Recruitment Advice

When i was planning the company recruitment this year the budget had been reduced with more staff members to recruit.

For all of the recruiting we have done so far this year we have tried to use as many free methods as possible, this includes the Job Centre, industry forums and we have also purchased bargain packages in bulk from Total Jobs and Monster. This has reduced the company recruitment cost down compared to the same time last year.

The other downside to using the free recruitment methods or job sites is that it is difficult to distinguish yourself from your competitors that are using the same methods to recruit. When we negotiated the packages we purchased we made it clear to the provider that we wanted to attract the right candidates and also create brand awareness. We wanted the company logo design on all of the advertisements, this is because the company logo design is easily recognisable as a industry leader and i want this to show in our advertisements.

So far the methods that we have used have been successful and it has made it better to have direct contact with the candidate from the beginiing of the process.

The government have launched a recruitment campaign targeting ethnic minorities and women to help the Fire Service reach new equality targets.

This month the Fire and Rescue Service agreed to targets by 2013 that 15% of all the recruits will be female an increase on 2008 of 9.8%. A report by the Department for Communities and Local Government had revealed that only 5% of the Fire and Rescue service were from a ethnic minority background.

The new campaign is designed to change attitudes and perceptions towards a career with the force - focusing specifically on women and ethnic minority groups - rather than the development of a national recruitment campaign. The exact nature of the campaign is still under discussion but it will run across a range of media platforms, including advertising, online and events.

The Insurance firm Legal and General made announcements last week that it had notified staff that there was going to be more redundancies in the coming months. The firm expects there to be another 650 job cuts following a reported loss of £1.5 billion.

The southern based insurance company have offices in Surrey, Hove, Cardiff and London. They have said the new figures will amount to 10% of its workforce. This includes cuts of 450 job losses that were made last month. 

The Union that is associated with the group have said that the union members are very angry and disappointed with the decisions that have been made, they thought that they had seen the worst of the redundancies last month.

Europe’s biggest bank HSBC are planning on more redundancies of up to 1200 staff in the UK.

The company which has around 58,000 staff members in the UK has said the job cuts will hit backroom areas such as IT and human resources rather than front-line employees in branches.

HSBC said 280 jobs would be axed at the Leamington Spa processing centre, 90 in Newport, South Wales, and 150 in London.

The union Unite who are representing some of the staff members at the bank have said that the original figures that have been suggested are not a true representation and the real figures are nearer 2,900 with 500 jobs moving abroad to India. This statement however has been rejected by the bank.

When you are looking for a new job there are a number of resources you can use to make sure you are looking at a range of employers:

• Recruitment consultants
• Job websites
• Job Centre
• Networking
• Job/Recruitment fairs

Job/recruitment fairs will offer opportunities to meet a variety of employers face-to-face and learn more about them. Meeting with your perspective employer will help you learn about the company history, culture and the employee benefits.

Employers use this sort of event to attract candidates, they want to look more appealing than there competitors, to do this they provide corporate entertainment, invite guest speakers, talk about the company benefits, learning opportunities and career potential.

They also give you the opportunity to:

• Improving your interview skills –Meeting perspective employers, asking interview questions and  getting feedback on your C.V.

• Expanding your network – Meeting job recruiters and even fellow candidates will help you to build a list of useful contacts for future reference.

• Gathering information about companies – Investigating the kind of  placements offered by a company tells you a lot about that organisation as a whole and the culture of the company.

• Learning industry information – Speaking to job recruitment professionals in your chosen sector is a great way to learn about the industry.

When preparing to attend a exhibition you must always take a up to date copy of your C.V, make a list of all the employers that will be attending the fair and make sure you visit all the ones you want to. Manage your day to maximize your chance of getting lots of knowledge and experience.

The government have announced today that the figure of people unemployed has reached 2 million, the highest rate in 12 years. The huge number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance increased by a record 138,400 last month to 1.39million.

A chief economist from the British Chambers of Commerce has said: “The outlook for unemployment is worsening and there is an urgent need for action, at this rate, unemployment looks set to reach 3.2million by 2010.

Today news reported that 100 more retail jobs were axed at the lifestyle division of JJB Sports as a further 10 stores closed.

Eight branches of the OSC fashion retailer and two Qube footwear outlets were shut by administrator KPMG, with 121 redundancies. Today’s announcement brings the total number of people losing their jobs with the company to 559, including a string of shop closures in February.

With unemployment reaching its highest level since 1997 employers are either overwhelmed by the amount of applications they are receiving or they are struggling to fill vacancies.

There are areas across the UK like Oldham in Greater Manchester where the ratio of job seekers to vacancies, is almost 31 people claiming job seekers to 1 vacancy.

The Job centre are urging employers to come and advertise there vacancies to help ease the pressure n communities with a high ratio. Travelling times will be more acceptable to those who have been out of work for a longer period of time. The Job Centre New Deal Scheme is to help employers recoup some of the money back, in the hope that they can offer better salaries to those who are travelling further for work.

Debenhams the high street retailer have planned to create more positions by 2010. The retailer currently have 152 stores throughout the UK and have planned to open another eight outlets.

The six new department stores will be opening in Kidderminster, Newcastle upon Tyne, Carmathen, Wakefield Bury and Bath. There are also plans for 3 smaller stores to open this year across the country. This will in total create 1200 jobs.

It comes as good news as there is finally a retailer who are recruiting and are planning to open new stores although they still have had a decline in their profits based on like for like this time last year.

The levels of unemployment are set to rise this week past £2million and it is expected to continue to rise all year.

Analysts have predict it will reach 3.3million before the jobs market recovers from the recession. The number of people looking for work, including everyone who is not eligible for benefits had reached almost 1.98million when the figures for the quarter to December were released last month.

New figures to be published on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics are expected to show more people are now out of work than when Labour came to power in 1997, when the total was just over two million.

Morrison’s the supermarket chain have today announced that they are making good progress and there annual Pre tax profits are up by 7%.

Last year the chain bought 38 of the Co-operative Group stores and opened nine new stores in the UK. The plans for this year are expected to include 350,000 square feet of new retail space in addition to the stores it had bought from the Co-operative Group.

The group have said “We have identified significant potential to attract new customers and will focus on space growth in order to take us from a national to a nationwide company,”

The increase in store openings will lead to more job openings in store and for the head office support staff.