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SB/2363 | IT Support Analyst | £25K to £30K | London (flexible working)
This marketing agency is looking for a friendly and switched-on IT Support Analyst to join their team!
If you are a good communicator who is helpful and approachable – able to build strong rapport with your colleagues to help them with a full range of IT and technical issues this could be the role for you.
The role
Required
This is a lovely marketing agency with a great culture, well known for looking after their staff. The salary for this IT Support Analyst is between £25K to £30K
How to stand out in the current market
Are you applying for endless jobs and getting little or no response?
Are you feeling frustrated?
Then you are not alone.
Looking for a job has changed dramatically since Covid and I wanted to share some of my tips to help you to adapt your job search strategy in response to the change in the current job market.
Have a positive mindset.
It’s tough out there and it is ok to feel unsure, frustrated and even a little concerned. Just make sure that you talk to someone. I am proud to be a Mental Health in Recruitment ambassador and there is so much great support out there especially at the moment, so don’t be afraid to reach out.
Create your personal brand
The likelihood is that you have proudly marketed well know brands throughout your career, but how does your own brand look? Your CV, LinkedIn profile and social media platforms are your opportunity to communicate your personal brand to prospective employers.
Creating stand out in a busy candidate market.
The number of candidates currently looking for a new role are relatively high at the moment. The number of redundancies has increased, and the number of opportunities has declined. So, it means you need to be far more proactive than before and work harder to make sure you stand out.
Job searching definitely requires a different approach at the moment and if you would like some advice and guidance on any of the above then please do get in touch with me becky@direct-recruitment.co.uk
Above all keep going, things will pick up and will return to normal.
Tips for candidates asked to pre-record a video interview
Becky Postlethwaite – Managing Director, Direct Recruitment
Due to the lockdown, video technology is now the only option for employers to conduct job interviews. We are now seeing evidence of pre-recorded interviews, where candidates are given a set of interview questions and asked to record themselves answering these questions.
While it sounds simple enough, pre-recorded interviews can actually be pretty tricky to master, particularly if you have only been given a set amount of time to give and upload your answers.
So here are some tips to help you master a pre-recorded interview:
Be yourself and act as if is just a normal interview
Rehearse and give the performance of your life
Background
The likelihood is that you will have been communicating both personally and professionally via online platforms in the last few weeks. But remember you are talking to a prospective employer so be professional, be personable and above all relax.
Good luck!
All marketers welcome!
We have taken down all our jobs advertisements as currently the situation in the market is very fluid. The reality is there isn’t much around at the moment but we are in close discussions with all our clients so that as soon as there is any sign of the rebound we will be in a position to assist you with your job needs.
In the meantime the Direct Recruitment team are here to provide support and advice to anyone who is looking to refresh their CV or just wants to chat. We are accepting CVs at all levels and are helping people to put themselves in the best position for when the market returns to the ‘new norm’
So no matter what level, experience or position we look forward to hearing from you. We work across planning, strategy, client service, project management, digital, social, data, CRM and across agency and clientside roles.
Contact us on 0207 287 1171 or email us at CV@direct-recruitment.co.uk
Stay safe and stay well.
Helping you stay positive in these turbulent times
It’s fair to say these are unprecedented times. We have no idea what’s ahead of us or how long this is going to go on for. As our kids prepare to leave school for the foreseeable future, have exams cancelled, as we start to work from home and avoid all but essential contact and travel, it’s clear that a positive attitude and whatever community support we can offer or receive will have to see us through. And so far, we have been heartened by the strong sense of community spirit and good neighbourly attitudes we have seen.
Equally in the professional world, there is a lot of concern and change. If you’ve recently started looking for a new role, this will all seem pretty frustrating so we would like to help in any way we can.
It’s a good time to brush up your CV and overhaul your LinkedIn profile. It is also worth thinking about thinking about your interview skills and how you may be able to improve these. If you need any help with this, please do drop us a line to CV@direct-recruitment.co.uk – it’s the least we can do in and we want to do what we can.
This will come to an end at some point. In the meantime we are trying to stay positive, focused and well, and hope you are too.
If there is anything we can help with do reach out – even if just for a chat and catch up.
Take care
Helping a new employee become a success
Hiring employees that enhance and complement your business is part and parcel of being a manager. The process of recruiting the right candidate can take time so it is crucial to make the right decision and hire wisely.
