• How do great companies find talented people?
• Does word of mouth recruitment reduce the gene pool?
• Can small companies compete for seasoned professionals?

With the arrival of the second internet boom, the digital industries have once again become victim of their own success, with plenty of jobs to go around but not enough skilled practitioners to fill them. And the skills shortage is not just for a particular role or at one specific level (although mid management seems to be a generic problem), but runs throughout the industry, meaning that many companies are on a constant recruitment drive.

This event will tackle these issues over a series of panels with leading industry experts and audience input.

Sourcing talent from traditional media

Bigger digital agencies have gone to sister agencies in the traditional media sector to recruit staff, but how do the majority of small or independent digital agencies fill increasingly important roles such as planners and senior account handlers? And what happens if there is no parallel role within another business sector that you can draw on to fill the position?

Career paths & incentives

Is one of the issues stopping experienced players moving over to digital the lack of a focused career path offered by their newer digital counterparts? Or is it simply that the packages on offer are insufficient to draw them into the digital space?

Raw talent & internships

Some of the bigger digital agencies and tech companies are now running internships or working with universities and design colleges to develop new talent, but how does that work for SME’s, who make up a huge part of the digital sector?

DIY & working with recruitment agencies

If you are doing it yourself, how do you recruit if you are not a recruiter? And if you have to work with a recruitment or headhunting agency, which many digital companies are, how do you get the most out of them?

Speakers will include:

Thayer Driver – Chinwag
Toby Barnes – Skillset
Mark Rapley – The Garden Partnership
James Plummer – Prospect
Tom Adams - Mook
Steve Hutson - Aquent

Report on the event.