How to Start Your Own Recruitment Business Part 3!

How to Start Your Own Recruitment Business Part 3! Well, ZOMG. I’ve been running my own business for 18 months! In case you didnt know, I started my own agency and then last updated it after 7 months. I’ve now been working for myself for 18 months and what an awesome time I have had. There have been more ‘highs’ than ‘lows’ and I certainly relish the freedom (and challenges) that it gives me! Boring stuff: So, let’s talk a bit about the boring stuff before moving onto the enjoyable things I have been doing. End of year accounting sucks. You have to give your accountant all of your bills (mine are good by the way  www.rickardkeen.co.uk). They then crunch some numbers like wizards and send you your final year accounts. When you receive these they also send you a lovely invoice and in due course you get a letter from HMRC telling you to pay a handsome sum of money. Horrible as it is, by having a tax bill to pay it means that your company is generating a revenue, so I suppose I shouldn’t really be complaining! AWESOME stuff: Ok, boring stuff done, let’s talk about what has been AWESOME: I started a MeetUp group  last year, and things have literally flown from there. I now run 6 MeetUp groups alongside the Italian and they are so amazing: Polish Portuguese Spanish South African French From an initial start of meeting in a pub where people had a good chat about development we now have meetup events where people from within each group give presentations on diverse topics ranging from Arduino coding to Scrum / Agile and Front End Development, to the rest of the group; presenting in English to help them to improve their English presentational skills in front of a sympathetic audience of their peers. As a result of this work I was invited as 1 of only 4 group organisers to www.ndclondon.com in December and spent 3 days meeting developers in the community zone at an ACTUAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE (yes it really is that big; recruiters simply do not get invited to these sort of things). I also subsequently went to Oslo to their www.ndc-oslo.com event. Announcing the amazing @ABrecruitLTD / @IDinLondon t-shirts. Available ONLY to our presenters, money cannot buy!! pic.twitter.com/K0u3rOXHpT Adam Bolton (@Adam__Bolton) June 30, 2014 What have I learnt? I really appreciate that 99% of recruiters don’t have these sort of opportunities, and make sure that when I am there I don’t take the usual recruiter stance of ‘Hi, have a business card’. Rather I have come to understand that if a developer trusts you as a recruiter (which is very rare!) then they’ll soon let you know when they are hiring or looking for a new role themselves. Most of my clients and candidates now come from the groups either directly or indirectly which is great warm leads FTW! I also went to Prime Conf (www.primeconf.com) which was the 1st of its kind and brilliant fun. I’m 100% certain that had I not started up on my own business, there is no chance that my old manager would have allowed this sort of freedom, looking at things in a black white ‘will it make you money’ way â€" the old phone call recruiter is dead and buried. People buy from people. What else has changed? I no longer work from home!  I managed to secure a great little office (which fits 2 desks and a Husky fridge with a Tassimo machine on top!) close to my home, so I can walk there in 10 mins. It’s amazing how much more productive you can be in recruitment when you have a white board to work from! It’s nice to have a dedicated working space; even if it is an extra expense. I’ve also been giving out presentations to the developers whereby I talk about the differences between finding a tech job here in the UK compared to their home markets â€" there are many ways that our employment market for developers is different; CV design and content differs massively.  On top of this there are a couple of potential group meetups that I will be attending in Poland and Italy to talk about moving to the UK.  It’s great to branch out, but also I am keen to get the ABrecruit name out there so that people know to come to me if they are relocating to the UK, and with the amount of talent coming here to the tech hub of Europe it’s great to have a revenue stream coming from the events. Not only have I made some great connections in the tech world, but I’ve also made a few friends along the way â€" 2 days ago I competed in a half marathon for charity with Mattia who attends my Italian group (and I also helped him to find a job too!).  Technically all we did was to turn up to the event at about the same time as he beat me by over 30 mins in the race itself. Every one of my groups has a native who helps me and I couldn’t do the job without them (big shouts out to Lorenzo, Rodrigo, Magdalena, Brendon, Julien and Alain!), as they help with translations and are really good at engaging the groups.  I also couldn’t do half as many meetups without the help of Sebastian at Telerik who kindly let us use their office as a space for events. We’re branching out from just keeping each group separate; this summer we are shortly to announce the final plans for the inaugural ‘IDinLondon Quiz night’ where nations will battle it out to be the winner complete with trophy and bragging rights, and there is an ‘IDinLondon 5’s’ football tournament being discussed in Winter 2014 / Spring 2015.  I really want to create a community around development and show that not all recruiters can be tarred with the same brush. On that note, there are 2 people that I really want to thank for their frank honesty over the last 18 months â€" back when I worked at my previous company we were told ‘never speak to other recruiters, they’ll steal your jobs’.  What a load of rubbish!  Thayer Prime and Barry Cranford, both of these people are running groups (and conferences, see Prime Conf above!) in order to try and fix the industry, which includes a draft ‘Recruiter code of ethics’ that we are working on â€" if you need a quality recruiter that doesn’t do .Net (because obviously you’d call me then, right?) then get in touch with either of them. Conclusion: Not everything has been plain sailing, however.  I’ve had my share of knock-backs, offer rejects, people dropping out in rebate. I even hired someone to work with me as the workload swelled, but that didn’t work out as the person was junior and needed a lot more guidance than I was able to offer; we parted company on good terms and I wish him the best for his future career. I get a lot of calls and emails from people who have read these blogs, and I hope that they have inspired the people to go out on their own. It’s a great experience to be your own boss! Until next time….! Also by Adam: How Much Does a No-Recruiters Policy Cost You?

