FMCG and hospitality recruiter Goldteam offered some Christmas goodwill through its ‘out of office’ scheme, visiting clients to help staff out with their work.

Providing a helping hand with tasks like cleaning hotel rooms, the visit from Goldteam’s recruiters helped raise staff’s spirits and allow employees to get ahead of their work schedule, which then in turn allowed them to do things such as attend their Christmas lunch. It also gave Goldteam the opportunity to check welfare standards and build stronger relationships with its clients.

Thanking Goldteam for its help, Chris Spencer, Executive Housekeeping Manager at London Heathrow’s Marriott Hotel said, “It was a very busy day for the hotel with an extended lunch hour for the associates to enjoy a Christmas meal, as well as an afternoon meeting for all, which several team members attended. The room attendants really enjoyed having the account managers helping them make beds and even clean a few rooms for them. It was a true morale booster which really helped create a bond between the associates and their manager. I hope the team enjoyed their day because it was an innovative thought that has not been seen from any other agency and really shows the team how much they are appreciated.”

“’Out of office’ has proved a great success and is another way for us to really add value to our clients and think outside the box”, says Karen Furminger, Goldteams’s General Manager. “The FMCG division also went out to its clients and the factories were very excited – they thought it was a great idea. Our sales team also went out, so they could experience their customers’ sites and culture. It was a great opportunity for everyone involved.”

Christmas came early in December when specialist property recruitment consultancy ‘Deverell-Smith Recruitment’ chose 4MAT as their web design partners. Work will commence in January with an expected go live at the end of March 2010/start of April 2010.

One of the major goals is to move away from their current all-flash web platform that was created in 2006 by an agency that had no recruitment strategy experience. Deverell-Smith Recruitment were keen on 4MAT’s dotVacancy3 software because it’s an expandable platform, and the company plans future growth, and therefore expect to develop extra interfaces.

The new website will contain standard recruitment functionality, plus banner managers, latest jobs tickers, and self-optimised vacancies supporting the standard job search. Their current site has not had any SEO in the past, so a Digital Marketing campaign will be on the cards for 2010, as whilst they are a incredibly successful boutique agency in their niche market, they are not ranking for the desired search terms.

Andrew Deverell-Smith, Managing Director of the self-titled agency commented, “We looked no further than 4MAT because we knew that their delivery and service standards were extremely competitive and that fits in well with the goals we have for the new site. We’re confident that this partnership will be successful, and I am looking forward to commencing the new financial year with a great new website.” 

www.4MAT.com

Snow may have ground much of the UK to a halt recently but FMCG recruiter Goldteam has ensured that it is business as usual for its clients, who have been facing their busiest time of year.

With agency staff providing crucial support to busy factories in the run-up to the Christmas period, the adverse weather conditions had the potential to bring production to a halt due to lack of staff. To avert this problem, Goldteam not only lined up extra staff as a precaution, but transported workers to and from their clients’ sites throughout the night to ensure the necessary resources were in place.

“We appreciate that this festive season is of the utmost importance to our clients and that a little bit of snow could have been very damaging for their business” explains Karen Furminger, Goldteam’s General Manager. “By forward planning and making sure we had measures in place to avoid any problems, we were able to fill in gaps left by other agencies and ensure our clients had the people they could not afford to lose.”

Despite popular belief that today’s students are living the high life, the Higher Education Careers Services Unit’s (HECSU) FutureTrack report reveals two thirds of students are working to pay for essential living costs and study materials as well as avoid crippling debt from loans and top-up fees. 

HECSU’s Futuretrack is tracking 50,000 students over five years, from when they first applied to university. Stage two* of the report reveals that almost half (44%) of students have difficulty paying for course books and 40% struggle to meet essential living costs. This has fuelled an increasing number of students working during term time and vacations (66%) and it is likely that more than ever will be seeking work this Christmas.  

The study, undertaken on behalf of HECSU by a research team at the University of Warwick, also revealed that women were more likely to work than men and those studying in Scotland worked longer hours than in any other region in the UK.

As students report that they are more likely to work during term time to satisfy course requirements, but during vacations to gain relevant employment experience Jane Artess, director of research at HECSU said: “Holiday periods offer good opportunities for students to gain valuable practical skills that will help them get their foot on the career ladder when they graduate. If they know what kind of job they’d like to go into and manage to get related work that’s even better as it will give insight into what that job will entail and whether it suits them.”

