Online Business Blog

You may not realise it but your email address could be seriously hindering your chance of getting a new job.

A funny email address might have seemed like a good idea at the time, indeed when you were younger all your friends probably had one too, but now when entering the world of work your humorous or cheeky address might seriously put you at a disadvantage in a highly competitive jobs market.

Try putting yourself in the position of an employer who had just employed a recruitment services company to advertise your vacancies. If you have had many applications back for the position, all of which are equally qualified, who do you think are more suitable, someone with a standard email address such as firstname.lastname@gmail.com or something like chunkylover53@aol.com. The chances are you would, even if it’s wrongly, assume that the applicant with the first email would be a more appropriate candidate for your company.

It is perhaps then a good idea to cerate a more professional sounding email to put on future job applications, you don’t even have to use the email address long term simply just use for any job related situations. Though if its not your regular email account make sure you remember to check it often, you don’t want to miss an email inviting you to an interview!

A while ago I wrote a blog about the effects of controversial advertising campaigns that Direct Response Advertising agents have used for the likes of Benetton over the years. The latest national campaign to cause a stir was designed to prove there is more to getting the message across than advertising on Google.

The 1.25 million ad campaign was intended to run on more than 11, 000 billboards and poster sites across the country and was backed by one of the biggest media owners in the sector. The three messages that were planned to run were: “Career Women make bad mothers”, “1966. It won’t happen this year” and “Educashun isn’t working”. Each of the ads asks the viewers whether they agree with the statement and pushes them to join a discussion on the website: Britainthinks.com.

The campaign, which launched with its first statement ‘Career women make bad mothers’ on Monday 4^th January quickly ruffled the feathers of women the length and breadth of the nation and an influx of angry and upset Mothers posted their rage on the Mumsnet website stating their contempt and hurt at the blazon statement.

The Outdoor Advertising Association had intended these posters run for a fortnight on buses and billboard sites but have had to be scrapped due to the bad attention it has received. The next to run is the statement “1966. It won’t happen this year” which is sure to risk offending football fans and rubbing salt in old wounds, but its got to be said that whilst this campaign has already offended a great deal of people, the attention it has achieved is exactly what it set out to do, which many UK Advertising Agencies often can only dream of.

Whilst advertising in 2009 as a whole has been down on 2008 there have been successes across the board with digital and online advertising continuing to grow and become more competitive. The war of the Internet Search Engines began with Microsoft’s Bing launching globally in June, much to Google’s annoyance. They have teamed up with Yahoo and now have a Market share of 10%, Google is a little worried and has launched its first ever global advertising campaign. The question is will people be coining the new phrase ‘I binged it’ in the new decade?

Internet advertising has been the most innovative marketing medium in 2009 which is supported by the Internet Advertising Bureau (LAB) reporting that it had grown by 4.6% in the first half of 2009, overtaking television spend for the first time ever. Now more than ever people should be looking at utilising the Internet for their marketing and many UK Advertising Agencies are fully equipped to manage campaigns as paid for searches continue to grow and be in demand.

The mobile phone market is also driving innovation in marketing with 2009 being another strong year. In June, consumers camped outside O2 stores across England to get their hands on Apple’s 3G iPhone, a launch which secured a 40% share of the smartphone market. The future for mobiles look set to get bigger and bigger and the medium is now accounts for 11.7% of ad spend.

TV has struggled this year but with shows like X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and Britain’s Got Talent, TV advertising revenues will be up by 4% year on year this month. The BBC has been suffering with their networks and need to find £75 million in order to kick start its cost cutting programme for the next five years. Whilst Channel four has signed a ground breaking deal with YouTube this year which will make the broadcasters programmes available on demand, in full and free of charge via the video sharing website.

With these new avenues of marketing looking set to grow and continue to be fiercer in competition who knows what other ground breaking deals, new innovations and jaw dropping tactics will be used in 2010 by search engines, phone companies and direct response advertising . Watch this space.

British Government intelligence organization GCHQ are to launch a recruitment advertising campaign through online gaming. GCHQ plan to use the hugely popular Xbox Live, the online gaming platform for the Xbox 360, as a new inventive way to display their ads. This will mark the first time that the organization, who works with the Foreign Office, MI5 & MI6, has targeted online gaming.

The adverts which will feature the strapline “Careers in British Intelligence” and will feature on poster in the backgrounds of game being played online in real-time. A number of top games are being lined up to carry the posters.

This move in to new territory shows that GCHQ are looking at new ways of attracting today’s techsavy graduates. While traditional forms of recruitment adverts still have a place in GCHQ’s future plans the orginisation is clearly looking beyond the traditional outlets advertising to target new audiences to find the employees of the future.

