Posts

Handling Rejection...

I do feel genuinely lucky when I sit down at my desk each day.  I am one of the ones who loves what I do - believe me, not everyone loves their job!  Whilst I do enjoy pretty much all aspects of recruitment, it's the ongoing study of people that makes it as interesting as it is.  I'm not c…

Job hopping...

In the olden days....a job was for life.   Things have changed.  Now, I actually think that employers are a bit suspicious if someone has spent a while in their current role.  They worry about lack of ambition or that the employee just wants an easy life.  The other extreme provides just as much s…

When an offer is withdrawn...

I can't remember the last time I heard about an offer being withdrawn.  It's certainly a long time so fortunately it's a rare occurrence.   I had a chat last week, however, with a candidate who had got in touch with me about a fortnight previous to that.  The individual had declined in…

Psychometric tests....

80% of the recruiting that I do is agency side - that is, for marketing, advertising and digital agencies.  The remaining 20% is client-side.  The key difference between the two is HR departments.  HR people do tend to live up to their stereotypes and they also tend to love psychometric tests.  I …

Anger Management....

OK.  Here's the thing.  I know that most recruiters are a bit rubbish. Often more than a bit. I don't think 'recruitment consultancy' comes up as a career option in those 'what job will suit you best' questionnaires and I don't know anyone in recruitment who grew up wit…

Dangerous Peers

My blog subjects are always real life situations that have inspired (?) me to share with my audience and I hope, in some small way, to de-bunk the myth that getting a job is hard work.  I often joke with friends and family that recruitment isn't rocket science - and it's not. However, it d…

Hostile Job Adverts

I saw an article on BBC online recently.  Very topical.  'Why do some job adverts put women of applying'.  I actually thought I'd mistakenly logged into the Daily Mail online....but of course I hadn't.  So I continued reading.
Essentially the article was highlighting that words do …

Gaps on CVs

I regularly come across candidates who have 'gaps' on their CV.  As with anything on a CV, there is no point in trying to disguise or cover up anything that you think might be less than impressive to a potential employer.   You are likely to be asked about any gaps at interview so rather t…

The right time to resign...

Is there ever a good time to resign? Discuss.
I’ve got a situation at the moment where a great candidate has been offered a great job. She loves everything about the new job and if it weren’t for a pesky notice period, the new employer would take this said candidate tomorrow.
However, the candidate i…

Why being 'nice' won't get you a payrise

OK, with that Headline I'm as bad as the Daily Mail.  However, this week, my mother in law (a staunch reader of the above rag) sent me a link to an article.  
Their headline was:
Being nice at work will NOT get you a pay rise! Key to success and riches lies in being intelligent rather than kind.�…

How to decide which job to accept...

I often wonder how on earth the recruitment world worked in the old days.  The days when Jobs were advertised in the paper,  CVs  were sent in and interviews were confirmed by post. Things must have sped up when fax arrived and then by the time I got involved, we were on email so the world was con…

Crap questions to ask at interview

It's that time of year when everyone says 'New Year, New Career'.  And it's true, traditionally, this is a busy time of year for recruiters where lots of candidates brush up their CVs and prepare to find something new.  It's also true that you see a lot of articles in the media…