The study  shows that students most likely to understand the importance of doing paid work  in addition to study to gain employment experience, were on less vocational courses such as physical sciences (64%), maths and computing (63%),  linguistics and classics (62%), which rarely have work experience integral to their courses, as well as those doing business studies (62%).

HECSU’s Futuretrack survey is the largest study tracking the career development of higher education students ever undertaken in the UK. In 2006 every full-time UCAS applicant was invited to take part in the Futuretrack census, including EU and overseas applicants. It covers the full spectrum of UK higher education, across the range of universities, colleges and regions. It provides information supplied by students from when they applied to enter full-time higher education and is tracking them through their experience as students and out into their first jobs and further career development outcomes, through to 2012

The second report is available on www.hecsu.ac.uk

With Online Shopping expected to grow by up to 20% this Christmas, specialist IT Recruitment Agency CV Screen anticipates continuingly high demand for SEO skills in 2010.

With CV Screen’s IT Jobs index showing that demand for SEO / Online Marketing skills increased by 40% over the last year. At the same time there is upward pressure on salaries with the average salary for an SEO specialist in the UK now just over £30,000.

Managing Director of CV Screen Matthew Iveson added “With online retailers such as Amazon, ASOS and Play.com phenomenal growth, it is clear that more and more companies will be looking to bolster their online presence as we move in to 2010.”

Iveson then stated, “We have seen the number of SEO Jobs increase dramatically over the last 6/12 months with employers finally beginning to see the benefits of employing experts in house rather than relying on SEO agencies.”

When questioned about what specific SEO skills are in demand Iveson added “Clients are being very demanding in this area and are looking for candidates with experience of implementing SEO strategies, running Pay per Click (PPC) campaigns and also a full understanding of Social Media. This means that candidates must understand the benefits of running a company blog and also how sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can be used for business advantage.”

In conclusion, Iveson added “Our belief is that the most in demand candidates in 2010 will be those who offer a mix of SEO, Online Marketing and web development skills who have the ability to formulate and implement online strategies in this rapidly expanding area.”

For the 2.46 million workers unemployed, this Christmas presents the perfect reason to loosen the tie and hang up the interview suit for a few weeks fuelled by the false belief that “no one hires during December,” particularly when half of British companies will be nursing their heads after Christmas parties.

But according to TheLadders.co.uk, the careers site for Britain’s senior executives, pounding the pavement now may make the difference between starting 2010 settling into a new position and competing for one with the hordes of job-seekers who slacked their search for the festivities. 

“It’s a myth that no jobs get filled during the last six weeks of the year”, said Derek Pilcher, Managing Director of TheLadders.co.uk, which lists many of the UK’s £50K plus positions.

“January is the busiest job hunting time of the year, but the people who are hired in January are usually those who applied and interviewed in prior months. You don’t hire somebody on Jan. 5 that you met on Jan. 3, you hire somebody you met in November or December,” Pilcher continues.

To help job-seekers pounding the pavements this festive season, TheLadders.co.uk has developed a series of tips designed to secure that new position for the New Year.

Create Your 2010 CV: Look back over 2009 and what has happened in your career. What have you learned from your experience and what new skills have you acquired. Update your CV so you can translate even the most recent experiences into opportunities for 2010. 

The Pre-Christmas Push: Companies with open jobs will often push to fill them before year end, especially if there is any concern about losing positions in next year’s budget, so review all jobs you have seen advertised and / or applied for over the last four weeks. Follow them up and close the opportunities.

Leave no stone unturned:  There are jobs out there and a deadline to fill them. Ensure that you use every available avenue – personal contacts, the web, agencies to leave no stone unturned.

Make the Most of Party Season: Christmas is all about parties and what better place to network and spread the word about your skills. This may present new opportunities for 2010 or even secure an interview for the perfect position. Who knows the first interview you get in the New Year could be from the Christmas party.

Stay focused. It will be hard to keep your head when all about are losing theirs, but staying focused, even between Christmas and New Year will mean that yours may be the call that reaches the boss whilst the PA is away. Don’t lose sight of the opportunity that less competition presents.

And Be Creative. If you have interviews lined up before Christmas, be creative. Find out when the company is having its Christmas party and if it’s the day before your interview take some hangover treats, coffee, muffins to make sure your interviewer remembers that you did your homework.

A new survey of over 2000 employees has revealed that over 55% of UK workplaces have sacrificed the traditional office Christmas party this year due to the recession.  Despite this statistic however it seems that the UK labour market is not willing to lose their Christmas cheer so easily; with a surprising 64% of the workforce stating that they would like a ‘budget office party’ in light of the economic climate.