GCHQ has two remits to cover signals intelligence and information assurances. Signals intelligence provides information to support the government in national security, law enforcement and military operations. Information assurance helps keep the Government communications and IT systems safe from hackers and other threats.

Advertisers and those who depend on advertising for income are keeping their fingers crossed this Christmas that after a long period of decline ad revenues might stabilize or even make a recovery.

Overall advertising is down again in 2009 compared to 2008 with many struggling to cope with the downturn. Its not just the like of local newspapers who are struggling either, big national papers as well as the likes of ITV and Channel 4 are all finding life difficult as their incomes continue to fall. Advertising agencies are also feeling the pinch with many have to scale back operation or having to close altogether.

The sign for the industry are not all doom and gloom though; many believe that this Christmas period could see advertising spend either match or beat last years spend. ITV is one such company who are predicting that December’s advertising revenue could be up 4% following a 3% fall in October and just a 1% fall in November.

It is hoped that the more positive outlook of many companies and consumers this year compared to last year and the likelihood of exiting the recession soon will see companies increase their advertising budgets. Many London advertising and UK advertising agencies are also predicting an upturn across many different advertising sectors such as TV advertising, outdoor advertising and recruitment advertising.

2008 saw the financing world dramatically hit by global economics, subsequently leading to a market where employees in banking jobs chose to stay in their current roles and jobseekers opportunities were reduced with hiring volumes greatly diminishing and supply far outweighing demand.

As an employer this provides you the opportunity when recruiting for finance jobs to pick from a highly competitive and meticulous job seeking market where more than ever before the demand for highly skilled, experienced professionals is expected and needed. 2009 has been a year of recovery and whilst job volumes have stayed relatively low, the financial sector has stabilised with permanent and temporary recruitment particularly in the financial control sector. Studies have shown that in spite of the economic downturn, there is still a skills shortage so finding the right candidate can be testing. Choosing a specialist professional recruitment consultancy to fulfill your recruitment project should provide you with a solution to meet your needs.

The right recruitment consultancy will help give you a competitive edge and find the right candidate for areas covering financial control, product control, audit, systems projects, treasury, tax, compliance disciplines to name but a few. They should be able to identify a candidate that will optimise your business performance and achieve the job role required of them. They will also be able to advise you on a range of market issues including salary surveys, organisational planning, payroll, contractual matters and training support. A good recruitment consultant will be trained to understand their market fully and their clients recruitment objectives and create and deliver a personalised service.

When choosing a recruitment consultancy it is wise to find out some key information. Consider their experience, how long they have been established, what their core values, vision and mission are. What benefits they can offer you as a client?  What their recruitment solutions are and how do they generate the right candidates? Ensure that you choose one that is expert at placing accountants at all levels of business from part qualified to finance directors to ensure you are paying for a service that will greatly reward you with the candidate you deserve.

I have often considered leaving the UK. There have been numerous times, as I sit at my work desk looking out of the window watching the rain pour down that I have felt slightly depressed at the reality of the winter season. But I am not alone, we all have our cross to bear and being a UK resident is often one of them. This doesn’t have to be the case though, as more and more people are deciding to move abroad the opportunities are increasing and becoming more tangible, especially if you have a skill set that is transferrable and in demand. Moving abroad not only provides you with an opportunity of a lifetime, gaining cultural experience and a diverse lifestyle but can also provide you with strong career development opportunities if you choose wisely.

Many employers regard candidates who have gained experience with international jobs as highly employable due to the experience and versatility they can demonstrate, so when the time is right to move back to the UK (if ever) your overseas credentials will work in your favour. Jobs abroad can be difficult to locate, so one of the best ways to find them is to contact a UK recruitment agency that specialises in your field of work. Many reputable companies abroad source agencies in the UK for them to find talented personnel through international recruitment. The agency will be able to present you with a range of choices and advise, from opportunities across countries and continents, market conditions, how to maximize your international experience to further your career and help you to prepare for the move. They can also identify job opportunities for your partner if this is a consideration.

Many misconceptions surround the opportunity of working abroad; one of the leading myths is that you have to be senior in your field of expertise. This is not necessarily true, international job opportunities can exist at all levels from newly qualified to Director/Partner. The main attributes an agency will look for is a confident personality, excellent interpersonal skills along with some international awareness and understanding of cultural and business practices.

Most of us are aware of our own strengths and weaknesses and it can be frustrating knowing we aren’t specialists in every field of business. The key thing to remember is no one is and it is increasingly common for businesses small and large to enlist the services of an external advertising agency to help expand and diversify their business. But how do you find one that you can trust to work hard for you and get you results? When choosing the right one for your business it is critical to consider the following factors:

1.      Are they going to meet all of your requirements? Not just now, but in the future too. An agency that only specialises in one discipline could be quite limiting and you may find yourself having to deal with multiple agencies for different projects. For example, you may enlist the services of an agency that specialises in web design, they create an all singing, all dancing website but they have no expertise in optimizing the site, so know one ever finds you in the search engines. If you were to opt for an advertising agency that specialises in all disciplines, the optimization of the site would be considered during the design stage and the ongoing SEO would be offered to you as an additional service they can provide: One agency, covering two critical (but interlinking) jobs. Look into full service advertising agencies to cover all disciplines.

