One thing that will not have changed in the last 6 months is the need to make the most of advertising spend.  Recruitment is expensive however you do it.  Internal recruiters are a growing phenomenon, all are working hard trying to save companies money on their agency spend, build talent pools and pipelines and frantically engaging potential employees on social media sites.  However looking at the market rate for internal recruiters they are on hefty salaries (plus benefits, car  or allowance, 6 weeks holiday and private healthcare), and will need support from administrators, legal services, HR Managers, test facilitators, robust CRM software, reception services, significant office space for interviews and assessment centres (heating lighting and HASAW audits!)  - paid 12 months of the year regardless of how busy they are (or not)  and still may need to go to agencies for the tough to fill jobs in the end anyway.  I can't help but wonder if I have missed the point?

However the good news is that posting your food jobs, FMCG manufacturing jobs and all supporting roles related to food manufacturing , food service and hospitality  is still free on www.jobmax.co.uk  - as the saying goes, every little helps!

Well here we are again - February !! What happened to January?  what happened to the last 6 month of last year??.  Is it true time goes faster as you get older - or does it just fell like that.  Much has happened since the last post - mergers and acquisitions, sales, retrenching, "branding up" and down. The job market has been on a knife edge balancing a robust start to the year with the uncertainty of what is happening in Europe. Hold on tight - its going to be an exhilarating ride!

REC - drop in Jobless figures good news

Drop in jobless figures good news, says REC, but confirms two speed market is now in full swing

Released on 15 June 2011

Figures out today have shown another significant fall in the numbers of people out of work. In the three months to April, the total fell 88,000 to 2.43 million, the largest quarterly fall in unemployment for more than ten years, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The most marked fall has been in the number of young people out of work which has dropped 79,000 to 895,000, the lowest rate since April 2009.

Commenting on the figures, Kevin Green, the REC’s Chief Executive, said:

“The reduction in the number of unemployed people is to be welcomed especially among the young. However, this could be the lull before the storm as in the next three months tens of thousands will be leaving school, college or university, having completed their GCSEs, A-levels and degrees.”

The new figures show that those working in the public sector fell by 24,000 to 6.16 million during the quarter while those employed in the private sector increased by 104,000 to 23.08 million during the same quarter.
Kevin Green added:

“While the May Report on Jobs marked a slowing in the rate of growth, recruitment professionals continue to report that hiring activity is still strong in many sectors of the jobs market. Coupled with that, employer confidence is at a 12 month high as is consumer confidence so the jobs market outlook in the next few months is looking more positive than expected considering the UK’s anaemic economic growth"

“The figures also clearly demonstrate that the two speed jobs market we predicted is now in full swing. We remain confident that the private sector can absorb the fall-out from public sector cuts in the medium term.”

Credit - REC Website

Jobmax Food Careers: Google Page 1 - Food Jobs Board

Jobmax Food Careers: Google Page 1 - Food Jobs Board: "Jobmax has been making steady progress up the rankings over the last few months making in-roads on search terms and visitor numbers - and no..."

Google Page 1 - Engineering Job Board



For hundreds of Jobs in Enginering go to http://www.jobmax.co.uk/

 Engineers are in short supply and high demand - that is not new news. It means however that companies looking to attract engineering staff need to maximise the reach and effectiveness of their recruitment spend.  Jobmax has been on the march up the rankings for the last few months with unique visitors now exceeding 45,000 and listing at position 3 on page 1 of Google for Engineering jobs board.  Add to this the effective links now forged with our aggregator partners your job posting, which is still free, could reach an audience of around 60 million people.  Must be worth a go!  Registration is quick and easy - your jobs could be online in an instant.  Click here and start now!

REC News Report for May

View the Article: http://www.jobmax.co.uk/article/recnews-34.htm

Report on Jobs shows slowest growth of permanent and temporary staff appointments in seven months

Released on 8 June 2011

Latest data in Report on Jobs published today by the REC and KPMG signalled an easing in growth of staff appointments during May. Permanent placements and temp billings both rose at the weakest rates in seven months.

Growth of job vacancies moderated to a five-month low in May. Weaker rates of expansion were recorded for both permanent and temporary positions. 

Although permanent staff salaries continued to rise in May, the rate of inflation eased to a three-month low. Temporary staff pay increased at the weakest rate in the current four-month sequence of growth. 

Recruitment consultants signalled a modest improvement in the availability of staff to fill job vacancies during May. However, the rates of growth of both permanent and temporary candidate availability eased since the previous month.  

Kevin Green, the REC's Chief Executive, says:

"The latest data shows a worrying deceleration in the UK jobs market. Although the number of placements has continued to increase, the rate of expansion has hit a seven-month low. Private sector job creation has not hit the buffers but it is clearly slowing which heightens concerns over whether public sector job losses can be absorbed.

"There have been signs of increasing employer confidence in some sectors but economic growth remains too fragile to spark the real step-change that our jobs market needs. With consumer confidence at a low ebb, many individuals who would normally be looking to change jobs are staying put.

"The feedback from recruitment professionals confirms a real paradox in the current jobs market, namely, the ongoing challenge of finding suitable candidates in a number of sectors. With the Government's much discussed ‘Work Programme' formally getting underway this month, the question now is whether it will be able to deliver the training and guidance necessary to address the current disconnect between employer needs and  available candidates. Looking ahead, the mismatch between vacancies and skills available could hinder future growth."

Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG comments:

"The latest figures are worrying - because they reveal a marked slowdown of the UK jobs market. We'll need to see whether this is a trend or a blip. Employers across all sectors are becoming more cautious about hiring new staff.

"With businesses and consumers now being hit by higher taxes and fuel costs, public spending cuts and a continuing squeeze on real incomes - this is perhaps no surprise. The hope now is that growth in the UK will pick up later this year, led by a private sector recovery absorbing job losses in the public sector."

Report on Jobs provides the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market drawing from original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies.

Jobmax Engineer Careers: Hundreds of Engineering Jobs on Jobmax

Jobmax Engineer Careers: Hundreds of Engineering Jobs on Jobmax: "Jobmax may be a relatively new name to you - but it has actually been around on line since 2005, just being 'there' building up traffic unti..."

Food For thought - Working in NPD

View the Article: http://www.jobmax.co.uk/article/workinginnewproductdevelopment-33.htm

New Product Development (NPD) is the powerhouse of the food industry driving innovation of new products and leveraging value from the upgrading or repositioning of existing brands. In 2006 almost 105 new food and drink products were launched globally (Rowan 2007) - that equates to 300 for every day of the year - of those launched it is estimated that some 30 - 50,000 will succeed. (Brody and Lord 2000)

 

Developing a product normally happens in three phases:

• 1-Product Definition - Defining the strategic plan and market opportunity
• 2- Product Implementation - Developing the prototype, consumer testing, modification and factory trials
• 3 -Product Introduction - Product Launch

Basically it involves taking a concept (which could be developed from a client brief or from market analysis finding a gap in the market) from idea to reality. You could be working with new and exciting ingredients to invent new recipes, or reworking old recipes, for example, to reduce fats and sugars without losing taste and texture to appeal to changing consumer demand, or extend a product life by changing a flavour combination, for example putting toffee in jammy dodgers.

 

Typically there will be a large multi skilled team involved right from the development kitchens with development chefs, specification technologists, through sensory evaluation, microbiology, nutritional analysis and microbiology, process engineering, design and development of packaging all under the watchful eye of food safety and compliance.  Factory trials involve operations, logistics, procurement and planning, supply chain and quality control.  Marketing and sales develop marketing strategies and get the product in front of consumers, whilst the legal team look after compliance, regulations and copyright.

 

So an exciting, diverse job in a fast moving consumer driven business which demands creativity, customer facing skills, great written and spoken communication skills and the ability to work in teams across a range of departments in the business.  Other key skills needed to succeed include attention to detail, the ability to manage your time and meet deadlines, and to be able to solve problems.

 

Getting in to NPD could happen through moving from being a trained and experienced chef in hospitality into a development kitchen, but more likely following higher education (BSc Food Science, HNC / HND in Food Technology or similar) and 1 - 2 years experience in a food processing environment. 

 

Salaries for an NPD Technologist range from £17,000 - £25,000 depending on the role, the company and location.

 

Senior Technologists could expect £25000 - 33000k, NPD Managers £30,000 - £45,000k again depending on the scope of the role and size and location of the company.

Aubergine

View the Article: http://www.jobmax.co.uk/article/aubergine-32.htm

It's about 8 inches long, purple, bulbous and threatening. It comes on like a fruit, behaves like a vegetable but in real life it's a berry. Reputed to have caused an imam to faint (if only), it is a close relative of deadly nightshade , contains nicotinic alkaloids (I'm beginning to enjoy this) and despite its unfortunate connection with Gordon Ramsay (be still my beating heart) is loved the world over variously as the brinjal, egg-plant, guinea squash or as we call it down the road, aubergine.

I love it in dhansak or simply as a dry-ish bhaji, the subtle sour bitterness and the yielding yet coherent flesh partnering  the sweet slick of glossy tomato, with aromatic kasoori methi sounding the top note, smelling of tea dust. I love it in baba ganoush ( goes with almost anything), but most of all I love it in moussaka.

It's a paradox that until recently, despite having some of the loveliest raw ingredients in the whole of Europe, the majority of Greek cooking was so fundamentally flawed as to verge on the uneatable. I invariably lost weight during a visit to Greece, if not from the sheer awfulness of the cooking, then from the effects of the cooks' imaginative attitude to personal hygiene, and I suffered through many a moussaka, which if sufficiently wrung out, could have fuelled my hire car for the rest of the holiday. It does not have to be like this.

Why do we salt an aubergine? (If you don't, you should.) It's not to draw out the bitterness as the books may tell you - in any case, that's half the point - but, if the slices are then also lightly floured, it inhibits them from absorbing vast quantities of oil when fried on a moderate to high heat to form the first stage of a moussaka. What follows owes a heavy debt to Simon Hopkinson's recipe, to be found in The Prawn Cocktail Years (Macmillan, 1997), which contains in the course of many recipes not a single wasted or irrelevant word.

