The World Cup and all that - Team working.

So now England lose the vote for the World Cup in 2018 and don't forget nobody ever votes for England (sorry the United Kingdom) when it is Eurovision.

No this is not just another blog from a bleating Scotland supporter because I would have liked the UK to have been chosen as hosts - the whole economy would have been boosted and the morale of the country would have been raised rather than seeing the sad faces all over our TV screens.

For me one of the most valuable lessons from the project was that even with apparently an unbeatable bid team - Prince William, David Cameron, David Beckham et al - there was an unsuccessful outcome. Of course, you can question the voting system and the integrity of FIFA members but the real issue for me was that despite the presence of highly talented individuals there was not enough there to get the anticipated outcome.

Today in the press, there are all sorts of suggestions that this Calvary came to the party far too late and their influencing was never going to be successful. Russia and the others had been planning and working on the FIFA members over a much longer period.

Yes team work is important but people need to know the purpose and the strategy so that the effort can be sustained and be be successful. And for the people that are listening to you, your staff and your customers, they want to see and hear that you are committed to what you are saying.

More importantly, because my better half hails from Russia, I am delighted for that country anyway. Maybe she can get me tickets!!! Do you want me to ask for you?

(c) Iain Williamson 3.12.10

Welcome back

Folks

I'm going to try and get back into this thing and be more active on updating.

That's enough for today though!!!!

Watch this space and add here to your favourites, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.

Iain (c) 20.10.10

Weekly Newspaper View

1. You could not avoid the biggest story of the week in the UK press. John Terry, now the ex England football captain, had his private life plastered all over the red tops (a bit of a problem for somebody who plays for the blues) and speculation and intrigue followed before his 12 minute meeting with Fabio Capello and his dismissal.

The serious question here for all HR Managers and business owners is what would you do if this type of situation arose in your workplace. Of course, there are no easy answers and I'm not here to pontificate on the morals of a footballer. What would you do?

There are employment law considerations in deciding what to do and you have to consider the impact on the organisation.

2. Ever wanted a job worth £15m just for joining the organisation? Some might say that Marc Bolland, the new Chief Executive of Marks and Spencers has done that. Nice work if you can get it.

3. And that really confirms the jobs that are the high earners. Chief Executive posts and Managing Directors are at number one in the Pay Charts announced this week.

The worst job as far as pay is concerned is a Nursery Nurse.

4. This week British Airways announced a smaller than expected pre-tax loss of £50million in the 3 months to December 2009. All this is with the spectre of industrial disputes looming large so although the financial report is good, the organisation is not in a mood for saying things are looking better.

Now for some US news,

5. The US economy looks to be in recovery but a major problem exists with the number of long termed unemployed doubling in the last 12 months.

And now for some Russian news.

6. The Russian economy has shrunk by 7.9% in 2009, but 2010 should see a return to growth. Yes it was less bad than forecast but still reflected the worst annual result for 15 years.

Oh and Yes we might as well involve Religion.

7. Earlier this week Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that he would be visiting the UK in 2010, the first papal visit since 1982 when John Paul came to these lands. Controversially the Pope criticised the UK equality legislation and lo and behold the Government has decided to ditch its legislative wishes on anti-discrimination law.

8. Hopefully we have seen the last of the bad weather and the snow and ice problems have gone for this year. But, in what might be seen as a moment of unusual madness, the HMRC said that the snow can be used as an excuse for late postings of this years returns. Therefore, you could save yourself £100 if you use this get out clause.

9. How often do we English speakers say how wonderful it is that other people same to be able to speak so many languages and we stick to English because we perceive it as the "language of business"? Well now we hear that Google are looking to launch a translator phone. Yes, you read correctly. A phone that will immediately translate is around two years away and is the next step on from where PC's currently can translate for you. Watch this space.

(c) Iain Williamson 7.2.10

Sunday News Update

You don't have time to read all the newspapers on your lazy Sunday, so let me do it for you. Here are some quick snatches of information for you, so you can spend the time today the way you want to. Its a round up of business news for you.

