Recruitment in Bulgaria and the UK
2 countries on 1 continent, yet 2
different planets
It has been a
while since my last post and there is a valid reason why – I moved to country
where you do not have 4 out of 8 hours free to do what you want regardless of
the business or position you are in. Long story short – I moved to the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and yes, it was the right move.
I will not
waste your time on the reasons behind moving from Bulgaria to the UK or how the
UK is better, because anyone with the slightest bit of common sense can answer
that, but what I would dare do is a comparative analysis of my impression and
observation over my last 2 years in Recruitment since they are almost equally
divided in both countries.
I believe that
there are 3 key points of comparison that need to be observed: Markets (as the key “playground” and
candidate pool); Recruitment process
(as the main part of the job) and Company
culture (as a proud HR I believe it to be how and what shapes the business
and work process)
The Markets
Someone
once said that “without data, you are just a man with an opinion”, so
respecting that statement I believe I have to start with some facts and figures:
United
Kingdom
|
Bulgaria
|
|
Population
|
64,716,000
(68,000,000+ real)
|
7,202,198 (6,200,000-
real)
|
GDP[2]
|
$2.679.000
billion
|
$47.167 billion
|
GDP
per capita[3]
|
$41,158
|
$6,581
|
As
it can be clearly seen from the data, the two countries are close the best and
worst in Europe (that is, if Britain
decides not commit national economic suicide and leave the EU in June, this
year) when it comes to economies, population and GDP per capita. I decided
it will be a waste of time even going into the cultural analysis (although I will mention some important
things in the company culture segment, later on) since this article is more
business oriented rather than something else, as previously mentioned. However,
since data can be found read and analysed anywhere I will describe what being
in each market feels like, as the feeling truly is like being on two
different planets:
Bulgaria
It
pains me to say it, as I am Bulgarian, but the recruitment market in Bulgaria
is as close to dead as possible:
-
Large companies and corporations scrambling
whatever top specialist are left in the country and organizing them in
outsourced departments in mostly accounting, IT and customer service support
with various languages (usually for a few years before realizing what a
horrible mistake they have made and closing business or leaving it in the “well
prepared” hands of the locals)
-
Small and Medium companies ran by people without
the necessary qualifications or experience in a highly unregulated market
filled with governmental corruption, irresponsible and even illegal competition
-
Completely unqualified, uneducated (even with
bachelor and master degrees (which have 0 value due to outdated education
process and materials), unmotivated and underpaid work staff, most of whom
believe at the age of 25 they have to be a manager (which to them means not
working). Combine this with the fact that getting employed over the age of 45
is close to impossible (at least in the private sector, the public with average
salaries of £200 per month is not an option) and you get the gloomy picture of
7-10 flights a day from the Sofia airport to the UK alone.
-
There are still educated people, however, or
young and ambitious, however they usually spend a few years before either being
offered a job abroad, getting depressed and leaving or adapting the local
“culture” and becoming like the above mentioned “work force”.
-
I do have to say something positive – if you are
good at what you do, have the right contacts and are well educated you can be
exceptional in your job, but with the close to none career opportunities and
poverty level salaries – does it really matter?!
-
The verdict - there are 2,5 million Bulgarians working
abroad (officially, probably many more) and 2 million Bulgarians working in
Bulgaria (officially, probably less) and that imbalance is getting bigger due
to those factors (and that’s even without mentioning politics, crime, general
economy or the state of the society)
Moral of the
story: if you are in it – leave; if you are outside – never do business there
(I’s still highly recommend tourism,
though)
The United Kingdom
The
British people have and expression – “ buzzin’
” and it describes the British recruitment market best – it is buzzing:
-
Almost every company is outsourcing its
recruitment and payroll and this has created an endless amount of recruitment
agencies and payroll agencies in every sector, every city, every position and
every industry
-
Due to the large amount of businesses and
candidates we can easily say there are at least 100 agencies in every industry
– logistics, warehouse, IT, accounting, Medical (where I was fortunate enough to get my job), dental, marketing, HR
… literally every sector has its own agency, recruiter and databases
-
Highly regulated market, which while making
things a bit difficult, makes business and recruitments safe, easy and
straight-forward
-
Such a high supply and demand that you can
actually open an agency today, get a client and a candidate tomorrow and do
your first booking within a week
-
Temporary staffing and out staffing are also on
a whole new level, compared to Bulgaria, at least and generate billions in
revenue for staffing and recruitment agencies.
-
Highest salaries and commissions in Europe, with
the strongest currency (for now) allowing you to buy a car every month or go on
a holiday in the Canary Islands every two months
-
Of course, I have to say something negative as
well – competition is there, or let me rephrase this – it is everywhere, it is
motivated, young or experienced and it will do the dials or meetings you will
not! (Competition, however makes you better and is the only way forward, so I
do not see it as negative but as a
sustainable continuous improvement)
Moral of the
story: if you are in it – stay; if you are on the outside – come ASAP!