You will first have fried some seasoned minced lamb - beef is allowed (why ever not) and I am very fond of this heretical version - drained it in a colander of most of its fat and combined it with some onions and garlic lightly sweated, some red wine, some tomato purée, a pinch of cinnamon and some parsley, and cooked until well reduced - almost dry, in fact. Having made a good béchamel (this involves the heating and subsequent steeping of aromatics of your choice in the milk before cooking), added some Greek, not Danish, feta cheese - not a huge amount or it will become assertive and swaggery -  you can then layer up the moussaka in a nice earthenware dish, starting with the aubergines to cover the base, continuing with a layer of meat sauce, a second layer of aubergine and finally, the béchamel. Cook in a moderate to hot oven (190º ish) for around forty minutes, until it is brown, bubbling, crusted and delicious. This is good served with a few plain leaves, dressed with olive oil and lemon, and some Greek bread if you can get it - not the Cypriot flat stuff, but the proper psomi, nut-coloured crust, yellowy crumb, warm and smelling of summer days. You can get close by adding some semolina to your usual bread dough.

Our thanks to Nick Butters for his contribution:

Bio:

"I am a food lover which is a polite way of saying, a food obsessive. I recently returned to my beloved north-east after 25 years working away in London, at sea and in France. I've been cooking for the last 35 years or so and it has been my entertainment, my passion and my solace. Everywhere I go I hear the message that British food has never been more varied, more exciting or more delicious. So, if you are in food and think I can help you get your message across please take a look at the services page of my blog, http://www.creamandbacon.com/ , or write to me directly at nicholas.butters@yahoo.com "

Thinking of a career in food?

View the Article: http://www.jobmax.co.uk/article/thinkingofacareerinfood-30.htm

The food and drink industry is the largest of the manufacturing sectors accounting for 15% of total manufacturing overall, and has a total turnover of £70bn. The industry employsaround 500,000 people, which is about to 13% of the UK manufacturing workforce. Food and drink remains the biggest spending category. In 2005, consumer spending on food and drink was nearly £153.8bn, or 20% of total UK consumer expenditure

We are a nation of busy people and have a population going through changing trends including marrying later, higher divorce rates contributing to the increased number of  smaller families and single occupancy homes. Traditional mealtimes are largely a thing of the past with more women in the workforce impacting the way we eat.  The UK is by far the biggest consumer of ready meals compared to our European neighbours which keeps the manufacturing companies busy, with both manufacturers and supermarkets competing for our interest through constantly re-inventing and modifying prepared food to meet our changing food habits and taste. Through the recent recession food manufacturing, whilst affected of course by closures, restructuring and cost cutting, fared much better than other sectors because, after all, we all have to eat, and although our habits changed whilst reducing spending, (favouring the budget supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl and led to the introduction of budget lines - even in Waitrose!) demand changed surprisingly little overall.

So - Food is a massive part of the economy, a dynamic but mature sector that demands a wide range of skills, innovation and creative thought as well as business acumen in order to continue to lead the way. Food is a diverse sector, spawning a huge vertical market that is needed to support the transformation of an idea into a product, through manufacture, packaging, warehousing and distribution to supermarkets and wholesalers and consumers across the globe - driven by the commercial activities of Sales, Marketing, Finance, Business analysts, purchasing and procurement, not forgetting HR and the Talent managers who may well be looking for you!

A well written advert will save you time and money

View the Article: http://www.jobmax.co.uk/article/gettingthemostfromyouronlinejobadvertisements-29.htm

Getting the most from your on line job advertisements

Getting the best from your on line advertisement is all about how to get the applicants you want to find, select and open your advertisement from endless job listings - and then be interested enough to bother to apply (especially as these days application will typically involve a registration process)

Writing an effective online advertisement is not the same as writing an advert or creating a display ad for printed media. Newspapers and specialist publications that have a job section have to some extent a captive market, whether the avid job hunter or the casual browser they tend to see the title and job content in entirety at a glance. If it is a professional magazine that for marketing, engineering or the  IT sector for example, typically the audience for that advert would have already selected themselves in by choice so refining the search audience -specialist niche websites have the same effect. On the downside printed media charges more the more you write or the bigger your display, so getting a good descriptive ad in print media is still a costly business, whereas internet jobsites, including Jobmax, allow for more detail to be included allowing you (almost) limitless imagination to get your message across.

More detail means more sales opportunity for you to really promote the job - and also allows plenty of opportunity to include the keywords and phrases that will get your ad to the top of the listings - beginning with the title.

Start with a great tiltle

An effective title, apart from attracting the search engines, is the hook for the applicants you are hoping to catch.  For example compare "Team Leader" (which could apply right across industry and commerce and will get you hundreds of applicants mostly inappropriate) with "Team Leader (FMCG Food) London -£25k" or "Maintenance Engineer" with "Maintenance Engineer (Mechanical) Leeds-£35k.  Some sites do limit the length of the title string so discretion prevails - but always think like an applicant not a recruiter.  One point to remember is that job titles vary from company to company - so if the job title given is a bit off mark in common parlance change it to something that the applicants can relate to!

Starting the advert is always a challenge - consider the need to get the key words in as soon as possible in the opening to help with the listings whilst having an opening that will draw the candidate in further.  Avoid "my client" at this stage - it is a real turn off and does more harm than good. A brief summary to develop the title is good on all fronts.

The Company

If you are working on behalf of a Blue Chip company then say so.  If your client is an SME then find something positive about why they are recruiting (progressive, innovative, expanding, successful or similar) to engage the jobseeker early on in the process. If you are a Blue Chip then you r name reputation and brands will probably be sufficient to generate interest, and if you are a small company looking to attract the best staff to take your company forward you need to find a point of attraction a unique selling point that will speak to and appeal to the kind of person you want for your business.