1. The Pharmaceutical world looks like it is having a difficult time on the jobs front with both GSK and AstraZeneca potentially cutting jobs. 12000 jobs in total at risk.

2. It's the 31st January and a very important day in the tax calendar. Get your online assessment completed today or else the Taxman will be unhappy. Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has warned taxpayers not to respond to the "phishing" email which is doing the rounds today, otherwise your bank account might be a little bit empty sooner rather than later.

3. I hope this is good news for me having recently tied the knot with Roksolana. Married men earn nearly one third more than single men. Yippee, we say. And they also earn 4% more than men who live with their partners.

4. The City of London has lost 10% of its most senior financiers over the last two years. Redundancy, early retirements and insolvencies account for that figure. Wow. That's a big hit, however unsympathetic you might feel for them.

5. Managerial and professional women are drinking an average of 10.2 units per week which is more than a bottle of wine. This compares unfavourably with manual workers who drink 6.5 units.

(C) Iain Williamson 31.1.10

Interview - The Pre Interview Stage Tips

I promised to give you some thoughts on how you can best prepare for your interview after that great CV has done its job. It's now time to take you through the first stage.

In my mind, your interview preparation should start the moment that you know that you have secured an interview. The more preparation you do then hopefully that will translate into you feeling more comfortable when you get to the interview.

There are several areas that will help you with the Pre-Interview Stage. I remember when I first started out on the job trail, far too many years ago for me to remember, finding information out about a company was extremely difficult. Can you remember life without the Internet?

So there you go, Tip Number One. Use the Internet and find out about the Company. Go to their Website and read it closely. Of course, depending on the job that you are applying for there will be some parts of the site that will give you more detail than other parts. You will need to look at finances, areas of operation, recent news, staff development opportunities, strategies, visions and values, etc.

But the Internet can also give you more information about the Company. So perhaps use a search engine, such as Google and Yahoo, and pick up the latest news about the organisation. You might even want to set up a news alert - that way you will be really up to date with company information at interview and can commend your interviewer on the fact that the company has just won a big contract, or has just announced its best profits ever, etc.

More and more nowadays, networking websites are becoming popular. So consider the business networking websites such as LinkedIn or Plaxo. (Note: There are other business networking sites available) As well as letting you build up your own personal network, very often they will give you some details about organisations and employees - you might even find out something about the person who is going to interview you!!! Use it to your advantage.

You might know somebody who already works for the organisation, or have a friend who knows somebody - use them to get some inside information.

From all that information that you garner, make sure you lace it through your answers to questions at interviews or refer to it during your opportunity to ask questions. Doing this makes the interviewer see you in the good light where you know a lot about the business and seem really interested in getting this role.

And Tip Number Two. If you haven't already got it, get a copy of the job description and person specification if you can. If you have them you can start to prepare how you will describe at interview how you fit that role. You have probably not done all of the job, as described in the job description but start to formulate the evidence from your previous history that will show you have the competences to take on the challenges of this role.

Think of the questions that you could be asked at the interview and "prepare" your answers. Of course, you won't ever get that exact question but if you have a battery of answers up your sleeve all you need to do is mix and match. This will also help you to relax at the interview because in advance you have a good idea of the areas you are going to cover and what you will say.

Coming up now, Tip Number Three. Just the same as you will be asked questions, you also will be given the opportunity to ask questions. So make sure you do, and make them really intelligent questions that will highlight your competences for the job and also make the recruiter think positively about you.

So you might ask about your development opportunities because you have read the detail about The XXX Company Academy and how it trains its employees; or you might ask about how your performance will be measured and against what Key Performance Indicators. If you've done your homework you will also know about the competitors in their business sector, so maybe there's a question on that.