2.      Look at agencies that are well established and are specialists in your field. It will give you the peace of mind that they understand your business and have the experience and expertise to get you the best results.

3.      Shop around. Don’t just go with the first you find. Make sure you have a list of potential agencies and let them compete for your business.

4.      Arrange for them to present to you. Pick 3 or 4 agencies that you think will match your criteria the best and get them in for a presentation.

5.      Pick one. Once all have presented to you, you will get a feel for which one you think understands your business the most, has identified areas of growth and are going to be the best to work with.

Remember, advertising agencies are there to make a positive difference to your company and should work closely with you at all times to ensure they are meeting with your brief.

There are many places you can look for jobs online and many of those places also allow you to post resumes. You really want to post your resume because some jobs never even make it to the point of being listed. They are taken by those that posted their resumes. When preparing your resume, less is more. The longer your resume is, the less likely the hiring party is to read it (within reason). Be clear and precise. Use as few words as possible to get your job descriptions across. If you have any, attach recommendation letters, those are like money in the bank so some employers.

In order to be successful finding a job, you need to make that goal your job. This means you get up at a certain time, get showered, shaved and prepare yourself for a day of work. Then you sit down and you get to work looking for your job.

Add your job search engines to your favorites list so you can go directly to each search engine. The less time you spend looking for the site, the more time you can spend looking through the site. Many sites have an option where you can have matching job descriptions sent directly to your email. This is a good option but don’t rely on it, by the time that particular job hits your email it may already be gone. Check the search engines multiple times a day. The faster you get in touch with the job provider the more likely you are to get an interview and possibly the job.

In this marketplace, many jobs have been sent overseas. If your job is gone not only because of the economy, but also because your job was shipped out of country, you are fighting a bit more difficult battle than others. You now need to figure out where your experience with one job can fit in with another job. In order to do this, get a piece of paper or bring up a word document and list all of the knowledge and skills you attained from that career. After you have listed these down, you will have an easier time finding other career paths that can use some of the knowledge you already have. If you can use some of this knowledge, you will be able to procure a higher pay wage than if you went into a completely different field in which you have no knowledge.

If you find yourself needing to go into a totally different field and start at a ground floor position, make sure it is in an industry that is more stable in this economy and that it offers you the opportunity to advance at an acceptable rate so you can get your pay amount up quicker.

There are two things that mean a lot to an employer: dedication and innovation. If you can show these traits when applying for a job, then it will work to your advantage. The problem is that if the only opportunities you have are in an interview, where the employer is asking the questions, and an application form or CV, then you’re limited in what you can show off.

The answer is surprisingly simple, and surprisingly effective: make your own opportunities.

Over the years, a number of strange approaches have been tried and met with success, even when dealing with international recruitment. There’s no reason that anybody couldn’t try one of these tactics, or even come up with something new.

Meeting the Employer

If an employer has met you outside an interview, and you’ve demonstrated your strengths in a more casual and friendly environment, then you’ve already got a lead on other candidates.

Seizing the initiative if you run into a potential employer on a train, waiting at a bus stop, or anywhere that you could conceivably spark up a conversation can be a great tactic. It shows off your dedication to getting the job. You might also learn some useful information that you can use in a more formal interview, or find out about another opportunity that the employer thinks you’d be perfect for.

Meeting the Staff

Find out where the staff of an organisation during their lunch breaks or after hours. Listen out for opportunities, get to know them, let them know you’re looking for work, and they could pass on a positive word to their employer.

This has the double advantage of alerting you to new opportunities (you might be chatting to lawyers and hear about accountant jobs) and showing your dedication. It’s also a rather innovative approach, which will bear weight with employers.

Put Yourself Out There

Try and make opportunities for yourself. If you can convince somebody that you’d be an asset to their company, even if they hadn’t considered employing at the time, then you’re in with a chance. Show what new ideas you’d bring in.

Even if they don’t take it further at that time, they could be in contact later. Once again, this shows a level of dedication and innovation that few will match.

The Ultimate in Dedication

Work for nothing. If you can show that you really want the job, and then demonstrate that you’re good at it, employers will be very impressed. Offering to work unpaid is one way of doing this, but of course you must be sure you don’t get taken advantage of.

Be Truly Innovative

We’ve given you some ideas, but if you truly wish to innovate, then you’ll have to come up with something even fresher. Be bold. Show that you are the best candidate for the job, whatever it takes.