The Job

This is the point to lay out the scope of the job and the context within the company - reporting lines, up and down, key areas of responsibility and expectations, challenges and demands of the job in question.  Some people find this easier to do in bullet points, but try to get the context and scope written in prose.  Again think of your target audience - accountants, technical and scientific people are typically less wordy and seek unembellished facts, where maybe HR would respond to a more detailed description.

Required skills

Details of education, courses and qualifications, certification, previous experience and knowledge base are all relevant here along with specifics of software, hardware, and professional accreditation

Soft skills

Include here things like communication skills, interpersonal skills, ability to work in a team, or lead a team, ability to develop relationships with internal and external clients, decision making prowess, business savvy, drive to succeed, willingness to travel, flexibility, dealing with change and so on.

Rewards and environment

Be accurate and honest - all overblown promises here will come back to bite you.  Include details of benefits and bonus opportunities, opportunity for progression, details of shift or working patterns. Work environment, (casual, formal, independently minded, team oriented) what the department is like to work in and any other relevant information

Summary and call to action

So may people miss this out - Ok so you have a decent ad now and an applicant has read to the end - then what?  Ok so you click the apply button - but you could be really excited and enthused by a brief summary and reason why you should apply with a brief carefully crafted personal invitation.

Manage applicant expectation - this IS a PR exercise

If you do not have the capacity to respond include the statement here about what the candidate can expect "if you have not heard in 7 working days...." Or "only successful applicants....." whatever the process state it here.  Lack of response is the biggest complaint - and not just the preserve of recruitment agencies

Free Advertising - Mad to miss it

Recent changes in legislation mean you no longer have to make the full declaration over the precise nature of your role in advertising a position - but that doesn't mean to say you should miss the opportunity to write a bit about your company or business.  Most Job Boards have good traffic and wide web coverage - you would be mad not to use it to get your name out there.

Key words

Some people add key words here.  Whilst it cannot do any harm I am not sure how much good they do in this location (i.e. at the bottom of the advert) other than being a chance to list all the variables on the job titles and sector.  (Most job sites will give you the opportunity to add key words when you upload your job - they are useful and should always be completed as they are used in the search process to match applicants.) Will it get your job further up the listings in a key word search? Probably not.  Will it get your job listed in an organic search on Google? Possibly, but probably not on the first few pages.

So in summary

• Start with a great title an open with an attention grabbing line.
  Remember to include the key words in the copy as high up the page as possible to ensure you get to the top of the listings
• Give as much detail as possible about the job so job seekers can make informed decisions about whether the job is for them, and screen out unsuitable candidates
• Better job copy will improve your cost and time to hire
• Write with passion and belief
• Think like an applicant
  

HAPPY POSTING!

Any Ideas?

View the Article: http://www.jobmax.co.uk/article/anyideas-28.htm

As with everything in life if you are not moving forward you are falling behind. Job boards are in a very competitive market - and their offering is adapting and changing constantly as technology allows and innovation dictates. But what do the customers want? - that's you! As a client would it help to have direct access training organisations or HR Consultancy, or business change experts or is it sufficient to have job postings and applicant tracking? And candidates, other than an opportunity to upload your CV, search for jobs, get headhunted and have access to some sound advice and guidance about CV's and interviews what else would you like to see? What have you found helpful - and what has become a distraction? As a business owner I am keen to ensure Jobmax remains not only fit for purpose but that it adds value where needed, delivering results for recruiters and candidates I have a long list of things I would like to do, and a whole shed load of ideas of what could be done - but what about you?

Review of "A life in the kitchen, by Michel Roux Jr"

A life in the kitchen, by Michel Roux Jr (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2009)

Probably the greatest disappointment of my life was the realisation that very clever people are not necessarily very likeable, that cleverness does not always, or even often, equate to goodness. That this is evidence of naiveté goes without saying, particularly now that in the age of continuous media it’s clear that some people have given up entirely on the effort of trying to be nice, even through gritted teeth. But it is problematic all the same: I’d rather cook from a book written by someone I warmed to than not – it’s simply human nature – and I’m just not sure about Mr Roux.

Take the name for starters. It’ s all very well saying that the “Jr” is to avoid confusion with the famous uncle, but come on, Michel, you’ve been round the block a bit: we know whose son you are and how old, we simply don’t need the american-style suffix. Do we really need to be told, reinforced with photographic evidence, that you have a job reference from the Elysée Palace, “glowing as you would expect!”? Let’s gloss kindly over the occasional bout of swivel eyes and get straight to the point: I hate, loathe, abhor and detest, in no particular order, the words “fine dining”. All food should be fine: if it is not, it should not be polluting our insides. “I have just eaten a really unfine burger” are words which, though undoubtably often true, would be superfluous. If you are not producing food which is fine then you have no business producing it at all, still less selling it. It is the attempt to set “fine dining” apart, to differentiate it from our ordinary experience, which is so galling, so insulting, reminiscent of “lifestyle apartment” (crumbling polish-built eyesore) or “business lounge” (not mine).

And yet.

