We are all so happy for them both, she is a delightful lady ( and a fab recruitment consultant!) and he is a lovely young man, we all wish them so much love and happiness for their future together!

Basically there are only really 3 questions being asked at an interview

1. CAN YOU DO THE JOB?
2. WILL YOU LOVE THE JOB?
3. CAN WE BEAR WORKING WITH YOU?

CAN YOU DO THE JOB?

This looks at your strengths/skills and how they match the requirements of the job. These are best identified in a competency based interview. You will have had a Job Description so you will already know the skills they are looking for, so prepare answers to match those skills beforehand. Then make sure you  give examples that match those skills each and every time you answer a question.

Begin with a  brief outline of the work related situation, explain the course of action you took and end with the successful outcome or the positive impact that came about as a result of your action

WILL YOU LOVE THE JOB?

This has nothing to do with money.You may think monetary satisfaction is the main motivator to change jobs BUT it is actually the lack of happiness at work that initiates the process. Studies have proven that companies that do not focus on keeping employees motivated HAVE to pay more to attract new staff whereas happy employees will remain with a company even if they are being paid less than the market rate.

So does the job fit your likes? Will it fit your long term goals? Will you stay with them long term? So if you are asked will you stay with us? what are your long term goals? The answer is this:  ”this job is ideal for me, exactly what I have been looking for, it is the right environment and role for me, I feel I can add value to your company, make a positive impact and hope to stay with you for many years to come.”

And happiness, happiness is a three way street (Is there such a thing?)…. 1)Will you make others happy? What impact will you have on the business? Do you share the values or our other team members? And will you contribute to the team and company’s success? Will people like working alongside you?       2) Will you be good at doing the job? Will you make the Company happy? Do your strengths match the job requirements? Does it enhance your learning and development? And will you be motivated to do well?                                         3) And will it be good for you? Will it make you happy? Will you enjoy the environment? Will it fit in with your life? Will you be given recognition? Respect? and finally will it satisfy your monetary needs?

So work out what makes you happy in a job and match that to the organisation and the job description

CAN WE WORK WITH YOU?

Will you add value? Will you be good for us? How do you make decisions? How do you behave? How do you communicate? How do you manage conflict? Do you share our vision and purpose, share our values? Is this the right environment for you? Too formal? Too informal?

Answer these questions even if they are not specifically asked, always smile and make eye contact throughout the meeting, and when thanking them for their time at the end of the interview also tell them how friendly the environment seems which is what you are looking for, or say you love the formality, you work best in a structure environment etc etc

So that is it, 3 questions, straightforward and easy to answer. As your agency we should have identified all those key areas, as that is the basis of our success, so when we send you to one of our clients you should be having an interview  for your ideal job, all you need to do is answer those 3 questions!

And I also know that Alexander Hancock’s Facebook and Twitter account is a great way for candidates to be immediately informed about our new jobs, and has become one of our best marketing tools BUT… and this is a BIG BUT,  candidates should be aware that clients and companies are using these technologies to find out more information about potential employees.

Now some clients are fairly laid back about your social exploits but some are not .. so please if you have a Facebook page, keep it private or better still keep it sensible and with Twitter remember that once it has been tweeted, it is out there, free for all to see and to make a judgement about.

I think the best way to ensure your cyber activities are within boundaries of good taste would be to think.. how would I feel if Grandmother/Mentor or Boss saw this? and if you think they would be disappointed or shocked.. DON’T TWEET IT!

When man carries out an act of kindness, which can be anything from letting a harassed mum with two crying kids go before you in the Supermarket queue, to saving a elephant cub and his mother from drowning in mud, we illuminate and lift our souls due to this kindness.

On the news they were discussing how, during the riots, what shocked the Nation more was not that people could steal, destroy and loot, but rather that people  decided, without being asked, to pick up their brushes and go out onto the streets and help in the clear up.. and how bizarre is that?

So my tip for the day is carry out one act of random kindness every day, let someone into the traffic queue even if it does add an extra 20 seconds onto your car journey, go and check on your neighbour if they have been unwell or just smile at everyone you see on the street and say hello. I know when I am walking my dog, Doogle my prince, the sociability of smiling, saying good morning and passing the time of day is one of the nicest parts of being part of the Dog Owning Community.

Hope you all have a lovely day!

That has been down to how well all our candidates have prepared themselves for interview, how they have expressed enthusiasm and a determination to work hard and as a result you have all succeeded in one of the most competitive environments we have ever known… well done to you all.. and let’s now get more of you permanent jobs in October!

This is a free service to candidates, but the “return” we receive in “Thanks” is more than any fee they could pay us.

