Reaching out in a really personal manner demonstrates that you’re willing to go out of your way to get their attention.

An article in Business Insider cites the case of video game company Red 5 Studios, who handpicked 100 ideal candidates and got to “know” them by researching their social media profiles and past work. The startup then sent each one a personalized iPod equipped with a welcome from the CEO. “The flattery paid off: More than 90 recipients responded to the pitch, three left their jobs to come on board, and many more potential hires discovered the company through the word-of-mouth buzz generated by the search.”

Now maybe this was a bit out there, but that’s the point.  In the noisy world we live in today, different gets you noticed.

I’m not advocating you do this, but it makes you think, and that’s my point.

I recently spent a day on my own in Santa Monica, USA, which was nice, but I was on my own and waiting for the British Consulate to open (lost passport), which was not.  As I was waiting for the plane at Los Angeles Airport I had time to think about how I and our team could be more productive.  What is actually important to our professional careers, including my own, and what activities make us busy fools?  Maybe these thoughts might help you too.  Let me have your thoughts…

1. Stop being a slave to your email.

It astounds me why so many people look at their phones and emails all the time.  How do they achieve anything?  Every productivity expert in the world will tell you to check email at periodic intervals, rather than clicking “refresh” like a Pavlovian dog.  I check my work emails 3-4 times a day at the most, home emails once a week.  Remember, if the email is urgent, the person will probably call you.

2. Pointless stress.

Prior to Christmas I had a conversation with a friend who could not meet up because they had so much to do.  This was causing them obvious stress!”   I took a moment to talk with them and got them to list all the things they wanted to achieve that day/ week/ month and year (this took about 10 minutes).  Then we established if the daily and all other goals was achievable, which they were.  Once this was written down for my friend, they had more focus, less stress and clear direction.  We met up a few days later for a beer, and they were calm and relaxed.  It is amazing how worked up we can make ourselves sometimes.

On another note, if you want to connect to friends, family or customers, do something unusual:

• get in touch at a different time of year
• give your contacts a personal call
• meet up face-to-face

3. Reading pointless or annoying things.

I receive 100+ work emails per day, 10 person emails, several Facebook updates, several LinkedIn requests, 10+ Twitter follows, 8 RSS updates.  Per month I receive 6 magazine subscriptions.  I have to manage my time correctly, as “there is never enough time in the day”.

What I have done in 2012 is to cancel 2 subscriptions where the content really is rarely relevant, I have also removed two RSS feeds, given I rarely find the content relevant or compelling.  I have also sent all irrelevant emails to my blocked senders list, so I will no longer receive them. What subscriptions or efficiency refinement can you make?

4. Pointless work.

We won a very large tender last year.  We gave everything to the account, even hiring a dedicated team member to manage and develop for this client.  After 9 months we decided that this massive client was not viable, given the antiquated processes, ridiculous reporting mechanisms, low reimbursement rates and administrative complexities that sucked the joy and profit out of the work.  We took the right commercial decision to stop working with them. The reality was not as good as the fantasy.

Choose your battles carefully.  Understand what you want to get from the relationship/ activity and make sure anyone else involved is clear and agrees the goal can be achieved.

5. KISS (Keep things simple stupid)

Why so many people make things more complicated than they need to be is a little beyond me. If your customers do not want what you are selling, stop selling it.  What do your customers really want? Get feedback regularly to ensure you’re not wasting your time. What ideas should you test before you’ve gone too far?

Conclusion

To make a noticeable difference you have to instigate a change and believe in seeing it through.  If you ensure you have a Positive Mental Attitude then anything can be achieved.

Through the changes I will be making in 2012, I plan to become more focused and efficient and, most importantly, save many hours which I can spend expanding our business, with the family or doing things that matter to Bill.  What are you going to do to make a change?

A creative agency came up with idea of inserting career instructions placed inside all the famous IKEA flat packs. Customers literally delivered the mailer to themselves. They could then also pass it on to friends and family.

Not only did it talk directly to those who love the brand, it created a whole new media channel – the flat packs themselves.

Most importantly, this marketing exercise resulted in 4285 applications, 280 hires, with negligible spend. Nice work Ikea. Enjoy the video.

In summary, Barclays Capital state there is an “unhealthy correlation” between the building of skyscrapers and subsequent financial crashes.  For example, the Empire State building, built as the Great Depression was under way, and the current world’s tallest, the Burj Khalifa (below), built just before Dubai almost went bust.