I have to be clear here: this is not a book that has changed my life, like Simon Hopkinson’s “Roast Chicken and Other Stories” (Ebury, 1994) or simply enchanted me into another state of appreciation, like Rick Curry’s “The Secrets of Jesuit Soupmaking” (Penguin, 2002). But it is a book which has changed the way I cook. Thomas Carlyle’s often quoted remark, “genius is the infinite capacity for taking pains”, could have been written for this man. This is the evidence of a lifetime of taking pains, of trying, tasting, assessing, re-assessing, balancing flavours, adjusting techniques finely to the absolute degree, and then, (because he has truly, genuinely, understood them as only a genius can) putting them down in simple statements, easy to follow stages, the elegant logic of a great mind leading the cook inevitably to a perfect dish. He makes the complex understandable and the simple, achievable.

Here, with thanks to Orion Books for permission to quote, are some of his instructions for the cooking of an omelette (his words in italics): I use a cast iron omelette pan, 20cm across. Why? Cast iron transmits the heat more evenly than thinner, non-stick pans, anything bigger than 20cm would spread the omelette too thinly, causing it to overcook, anything less would squidge it up and you would end up with a semi-raw, liquid interior. Once the pan is hot, wipe it with a lightly oiled piece of cloth or absorbent paper. Why? Oil applied to a hot cast iron pan (or heated in it) will give the metal a non-stick quality. This means (if you want) that you can use less butter. Put a generous knob of butter into the pan and turn up the heat. Why turn up the heat at this point? Because the act of putting butter in the pan will have caused the temperature to drop. When the butter is foaming (note, not simply melted, which would cook the eggs at too low a temperature, making a rubbery omelette, or beyond the foaming stage, at which point it would burn, but simply foaming. The result is a light brown beurre noisette, delicious), pour in the eggs and cook for twenty seconds. This is the single most important of all the instructions, allowing the eggs to form a first layer at the base of the pan, giving coherence to the whole. I have never seen this in any other book. Using the back of a fork, scrape the sides towards the middle… Other writers will tell you to use a fork, not the back of a fork, but this is so vital – the back of a fork scrapes and moves, the tines scramble. Once the eggs are cooked but still runny, stop stirring and take off the heat. Such a simple thing to say, such a world of difference to the finished dish. Made this way, it will gently finish cooking as it is served, forming a soft, plump yellow pillow of perfect goodness.

It doesn’t stop there. A recipe for lettuce soup is as economical as it is elegant as it is delicious, a classic Salade Lyonnaise properly advises dandelion leaves and is balanced a few pages later by a modern, spicy, Salade Marocaine. The onions in Oeufs à la tripe are cooked until lightly browned and tender (who else would have thought tenderness so important? And have written it down?), then drained on kitchen paper. This last detail neatly averting greasy, slippery onions assaulting the nutmeg-scented, cheesy gratinéed eggs, instead lending discreet smooth sweetness to the finished dish. There are whimsical recipes (Lager and Lime sorbet) which just simply work, the odd nod to sustainability (Fried Pollack) and a complex, brilliant dish of hot foie gras with a duck pastilla and a sweet cinnamon- flavoured wine reduction.

There are a further 114 recipes, striated like seams of rare metals through the 300 odd pages of prose. This is a book so worthy of its author in its recipes, its formidable attention to detail and its approachability that it is almost priceless. That it is so descriptive of its author in other ways is, according to your point of view, a failing or a pleasure. Though disappointed by the ordinariness of genius, I shall treasure this book.

With thanks as ever to Nick Butters for his muse taken from creamandbacon.com

Any Ideas?

View the Article: http://www.jobmax.co.uk/article/anyideas-28.htm

As with everything in life if you are not moving forward you are falling behind. Job boards are in a very competitive market - and their offering is adapting and changing constantly as technology allows and innovation dictates. But what do the customers want? - that's you! As a client would it help to have direct access training organisations or HR Consultancy, or business change experts or is it sufficient to have job postings and applicant tracking? And candidates, other than an opportunity to upload your CV, search for jobs, get headhunted and have access to some sound advice and guidance about CV's and interviews what else would you like to see? What have you found helpful - and what has become a distraction? As a business owner I am keen to ensure Jobmax remains not only fit for purpose but that it adds value where needed, delivering results for recruiters and candidates I have a long list of things I would like to do, and a whole shed load of ideas of what could be done - but what about you? 

What a waste

So it's true, is it, that 50 odd per cent of people - of us - don't/can't/won't understand the words best before, sell by and use by? I can just about understand that some of us have trouble with the first - it does, after all, involve a superlative and an adverb and crucially has three syllables in all - but sell by and use by? The adverb preceded by a single-syllable imperative? It could not be simpler or it would be - in fact already is - reduced to the absurd. Do we who don't understand never log off, sit down, drink up, throw.....but something strikes me. These figures were generated by WRAP (no I'm not making this up), the The Waste and Resources Action Programme, who estimate that the average family wastes £680 a year as a result of the confusion. WRAP are to receive £174.8m from DEFRA over the next five years (that's after a 38% cut in budget) which is slightly more than a tenner for every family in the country.

Some very clever people work for the government, so I'm told, the sort who could get to the bottom of tricky phrases like use by and sell by in a flash. It's said they don't have too much trouble either with polysyllabic phrases like best before - after all, they've already plastered the country's streets with the legend "no entry". But I suppose they have to justify their position somehow.