Tip Number Four is obvious but sometimes candidates forget it. Know what is in your Curriculum Vitae. Anything you have written in the CV is fair game for questioning. So know the things you claim to have done and specifically remember those numbers. And remember when you were at which companies.

Tip Number Five is about managing your stress levels. Get a good nights sleep before the interview and leave lots of time to get to the interview. However, you get there make sure it is in plenty of time so you can re-read all your information that you have gathered. From personal experience, don't always trust your Sat Nav to take you to the right place!!! Fortunately, I was staying in a hotel overnight so it was not a problem getting to the interview on time - just imagine what it would have been like if I was lost and the interview was starting soon.

However strong you might feel about it, my personal opinion is that you should not smoke just prior to going in to the interview, even if it feels like it calms your nerves. The smell of the smoke may be offputting. I know it won't influence the final decision but you want NO negatives.

And yes, it's the same advice for taking an alcoholic drink before the interview.In the next edition I am going to talk about the interview itself and how best to deal with that. I want you to get that job.

(c) Iain Williamson 30.1.10

Eurozone Unemployment

Just as the UK has recently reported good news on the unemployment front, it has been reported that unemployment in the Eurozone has increased to 15.8 million, 10% in December 2009. This is the unemployment rate for the 16 countries that use the Euro; across all 27 countries of the European Union unemployment stands at 23 million.

It seems that we will continue to see that upward trend so where do you not want to be in Europe?

Avoid Latvia. Can you believe that the unemployment rate there stands at 22.8%? Yes, that's right nearly a quarter of the active population are unemployed. Latvia is in the European Union but does not use the Euro. Spain, which does use the Euro currency scores badly as well at a rate of 19.5%.

The Netherlands at 4% and Austria at 5.4% seem to be the lands of the fortunate reporting the lowest figures.

(c) Iain Williamson 29.1.10

Out of Recession?

The UK economy has come out of recession, the last of the major economies so to do. Germany and France came out of recession last summer and the USA and Japan followed later in the year. Reversing the last six consecutive quarters of contraction - the worst record since measurement began in 1955 - figures of 0.1% growth in the last 3 months of 2009 were actually weaker than expected.

But there have been recent signs pointing to this. Last week we saw unemployment fall for the first time in 18 months.

How best to summarise this? I would suggest that we should be cautiously optimistic but would still expect 2010 to be a long and difficult year for the UK. Certainly we will see recovery but when you recognise that the pound is still struggling in the markets and the effects of quantitative easing are taken into account, as well as the other government economic and banking support to the country, it is clear that we still have a long way to go.

The fact that we have a General Election on the horizon (possibly 6th May) to look forward to does probably not help. All political parties to some degree or other are suggesting that we will see financial cuts in public sector eexpenditure. So, without trying to scaremonger, is this the spectre of job cuts in the public sector? The private sector took the hits during the last recession and maybe now it is the turn of the public sector.

I think we've got a long way to go yet before we can finally see a real upturn in production, job availabilty and some overall economic stability.

(c) Iain Williamson 26.1.10

Unemployment Rates

Well there is some good news on the employment front. Unexpectedly the number of people unemployed in the UK has fallen for the first time in 18 months. The Unemployment rate stands at 7.8%, down from 7.9% reported the previous month.

But that figure hides the fact that there has been an increase in people taking on part time work - the view being that it is better to be in some form of work rather than doing nothing at all. Another issue is that in the current climate there appears to be a willingness in the recession for workers to take a reduction in their pay and maybe even a reduction in working hours rather than lose their job completely.

Vacancies being advertised is up by more than 16000 in comparison to the previous 3 month period but even that is significantly down on the activity of a year ago.

So are we starting to see more green shoots of recovery. I certainly hope so.

(C) Iain Williamson 24.1.10

Interview Preparation - An Introduction

In the last few blogs I have been helping you to prepare your CV and getting it in the format that will provide the best opportunity for you to get an interview. There is no doubt that with the current ongoing recession and so many people being on the job market, either as a result of being out of work or the simple fact that they want to move on, it has never been more important to get that professional Curriculum Vitae which will generate interviews for you in the light of that heightened competition level.