PhDs another fabulous (and paid) opportunity facilitate this years Sustainability Challenge University of Manchester Careers Blog

PhDs another fabulous (and paid) opportunity facilitate this years Sustainability Challenge University of Manchester Careers Blog As you may be aware, the University is currently recruiting facilitators to support the delivery of the ‘Sustainability Challenge’. The Challenge forms part of the 2016 Manchester Welcome for all first year students, and takes place this year on Tuesday 20th September.  There are now a number of paid opportunities for PGR students to join the team of facilitators. Paid PGR Challenge facilitators will work alongside a wide range of volunteer staff facilitators  to deliver two workshop sessions (am pm) to interdisciplinary groups of students. The content of the challenge includes films, twitter feeds and a countdown clock, all of which are streamed via the web to ensure everything happens at the same time.  The facilitator role is to encourage, guide and support three to four groups of students as they work through the challenge.  The University staff and PGRs who  facilitated last year really enjoyed the Challenge and most are coming back for more. Full training will be provided, including the opportunity to work through the Challenge with other new facilitators. Facilitators need to be confident in working with groups of students but don’t need to be experts in sustainability.   ·               Payment will be on the GTA pay scale at £15.04/hour. Payment will be provided for the 1 day training session (10.00-16.00 -see details below) and for the day of the Challenge (20th September, 9.00-17.00). You must be available to attend one training session and for the entire day of the Challenge.   ·               Training sessions will run daily in the week commencing 12th September.  All training sessions will start at 10:00 and finish at 4 pm, and will include a sandwich lunch.  Successful applicants will be asked to sign up for their preferred training session.  To find out more and to register your interest please visit the SDCE website.    Please click on the link to register your interest as a facilitator making clear on the form that you are a PGR student applying for the paid facilitator role.  If you have questions for the organisers, please contact  us via EGC@manchester.ac.uk or telephone the Student Development Community Engagement Division (52851) All Postgrad-highlighted jobs postgraduate work experience