China is currently the biggest builder of skyscrapers and India has 14 skyscrapers under construction.  “Often the world’s tallest buildings are simply the edifice of a broader skyscraper building boom, reflecting a widespread misallocation of capital and an impending economic correction,” Barclays Capital analysts said.

The bank noted that the world’s first skyscraper, the Equitable Life building in New York, was completed in 1873 and coincided with a five-year recession. It was demolished in 1912.

Other examples include Chicago’s Willis Tower (which was formerly known as the Sears Tower) in 1974, just as there was an oil shock and the US dollar’s peg to gold was abandoned.

And Malaysia’s Petronas Towers in 1997, which coincided with the Asian financial crisis.

The findings might be a concern for Londoners, who are currently seeing the construction of what will be Western Europe’s tallest building, the Shard, which will be 1,017ft (310m) tall on completion.

Personally I love these buildings as they demonstrate the ingenuity of our species and with an ever-growing population throughout the world we are going to need taller buildings of that there is no doubt.  So in summary they are good for us as well as bad…

David Davies, of umbrella company Bar 2, was kind enough to supply this guide to tax returns for contractors.

It is normally about this time of year when we start to get a number of enquiries from employees who are worried about completing their self-assessment tax returns.

The first thing to consider is which method of payment you have been using?

If you are using the Umbrella service, then you are an employee of the umbrella company. As such, all the necessary income tax and National Insurance would have been deducted at the time when your payment was processed, however, if you have been sent a self-assessment tax return you will still need to complete it. On the other hand, if you have been paid via CIS, then you are a self-employed individual and as such you have a legal obligation to complete a self-assessment return and if you haven’t received one you need to call HMRC and request that they send you one.

Umbrella employees

Ordinarily, as an employee, you should not receive a request from HMRC to complete a self-assessment and there should be no need to complete a return if you have worked exclusively through one umbrella company this tax year.  If you have received one and the Umbrella Income was your only income you can request that HMRC remove you from the self-assessment system. Because all legitimate umbrellas are based on the PAYE system, all necessary tax and NI deductions should have been made from every payment processed on your behalf, and these deductions have been calculated on the basis of the tax code you have provided via a P45 from your previous employer, or a P46 form if one has not been issued.

The situation becomes slightly more complicated if you have additional income from another source, for example you also run your own business; do some work on a self-employed basis; have income from property or investments etc.  In such cases, a self-assessment return may need to be completed and any earnings that an umbrella have processed on your behalf should be recorded on a supplementary employment page. You should refer to HMRC’s guide How to fill in your tax return for more details.

When you complete the supplementary “Employment” page, you simply need to detail your gross earnings and tax deducted by your umbrella for the relevant tax year. If your employment with the Umbrella company ended before 5^th April 2011, these figures can be obtained from the P45 issued to you. If you were still employed by the Umbrella company on 5^th April 2011, these figures will be on the P60 issued earlier this year.

When completing the return, there is no need to do anything with the expenses you have claimed via your umbrella company. The Section from the supplementary “Employment”page headed “benefits from your Employment – use your P11D” can be ignored in respect of expenses which you have submitted to us for processing. This section of the return relates only to expenses which are taxable. There is no need to detail any travel-related or subsistence-related expenses on the form as the umbrella company you use, (your employer) have already correctly processed these on your behalf.

CIS subcontractors

As a self-employed subcontractor, you are obliged to submit a self-assessment tax return each year.

The tax year runs from 6^th April to 5^th April and as a self-employed subcontractor you will need to submit your completed return by 31^st October if you are completing a paper return, or by 31^st January if you are submitting your return online which is far quicker and simpler.

Self-employed individuals pay their tax in three instalments. The first payment is “on account” by 31^st January and is usually half of the previous year’s tax bill. A second payment, usually the same amount as the January payment, is due by 31^st July. Finally, on 31^st January the following year you must make a balancing payment, calculated from your actual profits for the year.

Submitting a self-employment return is also vitally important if you are to claim tax relief on any expenses you have incurred during the year – for example the travel to and from your workplace, replacement tools etc.