The survey also showed that 42% of the offices that are proceeding with their Chistmas party have had to make significant cuts to budget due to the recession. It seems that the swanky restaurant has been substituted for the office meeting room, the elaborate canapés now a humble cocktail sausage.

These low cost festivities seem to sit well with the workforce however. Employees have a fondness of the traditional Christmas party and do not want to sacrifice it due to budget constraints. This is shown by the 64% of people surveyed responding positively to budget Christmas parties. Perhaps this is due to the 43% of employees who admitted to their boss having embarrassed themselves at their previous festive functions. 

Corinne Hutchinson, Marketing Manager of TipTopJob.com said:

“Its unfortunate that so many companies and organizations have had to forgo their Christmas parties as it provides a welcome release at the end of what has been a very testing year. For the slight minority that will be continuing with Christmas plans it seems cut-backs are the general consensus. Firms are finding ways in which to celebrate with restricted food, drink and venue budgets, but celebrate nonetheless. Perhaps next year under the office tree will look slightly more occupied, but for now the UK workplace seems to be happy just to have a tree”.

To allow for the pre-Christmas rush, the entry deadline for the National Council for Work Experience (NCWE) 2009/10 Awards has been extended from 11 December to 8 January – giving companies a further four weeks to enter their placement schemes.

As the recession drives more businesses to offer internships the firmly established annual NCWE Awards is now entering its seventh year and is the official event to showcase best providers of undergraduate work experience.

Spanning eleven categories, the Awards are open to organisations of all sizes and industries, including charitable and public sectors. Employers, students and careers advisers can nominate the organisations they feel epitomise best practice in work experience by visiting www.work-experience.org/awards.

Heather Collier, NCWE director commented: “The Christmas period is always a busy time for businesses and with more employers offering work placements due to the recession we’re expecting a record number of entries this year. We recognise the best of the experienced providers as well as newcomers and hope the extended deadline will give those unsure whether to enter that extra bit of encouragement.”

The NCWE Awards recognise, encourage and reward employers who take the lead in the provision of valuable work placement opportunities for students, and set high standards for others to follow by offering fulfilling work placements that help students develop their employability skills.

Entries will be assessed solely by online application and a maximum of six companies will be short-listed in each category. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony that will take place in London on 23rd March 2010.

This year’s sponsors include Changeboard, AGR, GlaxoSmithKline and Centrica.

October has proven to be a fruitful month for the recruitment industry, according to jobs search engine AllTheTopBananas.com. The site has been analysing job count data from a selection of the leading job advertisers on the site on a monthly basis, to monitor the impact of recession on recruitment. The latest figures released have indicated a significant increase in the amount of jobs advertised in October, and has heralded the second largest number of jobs since January 2009.

Of the data collected there has been an increase of 41% on the job count since July 2009, which is considerably more than in the same period last year, which only saw vacancies rise by 13% from July to October 2008. October’s statistics have proved encouraging for the recruitment industry, as the numbers of jobs recorded for October is up by 25% on the previous month. Initial signs suggest that this trend should continue way into the first quarter of 2010, although there is still a long way to go before jobs will be advertised in the same volume as 2008; as the site calculated that the overall job count has fallen by 48% since 2008.

The data analysed included job statistics for specialist sites in retail, catering, sales, IT and generalist job boards; all of which showed an increased number of vacancies. The results prove particularly significant for the retail sector, which has thus far been heavily affected by the recession.

Dave Martin, MD of AllTheTopBananas.com suggests that: “The new data for October has proven to be very significant in our monitoring of the recession. The increased job count has come at a time when we are hearing a lot of positive noises within the economy. Last week reports from the US identified that the period from July to September was the first period of economic growth in over a year, indicating that the US economy is recovering well. In the UK, we have been hearing good news from the Halifax that house prices have risen by 1.2% in October, and even success stories in retail; with John Lewis reporting a fifth weekly increase in sales at the end of October. The job market seems to be predicting the dawn of recovery, and we are very pleased to be reporting some good news within the industry, and seeing it translate to other aspects of the economy.”

The site will continue to measure the changes to the job count over the coming months, and regularly publish these figures so that others within the industry can compare their own data and monitor changes within the results. AllTheTopBananas.com are also currently working with other recruitment businesses to increase their marketplace exposure, by creating white branded iPhone job seeking solutions. For more information call 0844 800 1616