Downtown Recruitment's Client Blog

There Are Only Three True Job Interview Questions!

Steve Young — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:24:27 +0000

The only three true job interview questions are:

1. Can you do the job?
2. Will you love the job?
3. Can we tolerate working with you?

That’s it. Those three. Think back, every question you’ve ever posed to others or had asked of you in a job interview is a subset of a deeper in-depth follow-up to one of these three key questions. Click Here for Full Story

Changes to employment matters for the coming year

Steve Young — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:04:03 +0000

The EU plans to increase parental leave from 3 months to 4 months and the UK must implement this by 8th March 2013.

The qualification period to bring a claim of unfair dismissal will rise from 1 year to 2 years from 6th April 2012.

The weekly rate for Statutory Sick Pay will increase to £85.85 from 9th April 2012. Maternity, Paternity and Adoption pay will increase to £135.45.

There will be an extra bank holiday on 5th June 2012 for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

REC’s JobsOutlook: Employers show more caution but many still plan to hire in 2012

Steve Young — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:44:01 +0000

This month’s REC JobsOutlook shows more employer caution with regards to hiring new staff. However, a significant number of businesses still plan to increase their workforce in 2012 and finding the right candidates remains a major challenge in some sectors. This underlines the need to address the ‘skills dislocation’ within the UK jobs market.

January’s JobsOutlook survey, which tracks future hiring intentions rather than actual placements, confirms that many employers are now waiting for an upturn in economic prospects before they commit to growing their workforce.

Click Here for the full story

UK unemployment increases to 2.64m!

Steve Young — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:32:35 +0000

UK unemployment rose by 128,000 in the three months to October to 2.64 million, the highest level since 1994.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobless rate was 8.3%, up from 7.9% in the previous quarter.

Youth unemployment rose to 1.027 million, the highest since records began in 1992, beating the previous record set only last month.

The number of people out of work and claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rose by 3,000 to 1.6 million in November.

However, the rate of increase in the claimant count showed signs of slowing down.

Click Here for “Full Story”

Job index hits a 23 month high!

Steve Young — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:18:49 +0000

The Reed Job Index has risen by 4 points this month to stand at 133. The figure is up by 20 per cent year on year and has hit a 23-month high. This means employer demand for new staff has continued on an upward curve from last month. And while more than half of the areas covered by the Index have delivered a rise in demand this month, the increase has been particularly marked in London, the South East and the North West.

“The latest Reed Job Index shows that confidence about the future has continued to increase right across the private sector, in spite of last week’s gloomy economic pronouncements,” says James Reed, Chairman of reed.co.uk’s parent company Reed Global. “Not only is employer demand up by twenty per cent year on year, newly available private sector jobs are at their highest level since the dark days which followed the last banking crisis.”

Downtown Recruitment, celebrates 25 years!

Steve Young — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:26:20 +0000

Downtown Recruitment this month celebrates 25 years in business in Thame. Originally started in 1986 by Suzanne Young the successful recruitment agency is now run by her son Steve Young. They are located in spacious offices in the centre of Thame on the 1^st floor at 109 High Street above Steamer Trading. Downtown enjoys an excellent reputation with its large and loyal client base as well as being complimented on its friendliness and professionalism by applicants seeking employment.

Despite the gloomy national forecast the company has seen a sizeable increase in business in 2011. Both the temporary and permanent divisions are showing an increase in activity for the first 8 months of the current financial year, defying economic trends.

Downtown offers recruitment services in wide ranging categories in both temporary and permanent sectors and can supply people from warehouse operatives to senior management level. Downtown’s professional team of Sarah, Jane, Pam and Steve has between them over 40 years of experience in recruitment.

They have a reputation for listening carefully to clients needs and delivering the right staff in a competitive market. They also have highly efficient systems to attract the right candidates as well as providing advice on new legislation and practices for clients.

Downtown welcome enquiries from any companies in the area that have recruitment needs and can be rest assured that their needs will be carefully considered.

REC – Report on jobs

Steve Young — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:28:51 +0000

The latest “Report on Jobs” from the REC has reported the first fall in permanent placements (by recruitment agencies) in over two years during October 2011. Commenting on the results Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG, said “Nervous employers are placing recruitment decisions on hold amidst concerns over the economic outlook, in many cases choosing instead to plug the gap with temps.

Other key highlights of the report included; an increase in temp billing, further increase in job vacancies reported, stagnation of permanent salaries and availability of staff improves at sharper pace.

3 Reminders – for legislation taking effect from 1st Oct 2011.

Steve Young — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:02:52 +0000

Here are three reminders of legislation all taking effect from 1st Oct 2011 which I have previously published.

(1) Agency Workers Regulations - Giving Temporary workers the same rights with regard to pay and holidays after a 12 week qualifying period.

(2) Default Retirement Age – has now been scrapped.

(3) Nation Minimum Wage – Increases to £6.08/hr for anyone aged 21 or older.

Recent Survey Results

Steve Young — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:41:23 +0000

A recent survey of 6000 UK workers revealed the following main points:-

1. Men still earn more
Male workers are paid an average of 18.5% more than their female counterparts.

2. Finance has the widest pay gap
Of the industries analysed, the gender pay gap is widest in Finance and narrowest in Marketing.

3. Jobseekers move for money
Over 30% of workers enjoyed their last pay rise as a result of a job change.

4. Bonus is king
The opportunity to earn a bonus is the UK’s most sought after job-related perk.

5. Happiness is a salary of £24k
The average salary for the 20% of respondents who said they love their job is £24,158

Firms hire on “attitude” over skills

Steve Young — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:04:20 +0000

Employers prioritise job applicants with the right attitude to work rather than the skills listed on their CVs, new research shows. With school leavers facing rocketing higher education fees, recruitment group Reed polled over 1,000 business owners to see what key traits employers look for in job seekers. It discovered that 96pc of employers would hire someone who did not have a complete set of skills but displayed the right attitude over an applicant with the perfect skills but who lacked the right mindset. Two thirds of employers said they if had to reduce their workforce they would fire someone with a perfect skills set over someone with deficient skills but sporting the right attitude. The employers ranked the top six “essential” attitude qualities as “commitment, honesty, trustworthiness, adaptability, accountability, and loyalty.”

Click here for more detailed story.