My Weblog

Jane Crawley, Managing Consultant, BWF

The holiday season is well and truly underway and as usual for this time of the year, recruitment is a slow process.  This has added to the effect of the economic climate by causing an even more exaggerated situation.

 

Take this time to really hone your CV to represent your skills in the best light relevant to individual roles.

 

This also is a time to go the extra mile in preparing for interviews, even more important given the number of candidates applying for each and every role. Do some thorough research on the company history, services they offer, topical issues, the interviewer etc etc and ensure they know you have done so at the interview.  Refer to any relevant articles or press releases, awards etc. when appropriate at the interview.  This demonstrates you are taking your application seriously and treating their company and role with respect and enthusiasm.  Interviews are highly prized and thin on the ground for each candidate searching for a new position at the moment, so make sure you grasp the opportunity whole heartedly.

 

You can rest assured your competitor will!

Helen Caldwell, Director, BWF

Well it is the Summer silly season so I would like to take this opportunity to speak to all the gardeners out there, specifically those who like nothing better than pottering around their vegetable plot.  Speaking as a first time veggie grower this year, I have found the last few weeks of broad bean, potato, beetroot and spring onion pulling particularly satisfying.  There is nothing like getting your hands dirty and your limbs aching to really get things in perspective.  Yes the weather has been pretty rubbish and we are still in the midst of fairly gloomy economic times, but if you are looking for a new job, hoping to not lose your job, or anything in between, I heartily recommend a bit of time in the great outdoors.

Hayley Brockwell, Senior Consultant, BWF

It has been a busy week this week, I have been training Nikki Haupt, our new recruit who will be taking over from me when I go onto maternity leave at the beginning of September.  Nikki joins us as a Senior Consultant and brings with her 5 years recruitment experience.  Nikki is currently working on a number of exciting administration vacancies and is proving a valuable addition to the team.

 

Pip Sanford, Director, BWF

This has been one of my busiest weeks at BranWell Ford, as I have been project managing our new service  BWF 'Pension Temps'.  BranWell Ford's temporary payroll facility has been tested for the past two weeks and is now available to all our clients.  This is extremely helpful for short term projects, or headcount issues, and we have a mix of administrators and managers who are available for work immediately.  Do call any of our Consultants to discuss this further.

Helen Caldwell, Director, BWF

I'm afraid not a lot of positives to report to job hunters in the pensions industry this week.  More redundancies with further expected.  However, we have had successes in placing some very grateful individuals in new roles - proof that it is not all doom and gloom and that some companies are still recruiting.  Hopefully the weather and the tennis will help to create more positives in the business world - or am I just too much of an optimistic at heart?  For BranWell Ford we are pushing forward to expand in order to help the increased number of candidates and to spend more time sourcing new vacancies.  Nikki Haupt, an experienced Recruiter joins us next week and we will be focusing on getting her up to speed with pensions issues as quickly as possible.

Jane Crawley, Managing Consultant, BWF

Next week BranWell Ford is looking forward to welcoming a new member to our team.  We have Sarah Parker joining us in the capacity of office manager and she starts with us on Monday morning.  I am sure Sarah will prove a valuable addition and will put her many skills to use.

 

We are beginning to see a slight increase in the number of pensions’ vacancies being registered with us, although this is still heavily outweighed by candidates and each job is still highly contested.

 

Jane Crawley, Managing Consultant, BWF

The economic climate continues to affect the recruitment sector and we have seen an unprecedented number of high calibre pensions’ candidates become available.  Companies that can manage to find the budget to recruit are certainly being spoilt for choice at the moment and are able to secure some rare talent.

 

BranWell Ford is looking to recruit a new Consultant to assist these candidates in their search for a new position.  If you know of an experienced recruiter or you yourself would be interested, please contact Pip Sanford on 01279 859000 or email pip@branwellford.co.uk

Pip Sanford, Director, BWF

It's been a very busy week, there has been further redundancy ripples in the industry and I think we have to accept that although there are still vacancies, the tide has turned and there is a shortage of pension jobs.  Therefore for anyone who is attending an interview, it is so important to prepare beforehand and speak to your Consultant to ensure that you have a full understanding of what to expect.  There are a number of extremely good pension specialist websites, so do log onto www.branwellford.co.uk, www.pensioncareers.co.uk, www.professionalpensionjobs.com and www.totalrewards.com

Helen Caldwell, Director, BWF

So summer has finally arrived and in our house the BBQ has been seeing a lot of action.  Historically however, the warmer weather is not great for business for us recruiters as it generally signals new candidate apathy - why spend the weekend online applying for jobs when sitting in the garden is far more appealing?  However, the current economic climate has changed all that and we are regularly registering outstanding pension professionals with excellent qualifications and strong experience.  So, for all you pension departments struggling with workload or holiday cover, why not consider recruiting on a short-term contract?  I think you will be impressed with the quality on offer.

 

Pip Sanford, Director, BWF

I am not sure how many people actually get to read the PMI News, but I was very disappointed in an article in last month's issue regarding  the services of Head Hunters compared to Recruitment Consultancies.  As I was out of the office last week on a short trip to Spain for a re-charge of the batteries, I took the decision to draft a 'right to reply' which will hopefully be printed in next month's magazine, but if anyone is interested in receiving my comments prior to this, do e-mail me pip@branwellford.co.uk.