The story begins
From
the short analysis above it is more than obvious that doing and working in
recruitment in the UK is an endless opportunity for making money, business and
expansion, while, unfortunately the situation in Bulgaria makes things close to
impossible for a sustainable business. When your country is underdeveloped,
your work force has long immigrated or is immigrating and your companies are
managed of whoever is left (who are far from the cream of experts) it is a bit
difficult to imagine recruitment, but if we must, let us look at the
recruitment process …
Recruitment process
The
recruitment process in almost every country is exactly the same (Graphic below) mostly because it is
oriented towards getting the same information, from the same people and getting
the same results. In a common European market and with growing international
business practices these processes should also be the same in both countries
(and to a large extent, they are). We have to look however to the differences
rather the similarities to see what exactly separates the two (and you will see
it is not just the completely different markets!)
In
order to see exactly where the differences are, although it might be a bit too
“square”, I have decided to present the analysis in a graph, while still using
the above six steps of the basic recruitment process (I allowed myself a bit of a sense
of humour, to mask the tragic reality in some parts):
United Kingdom
|
Bulgaria
|
|
A sales team or a recruiter
approaches a company that has a need
 |
A
sales team or a recruiter approaches a company that has a need (in some industries, such as the one I am
in – Medical recruitment, hospitals approach agencies, with whom they work
with jobs/posts)
|
50%
of the time it is that, although it also adds the long process of explaining
what recruitment is; why the CEO (who is also HR, accountant and many other
things) cannot do it on their own and how it will actually save costs; the
other 50% it is using personal contacts and professional (or political)
connections to reach a company
|
They outline together the necessity
for a role/position/job
|
The company is
usually well aware of what they need, how much they are going to spend for
it, what the job requirements and expectations are and the salary is clearly
stated (which is usually greater than the market). The only job the recruiter
has to do is actually make sure he or she understands them in full.
|
In large companies
the HR has been told in about 3 sentences what is needed, neither of which he
or she understands, so the recruiter has to guess what is needed (which is
usually wrong); In smaller companies the client doesn’t really have an idea
of what they need, or they are aware such people exist only in the mirror, so
the recruiter is looking for a long lost twin brother or nothing. Salary must
never, ever be higher than the market, which already brings it down to the
poverty line
|
The recruiter finds a way to get
candidates
|
Here,
regardless of competition, the job gets easy – massive databases (which have
been well developed); excellent professionals; numerous job sites and job
boards; job fairs; headhunting; etc.
Interviews
are done over the phone (or not done at all, in Medical recruitment at
least); and in rare cases, personal interviews are held.
|
1
job website that everyone uses with the same candidates for every job (yes,
the same people applying for jobs from waiter to CEO of IBM Bulgaria); no or
paper folder database; scares professionals and basically unless you know the
right people you won’t find who you need (which is not the end of the world
because your target group is the same for every job (24 year old with 10 years’ experience, 2 foreign languages and £300
monthly salary expectation)
There
must definitely be at least a 3-4 interview process (all of which in person),
regardless if the job is for a car mechanic or a CEO.
|
The recruiter then sends a selected
few of the candidates to the client
|
There isn’t much
difference here
|
There isn’t much
difference here
|
Client approves (most times)
|
A
simple confirmation or request for a second interview is sent, confirming the
booking or declining the candidate with further requests
|
Regardless
if the client hates or loves the candidate, they will always want more
candidates; cannot make a decision and Is still hoping you will find someone
to work for free. If they are okay (rarely) they will call you and you can
hope for a contract, one day.
|
Recruiter invoices the client and
makes a % of the payment to their company
|
Simple invoices
are done based on the original contract. They are usually paid in the same
week or month, in full and the recruiter takes a pre-determined % (usually
starting at 10% and going as high as %20) Commissions are paid monthly and in
full.
|
If there was an
original contract (which is rare), it is delayed for 3 months, before not
paid or forgotten. In most cases the invoices are paid within a few months
(some are never paid). Commissions are paid quarterly, if paid at all, they
are kept to a minimum – 3-7% and are usually decreased, if there are
expenses, financial problems or if the manager decides to do it.
|
I
do have to say this – the above is more of a dramatization, rather than a
description. Of course, most companies operate normally in both Bulgaria (except
the part of finding candidates and interviewing which is 100% correct!)
and the UK. But the image I want to create is of a very organized and
professional market on one hand and a under qualified and overly confident
filled market, on the other. Since the market situation was not enough to show
the clear domination of the recruitment process in the UK and this analysis was
needed to show the almost complete lack of professionalism of the Bulgarian
recruitment process, we now have to take a look at the final aspect of the
analysis – company culture.
Company culture
How
can one describe company culture? Every company is different, but usually
company culture is the accumulated values and practices within an organization,
that are allowed, promoted and tolerated. I found this very descriptive and
“heart” -warming picture below that probably sums up most of them:
In
a less scientific and more “human” answer – the company culture is what
management has decided to use in order for you to stay motivated, empowered and
productive. As a hard-line representative of the school of HR, I do believe it
is the essence of whether or not you actually feel good at a job or not.
Here
I have to take a serious note – every company is different and every company
has its culture based on what they believe is the right way of work. No company
or CEO ever makes company culture bad on purpose, most time they just do not
know any better. There is a significant difference in the same type of
cultures, which I have been in, in both countries.