Once chosen, it is your duty as the hiring manager to ensure that your new employee brings value to your organisation and helps to ease some of the workload burden – in short fulfilling the tasks they have been hired to do.
However the onus is on you to set up your new employee to succeed. Here we offer you some simple steps to make sure things go well!
The interview
During the interview stage it is vital that you have a very well defined job specification, which maps out exactly what is expected of the person taking up the role – from day-to-day duties to the skills and expertise you expect them to possess in order to carry them out. Too often an unfocused job description that lacks direction and unclear expectations on the part of the recruiting manager won’t allow even the most brilliant candidate to succeed. Furthermore if expectations aren’t clear upfront, there is a much greater chance that candidates will move within a relatively short space of time due to the fact that their role hasn’t lived up to its interview promise.
Before you commence interviewing, make sure that:
Induction or onboarding process
A successful and thorough induction is a comprehensive approach to bringing on new hires that goes way beyond simple orientation. Here are some steps for successful onboarding:
Remember, the ultimate payoff is to reduce turnover and encourage recruits to stay with an organisation for a longer tenure – which is more achievable if the induction process is carried out carefully and thoroughly.
Training
While your employee professed and demonstrated experience during the interview, do remember all organisations are unique. Different computer systems, policies, procedures and corporate culture can prevent good employees from being immediately successful. Make sure the employee is appropriately trained and has had sufficient time to practice their new skills. But do include both short- and long-term projects for the new hire from an early stage. New employees feel an inherent desire to contribute to the business right away. You don’t want them working on the big projects though, until they’re really up to speed on the way your company works.
Making a success of your new hire is not rocket science – it is down to communication and proper preparation. Take the time to get things in place before you commence the interviews, and that way you will get an employee who is clear of what’s required of them and possesses the skills you need to really add value to your business. After employment commences, good communication, regular meetings with goals and deadlines, and a smattering of teamwork will ensure your new employee is a resounding success who feels valued. In return, you’ll get loyalty and a happy and productive employee!
A good handshake
This feels like old news, to be talking about the importance of a good handshake in your job search, but yet it seems that so many people I meet on a daily basis still don’t shake hands with any confidence.
Every job hunter knows that smart dress, eye contact and polished shoes are a good way to make that all-important first impression. So why is it that people are neglecting to remember that a good handshake is just as critical, if not more so, for portraying the qualities that people look for in a future employee.
Many studies over the years have continuously shown that there is a substantial relation between the features that characterise a firm handshake (strength, vigour, duration, eye contact and completeness of grip) and a good first impression.
So what does your handshake say about you? A strong firm handshake suggests confidence, reliability and gravitas and therefore, not surprisingly, a weak handshake will often give the impression of someone shy, quiet and lacking self-assurance.
If this isn’t you, or isn’t the impression you want to give, make sure your handshake is a confident one. Here are my five top tips for perfecting your job-winning handshake.
So, having a good handshake will not only demonstrate the qualities that people look for in an employee, but it will also encourage loyalty and will make people want to shake your hand again, and for that, they’ll need to have you around.
Why well thought through interviews unearth candidates who are a better fit
Interviews are the way in which an organisation finds its future employees – simple? Not necessarily. Research by Ayal Chen-Zion, a Research Fellow at Glassdoor entitled: ‘Do Difficult Job Interviews Lead to More Satisfied Workers? Evidence from Glassdoor Reviews’ shows that more thorough job interviews have been statistically linked to higher employee satisfaction.
The findings discovered that the optimal interview difficulty, when measured on a five-point scale, was four out of five. On this scale one is very easy, three is average, and five is very difficult.
Out of the six countries examined (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, USA, and the UK), an increase in interview difficulty of 10% was associated with a 2.6% rise in employee satisfaction later on.
However, once the interview surpasses the difficulty of four out of five, subsequent employee satisfaction drops. “The easiest two-point interviews, and the most difficult five-point interviews, are both associated with lower employee satisfaction,” says the study. In other words, the more rigorous the interview questions, the better the candidate fit, but don’t make the experience like an appearance on Mastermind.
However, let’s not make the mistake in thinking that we should just ask harder questions during the process – it’s about asking good questions. Interviewers need to tax candidates to find out what they really know about the role and how skilled they are. In my experience, candidates either find an interview like a walk in the park or a living nightmare – there seems to be no middle ground. An informal chat followed by an offer never works in the long-term. Essentially, the organisation is taking on someone they’ve not challenged, and the candidate is accepting a job they really know very little about in a company whose culture is, on a deeper level, largely unknown.
