Latest Industry News

October 2009 Index Highlights:

• The Monster Employment Index UK grew by seven points as the online job market started to show early signs of recovery
• Online hiring increased in the majority of sectors, led by strong growth in education, manufacturing, transportation, hospitality and sales
• Job demand rose most in Wales, with notable upturns also recorded in Scotland and the South West

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In an age where social networking is merely a mouse-click away, why do we need to spend our evenings flirting at the bar?

In the legal profession networking with peers is not only essential, it is expected. If you aspire to work in the best chambers you simply have to schmooze with the big-wigs. You have no choice. Social hermits are consigned to a career of maybes and what-ifs, so if you want the rewards getting yourself noticed in this incredibly traditional profession is, if you like, the law.

And this law should transcend to every other profession, industry and environment, where people are the central cogs. Long before email, text/micro messaging and social media, relationships were developed face-to-face. During the 80’s journalists squatted in pubs; the Constabulary dominated member’s clubs; and teachers coughed and choked their way through endless staff-room natters.

Nothing has changed. Old-boy networks still exist and human nature’s desire to develop trusting relationships remains. During the Second World War Winston Churchill insisted that all his secret meetings be conducted outside. “Walls have ears” he mused, and so Cabinet decisions were made during walks through his Chartwell home gardens.

Of course, we are not in the business of history-defining espionage but something can be taken from Churchill’s policy: whilst electronic mailing and digital interaction are an accepted (and required) dominance in today’s progressive society, would you ever make personal or business-critical decisions on the basis of written or rudimentary telephonic communication alone? I sincerely hope not.

Relationships develop through trust. How can you really trust someone you have never met? You need to see the white’s of their eyes, feel the sincerity in a handshake and interpret how they present themselves before committing to a partnership. Most normal people wouldn’t get married before at least a first date and there ought not to be a difference in business relationships. People buy people and cutting through all the mustard it is the likeability factor that turns nothing into nuptials.

If you are looking to develop your career you need to find potential suitors. You need to hang out where your prospects do. Sure, use social media channels to identify where this is but then you go and find them, hunt them down. Media-types are notorious for skulking London’s West End bars, where their hedonistic drinking clubs are both revered and reviled, depending which camp you are in. So if you want a career in media & marketing, wouldn’t it make sense to identify the bars, pitch up a stool and get involved?

‘Putting a face to the voice’ may well be one life’s more trite sayings, but the meaning behind the adage resonates. A conversation on the phone is one thing but it is the non-verbal communication that makes it all the more personable. Gesticulation brings a voice to life; it gives it depth, emotion. You could never replicate this at the end of a phone line. So this is what makes meeting people so important and, in the context of the hiring process, essential. In today’s climate applying for a job is very much like a journey into the unknown. Where your CV ends up can be anyone’s guess and there is certainly no guarantee of progression, however skilled and experienced you might be. 

What is for certain though is that you need to be doing something alternative to your competitors. You also need to be sticking your head that bit further above the parapet. Yes, you’ll get shot at but it will be but nothing a sturdy hat cannot repel.

Talking to someone face-to-face affords flexibility; it allows you the chance accentuate your thoughts and, therefore, your personality in a way that a static CV could never hope to achieve, however well crafted. And this, of course, is the premise of an interview. So what if you could take your naturally gregarious nature into a more relaxed, social environment; or an informal interview? Wouldn’t this allow you to show people who you are, what you do and, most importantly, what you can do for them? 

Careers fairs, trade shows, seminars, conferences, training courses and networking events: they all afford one common benefit: making new contacts. And this isn’t just about exchanging business cards – though this should be encouraged – it is about learning from peers and taking advantage of an accepted stage for self-promotion. Social media works through the theory of altruism, whereby doing something for someone else for nothing pays dividends in the long-run. Social networking pushes benevolence to one side for that moment and is replaced by legitimate egocentricity. This is your chance to show your audience that what you can offer is better than anyone else, especially those reliant on the one-dimensional career assault of a CV application.

These days we are bombarded with opportunities to plug our skills. Whether this is via our Google accounts, professional networking streams such as LinkedIn; or social favourite, Facebook, we are more transparent and more visible to external viewers than ever before. Whilst on the one hand this presents wonderful opportunities for free PR, the connotations can be undetermined. Unless you track it (and of course you should where you can) you are never quite sure what people are saying about you. If the comments are negative, how do you provide positive retort?