So the CV gets you an interview - what do you do next? In this blog I will talk you through the thorough preparation you need to do to make sure that you can stand out from what is now a much smaller crowd - but it's still a crowd!!!

There are three stages for the interview process for you to contend with and prepare to deal with. These are simply as follows:-

Stage 1. Pre - interview
Stage 2. At interview, and
Stage 3. Post interview.

Each are vital for you because maybe even one lapse might be the point at which you lose that job offer. With each of the stages, you must learn and build for the next stage. Passing or crossing each of these hurdles means that you are closer to your wish of that "dream" job.

And you have to get over each of the hurdles if you are going to get the job offer and the new environment you crave.

I want to take you through each of these stages and help you as much as I can.

Of course, there is also the scenario whereby you may need to go through a series of interviews and maybe even attend an assessment centre. It doesn't sound easy, and it isn't, but with preparation you can make each of these stages as low stress for you as possible.

In the next blog, I will help you prepare for Stage 1 - Pre Interview. It will be full of invaluable tips and help for you to gather before you even get to meet the recruiter.

(c) Iain Williamson 24.1.10

CV MUSTS

If you've been following my blog you'll know what NOT to do with your CV. Now here are those MUSTS for your Curriculum Vitae that will give you the best chance to get that interview.

Of course, already you have noted the DONTS.

You make your CV different from the others by defining clearly what your achievements in your jobs have been. These are where you have added value to your employer and made that organisation operate more effectively and efficiently. They are much more powerful statements about you than just a list of your responsibilities in your job.

How do you create a statement on your CV that will develop into your achievement? Use the STAR process as follows:-

S - ituation
T - ask
A - ction
R - esult

Get figures in there, real quantifiables and outcomes - and write them and rewrite them and rewrite them. Think about examples of when you have completed a successful project. Have you ever been seconded into a role? Have you increased profits? Have you maximised turnover? Have you changed policies or procedures with positive outcomes? Have you been promoted? Have you received awards?

ACHIEVEMENTS, ACHIEVEMENTS, ACHIEVEMENTS. Get them written well and they will sell you to the reader and get you that interview.

You must write your CV grammatically correct with no spelling mistakes. No excuses nowadays with spellcheck on your PC.

Keep your CV to 2 pages, and certainly no more than 3.

You must cover your complete employment history for the last ten years at least. You don't need to have exact months of employment but at least the years. Be prepared to explain at interview the reason for any gaps.

Your CV is what gets you that interview so you must get it right. Otherwise you don't get the interview and don't get that job.

Getting somebody else to help you to write the CV is always a good idea. They can help you, or force you, to be more strict on your achievements and make them strong sellers for you. They can challenge you on the contents because you are probably too close to the information and detail to be over critical of what you have written about yourself. Us British are always loathe to talk openly about ourselves and putting it all down in a Curriculum Vitae is like the worst nightmare for us.

I have read and written many CV's in my time in the Human Resources profession and I'm always here to advise and help.

Next up we turn ourselves to that Job Interview process. The first part of that Blog will be online soon.

(c) Iain Williamson 16.1.10

CV DONT'S

In yesterday's blog, I impressed upon you how important your Curriculum Vitae is in your job search. It's your business card and your first point of contact with your potential new employer and so it has to get you that job interview. Without the job interview, you can't get the job!!!


Tomorrow I will tell you the best tips for writing a top-notch CV for yourself.


Today, I want to give you some advice on the don'ts of your CV. It's not just about the things you don't need to include but also about the content to avoid.


The biggest and most appropriate message is that whatever you write in your CV, it must be truthful and not lies. Lies will always catch you out in the end - so they are a definite NO NO.


