Costa’s 1,700 candidates for eight jobs ‘nothing unusual’

The 1,701 applications received for eight jobs at a new Nottinghamshire outlet of coffee shop chain Costa is “not many”, says an in-house recruitment specialist.
Wed, 20 Feb 2013The 1,701 applications received for eight jobs at a new Nottinghamshire outlet of coffee shop chain Costa is “not many”, says an in-house recruitment specialist.

Gary Franklin, the co-founder of The Forum for In-House Recruitment Managers (The FIRM), tells Recruiter on Twitter that he has seen higher applicant:position ratios in his career, saying such high uptake is “a constant and nothing unusual for many types of jobs and normal for in-house recruiters in all types of orgs”.

Costa’s story has garnered national press attention, with the Daily Mirror saying it is “highlighting Britain’s unemployment crisis”, and describes the firm’s area manager as “stunned”.

Meanwhile The Daily Telegraph notes that many of those applying were previously employed by recently collapsed retail chains such as Clinton Cards and HMV, including senior retail managers with 15 years of experience, and the Guardian quotes a Costa spokesperson as saying the firm was “really encouraged” by the level of interest.

•    Franklin was recently part of a panel at an even last month debating candidate care, at which interim HR manager Julia Briggs said she insisted on responding individually to 800 responses for a single job she had advertised.

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