Wherefore Arts thou culture?

During my time as a Corporate Relations Manager, I cannot tell you the dread that washed over me when a pile of 30+ CVs landed on my desk, suddenly needing to find time in an already jam-packed schedule to reduce these to 5. Some were no-brainers – from the brilliant, thoughtful and relevant to the generic, ‘copy and paste’s – I could quickly move them to appropriate piles. But then there were the ‘maybe’s: candidates stepping up, candidates looking for a fresh start, and candidates with passion and interest but not yet given the ‘break’ of professional experience. It could easily take the remainder of the day to work through these individually and do my best to score them whilst desperately trying not to miss a gem.

I realise that the majority of the arts sector feels they cannot afford to engage with agencies during their recruitment processes – but I am here to present the reasons that they really should.

1. We can save you time.

Your time is valuable. Whether it’s donor meetings to attend, corporate pitches to prepare, or campaigns to launch, there are often not enough hours in the day to deliver everything you want to achieve. I have been working for charities when a position has received 200 applications, and someone has to go through each and every one of them. It is impossible to give each application the attention and equal hearing it deserves without dedicating the best part of several days.

At Ashby Jenkins Recruitment, we put in this leg work for you. Working with our database, job boards and through proactive headhunting – we can sift through the hundreds of potential candidates and present a shortlist of talented and qualified individuals who are all capable of delivering the role you are looking to fill.

2. We can broaden your candidate pool.

Those of us who have worked in the arts know how insular it can be when it comes to recruiting a new candidate. We all know the joke about fundraiser musical chairs that takes place every few years: one role becoming available in one organisation creating a domino effect as peers from within the sector use the opportunity to move to another institution.

Ashy Jenkins Recruitment has an extensive network of candidates from a broad range of sectors and professional backgrounds. Our processes mean that job opportunities reach those who may not even be actively looking. Therefore you will have the chance to meet talented individuals from outside the arts sector, who are equally qualified and passionate about the causes of your organisations..

3. We can diversify your candidate pool.

It is no secret that arts administration is still at the early stages of its journey toward Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in its workforces, as is a lot of the charitable sector. But are we doing everything we can to create a fair, unbiased recruitment process?

At Ashby Jenkins Recruitment we are wholly committed to equal opportunities for everyone we come into contact with: when recruiting for roles, we assess candidates based on competencies irrespective of gender, age, ethnic-national origin, marital status, religion, sexual orientation or disability. We submit only anonymised CVs removing any protected characteristics and some non-protected such as educational institutions. We want to ensure that the sector follows its own ED&I commitments internally as much as it does externally.

4. We can protect your investment.

The recruitment process takes time, and it also takes money. We’ve all heard the stories of long-drawn-out recruitment processes with many months of adverts, interviews, offers, notice periods and start dates – but suddenly that candidate with so much potential has gone, and so is the monetary investment you put into finding them.

At Ashby Jenkins Recruitment we protect your investments, and in the (very unlikely) event that an appointment falls through, we offer a Rebate period on a sliding scale for 10 weeks. This period means that your charity is protected from losing its entire investment and reinvest this into the new search rather than doubling costs.

I have spoken to several arts organisations in the past months about opportunities and it’s often met with hesitation or simply, ‘we don’t have the budget’. What I would like to impress upon my colleagues in the sector is that it’s always worth the conversation. Who knows what brilliant candidate might be waiting just around the corner who doesn’t happen to be receiving ‘Arts Jobs’ e-mails.

Oh, and just so you know…you only pay us if we find you the person you decide to appoint. No other hidden fees or retainers necessary!

If anything here has rung true for you, or if you have any questions and would like to find out a bit more about who were are and what we can offer you,gGive me call on 02030 062 787 or e-mail
[email protected]