“The Bulgarian Recruitment Agency”
There
is a political description of a certain set of politicians in the past known as
the “happy amateurs”. I do have to
say this description fits quite well the experience that I have had.
The
atmosphere and company culture was undoubtedly very positive and friendly. All
young people, from different backgrounds and experience (or lack of, most of
the time) trying to do the impossible in a hard market. Several interesting
things that I noticed was:
- - Day one – no real expectations, directions, guidance, but an offer for support. It is interesting when you have no idea what to do (first job in recruitment, at least agency recruitment) what support you can ask for?!
- - When dealing with work, it was a “madhouse” of lack of organization. Basically everyone is free to do whatever they want as long as they bring some results in (maximum or target wise was never expected)
- - Communication, while friendly, is easily escalated as everyone is very touchy and every criticism or comment is made into a problem and a personal issue
- - There is no direct management, although there is a "manager", so it is easy for things to go out of hand or even worse for people not to be able to work (I openly admit I had occasions when I did not work for hours, and I was far from the only one). Unfortunately there are intelligent and experianced top management, but they are usually too busy with business delopment.
- - Whenever there were projects or group work to be organized, things almost always got out of hand, as everyone wanted to participate, or worse yet no one did. Without clear management or directive it was one person shouting on top of the other demanding participation while not offering anything. End result was as loose plan and a few upset people
- - While I do not want to sound sexist in any way, since the team was mostly made of female colleagues the general atmosphere was happy and friendly, while speaking behind each other’s backs was the daily routine
- - Whenever results are not achieved, however, friendliness goes through the door in an instant and a more hostile “you are at the door” attitude is applied and you are left wondering: what now?
- - Last but not least, whenever you have an issue with someone, it is delayed until boiling point then there is a chat and nothing really changes. So when you come on the next day you still feel either bitter or happy depending on the day before.
All in all
The
company atmosphere was aimed at friendliness and equality, but what it
generated was a difficult setting to do any sort of business and without a
clear direction it was a “chaotic-order”.
You walk in desperate to do anything and leave now knowing if you have.
“The UK Recruitment Agency”
I
am sure by this time most of you have already seen “The Wolf of Wall street”
(no hidden advertisements here). This is what describes well the agency I am in
(at least in spirit, without anything illegal, of course).
Hard
working men and women, money hungry, productive, aiming for more every day and
in a clear setting of equal opportunity for achieving results. Several
interesting things that I noticed was:
- - Day one – full explanation of the legal framework you work in. Induction of what to do, how to do it, what to expect and most importantly – while greatness is expected of you, everyone is aware greatness takes time and no artificial pressure is made
- - When dealing with work it is a “madhouse”, but I dare say a “madhouse” you want to be in – everyone is pushing hard for their work, their results and what is needed. You can literally feel the energy in the air and it takes you. It puts you for uncertainty to: “I want to be better”
- - Communication is direct and straightforward, no one is your friend, but everyone will tell you want you need to do, or what you can improve on (no criticism, no pressure, and just straightforward feedback for continuous development). Lots of jokes and smiles, but only to accompany the hard work
- - Management is direct, intelligent and adaptive – they will tell you exactly what they want, they will adjust it so that it fits your experience or know-how and you will know what needs to be done, without having doubts about it
- - Projects are carried out by top management and you are left with only one thing – do your job and make money
- - While I do not want to sound sexist in any way, since most of my current colleagues are men, there is a lot of “dressing room chemistry”, jokes and whatnot, but no one takes it personally. If something becomes too much or sensitive it is cleared then and there, moved on and no one gets back to it.
- - Whenever results are not achieved, there is a polite normal chat, without any threats, only productive plan how to get you to where you need and at the end of the day want to be.
- - Last but not least, you go home with a smile, regardless if you made a fortune or you did nothing and you come on the next day ready to go at it again!
All in all
You
go to work to do your job. You laugh during the day. You spend your time in an
environment created to make money, to keep you focused and to make you deliver
results. You walk in knowing what you need to do and you leave knowing what you
have done.
The comparison (no need for long
descriptions)
Final words of wisdom
What
can I say that has not been said already?! It is clear that there is a
significant difference in both countries, work processes, markets and company
cultures.
In
both countries recruitment is a large business segment working towards
achieving great results, making money and leaving a mark, but while in Bulgaria
recruitment is still making its first steps, in the United Kingdom, recruitment
is an indivisible part of every business and every market.
Perhaps
one could say that with another 50 years of market economy, the recruitment in
Bulgaria will be on the level of the UK, but the question is – in 50 years’
time, will there be anyone left on Bulgaria who can and want to be on that
level, or in 50 years where will the UK market be?! It is one thing to be
starting something and establishing it on a new market, but when you are
against all odds of market, economy, population and money it is a swim against
the tide.
On
the other hand, recruitment in the UK is a money-making juggernaut business,
with a clear direction, clear set of rules, clear goals and definitely – a
clear attitude to achieve anything.
So
unfortunately, these 2 countries may be on 1 continent, but when it comes to
recruitment they are, without a doubt, on 2 different planets.
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