5 Top Tips for Finding a Good Groom
by Caroline Carter
Finding decent equine staff in this very tough equestrian recruitment market is not easy, it can be very time-consuming, costly and not least of all incredibly frustrating. Trust me, after nearly 20 years as a professional equine recruitment specialist, I know! Follow my 5 simple tips for finding a good groom and get the best out of your equestrian recruitment drive – save yourself time, a considerable amount of money, and an awful lot of headaches!
1. Choose Wisely!
Register with a Recruitment Agency that gets involved and is run by a hands-on individual with a wealth of relevant experience. It currently isn’t a requirement to have any formal qualifications and anyone can set themselves up as an equine recruitment consultant. “Recruitment Consultant” by name can not give or substitute for actual experience in this field. You could be forgiven for assuming the person you are talking to has experience in Equestrian Recruitment when in fact they don’t. Don’t be afraid to ask the person you talk with about their credentials, don’t let them fudge the issue!
Don’t be wooed by discounts to get you to register. Remember, a discount is only of benefit if you get a result. Money-off offers just to secure your custom, resulting in no staff, is a complete waste of time and money and will only leave you feeling frustrated and out of pocket!
2. Communicate!
Talk regularly to the Recruitment Agency acting on your behalf. If they know what they’re doing, they will have ideas on how to drive more candidates of suitable quality to your particular vacancy ( See point 1). As part of the service here at The Grooms List, you can contact us anytime/any day for assistance, and most times we will either be available or will offer a same-day response service wherever possible and reasonable. It really is a partnership – the more we know of you and your vacancy the better result you will get. Experience working with a company that goes that extra mile to attract relevant interest to your vacancy. We share your frustrations but with candid conversations, we do get good results with the majority of our clients!
3. SELL your vacancy!
Post a clear, concise and inviting advert and review and adjust it regularly throughout your subscription, depending on the type and level of response you are getting. Spell out the salary package in black and white with nothing fuzzy which could be interpreted by job seekers with a heightened level of suspicion that the job is underpaid, or that you are overcharging for extras. See our how-to guide for writing your job vacancy advert here.
4. Don’t advertise everywhere!
One of the most important tips for finding a good groom – choose a company with expertise, involvement, availability and coverage and save yourself the £££ and time involved just administrating it all! You do have a life and a day job, right?! By placing your job with every equine recruitment company, despite how it might feel, you really aren’t covering all your bases – it can give potential candidates the impression that you are struggling to fill your vacancy or that you have a high turnover of staff (we know, they tell us this!), whilst simultaneously wasting your time and money.
By subscribing to The Grooms List you are accessing genuine, current job seekers via our database and social media platforms. We value your custom and are all about repeat custom in the future so, uniquely, we work hard for your subscription. See our testimonials here.
5. Move quickly!
An unprecedented number of new jobseekers are signing up on The Grooms List every day – take a look frequently, contact them quickly, interview them quickly, follow up and secure them quickly. Don’t leave applicants for your job languishing – get back to them to either accept or reject their application, so you can arrange an interview with them, or they can move on from your vacancy. It’s competitive out there and the early bird catches the worm. Whilst you’re busy deliberating someone else is busy offering them a job. We check every profile before it is published to The Grooms List and we really don’t hold anyone back, once we have checked them we release them to the website for all clients to access. You snooze you lose!
Further Reading:
We regularly post tips, guidelines and industry information to our Advice, Articles and Blog page, so do visit regularly to find the latest information for employers. If you are not already receiving our emails, please do subscribe to our employer’s mailing list for news, tips, guidelines and candidate previews and our unique preset quick search links, delivered straight to your inbox.
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How to negotiate a salary in the equine industry
The National Minimum Wage and Living Wage Rates
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