Recruitment Advice

Finding a new job can be tough. The thought of spending nearly every hour of the day on a job site looking through jobs that aren’t that much of an interest to you can seem really depressing, but, if you need a job it needs to be done! Like I have mentioned before, there are jobs out there and organisations are still recruiting despite the recession.

If you are looking to keep costs to a minimum whilst your out of work then try using websites that offer promotional codes and promotional vouchers. They can be used online and printed off and used in store which means you will be saving your money as your buy either way. Discounts of 20-30% are being offered in a number of stores and buy one get one free offers too. If money is tight, vouchers are a great way of keeping the amount you spend, low.

Like I have mentioned previously keep your eyes peeled for jobs on the Internet, in the paper, at the Job Centre and get friends and family to let you know of any vacancies they come across. Most businesses will be using free methods of recruitment and although Recruitment Agencies may be the easy option you may have a better chance if you look for yourself.

With the number of unemployed reaching 2.1 million it seems that for many, finding a job is proving difficult. Although a large proportion of industries are struggling because of the recession, it hasn’t massively affected each and every one of them. There are still jobs available, maybe not in the industry you have previously worked in but a change may have to be the next move. This could just be temporary or part time job just to make sure that you can pay the bills, you may even end up enjoying it and wanting to take it up full time!

Make sure that you have a look at the popular employment websites such as Monster and Total Jobs, they have hundreds of job opportunities available in a number of different industries, from jobs for writers to jobs for financial controllers and customer service advisers.

If you are unemployed then try not to worry too much, you just need to make sure that you have a well written CV, submitted on a wide variety of job boards. Make sure that you keep your eyes peeled for jobs being advertised in papers and ask friends and families to let you know if any vacancies come up in their work place.

According to Community Care article, one in nine social worker job vacancies in England go unfilled. The numbers which were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act have shown that on 31 January 2009 there was an average 10.9% vacancy rate in the 96 councils that responded to the magazine’s national survey - equivalent to 8,317 vacant posts in England.

The figures were given by the councils over the past two months and were published for the first time, also show a marked increase on the national vacancy rate, which has been close to 10% since 2006.

Queries have been raised to why there is a struggle to fill roles as there are so many people unemployed, is it that there is a lack of training in these areas or people do not want to work in this sector after the bad publicity that has surrounded these roles.

Fast food chain KFC plan to create 9000 new jobs as customers try to eat out for less and save there pennies. The fried chicken chain is to invest £150 million in a scheme which will see it open as many as 300 new restaurant over the next three to five years.

Martin Shuker,CEO of KFC in the UK and Ireland, said: “Last year, we opened 36 restaurants and in 2009 we will open 44 more. We are seeing really strong growth.

“Two weeks ago, we opened a new drive-through in Worcester and it brought in £100,531 in the first week, which smashed our previous record of £88,000. We have grown UK sales in all but one of the past 15 years

KFC currently has 22,000 UK staff, with the lowest-band recruits starting at the UK minimum wage, which is £5.73 an hour for people over the age of 21.

Is the future looking brighter for our troubled UK economy?

The government has made an announcement for a £140 million plan to fund 35,000 new apprenticeships to ease unemployment and improve competitiveness in the credit crunch.

Meanwhile Mcdonalds have revealed that apprenticeships will be made available to all its employees. The fast food chain aims to provide apprenticeships for up to 10,000 a year from 2010.

News on new apprenticeship schemes will help children who are ready to leave school. The number of apprenticeships for school leavers this year has been down on previous years. Traditionally the schemes available have been in the manufacturing and construction sectors and as these have been badly affected during the credit crunch the numbers of apprenticeships originally thought to have been available has been low.

Waitrose has announced it will create 3000 new job in 2009 as a result of the acquisition of some Co-op stores. The supermarket chain has entered into a conditional agreement with the Co-op group to purchase 13 of its stores and open at least 9 new branches in 2009.

Following the acquisition 1000 Somerfield staff will join Waitrose with a further 500 jobs to be created at those stores. The nine new stores will create 2000 new staff with 500 new jobs in operational support.

All new employees will become partners within the John Lewis Partnership, which means they become co-owners of the business and receive an annual share in profits.

Morrisons supermarket chain said it plans to create 5000 jobs this year as its continues its expansion. The newly created jobs are based across the business in a variety of positions.

Meanwhile, budget supermarket Aldi is increasing its graduate intake by 50% to offer 150 university places on its management training scheme this year, bucking the trend where many employers are cutting their graduate recruitment as the economy continues to deteriorate.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) have confirmed that up to 30,000 new jobs will be created to help build the London 2012 Olympic Park and Olympic Village over the next few years. Thousands of job opportunities will be created this year alone which will include bricklayers, wood workers, electricians, security guards, administrators and support staff.

The olympic jobs is unlikely to prevent large-scale unemployment in the construction sector. The olympics may be a saviour for some people, but they are cutting back on so many big building projects. The Olympics will more alleviate than cure the large scale unemployment problem.

The ODA also made a commitment to boosting the Olympic Park jobs and skills legacy. Two-hundred and fifty new dedicated apprenticeship opportunities will be created on the Olympic Park, including the Olympic Village, on top of an existing commitment to 2,000 training and apprenticeship roles.

Avon are recruiting new door to door sales assistants by promoting financial independence during the struggling economic turn down.

The campaign is aimed at women who want to earn some extra money during a increasingly difficult financial period.

Anna Segatti, President of Avon UK said: With this new campaign we want to spread the message that, unlike with some other enterprises, starting up your own direct selling business offers great earnings potential, balanced against a very low start up cost.

Angie Winter, from Cambridgeshire, who appears in the adverts, has been an Avon Representative for five years. said: “Before working with Avon, many of my new recruits were finding it difficult to pay their bills but they’ve found that working with Avon allows them to really increase their income, while fitting their hours around family or other interests.” 

Selling Avon products could be a opportunity if you want to work from home, and choose the hours that suit you. You can sell to your friends and family, have a allocated territory and even have people working for you.

The recent ruling made by the European Court of Justice found that job adverts could lead to direct discrimination.

Whether you are doing your own recruitment or using recruitment consultants, you must be aware of what not to include in the company’s job adverts. Job advertisements can include emails, direct mail, newspapers, online or on the TV.

There are very few UK positions where you can specifically ask for a individual from a particular back ground or community. To make sure your adverts do not fall foul of discrimination law you must avoid:

• Advertisements that include any age limits, unless this can be justified ie serving alcohol. Using words like mature, young and dynamic should not be included.
• Stating a preference on gender,  or gender specific job titles such as handyman or sales girl should be avoided.
• It could be discriminatory to restrict a job advertisement to a specific religious publication, as people from other religious groups or beliefs would be less likely to see the publication.