t representative of the Australian workforce.?

But the people knocking to get in can only knock so much. It’s our responsibility to get out there and change things from within the system.?

So how can we do things differently?

1. Respond to some of the emails. All HoDs get inundated with emails from people wanting advice. Most of us forget to respond. If you’ve got a break, take a couple of days to reply to a bunch of people - particularly people you don’t know and have a 15-minute zoom with them to extend your contact book.?
2. Connect with people online. There are numerous FB groups of people wanting to work in the industry. Again during your quiet period, go on there and say you’re looking to extend your network. Have some 15 min zooms. Who knows you might find someone fantastic.?
3. Try advertising. I know this fills people’s hearts with fear but I promise it’s not as bad as you think! LinkedIn (other websites are available!) offers filter questions that people have to answer so that you can screen out unqualified people. Most crew are on LinkedIn and it will widen your search immensely.?

We used LinkedIn to recruit 2 Trainees and found two fantastic people with incredible transferable skills who had never worked in the industry. Both had tried the cold email, and worked on student productions, but neither had been lucky enough to turn that into an actual gig. They have turned out to be great in the role AND bring a wealth of insights and experience from outside the industry.?

What can you do this week to improve recruitment in our industry? Take a chance - you never know who is out there!