Don't have an excessively long CV - try to get all the information you want to convey on to no more than 2 pages of A4. Anything more than that and you will risk the recruiter not wanting to read all your information and the risk then is that you go in the pile that is named "No interview".


Don't send a Curriculum Vitae with spelling mistakes. There is no excuse nowadays when you can spellcheck the document before you complete it. So even you do not need to be the best at spelling because your PC can do it for you.


Do not waste your time on fancy fonts or coloured paper UNLESS you're applying for a role that implies a bit of artistic ability. Play safe and use white paper and an acceptable type face such as Arial or Times New Roman. But don't make it too small a font that it is difficult to read!!!


Don't use your work email or telephone number as contact details. Your current employer might not be happy that you are leaving and then using their email system is not good business etiquette. Over and above that, what if your employer accesses your email for whatever reason and finds out that way. Embarrassment all round.


And, of course, if you urgently leave employment all your contacts and details are going to be delivered to a mailbox you no longer have access to. Think about it.


Don't put the names and addresses of Referees on the CV. You can give all that information at a later date when your new employer needs them.


Don't mention anything to do with your age, your state of health, your Religion or anything that potentially, however unlikely you might feel it would be, could leave a negative impact on the reader. Only have those details if the recruitment procedure asks for it. Clearly there would have to be legal reasons for the employer asking for such information at this stage of the process.


Don't mention reasons why you are leaving your current employer or have left previous employers. You can explain all of those reasons at interview. Telling them in advance could also be a reason for a recruiter to say no to interview.


Don't include a photograph of yourself in the CV, unless the recruiter specifically asks for it.


Don't have gaps of time in your CV. It is always something that arouses suspicion so if you do have to have gaps you should be prepared to answer why or what was happening during that period.


Don't make up information about periods of employment or employers. Remember most employers will check references and some particular roles will be subject to Criminal Record checks and maybe even financial probity checks.


I don't want you to get depressed reading all these DON'TS. Turn them into positives for your CV and add them to all the information in tomorrows blog and you will have the building blocks for an ace Curriculum Vitae.


So come back tomorrow for the latest instalment in preparing your CV.

(c) Iain Williamson 10.1.09

First Impressions

We all know the saying that first impressions count and that is equally true when you apply for a job. It is well recognised that recruiting managers familiarise themselves with a Curriculum Vitae and make decisions on it in less than 30 seconds.

So now you can see why it is important in your job search that you present yourself in the best light otherwise you won't even get past the first hurdle and be offered an interview. Your CV is your Business Card and is what lands in the recruiters inbox so you need to have it selling you with its powerful impact. It needs to make you stand out from the others and clearly highlight how you are better than the rest and are going to add value to the new organisation where you are going to work. And achievements, achievements, achievements.

Your CV is what creates the first impression of you for the recruiter so you need to show your professional gravitas instantly. You need to make it as attractive as you can for the recruiter.

So come back to the blog tomorrow for all those CV writing tips that you can't do without. This is the best place to get them and prepare yourself for the hard task of getting that dream job you want to get in 2010.

(c) Iain Williamson 9.1.10

Inclement Weather

Here we go again - Bad weather strikes!!! Britain grinds to a halt as the snow and freezing weather takes even more of a grip. Airports close down, motorways shut and other major and minor roads become impassible and the advice is to stay at home if you possibly can. Keep warm in front of the fire and stay safe.

But for a Human Resource Manager you know what the question will be - My staff can't get in to work today, what do I do?

There is no easy answer to that one and, inevitably, those who manage to get to work after trudging through the snow for hours on end, will see things differently from those employees who have not been able to get to work at all.

Many companies nowadays will have a policy on dealing with such matters but as always its better if you have some sort of policy in place to manage such situations. Then at least everybody will have some idea of where the goal posts are.

In simple legal terms, employees are obliged to turn up for work in terms of their contracts of employment. So even in extreme conditions you would be within your rights not to pay somebody who had not been able to come to work because of the conditions or public transport was off.