In summary

• You should not have to complete a self-assessment tax return if your only income for the tax year in question was via an umbrella company although if you have been sent one you will need to submit it
• As an umbrella employee, if you are required to complete a self-assessment tax return for other income, your earnings with the umbrella should be declared on a supplementary employment page
• You do not need to declare expenses claimed via the Umbrella company
• If you are a CIS subcontractor then you are obliged to complete a self-assessment tax return each year, if you don’t have one you must ask for one.

So how should you prepare for this big moment?

I can go into miniscule detail here taking into account everything from how to cope with nerves to how to sit on your chair, however I’m going to presume you are a niche job seeker in one of Project Resource’s core markets (Commercial & Quantity Surveying, Planning & Project Controls, Design Management and Design Engineering) and direct / competency based questions are second nature on the back of this.  I am going to concentrate on the key tasks to ensure the basics are in place and give you a great chance to be successful.  In my opinion, anything deeper and beyond is useful but not essential with a dose of common sense and assertiveness.

• Know the address, postcode and interviewer names.  This is basic planning which means you leave enough time to get to the interview and when you arrive, you can ask for the right person.
• Have a copy of the job specification.  If one isn’t available or if it’s very generic, try to get some background information verbally i.e. tender / live works, projects, specialist skills etc – this way you can try to tailor your interview and sell yourself towards the requirement.  Likewise, if there are elements of the position that you are not familiar with, make sure you research them well.
• Dress Smart.  HR consultancy Reabur undertook a study on the top reasons for job seekers being rejected at an interview, you may be surprised to know that bad personal hygiene and bad dress sense were top! You are being viewed as a representation of the interviewer’s company and if you turn up and create a negative impression with hygiene or dress are they really going to let you meet their clients?  I personally know of a specific example where a client called in to give interview feedback on a job seeker and said that the candidate was excellent technically and had no faults other than the fact that they didn’t wear a blazer with their suit and for that reason wasn’t getting the job.  Don’t leave anything to chance, you will not be rejected for dressing too smart.
• Background research on the interviewer.  Sometimes this isn’t possible but it should at least be attempted.  In this day and age, we have LinkedIn, Google and no doubt many contacts in the industry.  It’s important not to make contact with this person directly but fact-finding on their background, previous employers and projects they have been involved in can often lead to finding a common ground which will break the ice and create a talking point.
• Take examples of work.  Most people in the industry have a portfolio of projects, reports, plans etc either on paper or on their laptop / Ipad.  Some employers request to see this when interviewing whilst others don’t; I say take it anyway! If they don’t want to see it, you don’t have to show it (at least ask) but in my experience, most interviewers are impressed that you have made the effort and shown some initiative.  During less formal interviews, a discussion surrounding projects can create a talking point and allows the conversation to expand, building a rapport. It also shows how seriously you are taking the opportunity, and the effort you have put in to preparing.
• Research the Business.  There is no excuse here if you are a serious job seeker; the internet is readily available to us at many sources, so viewing a company website, LinkedIn and using Google is necessary.  Surely you want to know some information about a potential employer before deciding whether to join them?  These websites offer lots of information in terms of company size, structure, key contacts, projects, values, turnover, specialist areas, locations etc.
• Prepare questions.  Interviewers generally prefer a two-way conversation; it helps to build a rapport and helps bring out your personality.  Sitting in silence when the ‘Do you have any questions for me?’ subject arises can put a negative spin on the interview.  Lots of people ask me if it’s ok to write questions down and my response is to encourage this.  Bringing questions along firstly means that you can free your mind and reference them at the right time; secondly from the interviewer’s point of view seeing someone with a list shows they have made the effort to conduct research and are taking the situation seriously. It also means any reservations you have about the opportunity are put to rest and you can decide 100% whether this is a role you would like to pursue.
• Have a 100% acceptable financial figure in mind that you will accept if you are offered the job.  Everyone has a different motivation for looking at new / alternative employment so this will be dependant on your situation.  Interviewers like straight talking people ‘something around the £30k ish mark’ may mean £30k to you but can be interpreted as £27k – £29k’ by the employer, likewise ‘I don’t mind, you make me an offer’ makes your decision-making skills look very weak. Do not undersell yourself thinking it is what the employer wants to hear, as later down the line, you may get an offer that you cannot accept.

If you would like to discuss getting yourself in a position to do the above please call one of our regional offices.   Likewise, please feel free to share your interview preparation ideas.

Philosopher George Herbert Mead differentiated between “I” and “Me” by underlining the differences between how I see myself and how others see me.

