It was great to see that last Saturday’s Independent led with a survey of the number of women on the boards of the FTSE 100. But it wasn’t so great to discover that of 329 executive directors, only 20 are women. It’s a very poor state of affairs that some simply blame on sexism or the conflicting demands of motherhood but it was also suggested that perhaps women weren’t competitive enough or didn’t want the top job. Whatever the reasons, what can be done about it? Are quotas the answer? Might boards and recruiters to think more laterally about who might be suitable? Do we need to demystify the requirements, the selection processes and, indeed, the role itself? Should we focus more on succession planning and place greater emphasis on structured boardroom training for the ‘marzipan’ layer of senior executives, where women are better represented? Hopefully we’ve moved away from the days when it was acceptable to comment publically on the innate ability – or, more accurately, lack of innate ability – of women to carry out the role at all but is this still the private view of at least some of the decision-makers?

1) Remember to take your hairbrush out of your hair before you attend your meeting.

2) Feeling thirsty? Be careful when picking up a jug of water to pour yourself a glass of water. The bottom has been known to fall out of said jug in the past.

3) Do not ask what the square footage of their offices is (unless you are an architect).

4) When trying to find a client’s offices, do not stand on the street corner by a puddle. Particularly avoid when you hear a car approaching.

5) Moderate your alcohol intake. Do not molest your client.

6) Do not mention your bitterness at your spouse’s affair with his/her secretary.

7) Do not lock yourself in the lavatory at evening client events. Offices tend to be locked up beyond a certain time in the evening, and there will be no hope of escape until the morning.

8) Remember to tell your loved ones where you are at all times. It can be embarrassing having your husband/wife/partner phoned up in the middle of night by someone asking for instructions on how to wake you up and how to get you home.

9) Be yourself. Do not invent a whole imaginary new persona in order to sell yourself/your product to your client. Someone may find out after all.

10) Try not to cry.

We’ve just been sharing a few memories of candidate interview experiences – and yes these have all happened!

1) Do not pick up a toffee in reception just before you go into an interview so that your jaws are so clamped together you cannot speak.

2) Do not wear a tie with Mickey Mouse (or even worse Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) festooned all over.

3) Do not bring your My Little Pony lunchbox to your interview.

4) Do not crack your knuckles or clear your nasal passages throughout your interview.

5) For men; cut off your ponytail. Remove your ear-ring.

6) For women; remove your ankle bracelet. Do not overdose on the perfume.

7) Do not fall asleep in your interview

8) Do not ask midway through your interview if they mind if you eat your sandwiches.

9) Do not call your interviewer ‘babe’ or ‘darling’ or other affectionate terms of endearment, even if you think you’re a shoe-in for the job.

10) Adjust your seating position throughout your interview. Do not sit so still that your leg goes numb, and therefore you fall over when you try to stand up to shake hands.

Over the last couple of weeks the news has been rife with articles that I have been keeping my eyes on:

- Deferred outsourcing deal in Bournemouth
- New Outsourcing deal for the Met
- BSF is on the chopping block
- The Private Finance Initiative (PFI) continues
- The MCA publishes findings about consultancies saving money for Central Government

…I could go on.

This leaves us all feeling a little confused. From where I’m sitting, despite the comments from the MCA, central government could be and area of difficulty. We have seen a decrease in the amount of work that is in the pipelines for our clients, and an increase in the number of candidates in that area: all the usual signs! This in re-enforced with the Home Office, traditionally a big spender on consultancies, closing its doors.

In local government things are more positive. They really see the need to bring in extra help from the consultancies. I have a couple of large brand consultancy firms who are asking me for local government specialists; ranging from partners to lead teams, to new qualified accountants to help deliver shared services projects. Yes Bournemouth has put theirs on hold, but Essex is still the benchmark for the Conservatives!

Infrastructure has kept me guessing for a while. Since before Christmas there has been talk of the demise of the PFI. Clients of mine have been trying to source people who can help them develop new business models to keep them in the running. Very interesting then that the PFI has been continued, the advisory businesses of the large accountancy firms will be interested. However, within this area, BSF, the vehicle through which the government invested in schools, has been axed. This is going to heavily affect consultancy in the Education space.

So, going forwards; where do I see the jobs coming in? In narrow areas. They are:
- Outsourcing – the large consultancies are partnering with government departments and local governments, and holding their hand as they implement shared services, and outsource their processes.
- Procurement - A key area that costs can be cut quickly
- Local Government – They are also looking for people to help them through this process. Some might argue that they have the most progress to make.

In conclusion, as I tweeted yesterday:
“So the news from BLT on Public Sector Consultancy: Central Gov (down) Local Gov (Up) Education (Big Down) Health (Up) Procurement (Big Up)”

Happy Job hunting, if you have any thoughts then do please give me a call, or comment back!

After entering the Management Consulting arena 3 years ago with Top-Consultant.com I’ve now joined BLT and come over to the side of recruitment.

It’s been an interesting 3 years and the market has changed significantly in that time.
Back in the day it was the height of the MC boom, companies couldn’t hire fast enough and the world was pretty peachy. Over the last 18 -24 months the bubble burst and we saw a rare contraction in the industry and redundancies were commonplace.

Now we’re seeing an upturn, not a massive one but, since January there’s been a definite momentum shift. The crystal ball question is how the budget cuts and the austerity measures will impact the MC industry? They will make firms more hesitant to sign things off in the short run, there is no doubt about that, and whilst there is no let up in the request for candidates into pipelines, the number of hires for those with a strong reliance on public sector clients has tapered off.

The MCA claim the benefits delivered by consultants to central government last year totaled £3.2bn and with savings to be made, consultants are likely to play a central part in deciding where the savings will be made in the longer term.

After many consultancies had hiring freezes for most of 2009, we are now seeing those with private sector clients rapidly looking to increase their headcounts, with PwC hiring 57 Partners already this year and Deloitte looking to bring on 1,100 graduates.

So I embark on my recruitment journey at BLT and am looking forward to catching up with faces new and old along the way.