The Interim Channel

In this first posting I want to welcome you to what I hope will become a useful port of call for any Interim Manager who wants to keep an eye on what’s happening in the industry.

Recruiting for the Interim market is incredibly challenging, interesting and even frustrating at times, but rarely does it surprise me. However the results of a survey that we recently conducted did surprise me a little.

The premise of the survey was to find out how Interim Manager’s and employers views differed when it came to working in the public or private sector.

There is an assumed stereotype as to the “type” of person that works in each sector and preconceptions about working life in that sector. Over 80 per cent of employers stated that there is a cultural difference between the sectors, with over 40 percent saying this cultural difference impacted who they hired. The surprising bit is that the Interim Managers themselves actually felt that their skills are very transferable and would like to work in both sectors, with the majority stating that they do not consider themselves experts in either sector exclusively.

The survey overall showed moving between the sectors as being very challenging indeed, and my personal experience would certainly reinforce this. Both employers and interims alike state that their skills are transferable, so if it’s not a matter of skill, then what is it that prevents people from crossing between the sectors?

Maybe it is simply that employers are choosing to recruit what they see as the ‘safe’ option i.e. hiring someone who has not only done the job before but done it in a like for like organisation. This is a fascinating and far reaching debate that I think warrants further exploration …so do keep reading and also feel free to post your thoughts.

In the mean time to download the results of our survey please click on the following links:

convert to pdf.

Filed under: Interim Management, Job Hunting by natasha.rydlewski on Monday, November 3rd, 2008