A very warm welcome to this, the first issue of Golf Recruitment News brought to you by Colt Mackenzie McNair, the leading executive search firm providing effective recruitment solutions to the global golf industry.

If you are a golf business searching for the best talent, or a candidate looking to develop your career and find your next job, this newsletter will inspire you with ideas, updates and news from the global golf community.

Based in London and Dubai, we have an unrivalled network of contacts throughout the international golf market, benefiting employers and candidates alike, and are employed by some of golf's most successful businesses and brands at every level and every stage of the recruitment process.

Our objective is to successfully search for and recruit the best-of-breed candidates for jobs in the golf-related clubs, resorts, real estate, retail and tourism sectors throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

This newsletter will inform you of developments in our business, and we hope it will also address wider HR issues and inspire you to make the right decisions moving forwards.

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Richard Wood, co-founder, Colt Mackenzie McNair

Stewart McNair, Chairman and CEO of Colt Mackenzie McNair explains why it is essential for clubs to attract top talent to beat the recession - and why cutting back on staff recruitment can be catastrophic for business.



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Colt Mackenzie McNair has helped The London Club, venue of May's European Open, successfully select high-calibre individuals for three key management positions.

Due to rapid growth in the business, the positions needed to be filled quickly and efficiently, which is why Heath Harvey, General Manager of The London Club, opted for CMM Select, Colt Mackenzie McNair's new online recruitment solution.

Heath Harvey said: "Our business is bucking the current trend and we are growing, which is why we needed to appoint three senior managers - a marketing director, golf events manager and a membership sales manager."

"The quality of the first five candidates that Colt Mackenzie McNair put in front of us was exceptional. Everyone was lined up quickly and efficiently for interviews and the whole process was done and dusted in days. The truth is, we were actually only recruiting for two positions, but the candidates were so good that I ended up creating a third position."

The CMM Select portal enables golf businesses to advertise vacancies free of charge, with a placement fee applied only if an appointment is made via the service. The solution - the first of its type in the golf industry - has already won the backing of the Club Managers Association of Europe, European Golf Course Owners Association, IAGTO, The PGA's of Europe and the British Golf Industry Association.

Heath Harvey added: "Last year I personally managed the recruitment of a senior financial manager. I received 95 applications, did 21 interviews and spent more than a week of my time managing the whole process. CMM Select cut straight to the chase, saving me time and money, but more importantly has delivered three exceptional individuals who will be an important part of our team going forward."

• For more information, visit www.coltmm.com

Colt Mackenzie McNair was delighted to be one of the sponsors of the sixth annual KPMG Golf Business Forum where business leaders received an inspirational rallying call from sporting icon Arnold Palmer.

The seven-time Major Champion, who received KPMG's Lifetime Achievement Award at The Celtic Manor Resort, Wales, venue of the 2010 Ryder Cup, addressed the audience of international golf business leaders, investors and developers on the economic situation.

"I was born during the Great Depression and I've lived through economic recessions," said Mr Palmer. "We will come out of this one having learned from the experience - and we'll be stronger."

Stewart McNair, Chairman and CEO of CMM, was also part of the many discussions at the 3-day forum and spoke to more than 275 delegates about the need for quality human resources solutions.

Stewart said: "This annual forum is an exceptional event, attended by the most influential leaders in the golf business. It was interesting to understand how the current economic conditions are challenging various parts of the sport.

"I was encouraged to hear how some businesses are prospering in the current climate and it reinforced my thinking that it is an essential time to ensure you have the best people and HR practices in your business."

Visit the KPMG Golf Business Forum website at: www.golfbusinessforum.com


Arnold Palmer issued a rallying call at the KPMG Golf Business Forum

Here, David Griffin, Colt Mackenzie McNair's Head of Research gives his top tips for CV writing...

Your CV is possibly the most significant and important document in your life. It tells potential employers everything they need to know about you, your skills, your experience and why they should give you the job you desire.

It is, however, two dimensional, so it needs to be written to address the specific opportunity at hand. A poor CV will result in failure at the very first hurdle, spotting errors on a person's CV is one of the most frustrating things in recruitment. This document is selling you to potential employers, errors and mistakes will instantly turn people off, so it is vital you have everything laid out correctly in an eye catching manner to ensure people pick it up, take an interest and most importantly call you in for an interview.