Recruiters continually look at engaging with passive jobseekers; these are the folk that would move for the right role but have no immediate desire to change. These people are valuable because they usually demand increased incentives to move, thus the recruiter can charge a premium should they find them a new job. The advent of social media and other digital domains means individuals can easily be found, especially if they produce online content in the form of blogs or general opinion pieces. But being found is only a good thing if your metaphorical house is in order.

Offline networking allows you to take control of your individual PR. Engaging face-to-face is proactive, productive and positive. People will appreciate the effort you have taken to replace your mouse with a voice and in return you will be rewarded with a bunch of new contacts to benefit today, tomorrow and in the future. Who knows, you might also get a new job out of it. And if you do it will prove that old-fashioned networking is an equal partner to the online application process, particularly when it comes to enhancing ‘brand you’ and increasing your career opportunities.

What’s the point of meeting people? Where’s the purpose in not.

You can make yourself stand out at the following networking events in Manchester and Bristol:

Manchester: http://manchesterlinkup.eventbrite.com
Bristol: http://bristollinkup.eventbrite.com

Simon Lewis | Only Marketing Jobs 
www.onlymarketingjobs.com

Source: www.onrec.com 

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“If you want to be an effective business leader then get a PA.” 

Or so say business leaders themselves in the results of the Annual Business Leaders Survey distributed to over 100,000 executives by Totaljobs.com, the UK's most visited commercial recruitment website. 

In this year’s survey, developed with the Association of Personal Assistants (APA), 53% of business leaders concluded that having a PA increased their personal business effectiveness by significantly more than 40%. More than 70% of respondents stated effectiveness is increased by 30% or more by their PA; showing how valuable PAs are viewed by their bosses. With the chance to improve effectiveness by such a vast amount, it would seem PAs are invaluable to a company.

John Salt, Website Director of totaljobs.com said, “We are not surprised by this ringing endorsement for the importance of PAs. We recognise it from our own business but also from business using our job board to recruit key staff but the survey also suggests the role of a PA is becoming much more managerial, more complex and diverse. We are seeing increasingly well educated and talented people looking to enter business through this route and then moving into different areas of work and experience.”

In addition, totaljobs have also noted a 15% year on year increase for applications in the PA sector (www.totaljobsbarometer.co.uk). 

Dr. Gareth Osborne, Director General of APA, the professional body for the 650,000 PAs (or equivalent roles) in the UK said, “PAs are now a business critical asset, every organisation should have an assistant in direct support of each of its key executives and for small businesses; where they are all dependent on their owner/manager for direction and management, a PA should definitely be on the shopping list. Looking at the statistics the other way round; if we took away 70% of these PAs then business effectiveness would be reduced by 30% or more in all of these companies.”

Successful entrepreneur and “Dragon’s Den” investor Deborah Meaden was unsurprised with business leaders agreeing that having a PA significantly increased their effectiveness. “A well-organised PA who understands goals and priorities is constantly making decisions on which information and contacts are passed through and what appointments are made,” She said. “I suspect that bosses who do not believe that having a PA improves their own performance either has the wrong PA or has not yet learnt the benefits of utilising them fully.”

Other key factors from the survey suggest:

• The essential skills of a PA are exceptional organisational ability combined with outstanding time and communications management. The key personality traits of a PA are confidence and calmness under pressure. Together these suggest a role which is becoming more closely aligned to that of a departmental manager rather than a purely administrative role.

• PAs are well educated. 70% of PAs are educated to ‘A’ Level standard or higher and 15% have a Bachelor’s Degree.

• However, education does not continue in the workplace with 46% of PAs receiving no post-educational training for their role. 

• PAs are seen as anchors in the office whilst their boss has meetings elsewhere. Over 46% of PAs do not do any of their work from home. However, 51% spend up to one-fifth of their time working from home.

• The role of a PA remains incredibly diverse and complex requiring a wide range of skills and the ability to multi-task. Traditional skills like diary management, travel planning and the organisation of meetings remain common to all PAs. Increasingly new skills like project planning, press and PR, staff recruitment and facilities management are being added.

Source: www.onrec.com

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The number of people out of work grew by 88,000 to 2.47m in the three months to August, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

Unemployment benefit claimant numbers rose in September by 20,800 to 1.63m.

Source: www.recruiter.co.uk

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