But doing this might have negative impacts on the workforce. This is all about employee engagement. Think of different ways of managing this - how about taking annual leave or using flexitime?, could the employee work the hours at a later date?, could the employee work from home? As a manager and an employee you have different viewpoints.

The "good news" for you as an employer is that your competitors are probably also struggling to get their staff to work so if you can gain any sort of advantage in getting staff to work in the office or the factory, or work from remote sites, you will see benefits later. You must avoid that unnecessary downtime.

A clear message is that there's no definite answer how to manage staff in circumstances like these. As you can see from the photo above, it has been snowing here overnight and it continues to snow as I write this in the afternoon.

(c) Iain Williamson 5.1.10

Economic News

It was the first day back at work after Christmas and New Year for many today unless you live in Scotland where it was an extra Bank Holiday - it takes us Scottish folk such a long time to celebrate and recover from New Year!!!

And there was good news for the rest of us. Assuming you can wait for it, there will be an extra Bank Holiday for us all in 2012. A special Bank Holiday has been announced for Monday 4th June 2012 to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the normal late Spring Bank Holiday will be delayed until Tuesday 5th June - so a 4 day long weekend.

The other good news on the financial markets front is that, on the first day of trading, rises were seen everywhere across the globe. The FTSE 100 Index hit a 16 month high and the German and French indexes closed ahead. In the US, the Dow Jones was up 1.3% on early trading whilst the Nikkei in Japan reached a 15 month high.

There has also been some positive economic date from Europe, China and the US to bolster the general mood. The UK saw its manufacturing pace of growth at its highest for two years and the Chinese manufacturing data grew by the largest amount for five years.

Nonetheless, it's not all good news. There's a possibility that the world's central banks might not feel the need to support the bank systems as strongly as they have done in recent times and we could see interest rates tighten with a knock on effect on stock markets.

(c) Iain Williamson 4.1.10

Resolutions

And so 2010 arrives and it's time for making resolutions for the coming year. Most people make them and by the end of January they have long forgotten what they had said they would stop doing or start doing!!!! And why does that happen? Because very often the target set is unrealistic and unachievable and so the decision, unaware as it might be, to discontinue the resolution is really likely to happen.

For 2010 though this is to be your year. So make resolutions that are achievable and realistic. That will ensure you keep your focus and manage the "difficult" times that lie ahead. Being strong and positive in the face of what appear to be troubled waters will help you and others around you; remember your wife, husband or partner wants you to succeed in all that you are trying to do.

Don't forget that you can share things with them. They can give you support and advice and help you through. Yes they might be biased - but they are good for you!!! They can help you disregard negative thoughts and show you and remind you that you are the best.

All of this advice is helpful too in terms of managing your work life. You must share your work life with your wife, husband or partner and not keep them separate from that. It is good for them to understand what is happening and be your shoulder of support.

Especially in times of recession and potential for job loss, you need somebody to remind you that you are not to blame for what is happening - and they will bring you back to reality when needed. And if you do lose your job, you will need their support in that job search.

I know that my wife, My Roxy, will always support me in everything I strive to do. She cajoles me, she gives me ideas, she suggests things, she is my major confidante. We all need one.

(c) Iain Williamson 2.1.10

Seasons Greetings

Folks it is 2010. The old decade is gone and the new year is here.

And this year I promise more updates and more detailed content for you in this blog.

I will keep you up to date with business and HR issues and cut straight to the important information for you. This blog will become your must read.

But for the first blog of the year, I want to tell you why the updates have been missing.


Well, on the 11th December 2009 I was busy getting married to Roxy - the first and only Mrs Williamson. We tied the knot at 11.00 (local time) in a very beautiful and special ceremony in Chisinau. She looked fantastic and for me is the best. She is fantastic.

And now, as well as business and HR issues, I will also look to publish on financial issues.

Best wishes to you and yours for 2010 and the new decade. Make this your year.

(C) Iain Williamson 1.1.10