Here are my top tips for CV writing and layout:

• Make sure you have an effective personal statement outlining your career aspirations and key strengths/skills. This is the first section that will be read, so it is essential you make it eye catching by summarising your skills and your aspirations within the role you're applying for. Always include your key achievements - do not be shy.
• Make sure your CV is concise. Using bullet points within your CV will force you to break down your sentences and grab the reader's attention, drawing your key experiences related to the position.
• A concise CV is one that jumps straight to the point; you don't want the reader to lose interest. I would recommend a CV is no longer than three pages of A4.
• Do your research on the position. Does your career path match the position? Have you got the specific strengths and skills? Does the position match your salary requirements?
• Check, check and check again. Make sure you have checked your CV for spelling and grammatical mistakes, as this will put off potential employers.
  

How the CV should be laid out:

• Key personal details
• Personal statement and outline of key strengths
• Work experience
• Education & qualifications, including specific language skills
• Interests
• Additional information
• References

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Colt Mackenzie McNair has become an Official Supplier to the Club Managers Association of Europe (CMAE).

The partnership will give the CMAE's 6,500 members in 22 countries access to a variety of recruitment solutions including CCM Select (www.coltmm.com), the new web portal that allows clubs to advertise vacancies free of charge, with a placement fee applied only if an appointment is made via the service.

The CMAE is a non-profit making professional association with members involved in the management of sports clubs, health & fitness clubs, leisure, city and dining clubs located throughout Europe.

Jerry Kilby, Chief Executive Officer of the CMAE said: "Colt Mackenzie McNair offers important, professional services that are of significant benefit to club managers. Not only will CMM Select help club managers fill vacancies quickly and efficiently, it will also enable them to develop their own careers, and for those two reasons we are recommending CMM Select to our members."

Colt Mackenzie McNair is also offering a new, managed service to support CMM Select. The service will enable clubs without their own internal HR departments to benefit from advice including benchmarking, collating CVs, candidate profiling and applicant shortlisting, all for a set fee.

Richard Wood said: "Working with the Club Managers Association of Europe means we can unlock talent from the wider club industry and help individuals and businesses succeed. Club managers will have access to all our services which cover every level of business operation."

Visit the CMAE website at: www.cmaeurope.org

It has been a busy few months for Ian Timberlake, our principal consultant in Europe. Ian has been travelling around the region taking recruitment briefs from new clients and receiving some strong candidate CVs from the launch of CMM Select...

I recently travelled to Dublin to see a client and receive a brief to recruit for a new CEO for an upmarket golf resort in Europe. It's always exciting to receive such a high profile assignment like this, it gives me the opportunity to talk to some of the most talented leaders in the golf industry.

Colt Mackenzie McNair sponsored the first London Golf Conference at Excel in London and it was good to catch up with a number of our clients and contacts (pictured is Ken Schofield, former chief executive of the European Tour) and talk about CMM.

We've also started to work with one of Europe's leading golf course operators to fill a number of roles throughout its organisation in the areas of golf operations, food and beverage, sales and marketing. It is encouraging that their business is performing so strongly despite the economic downturn.

June and July have been very busy months, but I've had to find time to think about our own business too. With my fellow consultants we've been fine-tuning our own plans and strategies, particularly around international marketing.

The big news for our business was the launch of CMM Select. It was fantastic that we had 50 quality candidates sign up on the first day and we've had almost 50 every week since. We also had a variety of high quality positions across all functions posted by businesses who see the immediate benefit of using a service that delivers quality candidates in a cost and time efficient manner. It's very exciting to see CMM Select grow and prosper.

The Club Managers Association of Europe conference at Wentworth was my next stop, where I met leading managers from the golf and club world. As an affiliate partner of the CMAE, we've been delighted with some of the feedback our service has received from members.

I've just taken a look at my diary over the coming weeks and it looks just as busy, including a series of meetings this week at the Open Championship at Turnberry in Scotland. This is a great place to meet both candidates and businesses...I may even watch a few holes of golf too.

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