We placed a wonderful lady yesterday, who hadn’t worked for 6 months and she actually cried when we offered her the job… and that is why we do this, to help people, and to make a genuine difference to people’s lives… We are not Brain Surgeons nor are we going to bring about World Peace, reinvent the wheel or discover a cure for the Common Cold, I will grant you that, but we do try very hard to help people.

I just wanted to make that point, that the vast majority of people we deal with are terrific, a pleasure to meet, help and get to know..

This has happened to us 3 times this week and its only Tuesday!

In this day and age of modern technology there is no excuse for it, text, email, send a letter, make the call or send a carrier pigeon.. anything but not turning up without a word.

Candidates complain that they do not get feedback from companies and as an agency, we try really hard to make sure that they get the service they expect. The very least we want in return is some basic manners to ensure our clients, who have had to set time aside in their demanding schedule, are then not sitting in a room waiting for someone to turn up.

There is no excuse acceptable, we have had candidates who have been involved in car crashes and they have still managed to call us on the way to hospital! So please be aware…Any candidate that just does not turn up for an interview is removed, permanently, from our files. And we don’t forget, so when candidates try and re-register months later, we will not do it.

Sorry if this is more of a rant than a blog but quite honestly, we are tired of having to apologise to clients for other peoples bad manners

Just recently I have noticed that candidates are being offered jobs at slightly less salaries than they have hoped for and I just wanted to explain how recruitment today is working.

We are all aware there is a recession on, that the economy is struggling but do we realise what that means for employers?

It means that they struggle to justify to recruit staff! It means that they have to look at costs and cut them, and the biggest cost is their salaries which in turn means not recruiting unless absolutely essential. Which means there are less jobs out there, and more competition for the ones that do exist. It is no different from when you go shopping, you look for quality at value.. are you paying the same today for  products you bought a year ago? Or are you shopping around for better deals? You don’t want to compromise on quality but you just won’t pay the same for it, and if you don’t get it at one store, you go to another who will give you that deal. Exactly the same in the recruitment market place

Now we are lucky, the vast majority of our clients are recruiting and we have lots of jobs on offer, but clients are very specific in their requirements and are being very conservative in the salaries they are offering.

I have also noticed that in the last 6 months, the majority of people we have interviewed are not working and HAVE NOT WORKED FOR MANY MONTHS. These are good candidates, with excellent experience and skills, and who really want to get back into the market place as fast as they can. And I find that incredibly sad and we work very hard to get them back working as fast as we can

So my advice is this, please put some realism into your salary requests, this is a Buyers Market. I am not advocating selling yourself short, slave labour or working for peanuts but I am advising that you , if and only if, you want the job, like the company, know you will be happy working for an employer, think about those aspects first before turning down a job because it is £x less than you hoped for.. ask for a review instead, consider the market you are operating in, just until the world comes back around again.. keep in work because when it does pick up and becomes a Sellers Market place again YOU will be the most attractive candidate out there and then you will be able to dictate the price at which you will want to sell your skills… and then I will be blogging about how clients need to pay more to attract the best candidates..

Once the frenzy has died down, it would be quite wonderful if society took a step back and took a long hard look at itself and how it operates. And don’t let celebrities and MPs take charge here, they have very selfish motives as to why they want to change the way the press operates. This should be led by the people of this country who are tired of “Its all about me”, weary of hearing the chant ” What about My Rights ?” and desperate to bring back morals, ethics and understand that society is a joint effort. Its the only way for society to operate, standing together as a group, taking all the parts together to achieve a whole.

And why is this important for work… well we have seen at a very basic level how important Branding, Perception and First Impressions really are. Hats off to Ford for leading the way. They understood immediately how their brand would be affected by being associated with News of the World. And this happens every single time you go for an interview, you are branding yourself, you are selling yourself, asking to be a part of a whole, so my advice is.. look the part, be the part, be someone the interviewer wants to buy into. Individuality is for home, conforming is for work.. and this continues when you are in work.

Work is a culmination of people from many diverse backgrounds coming together to achieve a joint aim, and that is not only salary or profits achieved but also job, personal and team satisfaction together with social interaction. Its a society within society.

So you know what? Its not all about you, its about your team, its about respect and this works both ways. After salary, respect and recognition are the most important reasons why people leave a job. Managers should take note of that, a pat on the back or a Thank You can mean so much more than a 3% payrise. In fact many less well paid employees will stay longer with a company that values them than a better paid employee whose efforts are not recognised. And in certain sectors Companies who treat their employees poorly HAVE to pay more than the industry norm in order to attract staff, imagine how much they could cut from overheads if only they learnt to say “Well Done!”

So maybe the News of the World debacle will have a positive slant for us all, maybe we will start to understand how important our First Impressions are, how important our Branding is, in work and the world at large and maybe we will recognise that we operate as a team for the good of the whole not the individual parts