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Love Media Sales interviews Andrew Fisher CEO Media C2C

 

Media sales employers are looking to engage with communities for periods of time prior, getting in tune with potential candidates and understanding what makes them tick. The advent of social media has allowed employers access and insight into a world that previously did not exist beyond 5pm.

Equally prospective job seekers are in a far better position to profile themselves in the right groups and expertise circles (LinkedIn being the prime example); Twitter allows direct access and conversations with senior figures within media, whilst Facebook allows you to show an appreciation of a particular company or brand. With so much ongoing discussion and debate rolling on regarding paying for content, data and paywalls, actually the privacy walls and intimate details of individual's movements are the biggest value to companies and in the most part is free.

It is then with interest to note a number of organisations that have recognised community building as a core part of their business model by creating ‘hub' or areas for communities to build and be seen and in the relation to recruitment found.

One such organisation is Love Media Sales network partner Media C2C, a direct only jobs portal that is fast approaching its first year of trading. We decided to sit down with CEO Andrew Fisher and talk through his consumption of media, his thoughts on the changing landscape before giving us an insight into how he believes the recruiting sector has changed and where it may be going.

Andrew, thanks for sitting down and talking to us, let start off by telling us about your background and your history with the media sector

After graduating and a couple of different sales roles I ‘fell' into recruitment - doesn't everyone - this was the mid 1980's and I was working in Gray's Inn Road opposite (what used to be) The Times building in the pre Wapping days. I ‘cut my teeth' for 2 / 3 years before leaving to help set up a search and selection firm in Holborn where I spent the next few years before then joining a city based management consultancy firm. It was there that I built a media recruitment team in the mid-senior level search and selection arena.

The media sector grew massively, changed and provided exciting recruitment and search opportunities with the digital ‘false dawn' of the 1990s and then the digital revolution of the 2000s creating much excitement and interesting work.

Having been involved with the media space for such a period of time you will have seen the landscape and the way in which media is being deliver and sold change dramatically. How do you consume your media on a daily basis?

My media consumption has changed with the times, I read the Independent from launch for many years and then The Telegraph (for the Sport section) but now consume mostly through online with the BBC being my favoured choice. However, I have also started buying the ‘i' and am a great believer in the printed page whether subscribing to magazines or working my way through the Sunday papers.

There is a continued debate and conversation around media surrounding ‘paid content' ‘pay walls and social media interaction. There is however very little discussion around the education of those selling this new form of content and solution. What do you see as the major challenges for sales people having to keep pace with what and how they sell?

I think that the challenges facing media sales people are enormous. The options that clients have to advertise have never been greater and never been more complex so it is very difficult for media sales professionals to ‘stay ahead of the curve' in terms of options, value for money and customer reach. To provide the best advice sales people must keep learning, look for suitable training opportunities and most importantly actively engage in the media they are selling.

Company culture is of high importance when approaching company to work for and vice versa when choosing the right person to join you. With so much personal access to various media sales employers what are the common threads you see between great employers?

‘We all know what distinguishes a good employer from a bad one. A good one provides four basic things. First, it makes sure that everyone has a proper job to do. Second, it pays them fairly. Third, it makes employees feel that their efforts are recognised. And fourth, it gives them nice people to work with. That's all: there is nothing else'. Lucy Kellaway of the FT. I read this article earlier this year and couldn't agree more.

When employers are talking to you about the qualities they are looking for in candidates, what advice to you offer back in terms of the availability of quality and how to attract them to their business?

Candidate attraction is a dynamic and ever challenging area - as an employer you need to project a good company profile, interesting work and opportunity to progress. There are many good candidates in the market place that are actively looking and many more that would welcome an approach. However, any approach needs to be well thought through and the candidate proposition clearly defined and communicated.

Media C2C is fast approaching being in the market place for a year. How would you summarise the jobs sector over that period and what is your feelings on the next 12 months? Which sectors and job roles are increasing?

The media job sector has had a couple of difficult years but 2011 is looking much better. Many candidates have been holding on in jobs that want to leave - but haven't taken the step as they are still nervous of the market. However, this is starting to change and more and more good quality are posting their details on the Media C2C site from secure positions. This coupled with clients wanting to ‘refresh' sales teams is starting to create a far more active market. With regards to areas of opportunity it is digital and cross media sales experience that is required.

The way in which recruitment is being reviewed, evaluated in on many case dramatically changed has seen the landscape look very different from 3 years ago. How do feel the changes have affected the industry?

The media recruitment market has gone through a massive change over the last few years. The decrease in the number of search assignments, the increase of employers doing their own recruitment rather than using agencies and the obvious boom in online job searching, candidate databases and direct candidate branding have all effected the way the market works. The media industry is challenging the usual ‘ just call an agency' route to recruitment and is embracing direct recruitment strategies and using the likes of Media C2C to attract and search for quality media professionals.

Tell us about how your forge relationships with your client's, in particular sales managers.

Client relationships are simply about listening and you build trust and credibility through challenging questions and not through ‘show and tell'. In my experience too many sales people fall into the ‘show and tell' approach - this can work for short term sales but long term the relationships are seldom built that way.

How can media sales employers get the best out of using jobs boards?

Media sales employers and employees need to select job boards carefully - whilst the likes of Jobserve and Jobsite carry many ‘000s of candidates and ‘00s of jobs the relevance can be questionable. Also these larger job boards are predominantly recruitment agency driven. More selective job boards such as Media C2C provide an employer only environment where employers can gain prominence and attract candidates from the media sector through ad response or by searching the pre-screened media candidate database of close to 5,000 cvs. Candidates benefit by applying directly and engaging with the end employer at an early stage of the recruitment process rather than through a third party.

Talk us through your thoughts around the future of online recruiting?

The future has never looked brighter with online the accepted way to find jobs with 32% of all candidates starting their job search online (Noras 2010). The increased opportunities for candidates to market themselves, the introduction of video cvs and online assessment and search techniques are all creating a dynamic and challenging online environment. Media C2C is at the centre of developments in terms of candidate search and match and as the business develops will increasingly develop new candidate search, match and engagement models.

What are the plans for media c2c currently and how do you see the business evolving?

Media C2C was formed in April 2010 and went live in October 2010 - we are now 6 months into our first year online. We have learnt more in the last 6 months than most of us have learnt in the last 6 years! Whilst we have attracting 100 clients and almost 5,000 candidates and are filling jobs every week - there is still a very long way to go. Projects and developments for 2011 include the development of bespoke client search services and online assessments.

According to NORAS research 2010 the best performing jobs boards for recruitment of sales executives was from generic jobs boards as opposed to those specifically aimed at finding jobs in sales. Why do you think this was and do you believe this tie into sales still not being seen as a profession for graduates?

The broad industry and generic job boards will always come out on top in terms of volume when compared to niche sites. However, the niche sites provide a more targeted and focused approach, greater candidate and employer engagement and a more personal service.

With regards to ‘sales still not being seen as a profession for graduates' I believe that this is the media sales sector being negative. Media sales is a dynamic and professional environment where you can make a material difference to a company's success, develop your skills and build an excellent career. There are many examples of CEOs and board members in the media sector who started life in media sales and you too can do that.

Tell us why you are so passionate about the media sector?

Media is an area of business that the UK is leading the world, it is challenging, dynamic, exciting, rewarding, innovative and fun - enough said

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