About: Ridda Michail
Ridda is a Principal Recruitment consultant and works as part of our London office team. He has over 9 years experience in supplying Commercial Management & Quantity Surveying professionals to work on projects throughout the UK.
Posts by Ridda Michail:
London Olympics 2012: Chartered surveyors and the Olympics (video)
21 Mar 2012
I am very much looking forward to the London 2012 Olympics. We have supplied many professionals to consultancies, contractors and sub-contractors that have gone onto working on Olympic projects, including Quantity Surveyors, Commercial Managers, Estimators, Planners, Project Controllers, Design Managers and Design Engineers.
I found this interesting video by RICS, in which it looks at the London 2012 Olympics and the role that chartered surveyors have played.
Have you worked on an Olympic project yourself? If so, we’d love to hear your thoughts…
Why a become a RICS member? (video)
7 Mar 2012
Qualifications cannot be underestimated and many clients of ours look for their quantity surveyors or commerical managers to be RICS members or MRICS. Here is a short video we found by RICS themselves aptly titled: Why a become a RICS member? Read the rest of this entry »
Employees talk back
17 Aug 2011
One of the benefits of working for a recruitment company is being able to tap into a major source of information…our database! 
Project Resource recently launched its first survey, going out to over 45,000 people that included those registered with us as job seekers and hiring managers. We wanted our first survey to capture opinions of how people felt about the organisations they worked for. Questions included “what characteristics do you look for in a employer?”, “why did you leave your last employer?”, “how did you find your most recent job?”. Well now the results are in; and we have made a report based on the results and feedback we recieved. With nearly 1000 people responding we are confident that we have uncovered some true patterns and trends; with the majority of participants also willing to give their pennies worth in views.
Many of the results were unsurprising, with “salary”, “job security” and “people”’ being the most important things people look for from a company. The top reason why professionals left their last employer wasn’t much of a shock either with “being made redundant” clearly ahead.
Some results and comments did raise eyebrows, including the number of people who found a position through an agency at nearly 50%.
The most opinionated feedback was probably from asking people who they would “not” want to work for and why? Although there were a number of companies named people also took the opportunity to describe a profile of a company rather than “name and shame” them or an industry sector. What was most interesting is the number of people that didn’t want to work for large organisations. Common reasons included “lack of job security”, “treated like a number” and “ruthless with redundancies”. This illustrates a clear change of feeling in market post recession, as previously they were often considered to be more high profile, with better promotion prospects and structured training. A lot of these benefits are still available to candidates with companies that turnover in excess of £500m but what has been very apparent is working for a big player doesn’t mean you are safe, with a number of major companies making the largest redundancies in order to survive the recession. If you have any questions about this report or would like Project Resource to sponsor a survey on your behalf please contact me on 01189 522240 or ridda.m@project-resource.co.uk or Claire Prince c.prince@project-resource.co.uk on the same number.
Join us on 7 April 2011 for our FREE Breakfast Seminar!
22 Mar 2011
At Project Resource our goal has always been to assist in attracting and retaining the very best employees and contract workers for our client’s business. We strive to be a true business partner and in line with this philosophy we will be hosting a series of FREE Breakfast Seminars around the UK in 2011 where we will be organising guest speakers that we know will add value to you and your business.
We are delighted to announce that the first of these breakfast seminars will be hosted at 08:00 on Thursday 7th April 2011 at the luxurious Forbury Hotel in Reading. As well as some great food and networking opportunities we are also proud to welcome Nicky Coffin, who will be speaking about ‘how to spot a top performer by their values’ a vital area for any HR professional or manager.
How a good recruitment company can help employers with ‘poor hiring decisions’.
18 Oct 2010
Like it or not we are in an era of uncertainty and many businesses are more nervous than ever about making business decisions regarding recruitment. Recruitment, especially within SMEs, can be business critical. Once the decision is made to hire, having a process to get the right person is paramount.
According to a recent article I read on onrec, the overall cost to an employer of hiring a new employee can be up to one-third of a departing employee’s annuals salary. Therefore an investment to avoid this happening in the first place is both cost and time effective. It is worth noting that up to 80% of staff turnover is due to poor hiring decisions. This statistic should drive employers to invest energy and time to avoid this happening in the first place; and this is where a good recruitment company comes into place.
A good recruitment company like Project Resource can help an employer by putting in measures to avoid a poor hire.
Examples of such measures include:
- Consultative advice: A good recruitment company/consultant will make sure they listen to all parties, they offer advice and manage the process efficiently to all parties satisfaction.