Muhammad Ali’s famously short, but powerful poem was “Me, We”.

So what’s this all about.  Well its about the fact that you can achieve more together working in partnership than you can by yourself.  Here at Project Resource we love having great relationships with our customers and suppliers, it is integral to our continued success.

We are a recruitment business that supply both white-collar contract and permanent staff to employers.  We specialise in three core profession areas of expertise, namely Commercial Management, Quantity Surveyors and Estimators; Planning and Project Controls; and Design Management and Engineering.  We offer the very best service to employers and only supply the very best professionals.  We expect the same philosophy from our partners, be they job seekers, employers or suppliers.

Since late 2010 we decided that we would work with a select few contractor service companies that had the same high standards, that were delivery focused and offered exceptional customer service.  We have developed and improved our relationships over this time to benefit both businesses and offer an exceptional service to the contractors that we refer to them.

For 2012 we will continue to work in partnership with Orangegenie, Paymatters and Bar2.  All of these partners offer professional accountancy services for contractors.  So whether you require Limited company formation, an umbrella company solution, or a CIS solution, our partners will have a professional solution for you.

Even if you do not have a contract assignment through Project Resource, please feel free to speak with our partners, as we can assure you that you will receive a prompt and professional service.  If you would prefer, feel free to email me with your request for an introduction (including best contact telephone number for you), I will forward your email on, and get one of our contacts to call you, simple.

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Looking for a contract job?

If you are looking for a contract job you can do so by clicking here.

You can register with us and elect to receive hot new contract job vacancies in realtime by clicking here.

If you are on Twitter you can follow us either @projectresjobs for our latest jobs or @ProjectResource for industry news, Project Resource news and the latest from our Blog.

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Are you aware of a contract job need?

Are you aware of a contract job that needs filling?  If so, please get in contact with us immediately, so that we can assist you, your business or a company you know.  Feel free to contact us today, we would be delighted to help where we can.

The Euro zone

All the media negativity about the Euro/ European union is pointless.  Give us some positivity, it is more productive.  What will happen will happen, we will still all be here, all still need infrastructure.  My view on this is that Germany and France will do everything they possibly can to prevent a breakup, possibly including a restructure of the Euro zone into tiers for the management of risk. The end goal appears to be political union, will it ever be achieved, I’m not sure.

So many different countries with so many different cultures, GDP’s, imports, exports and even bank holidays and siesta’s would mean it was always going to be an uphill struggle to make one currency work.  Countries like Greece joined because they needed to and had to “adjust” their numbers in order to get in. It’s been a catalogue of astonishing errors with seemingly no risk analysis until way too late. Still, well done Brussels for telling us what shape our bananas should be?

According to the Guardian yesterday – Unemployment in Germany hits record low, Spanish unemployment hits record high, so it looks like a multi-tiered Europe is already in place, it just needs articles of governance to be announced.

Thank goodness we did not join the Eurozone…

Great strides forwards

I believe Project Resource has made great strides forwards in 2011, yes it was challenging, but that is what drives the team and I.  If it was easy, you become complacent, and not much good comes from complacency.

Just some of the improvements we made in 2011:

• We improved our customer relationships;
• refined our delivery capabilities;
• re-evaluated our business plan and gave it laser beam focus;
• redeveloped our website and marketing strategy;
• held several business breakfasts across the country;
• put our management team on dedicated management training;
• opened two new office (London and Manchester).

2012

So what’s in store for 2012.  Well trading conditions will remain challenging, however, there is business to be had.  In the UK we have some great, innovative, lateral thinking and ambitious companies.  Our job is to be working with those ambitious and growing companies.

We are working tirelessly to improve our customer relationships, our internal systems, our marketing, our social media presence, our website and our teams skills and abilities.  We will certainly have enough to keep us very busy in 2012.  Excellence in all that we do is our key goal and will remain so.

2012 will be another year of quality recruitment hires for us.  We will be looking to add to our teams across the UK, whilst starting our research into possible overseas locations, to continue our company expansion.  We will be considering proven (£120k + per annum billers) experienced recruiters, experienced sales persons and non-experienced people who show drive, determination and high levels of performance against their peers.

To keep up to date with our job vacancies you can save the most relevant link below to your internet favourites, as we post all our live jobs in realtime to our website.  Alternatively you can connect to Karen Ingram (our internal recruiter) on LinkedIn, send her an email or call her on 01628-477744.

