There can be a lot that keeps us recruiters occupied besides the obvious ‘getting you a job’ or ‘finding you a candidate’. We could be out catching up with established clients or visiting new ones, either gathering information on current vacancies or having office tours to gain a better understanding of their working dynamic (and secretly rating their biscuit/snack offering). We also might be meeting up with candidates for coffee or lunch, getting to know them and their needs in more detail, or out attending events organised by fantastic initiatives such as IP Inclusive. When we’re back in the office we could be organising interviews, helping navigate offers, researching and contacting potential candidates for our retained roles, and learning about new markets for future projects. Since the launch of Fellows Social, our dedicated social media management consultancy, we also spend time brainstorming with Carys, our Head of Social, on designing and producing content for our social channels – both for ourselves and our clients. So, in short not every day is the same and with this in mind we thought you might like to know what’s been keeping us busy at this exact moment in time.
We’re running two search projects currently, one for BomhardIP looking for a trademark expert in Alicante and the other is a fully remote role with a Dublin based firm. A lot of our time is focused on these assignments – whether it be proactively researching and contacting suitable candidates, producing and promoting content to create awareness, discussing the role with interested applicants, updating the firms on our progress, and then managing the process once we have candidates on interview. We have seen a definite increase in firms opting for these types of retained projects over traditional ‘no win, no fee’ recruitment, which could be down in part to the current lack of active candidates in particular areas and the increase in demand by firms who are becoming increasingly busy. Due to increased competition for candidates in local markets we’ve also spent some time looking into candidates in jurisdictions we don’t work in as often, as a potential new avenue for our clients.
Another project we have ongoing with an international edge is a graduate opportunity in Mexico City. This is a fantastic role for someone looking to start their IP career (or potentially someone in the early stages of their training). We successfully placed someone with this Mexican firm some years ago following a chance meeting at a conference and they have been thriving ever since, so the firm has decided it is time to do it all again. The role gives us the chance to speak to a slightly different candidate pool than our normal day-to-day and organising interviews/client catch up calls in different time zones is always interesting!
Focusing on Fellows Social, we have an exciting new project in the works with an IP service provider in need of someone to help manage their brand message and create content which both educates and appeals to their target audience. We have been in touch with them via Teams over recent months to brainstorm how we can potentially help and are now ready to start creating content – watch this space!
We’re already into February with May just around the corner, which can only mean one thing. The return of Fellows and Associates at the INTA Annual Meeting. Pete and I are finalising our travel plans and researching accommodation for our upcoming stay in Atlanta. We’re both very excited to be back attending conferences following a short hiatus and a successful trip the AIPPI World Congress in Istanbul last October. If you’re attending and see us trying to juggle business cards, cocktails and canapes then please come say hi!
On top of our specific projects, we’re also regularly keeping in touch with clients about their current needs, writing job descriptions, and managing all the logistics for interviews we have ongoing. If you would like to keep us even more busy with a new job requirement or a chat about an opportunity you’re potentially interested in then give us a call or email us. We’d love to hear from you, especially if it means an excuse for lunch (on us, of course).
Phillipa Holland