- Reference checking: Sounds obvious, however, there are still many hiring managers who are gung ho enough to make a hire without taking references. We take references where possible, so you have assurances that we are presenting the best available job seekers.
- Relationships between the job seeker and recruitment consultant: Recruitment consultants who have worked for a number of years in specialist sectors recommend job seekers that they trust and who are proven.
- Relationships between the employer and the recruitment consultant: Time can be a major asset to help a recruitment consultant really get to know the employer and what is important to them.
- Loyalty: A good recruitment consultant will understand why a job seeker moves from job to job.
- Motivations: Is the job seeker looking for the ‘right’ reasons. A good recruitment consultant can establish if the job seeker is genuine or if they are telling them what they want to hear.
- Culture: Researching and understanding the people of a company is important if a recruitment consultant wants to know what type of person to introduce to an employer. Many employees leave in the first few weeks simply due to a personality or culture clash.
- Temp to Perm: A term used often when an employer wants to ‘trial’ a job seeker on a contract arrangement prior to commiting to offering a permanent contract.
Ultimately these measures are difficult to apply for most employers without the help of a specialist recruitment company. We recruit, vet, reference check, qualify and challenge every day to ensure we delivery the highest quality of supply and customer service possible. This allows the employers we supply to focus on their jobs.
Your current job: should you stay or should you go?
6 Jul 2010
When many job seekers are out of work, getting back into employment is the main goal, let alone what career progression they get from their next employer. However, your career progression and where new job may take you should always be high on the agenda regardless of whether you are in employment or not.
Ultimately we are at work most of our lives, so what we do, the job satisfaction you get and where you are going are all important points to think about. For those in work you may be reading this because you’re asking yourself “is the grass greener elsewhere”.
All recruitment consultants work in slightly different ways, but the most obvious question you will be asked is “why are you looking to move?” A good recruitment consultant will try and understand your reasons for seeking a new job and make sure that you are making thoughtful reasons behind your motivation to make that next move. Is it the right time to make a career move? Ask yourself the following:
- Do I enjoy what I do? Is it challenging enough? Is it too stressful?
- Can I achieve my goals with my current employer? Do they have the support structure and training that I need, extra qualifications I want to gain?
- Do I get recognized for the work I put in? Do I feel valued with in my team/company?
- Do I feel like I fit into the culture? Do I get on with my colleagues?
- Do I feel that I’m getting paid enough? How do I compare to my peers internally/ externally? What benefits do I have and feel I should have?
- Am I happy with the amount of time I travel and the hours I work?
- Do I agree with the direction my employer wants to go in?
- Can I get the promotions I want for my career?
- Do I like the working environment?
Mark the questions above in order, from top to bottom, top being the most important, bottom being least and then mark each one from Yes, No or Sometimes. This can give you an idea whether you think you need to “bite the bullet” and start looking for a new position or to help you realise it’s not so bad with your current employer after all. Don’t be too hasty to start applying to jobs even if you are answering more “no’s” than “yes’s”, after all, have you spoken to your current employer about these points and how you are feeling. Most employers in an interview will want to understand your motives of wanting to leave your current employer and if they feel that you haven’t tried to sort out your problems with your current employer this may count against you. After all they wouldn’t want to lose you at the first sign of trouble, because you didn’t communicate effectively or weren’t patient enough to give them a chance.
Ultimately the decisions are for you to make, but life is too short to wait for things to happen, be fair to your employer, but know when enough is enough and its time to move on.
Our website has more career advice. Until next time.
A winning team mentality goes a long way…
7 May 2010
I’m proud to announce that Project Resource got to the finals of the National Recruitment Agency five-a-side football championships (yes it does exist!). Regrettably we lost in the finals on penalties (obviously), but not a bad effort for a team that had not played together previously. We only entered the tournament a few days before the big event, so our team preparation consisted of a 5 minute “keepy uppy” session just before our first game. Sure enough I joked before kick off that I would be keen to get back home to watch Britain’s Got Talent on the telly, so getting knocked out early wasn’t such a bad thing.
However, as soon as the first whistle blew, we all immediately had a desire to win and I wasn’t the only one. There was an enthusiastic feeling among us of wanting to beat every team. By game three we were well into the swing of things and our confidence grew with each game after that.
What made the whole experience more rewarding was that we didn’t have the best or most skilful players, but our competitive nature and team ethic took us all the way to the final.
