23 October 2018 
Karel Thomas, Executive Director
Recruiting the right people to the right job and then keeping them is a challenge facing all organisations, not just universities. Not a week goes by without a call from a recruiter asking if we know someone who might be a good fit for their latest commission. We are always happy to help, but maybe we are all fishing in a shallow pool of talent because the benefits of working in university world are either not known, or are misunderstood? UCEA (Universities and Colleges Employers Association) published a series of infographics to show some of the excellent benefits and conditions offered to HE sector employees.
Many candidates think, wrongly, that Universities are part of “the public sector”, or that life in a university is about "cranking a handle" to deliver the same thing every year to a new cohort of students. We have seen finance professionals come and go, and the reasons for that are varied, but there are also many who come and stay. The experiences of these people are interesting, but at the heart of anecdotes I hear is that they stay because they identify with and believe in the value of universities’ teaching and research. Universities are amazing places to work, where everyone is trying to make the world a better place. If you know someone who is working in another part of the economy at the moment and fancies a change, vacancies in university-land are listed on jobs.ac.uk. Finance and procurement jobs are highlighted on the bufdg website where there are several gems listed, including the Jobs of the Week and Head of Finance at the RWCMD in Cardiff.
