Mark Lennard interviewed by Ozzle
Some interesting questions were put to Mark Lennard, MD of JPL Group and some interesting answers were provided! read more...
Mark Lennard, MD of JPL Group was interviewed by the job board at Ozzle and was keen to respond with both some useful tips as well as some interesting facts. See below to find out what was discussed.
JPL Group was established as a recruitment agency in 2001, its Directors have a wealth of recruitment and industry experience in excess of 30 years.
Our proven success in the Print, Direct Mail, Packaging and Publishing sectors has been achieved by our positive vision and key values which are Accountability, Teamwork, Innovation, Leadership, Integrity and Passion. By combining these key values into our work ethic we produce the ultimate recruitment service.
How did you get into Print/ Packaging Recruitment?
My business has always been in the recruitment industry for the past 15 years when I first started out working for an IT recruitment company in the City, JPL Group was born at the same time as my daughter Jessica Paige Lennard so hence the name JPL, no fancy marketing strategy but just her initials! The only problem now is my son is questioning why he hasn’t a company set up in his name? JPL Group first started out in the world of IT recruitment and specialised in the recruitment of technical staff for the legal technology sector such as Law Firms and Legal Technology software houses and our technical division is still growing and busier than ever and can be reached at www.jplit.co.uk . Another recruitment business that I set up before delving into the world of Print was Medirec, which was as it suggests in the name - a Medical recruitment company, recruiting staff into the NHS. Medirec was sold to a PLC 18 months ago to make way for future growth into our core business which is JPL Group that specialises in Print, Packaging, Publishing, Direct Mail and all areas of Direct Marketing. The print and packaging side of our recruitment strategy was born out of intense research into the sector and sheer hard work and very long hours. To succeed in recruiting for the print sector it made sense to utilise the skills of people that have worked in that industry rather than just in recruitment and hence JPL Group recruited and now have 3 people out of its team of 12 that are industry skilled and are a great asset to us for industry knowledge.
What advice would you give to Job Seekers on landing their perfect job?
Information is King. You need to know lots about what you want to do and why you want to do it. Don’t just pick an idea out of thin air and ‘give it a go’. Work out what you want to do and the reasons behind your decision, ask yourself what your motivation is, what your aspirations are and how you can achieve these goals and if you are capable at this stage in your career. Always push yourself outside of your comfort zone and that way you will always be over achieving. When going to an interview you need to know the ins and outs of your potential employer. Research the company in depth, if the info is not on the net then call company and ask them or the recruiter who has put you forward for the role. Ensure that you have 5 key questions before attending an interview that you want to ask which are relevant to the role that you are going for. We provide some really useful tips on being successful at an interview on our website at www.jplgroup.com under our candidate advice section.
What is your “killer” interview question you always ask?
Ok, Well if Sir Alan had asked our “killer” question at his screening process before the Apprentice series started this year then maybe, just maybe, Lee McQueen would have not been his final choice! Our question is a cringe worthy one so here goes…..
“It’s a common fact that on the majority of CV’s people will place 90% of truthful and factual information. The remaining 10% is made up of enhanced and fabricated information or putting it bluntly - plain lies. What part of your CV represents this 10%?”
Now the response that I get when asking this question can be varied but if people actually do tell the truth and explain that maybe some part of their CV may have been slightly exaggerated then it says a lots about their character to be bold enough to admit this ‘exaggeration’ and why they felt the need to do this. I’m not saying that I condone this sort of action but at least if I am told the truth about what they have done it gives me a choice about them rather that not knowing and taking their CV for gospel.
How can Job Seekers attract your attention and stand out from the crowd?
We receive around 500 CV’s a week and that’s a lot of CV’s to read and yes we do read every single one of them! So what puts one person above another? That’s a good question which has some definitive answers which are as follows… Keep your CV concise, just don’t waffle about areas of your career that are just not of any relevance to the career that you are now seeking. Don’t use any silly fonts, you’d be amazed with the style of some CV’s that we receive! If you are applying for a particular role, lets say a Senior Sales Person position, then there is no point in elaborating and getting carried away with talking about your wonderful experience as a Production Manager – its just not relevant to the role that you’re applying for. Ensure that you tailor your CV to the positions you apply for – that means talking more about your experiences relevant to the job application and not ‘flowering’ your CV.
What can we do to attract new talent to our industry?
We are working closely with the BPIF who have a great scheme in conjunction with ProSkills to encourage school leavers to join the Print Industry the scheme is called PrintIT and it’s a major initiative to encourage young people to embark on careers in the UK printing industry and so far 600 schools and nearly 38,000 students have taken part. This is a great project and we welcome this to the sector to ensure that we don’t experience a major issue in talent moving forward over the years.
What is the strangest job you have ever had to fill?
This ones not in Print recruitment but when I was involved in Medirec our Medical recruitment company, we had to recruit for a mortuary technician, who would basically look after the dead bodies in the morgue. A bit of an unusual position to fill. Obviously the individual did not need much personality and had to be good at working on his own!
Tell me about your funniest story in an interview situation?
The lip licker. I interviewed an individual who continually licked their lips throughout the interview to a point that I thought I was going to start licking my lips… It was very strange and I point it down to their nervous disposition but never the less I could not wait for the interview to end and it did end very quickly, all of about 20 minutes.
What is your “ideal” job?
Thats a trick question isn’t it? Ok, my “ideal” job would be running a national newspaper as Editor, something like the Telegraph or the Times, being able to report on real news stories and gain a wealth of knowledge on all subjects that really matter to us. Now that was the serious answer, if you’re looking for a more light hearted response then I have always fancied my chances as a Radio Presenter maybe on a phone in style show – Don’s ask why because I don’t really know the answer! Maybe its something in me from a previous life?
What are your hopes and aspirations for the next 12 months?
We are in expansion mode at the moment and in the past 2 months have taken on 3 new members of staff and we will be continuing our plans for expansion right into 2009 in the UK and other locations. The Print and Packaging industry is constantly changing and evolving and we need to ensure that we keep pace with these changes and tailor our recruitment services to everything that is relevant to the industry that we work in.