Skip Prichard What Hes Learned From His Mistakes - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Skip Prichard What Hes Learned From His Mistakes - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career I spoke to Skip Prichard, author of The Book of Mistakes: 9 Secrets to Creating a Successful Future, about why he wrote the book, the biggest mistakes he’s made in his career, why we often feel empty despite thinking we have it all, how to realize your full potential and his best career advice. Prichard is an accomplished CEO who has run global businesses ranging from the startup phase to mature businesses with over $1.5 Billion in revenue. He has spent decades studying leadership psychology and interviewing over 1,000 of the most successful people in the world. His extensive library is packed with personal development books from today to dating back hundreds of years. He has met or interviewed countless leaders ranging from Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh to golf champion Annika Sorenstam. Harvard Business Review recently labeled Mr. Prichard as a rare social CEO and a “relentless giver.” Information Today lists him as a Top 100 Leadership Speaker. His Leadership Insights blog has won numerous awards. Dan Schawbel: Why did you decide to write a book of mistakes and in the form of a parable? Skip Prichard: How the most successful individuals make decisions has always been fascinating to me. Nearly my entire life, I have studied success and failure. As I reflected on all of these lessons, I realized that I learn as much, or even more, from those who have failed. As a teenager, it was a homeless man who taught me lessons that I found as important as those I’ve learned from the world’s most successful. Isn’t that true for many of us? We learn more from others’ mistakes than their successes. The book is written in the form of a story because I wanted it to be different and entertaining. Almost like slipping vegetables in a kid’s meal, I wanted to let readers enjoy a story and yet walk away with many lessons. Also, there’s extensive research that stories are more memorable than facts. Business leaders know this instinctively. Richard Branson once said, “The art of storytelling can be used to drive change.” Schawbel: What are some of the biggest mistakes youve made in your career? Who or what did you turn to after making these mistakes? Prichard: Having been the President CEO of several global businesses, I can assure you that I’ve made my share of mistakes. The key is to fail quickly, get back in the game, and try again. I address this principle in The Book of Mistakes as well. The real mistake, for me, wasn’t a business error as much as when I would get off track. Let me explain. Many years ago, the late business lecturer Jim Rohn said, “Work harder on yourself than you do on your job. If you work hard on your job, you’ll make a living. If you work hard on yourself, you’ll make a fortune.” There is such wisdom in those words. I learned early on that my biggest mistake is when I work harder on my job than on myself. Like Stephen R. Covey’s seventh habit, sharpening the saw, when we work on our own personal development, we increase our abilities in all areas of our lives. Anytime I am not working harder on myself, and thus sharpening the saw or tools that drive me, I am making a mistake. Schawbel: Whyâ€"despite having a good job, friends and a place to liveâ€"can we still feel hollow? How do we identify whats missing in our life? Prichard: There’s not an easy, universal answer to this question as it would range from the spiritual to the physical to mental depending on the person. My own experience is that often this is the result of not pursuing our passion and failing to be true to ourselves. When we live to please others or within the constraints they impose on us, we will not be our best self. We will lack energy and authentic power. My book starts here. Schawbel: How does someone realize their true potential if they havent lived it? Prichard: My starting point is to ask about a person’s energy. When we find out what gives that person energy, what really drives them, we start to uncover real passion. That passion points the way to potential. Each one of us has far more potential than we utilize. I do all I can to read, watch, and meet people who inspire me by overcoming their limitations. Then, when I find myself grumbling, I remember how someone else overcame something far more daunting. There are times individuals realize their potential early, but most of the time it is revealed in stages. Our job is to drive for daily potential, which then builds into years and eventually a lifetime of achievement. Schawbel: What are your top three pieces of career advice? Prichard: One, work harder on yourself than your job. Two, take full accountability for your actions and make no excuses. Three, surround yourself with the people who will take you where you want to go.

Get Ahead Club Interview How To Ask For What You Want

Get Ahead Club Interview How To Ask For What You Want This week, members in the Get Ahead Club had the opportunity to listen to my interview with Sara Laschever, Co-Author of Women Dont Ask  and Ask For It. She has spent her career investigating the obstacles, detours, and special circumstances that shape women’s lives and careers. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Harvard Business Review, The New York Review of Books, Vogue, Glamour, and many other publications. She has served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Work-Life Policy, a nonprofit think tank devoted to exploring the issues that matter most to women at work. Here are a few things I learned in the interview with Sara: The facts: Women are much less likely than men to use negotiation to get what they want.    Research reveals that men are four times more likely to ask for higher pay than are women with the same qualifications.   By neglecting to negotiate her starting salary for her first job, a woman may sacrifice over half a million dollars in earnings by the end of her career.   From career promotions to help with child care, studies show time and time again that women just don’t ask, and frequently don’t even realize that they can. Women need to negotiate more now than ever before and discover their strengths as negotiators. It is important to realize that employers actually respect candidates more for pushing to get paid what they’re worth.   Accepting less will actually imply that you have less value than other hires and your performance isn’t as good as the other hires that are asking for more money than you. Want to get the rest of the interview and start taking action to get ahead in your career this year? You can join the Get Ahead Club today and listen to the recordings from all the interviews, get the action plan worksheet and interact with me and the Get Ahead Club community right now!  Click here to learn more. What do you think about the statistics above?  Do you ask for what you want?