	London recruitment jobs
	Birmingham recruitment jobs
	Manchester recruitment jobs
	Reading recruitment jobs

In 2012 we will continue to strive forwards in becoming the supplier of choice for our customers.  We will continue to specialise in our three core profession areas of expertise, namely Commercial Management, Quantity Surveyors and Estimators; Planning and Project Controls; and Design Management and Engineering.  We will continue to offer the very best service to employers and only supply the very best professionals.  Feel free to contact us today to see if we can help each other.

Exciting times ahead and we are up for the challenge…

Since we commenced trading in 2002 Derek and I, and our other Directors and Management team have worked relentlessly to ensure working for Project Resource is a great experience.

We are continuously looking to hire the very best talent to join our business, to help our business expand and become a more successful and profitable business.  All of our team have a vested interest in the success of the company through their active share ownership scheme, so are dedicated to being the very best they can be, for themselves, their colleagues and our customers.

If you are reading this, then it is likely that you may be considering a career move right now.  If so, then my advice is this; be clear in knowing what you want and do not want, the type of company you feel will best suit you, the types of people who are like you, where do you want your career to be in 3-5 years, then be decisive and take action.

The great career opportunity with Project Resource.

We are a company that…

• has no politics and is a meritocracy in its truest sense;
• rewards your hard work.  You can work towards owning shares in the business, and own more shares the better you do.  The better the company does the more your shares will grow in financial worth.
• encourages your voice to be heard, your ideas and creativity encouraged;
• offers you a flexible benefits package, where you choose the benefits that suit your lifestyle;
• gives you the opportunity to be an intrepreneur or entrepreneur;
• invests in your development and training;
• rewards you financially for the time, energy, commitment and results of your labours.
• Delivers results for you and aspires to help you achieve your career objective.

Are you be interested?

If the answer is yes, well if so, we would like to hear from you, speak with you or meet you.  Feel free to call our Internal Recruiter, Karen Ingram, who is always contactable to discuss the various job opportunities with our business.  You can call Karen on 01628-477744 or email her or connect to her on LinkedIn, in strictest confidence.

Alternatively, be bold and call me or one of my fellow Directors to discuss working with us and becoming part of our success story.  We look forward to hearing from you to discuss this chance of a lifetime opportunity in more detail.

In the world today, Project Resource can be seen online via our website, this blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and so on.  But so can you, so what does your online profile say about you?  Believe me, people will research you and your business before they engage with you.

So what about active and passive job seekers, both are very important to our business and we are always striving to attract them both to register with us. 

2010 and-11 saw us invest time into our social media presence and profiles to aid in attracting passive job seekers.  2012 will see us revisit our website with changes underway to ensure we attract and retain the right visitors, and ensure our company is known positively to active or passive job seekers.  We are also working to have a clear social interaction strategy, as social media is all well and good, but if you are not achieving engagement and interaction with the right audience then you have sort of missed the point, something which, social media specialists have informed me, many companies do.

We are always interested in engaging in conversation today, which may lead to results today or in the future.  It is assumed that the majority of people who are placed in jobs are classified as active job seekers (i.e. they are actively looking for work): as a general rule this is true for about one-third of the population.  Another third are what can be classified as passive job seekers (i.e. they would be interested if the right opportunity came along), with the final third being immovable (i.e. they are very happy and are not for moving right now).

As a professional recruiter, we do not differentiate at the start of the recruitment cycle, if the person we are speaking with is currently active, passive or immovable, rather we endeavour to engage in communication, during which it will become apparent what the person’s status or feelings are at that time.

We have always been very good at sourcing passive job seekers for our customers.  This also applies to attracting people to come and work for Project Resource.  In 2011 we engaged two new managers, one for our Reading office and one for our Manchester office, both of these people were passive job seekers, but people we knew and had kept in contact with over the years, via phone, email, LinkedIn, etc.

We are continuing to work very hard to attract active and passive job seekers to join us at Project Resource and also to attract them for our customers, so that we can continue to supply the very best service and people to our customers.  I am always happy to discuss the career opportunities we have at Project Resource.  I am also very happy to discuss how we can help you, or your business either by telephone or face-to-face.

There is a war for talent out there, what are you doing to attract the active and passive job seekers?