An unworthy thought enters my mind. Jobs for the boys? No, too long, too many syl......ah, that's it: Free money. Single syllable adjective, two syllable noun. Can't be that hard.

Our thanks to Nick Butters for his contribution:

Bio:

"I am a food lover which is a polite way of saying, a food obsessive. I recently returned to my beloved north-east after 25 years working away in London, at sea and in France. I've been cooking for the last 35 years or so and it has been my entertainment, my passion and my solace. Everywhere I go I hear the message that British food has never been more varied, more exciting or more delicious. So, if you are in food and think I can help you get your message across please take a look at the services page of my blog, http://www.creamandbacon.com/, or write to me directly at nicholas.butters@yahoo.com "  

Social Media - Does anyone have time for their proper job?

Drowning in paperwork!

Life was so simple. Arrive at work with a to do list as long as your arm and no time to do anything.  Spend the next eight or ten hours juggling priorities, and hopefully score out some of those essential "must do's" before making for the exit, joining the throng of the homegoing population and flopping on the sofa to recover sufficiently to do it all again tomorrow.

Now whilst the list gets longer the social media world makes more demands  threatening oblivion if you don't join the virtual reality in the cloud!  So every half decent bit of news or trivia must be bloggd or tweeted or posted or linked or "shared" in someway (as though the rest of the population cares!) to make sure our website, our culture, our vision, our offering, our very business doesn't slide from view!

So although the to do list of real things to complete gets ever longer the demands of the virtual world clamour ever more loudly for attention - and they get it!

Follow our tweets if you care to - http://twitter.com/#!/newjobtweeter

Back to work!

Candidate Loyalty? - Let's be realistic!

I recently came across some marketing material put out by a specialist agency claiming the way they worked meant their candidates remained loyal, in as much as they "stayed with them".  That got me thinking.

Is loyalty linked to exclusivity?  Does a loyal candidate forsake all other (agencies or job sites) waiting by the phone for their chosen one to call?  My own thought is probably not for the vast majority of jobseekers.  The main and glaring exception to that may be a candidate created through a confidential approach by a headhunter where absolute discretion is essential to protect the candidate and their career and exclusivity is guaranteed.

At a time where recruiters are constantly lambasted for poor service levels (sometimes with good cause) it is a credit to anyone who can claim to retain their candidates (although in this instance the period in question is about 8 months since launch) and certainly best practice must always be recognised and encouraged.

Call me cynical but my feeling is that loyalty (as in forsaking all others) is a notion in recruitment that died in the recession of the early 90's when replaced by the "every man (and woman) for themselves" mentality.  Who can blame people when companies were discarding experience employees who had given many years "loyal" service, close to their clock and pension, and government, not at all empathetic to their plight, telling them that if they wanted to find another job they had better "get on their bike".  In those years the implied contract between employer and employee which historically went beyond the written contract changed, maybe for good.

That I believe was the catalyst of change that makes "loyalty" an outdated value in recruitment, sadly. We now teach our children to stand on their own two feet and "look after number 1 because no-one else will"

So, can candidates really be loyal - and should we even expect it?  If another agency calls and makes a good presentation which sounds like an ideal job are they going to say "not interested"? Really?  Add to that the fact that todays' jobseekers are internet savvy people capable of independent thought and action operating in a  market  bulging with job offers from competitors and corporates all making a bid for attention over literally hundreds of jobsites - including Jobmax

So, if you have treated your candidates with respect and supported them in their job transition offering appropriate and timely advice they will always take a call from you, and hopefully tell their friends what a great job you did.  But don't be blind to the fact that they probably have another couple of "favourites" that they like as much as you, and that their CV is on a handful of job boards - and someone else's database!

Jobmax - Supporting a full vertical market

The job board market is crammed full to bursting with sites offering a vast array of services and claims to dominate niche markets.  The food industry became a very popular market to be during the recession (after all we all have to eat - right?)

Food Manufacturing, Hospitality and Food Service is already well covered by some well known names who do a great job for recruiters and corporate talent spotters - so why add another?

Well Jobmax has been online since 2005. Originally launched as a manufacturing and engineering board the inclusion of food was a natural progression, especially in a time of skills shortage where synergies exist between food and other manufacturing sectors so making the talent pool larger. 

Some other boards in food restrict their attentions to the food specific technical roles - however Jobmax aims to provide a "one stop shop" for recruiters and companies - whatever a manufacturer needs - from the shop floor to the board room taking in technical, operations, sales and account management, supply and logistics, brand and marketing - all available form the one platform.  With perhaps the notable exception of the science and new product development specialists there is a great deal that can be shared across the sectors.  Lean and Continuous improvement  knowledge and experience from automotive, clean room and hygiene process from pharmaceutical, brand specialists from any FMCG may be just what you are looking for as a food manufacturer.  Support staff, finance, accounts, IT, supply chain specialists with the right skills may be outside food currently but have transferrable experience and expertise that will add value to a food company looking to attract the best talent.

So take another look at Jobmax - standard job posting is still free - and remember this is a site that will get better with use.  Want better response - post more jobs. More jobs means more traffic, more traffic means more applicants - and you only need one to fill that job!.

Jobmax  is teamed with Idibu, Jobmate and Logic Melon to make your job posting easier.