How we got all the way to the final was a reminder of what traits Project Resource look for in a good recruitment consultant. These include:
- Passionate
- Competitive
- Good team work ethic
- Tenacious
- Spirited
- Hard working
- Goal orientated
Don’t get me wrong these personality traits are hard to find, especially to attain people who “walk the walk” and don’t just “talk the talk”. We put a lot of effort and time into a rigorous internal recruitment process to find only the best people to work for us. The result is a loyal, motivated work force which leads to positive results.
You can probably understand recruiting such people creates a positive working environment for all including myself. It may sound cheesy, but I like coming to work because I’m surrounded by like minded people who have a desire to succeed for themselves and for the company.
As you can tell I feel a lot more confident about our next major sporty event…National Recruitment Agency Welly Throwing Championships, here we come!
“We need a good experienced Quantity Surveyor!”
24 Mar 2010
Although the last few years have been tough on everyone connected the Quantity Surveying profession, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
In the last 4-6 weeks we have had clear commitment to recruit from some of the key Quantity Surveying consultancies for the first time in many months. Better still we are confident that this isn’t just a small blip of activity, but hopefully the start of a slow and steady upward trend of recruitment of Quantity Surveyors. A common order of growth for their business plans includes prioritising recruiting experience at the Senior Quantity Surveyor level or Associate Director level.
However, it takes two to party and many Quantity Surveyors are hesitant to make a career move, believing the mantra “better the devil you know” in times of trouble. For the employers we supply there are real opportunities for experienced Quantity Surveyors to take these jobs seriously…after all it’s a brave decision to even think about recruiting after such a tough 24 months.
A lot of the employers we supply have rebranded, restructured and now have clear and defined career paths on offer. So the question is “are we at beginning of the end” of a recruitment freeze among the cost consultancies…for everyone’s sake lets hope so.
What are your experiences and thoughts on this?
Do extra qualifications make a difference in the current job market?
22 Feb 2010
Many of the job seekers we speak to ask for our advice on self investment & are extra memberships or qualifications on their CV worth the time & cost; our response is dependant on the job seeker we speak to. We could simply state “yes of course it is worth it”, as our clients are becoming more selective, however, there are clients who value experience more highly & will look past qualifications to make their decision. It goes with saying that the timing & relevance of getting extra qualification is vital to quantify the risk of time & cost.
Ask yourself: what qualifications are needed for the jobs I am applying?
If you fit 80% of the job criteria, but are missing out because of your academic qualifications it is clearly worth you investment. Employers will challenge your motives for choosing any recent courses, qualifications, memberships; they will want to understand does your career aspirations fit in with theirs.
Remember you still need to have the relevant experience, so be careful not invest your hard earned time & money, if you only have the badge & not the experience.
Business Improvement
11 Feb 2010
For us the recession wasn’t the doom and gloom topic that many felt, don’t get me wrong we were’nt celebrating it either! But for us it was an opportunity to look internally wat what we were doing, where we were, how we were percieved, how we could improve. The chance to reflect in any business is vital and the recession was a chance for us to put our thinking caps on.For us the recession wasn’t the doom and gloom topic that many felt, don’t get me wrong we were’nt celebrating it either! But for us it was an opportunity to look internally wat what we were doing, where we were, how we were percieved, how we could improve. The chance to reflect in any business is vital and the recession was a chance for us to put our thinking caps on.
We brought up questions like; are we making the most of the employers we deal with? What else can we offer our customers? How can we improve our service? How can we make customers believe in the value we can bring to them? Does our brand reflect our values and principles? How do we diversify? Do we diversify? How do expand our reach to new customers? How do we help our internal team improve? We have answered these questions, some of those answers have meant you can see immediate changes, some more gradual, such as: we now have a dedicated Client Service Manager; our service offering is clearer and more diverse; we have rebranded; we have developed our database to be more effective; launched a new website and blog and the list goes on. All this within the last 12 months…phew! Moving forwards we are more prepared than ever to be the best recruiter, we have structured ourselves ready more growth.
What we have not changed during this trying economic time? The Quality. Recruitment is a people business and from day one quality has always been our main value; all the rebranding, restructuring, client services manager, new website, new database, etc., have all helped, but these had little to do with what got us to here today. Quality got us this far and quality will take us through another 8 years of success. Although I look forward to 2010 no one can predict 100% what the next 12 months will bring, however, we do know that if Project Resource sticks to our high standards and professional values, then our existing and new customers will have a successful time with us.
Until next time, Ridda.
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