How to Transform Your Home into a Productive Workspace CareerMetis.com

How to Transform Your Home into a Productive Workspace Source : UnSplash.comAbout four million U.S. employees work from home, according to a 2017 report by Flexjobs. Remote work can give you more flexibility with your work-life balance and move you beyond your local job market. However, as with any job, working from home comes with its unique challenges.For example, if you’re working from home, you may have to think about your house in a different way than usual and make it more conducive for working. There are also the practical details of finding a suitable location inside the home, dividing time between family and work, and avoiding distractions that come with an at-home work environment.If you’re starting to work from home, here are a few things to consider when creating a productive workspace.1) Location of the workspaceevalWhen selecting where to work inside your home, consider productivity along with convenience. Having the workspace in a kitchen may be convenient, but it might not be the best for productivity if someone is co oking meals or your kids are chatting while doing their homework at the kitchen table. Although it varies from person to person and situation to situation, working in any high-trafficked area within the home typically will affect productivity and creativity.Possible locations for workspaceevalDepending on the size of your house Make a note of any roadblocks you experience and jump on a call as soon as you can with your manager to discuss possible solutions. This will not only show that you’re serious about your work, but it proves to your boss that you’re actually working and are coming up with innovative ways to get your job done in the most efficient way possible.Another way you can maintain productivity at home is by organizing items according to their frequency of use. These items may include your files, folders, and desk supplies. If you find that you don’t use folders or notepads, keep them tucked away in a drawer to prevent cluttering up your desk.If your office desk be comes too cramped for your work materials, consider installing a shelf, cupboard, or side table to keep all work-related materials within the workspace.4) Automated technologyHaving the right technology is essential for maximizing your work output. With the right technology, you can automate several daily work processes to increase productivity. For example, you can use an email program to manage all your communications or different apps to access all of your frequently used programs quickly.evalIf you’re looking to add a desktop computer to your workspace, consider the processing speed and storage space of the device. You should also think about the connection ports, panel technology, screen size, resolution, and curvature of the device. With the mouse and keyboard, think ergonomic design since you will be using these devices on a daily basis.In general, a desktop PC package usually includes a CPU, a monitor, speakers, a keyboard, and a mouse. Besides offered packages, you can ma ke your PC by choosing compatible pieces from different providers. If you need to print documents regularly, consider buying a laser printer because they are faster than the inkjet variety.Another factor to consider to make your home workspace as productive as possible is the speed of your internet connection. In some cases, a residential internet connection might not cut it, meaning you’ll have to look for a business internet plan instead.Either way, make sure to pair your high-speed internet with a wireless router If you have an appliance that starts to break down and always makes noise, check its warranty and get it fixed as soon as possible. Additionally, if you have kids at home while you work, consider hiring a nanny or babysitter to help keep noise levels down and occupy the kids with games, exercise, or outings.