Over Egged

It was one of those chance encounters on the train. Bobbing along we were, mind on auto, what's for dinner tonight, ho hum, when bob BONK went the train as we hit a stone mislaid by a more than usually careless vandal: and there it was. Easter Eggs: Chocolate Gorge-Fest in large point print laid bare by the sudden movement of the carriage, Easter Egg Calorie Count for Children to reach 12,000. Crikey. It makes you think. And then a desperate attempt to stop thinking as the prospect of all those greasy calories gobbled and stuffed over a few days turns curiosity to motion sickness, to nausea.

It's too much. It must be, even the trade mag which reported it sounds worried. Quoted in the Daily Mail, Angus Kennedy, the editor of Kennedy's Confection Magazine, said: "It's worrying that children are being given so much high-calorie food. For many families, Easter has become nothing more than a chocolate-eating fest." Just to put that fest into perspective, 12,000 calories would buy you a whopping 14 plates of steak and chips at Wetherspoon's, (according to that excellent resource, fitnessvenues.com), or an extravagant 24 bacon double cheeseburgers at Burger King. It would fuel american olympic swimmer Michael Phelps for just one day, but then his day starts with an amazing three fried egg sandwiches, followed by a five egg omelette. These calories also helped him gain a staggering 14 olympic gold medals but don't try this at home.

Apparently, the average spend is around £24 per child. Now we all know how these figures get distorted, and there's a difference between average and mean, yawn yawn, and that they're very probably inflated by Mr Russian-Mafia-Don buying Mrs Russian-Mafia-Don an egg made from single growth 100% cocoa beans harvested on the international space station, wrapped in paper made from slivers of the true cross and containing the still beating heart of a dinosaur, but TWENTY FOUR QUID? I've just cooked four and a half pounds of 21-day aged grass-fed Aberdeen Angus topside (from the ever improving M&S), enough for a greedy gathering of eight, and that came to just £17, with plenty left over for roast potatoes, veg, gravy and lots of pudding.

And what if you have three children? That's more than a week's council house rent in Bolton, so hard luck if you live in Greater Manchester and have a tendency to be polyphiloprogenitive, that's all I can say.

Is there a way out? It depends on how much we follow our peers, I guess, and a little on what paper you read, but a couple of chocolate bunnies and a turn or two round a chinese buffet comes in well under budget, as would a few creme eggs (delicious horridness!) and a trip to the cinema. Or 48 copies of the Daily Mail which would keep your imagination exercised well into June, and not a calorie among them.

This topical seasonal muse courtesy of Nick Butters, our resident commentator on the world of all things foodie.

• Bio

"I am a food lover which is a polite way of saying, a food obsessive. I recently returned to my beloved north-east after 25 years working away in London, at sea and in France. I've been cooking for the last 35 years or so and it has been my entertainment, my passion and my solace. Everywhere I go I hear the message that British food has never been more varied, more exciting or more delicious. So, if you are in food and think I can help you get your message across please take a look at the services page of my blog, http://www.creamandbacon.com/ , or write to me directly at nicholas.butters@yahoo.com " 

Thoughts and muses of a food lover

Every one is busy these days - including me - so whilst the intention is always to add new and sparkling comment on all things foodie just sometimes the practicality of actually having to do some real work as opposed to the rather delightful interaction with others via "Social Media" takes priority.

Imagine then my joy at finding someone in my network who is not only a passionate foodie but also launching a business writing about food.  Result!!  May I introduce Nick Butters (www.creamandbacon.com) who has just returned "home" to the North East of England from the gastronomic heart of Europe (so they would have us believe) to get down and dirty with all that is great about British Food along with a light hearted look at memories, wonderings and ponderings - in fact any excuse to write about food.   His first contribution can be found in Food Matters

Thanks Nick - we look forward to the next!

Great Value Job Posting

Jobmax has been on line since 2005. In 2010 it had a major facelift and complete redesign to take advantage of all the new technology - and at the same time partnered with some major players to make sure our clients were getting their jobs seen by the widest possible auduience. We also hooked up with some multi posting tools.

Post your job on Jobmax and a number of things happen.  Firstly the site automatically turns it into a Google page  complete with titles and Meta tags- so as long as you have written a well constructed advert with plenty of relevant keywords it will show up on natural listings for your search terms in the search engine,
Secondly almost all the major aggregator boards now get our jobs - sites like Workhound, Trovit, Job is Job, Job Rapido, Mitula, Yakaz, Indeed all spider the site or take a direct feed of everything you post.

In an attempt to make life easier for busy recruiters we also hooked up with multiposting tools - Idibu, Jobmate and Logic Melon - Broadbean is a work in progress!

There are plent of Free posting opportunities - but Jobmax is the only specialist site.  Last month there were 628 top 20 listing in the key food related search terms for Jobmax. - It is doing well - but as the teacher said "could do better"!!

More jobs posted means more visitors to the site, more applicants, better results - everyones a winner! Get posting and make the most of this fantastic offer!!!

Make Sure your CV gets seen for the right reasons

CV's!!! - All sorts - Long ones, like War & Peace, short ones that barely hint at the skills that lie beneath the headings, multi coloured paper or printing (yellow is a terrible colour - don't use it - or red!!) photocopies (yes - still!) those with coffee stains or the greasy remnants of breakfast, those that are emailed in obscure formats, or password protected or in a locked  .PDF.