Equally, an interview that is a five on the difficulty scale may be an indication to the candidate of a dysfunctional culture within the company – where such an aggressive, demanding environment will end up being damaging to employees, leading them to quit and seek a role elsewhere.
The research threw up similar results in all six countries examined – more difficult interview questions lead to higher employee satisfaction weeks, months and even years down the line – but the ‘feel-good’ factor is switched off as soon as those questions hit five on the difficulty scale.
Fundamentally, organisations really need to overhaul their interview process and the questions they ask. In our experience as recruitment consultants, we see so many candidates who have felt let-down because the interviewer seemed unprepared – having not read their CV, texting and not really challenging them on their skills and experience. The flipside of this comes from our clients who will point out that a particular candidate was under prepared and hadn’t researched the company or the role properly. Neither will lead to a match made in heaven.
So what can you do?
Here are some top tips to ensure a decent outcome from an interview:
How to present and protect your brand throughout the recruitment process
Safeguarding your employer brand throughout the recruitment process and clearly communicating your organisation’s values to both existing and potential employees is key to shaping the overall perception of your company in the marketplace. This can have a huge impact on your ability to attract and retain the very best talent.
The experience of a candidate before, during and after the recruitment process can play a significant part in how your business is perceived externally.
The best talent is always highly sought after, whether the employment market is flat or buoyant, so it is vital that your organisation provides a positive experience for candidates who are applying for roles and throughout the entire recruitment process. This is the best way you can ensure that you secure the right people for your organisation.
Job advertisements
Where you place your job ad and how it is presented plays a critical role in attracting the right talent. There is nothing worse than a vague job spec that is littered with typos. Indeed the description of the role is the biggest influencer on a candidate’s decision as to whether to apply.
Most organisations use jobs boards and LinkedIn, but experienced recruitment consultancies are still regarded as the most useful source of vacancies by professionals seeking new roles. It is important to choose your recruiter wisely – and preferably choose one that has genuine expertise in your sector, so they will be able to handpick the outstanding candidates and really test their knowledge in a preliminary interview.
Responding to applicants
It can be tempting to get your vacancy advertised on LinkedIn as soon as that resignation letter hits your desk. But it is a waste of everyone’s time to advertise your position and encourage applicants if you don’t have the capacity to respond to applications. It doesn’t look good if you don’t get back to them at all.
Indeed responding quickly to job applications is incredibly important, because candidates will look upon tardy responses as an indication of a lack of interest or just general disorganisation. Worse still, you could miss out on the best candidates if other companies are moving more quickly.
Equally not letting unsuccessful candidates know that you’ll not be taking things further is both impolite and detrimental to your reputation. And it’s much better to send an automated rejection letter for unsuccessful applicants than no response at all.
The hiring process
We’ve all heard the horror stories of candidates being kept waiting for ages without explanation, interviewers being distracted by their phone or even leaving an interview for a length of time without any explanation or apology. What a company must realise is that a potential employee is interviewing them too – it’s not a one-way street.
There’s nothing worse than taking the time to go to an interview and finding that the interviewer is unprepared. Furthermore a lengthy process can be off-putting and a lack of feedback when a candidate has made the effort to come in for an interview (or several) and then hears nothing at all does not put your company in a good light.
Do give feedback, do be prepared for the interview and do keep the process short, snappy and thorough. That way, you’ll secure top-flight candidates and retain them. The interview process is often a very good indication of how a company views its staff.
And finally, it is essential to note that the majority of job seekers discuss their experiences during a hiring process – be it with their friends, colleagues and acquaintances or online. This clearly shows how employers’ interactions with candidates – from communication, organisation and speed of the recruitment process to their experiences when being interviewed – can impact their brand, in both a positive or negative way. Word of mouth is one of the most powerful communication channels. You would be foolish to ignore this.
Six top tips to keep you positive at interview
We all know that interviews can sometimes be daunting, particularly if you’ve been looking for a while and just haven’t quite found a role where there’s a perfect fit.
So how do you stay positive and motivated to ensure that you get the job of your dreams?
Here are our top tips to help you.
The team at Direct Recruitment have the experience and know how to offer you the advice that can make all the difference to your interview. Why not get in touch and let us demonstrate what a difference we can make for you.