Supermarkets Offering Employees Degree Programmes

Supermarkets Offering Employees Degree Programmes Supermarkets Offering Employees Degree Programmes People go to the supermarket to do their weekly shopping, but some could end up with more than they bargained for, thanks to a new scheme from Asda that allows staff to work towards BA honours degree programmes while continuing to work at the supermarket. Could company-funded degree courses become the norm as more students struggle with the rising price of education?Soaring cost of education Asda has become known for its ‘Rollback’ prices and markets itself on the promise that it can save customers money on their weekly shop. With fierce competition from the other leading supermarkets, the chance to shop around in the search for the lowest prices has been a great help for consumers looking for ways to stretch their pennies as far as possible in these tough economic times.   Higher education, on the other hand, has gone in the opposite direction, with most universities choosing to take advantage of the rise in tuition fees by char ging the maximum of £9,000 a year in course fees. Indeed, it’s thought that elite universities have to charge the full amount or risk looking as if they cannot compete with the best. It is hoped that other businesses and industries could take a leaf from Asda’s book and help fund university places of their own.Middlesex University The three-year BA honours degree programme in distribution or retail operations is being offered in conjunction with Middlesex University with places for 30 Asda staff members that have been working for the company for at least six months, following a successful pilot of the scheme last year. It is hoped that the scheme will help find the ‘future leaders of Asda’. With the high price of recruitment, many are considering Asda’s investment in 30 of its leading staff members a shrewd business move. Unlike some traditional university courses, the Asda degree will see students spend only 12 days in classroom workshops. Assessments will be work-based, while there will also be opportunities for online study and peer networking.The fast food precedent While Asda may be the first supermarket to fully fund a degree, other supermarkets have helped their staff gain qualifications while at work â€" last year Morrisons launched a foundation degree in supermarket relations. If we look away from supermarkets for a moment we can find plenty of examples of other companies offering their staff formal qualifications that can be taken away with them. Kentucky Fried Chicken, for example, is already working in partnership with De Montfort University in Leicester to offer its staff a BA honours degree in business management. In fact, gaining qualifications while serving fast food is a relatively old concept now as McDonalds have been offering courses that could form the basis of an A-Level equivalent diploma since 2008. McDonalds took the qualification they offered a step further in 2010, allowing employees to work towards a degree-level qualific ation while ‘flipping burgers’.A question of value It’s interesting to note that the news Asda is funding a degree has been met with almost universal praise, especially considering the criticism that was levelled towards McDonalds when they first announced their training schemes. The press suggested that the ‘McQualifications’ would be useless, and worse still might devalue other qualifications that were supposed to be of an equivalent value.   The Prime Minister at the time, Gordon Brown, even made an appearance on GMTV saying that the qualifications being offered by McDonalds were not a sign of falling standards, but a positive sign of companies being willing to train employees in a way they weren’t before. As he said this, almost half of university admissions tutors from a group of the top universities confirmed they wouldn’t be admitting students that had taken the diploma course. It’s fair to suggest, however, that most people earning the McDonalds’ qualifica tions would likely have wanted to stay in employment and try to work their way up the career ladder instead.Will Tesco be next? The Asda degree has not had to suffer the criticism of the McDonalds qualification first and foremost because it is being run by a respectable university; but it is perhaps also more respected now because there is an increasing acceptance that businesses may have to play a growing part in higher education, particularly in the light of rising costs for students. If it has now been accepted we can assume that before long it will be expected, and more companies will consider the value of funding their employees through degree courses. This entry was posted in Career Advice. Bookmark the permalink. Richard Understanding the New Train Driver Recruitment TestsThe Top 10 Mistakes in an Interview Situation

Marketing Skills For Resume - How to Market Yourself

Marketing Skills For Resume - How to Market YourselfSo you want to know how to promote your resume? This is a question that will make even the best marketer laugh. You need to be sure to use the right marketing tactics, and keep in mind what your resume is for.Remember, your resume isn't for anybody other than yourself. Your resume needs to be proof that you are the best person for the job at hand. As you market yourself, don't worry about how you look to other people. Use your resume as a marketing tool to get your information out there.The first thing you should do when looking for a place to put your resume is to search for job boards that post it. There are hundreds of them to choose from, so do your research and see which one will give you the best response. Ask around at companies that you're interested in if they have any job boards they use. Then, go on the job board and look at the posting that fits your needs. If you see that your resume doesn't meet their requirement, send it to the appropriate company.Some job boards have an optional email field for contacting the hiring manager or human resources department. If you are a boss, then you can use this to contact an employer to ask about your resume. They may not hire you right away, but at least you can contact them, and show them you did your homework. It's up to you whether you include the contact information here. Some companies will also request that you send a copy of your resume along with a cover letter. This allows them to read more about you to decide if they will offer you a job.Once you have sent in your resume, ask the company if they will contact you for an interview. Most will require a short interview in person. At this point, they may offer you a job after an interview if they think you're suitable. Now, once you get an offer, make sure you accept it. Doing so gives you the green light to do what you can to get it to the next level. Don't wait until the last minute to accept the offer. Once you are ready to start promoting your resume, consider creating a website for yourself. It's one of the most effective ways to market yourself to employers. You can do so in two ways. Either create a website yourself, or pay someone to design it for you. Once you get the website set up, then post your resume on it every time you have something new to share.If you don't have a website, then you can create one yourself. Get the template online and use it to put up your resume. When you have a resume that has been professionally created and posted on a good website, you'll be more likely to get more offers and get the job you really want.