The average recruiter (internal  or external) will spend a matter of seconds scanning your most precious of documents on which your next career move, dreams aspiration and ambitions  ( not to mention financial security, family life, mortgage payments, food on the table, job satisfaction et al) depends - do yourself a favour and make it easy for them.

• So - unless you are a graphic designer going for a graphic design job keep it clear - straightforward easy to read fonts in black on a light background.
• Make sure it is obvious as soon as possible in the document that you have the skills and experience needed in the job you have applied for - and if you are hoping to use transferable skills make that clear too. That can be done in a short punchy introduction - a profile which outlines your key skills and attributes,  and what you are hoping to achieve with your next move
• Use bullet points where possible - please avoid writing lengthy narrative - you will lose the interest of the recruiters who will most certainly initially be scanning rather than reading the document.
• Give examples of achievements that make you stand out from the crowd
• Keep it as short as you can - 2 sides of A4 is ideal, but if you really cannot do justice to your career in that just keep it as succinct as possible
• As proud as you are of your family and pets please resist the temptation to name them and their hobbies
• Most recruiters use databases which can "read" CV's and automatically upload them - so again make it easy for them by emailing your application rather than posting it, ideally in Word (without password protection) - and avoid PDF's - Your CV will need to be altered to add logo's and remove your personal details, before sending to a client so again make it easy for the recruiters - they are, or should be on your side.
• Please apply for something you can actually do.  However ambitious you are if you have been a school dinner lady (and they do a fantastic job I am not being critical) it might take more than a leap of faith and an evening class to make the next move a senior management role. or avionics technician. Be realistic - ask the recruitment consultant you are dealing with for advice.  If you are using a job board let reason be your guide.

This is  little tongue in cheek  I accept - however the points are salient - The CV is your sales document - it needs to open doors for you in your absence.  It needs to be accurate (you will have to explain it) and complete (a gap will arouse suspicion so best account for it upfront)

There are many CV experts in the UK who will for a fee critique and redesign your CV to help you get the job you want.  Jobmax partners with Fuller CV who will give you a free appraisal of your CV, after which services are charged for.  details are here : http://www.jobmax.co.uk/content/your-cv-41425.htm

Where are all the Electrical Engineers?

I know there is a skills shortage but this is ridiculous!! Where are you all? Electrical Engineers with controls experience in particular are like gold dust it seems. The hunt for talent goes on!

What's wrong with FREE jobsites?

There has been a spate of "on line industry experts"  denigrating job boards that offer a free option.  It undervalues the industry they claim.  I wonder what Reed would say to that, having spent the vast majority of it's existence as a free site, now reportedly the UK's most popular site, and certainly offering a service of considerable value?  Do these people not then take advantage of BOGOF or other  free offers in the supermarkets, seeking out the most expensive item on principle? I bet not!

Have you visited Jobmax.co.uk?

Jobmax.co.uk is still free to use - visit http://www.jobmax.co.uk/ and sign up for a free account

Press Release for Jobmax hits wires

May 18, 2010 – www.jobmax.co.uk was originally created during 2005 as a jobs board system covering the East of England. This upgrade is the third upgrade to this website and the most comprehensive. Over the years, due to the various upgrades and marketing, the website has built a strong following and has performed very well in search engine listings for certain key phrases. This latest upgrade has include a re-design and the addition of many new SEO features. The client and candidate admin areas have been completely upgraded. The website now also links with a number of social media websites.

Jobmax is the "One Stop Shop" for Manufacturing, FMCG, FMCG Food and associated sectors including Retail, Food Service and Hospitality. From the shop floor to the board room, from innovation to the consumer, across all departments - Operations, R&D, Production, Engineering, Supply Chain, Warehousing and Logistics, Finance, Sales, Marketing & Brand, Executive Commercial Roles and Customer Service, We hope we have everything covered - but let us know if we have missed something.

Job Posting is still FREE

Jobmax has gone through a major transformation - one thing remains the same - job posting is still FREE

The Vertical Market - Vertigo sufferers beware!

With our new smart site now up and running I thought I would explaing a little about my ideal of the vertical market chosen for the site. In a nutshell it comes from taking a slice through the centre of a manufacturing company and seeing what's there - from the shop floor to the board room, taking in NPD, Process, Quality, Hygiene, Sales & Account Management, Marketing PR, Communications, Brand Management, Finance & Accounts, Customer Service, Engineering, Design, Continuous Improvement, & Lean Manufacturing, Health & Safety, Facilities, Purchasing & Procurement, Production, Planning, Logistics & Supply Chain - from the raw materials to the consumer. It's a tall order - dont look down!

Jobmax.co.uk - New Site now On-line

After months in development Jobmax finally launches on 14 May 2010. Developed by Zero -One design it benefits from their many years of experience in website design, delivering a highly optimised and optimisable site that will work well with the search engines to secure top rankings. Originally launched in 2005 as a specialist FMCG jobs board Jobmax lapsed into generalist use, mainly due to the fact it was free to post jobs. With the re-launch comes a re-focus and return to the original remit - Manufacturing - FMCG Food and Non food Manufacturing - supporting and allied sectors including food service, retail and hospitality.

Basic job posting remain free to use - take a look - www.jobmax.co.uk