iOS Development(s)

I was fortunate enough to run a successful iPhone Recruitment Agency during the boom of the App Store. I’ve seen a lot of changes in the space of several years.

Back in the day (OK, only three years ago) it was all about paid Apps – that’s where the money was being made. Developers could be hired in for a reasonably cheap price and then the success of the App would be able to offset the cost of a developer. However it didn’t always go to plan, as people always believed their App was the next big thing – wouldn’t you?!

I made contact with a high ranking member of staff at a small, at the time, iOS advertising company, AdMob. Sadly I didn’t get any business from him, but our emails back and forth were all about the future of mobile profits and where the industry was moving. Whilst I did believe that there was money to be made from this, I wasn’t completely sold. My Google Adsense (pay per click) account probably made about 10p a day at the time, so the similarities were set in my mind.

So anyway, the company was bought by Google for $750m, so I guess I’d undervalued them! It was a big eye opener to what sort of money was to be made and I thought that was going to be the future. Then ‘In App Purchases’ were introduced.

When I heard about it, I was pessimistic as usual… There’s me playing a game and it tells me that I need to pay to upgrade, no way am I doing that, I thought. Sadly, I was wrong! When you play a game that’s; free, addictive and very difficult, you almost feel compelled to pay to get better weapons, more money or better colours (Out and out Draw Something addict).

So now this has changed the development industry completely. Developers are on short term contracts, with a portfolio which spans hundreds of Apps. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still money to be made with the big development agencies who do hire on a permanent basis, but the smaller companies are just happy to throw their budget at a £400 per day contractor for a month for a quick turnaround App. The developer can also create a number of In App Purchases which can lengthen the lifespan of the App and ultimately make the company the money they need. Some places will rely solely on In App Purchases, but the Apps which combine a paid for (usually a free version is on offer to tempt the user to upgrade (bolstered with iAds though)) are the big winners.

With an ever evolving smartphone market, the industry is certainly here to stay and the need for Developers is going to increase. The release of Raspberry Pi (tiny computer) for people to learn how to code will be a great influence on finding hidden talent, especially as schools are buying these by the bucket load for their IT classes.

So what does the future hold for the smartphones? My personal opinion is the integration of NFC (Near Field Communication) Chips will be a big game changer. The ability to replace your Oyster card or just buy a coffee with a wave of your phone will be the next step for the all-in-one smartphone.

See you next month; Will Harford

Social Media, a low key version of the paparazzi? I often have Tweets on my feed or articles on my Facebook news feed slandering some celebrity or another or exclaiming how their outfit seen in Glamour magazine really wasn’t that flattering. I suppose it’s what you can expect when Facebook asks the younger generation or the media frenzied “what are you thinking?”

Is Social Media simply a tool to update friends on exciting new happenings in your life and share photos from memorable events? Is it a free advertising tool? Has it all just gone too far? The field of social media has exploded in the past few months and everybody is on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, and tens of other social networking sites. If you haven’t taken your time to get yourself familiar with these sites, now’s the time. And if you have an iPhone, you can now do everything social media while you are on the go. Can’t get easier than that.

Sometimes I think Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and now Instagram have been a great way for people to keep in touch and share memories or thoughts.  Now though, it is all become a little tedious.  The other day, I logged on to Twitter and when reading the feed I realised I knew where all my followers were, what they were doing, how long they had been there and who they were with. The same can be said for the “Check-In” service on Facebook.  Great if you are somewhere exciting and new like a holiday destination or somewhere you may not usually be such as Harrods, the FA cup final or the midnight queue for the latest COD, but I really don’t want to know that you are doing your weekly food shopping in Asda, or you are watching TV at Home. If you are at the cinema with your mates, why are you tweeting about it or checking in when you should be watching the film?

I’m slating it but I am sure that I have been one of those people at some point.  I love social media, I think it is fantastic and it does play quite a large part in my life as a twenty-something year old living in the 21^st century.  Since I got my iPhone I have never been more involved in the Tweeting, commenting, posting, blogging and messaging online.  I write a blog in my personal life and I can add to it or edit it whilst sitting in Costa having a coffee.  If I happen to take a fabulously controversial picture I can make it available to all on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and the touch of a button. I can organise dinner out for a group of us using the Nandos App which, obviously like everything else, links to Facebook rather than have to contact each person individually.  I don’t think the Hash key on the keyboard has ever had much attention paid to it, until of course Twitter came about; now everything is “hashtagged”.

On that note, please feel free to follow us on Twitter @assetresourcing and on Facebook! – I couldn’t resist.

….more from me, Annie Dorrington, on Social Media in a few weeks time.

The summer holidays are fast approaching and if you’ve either booked already, or haven’t booked but are about to, have you got enough holiday days left over? If you have, that’s good forward planning but if you haven’t, you might be in a bit of trouble trying to explain that away to your boss.

May’s blog is about letting you know what your statutory holiday and time off entitlements are but allow us to preface everything we’re about to tell you with this – ALWAYS check with your HR guys and refer to your company handbook. All companies differ when it comes to time off so it’s absolutely worth double-checking what you’re allowed and when you’re allowed it.

The Basics

As a full-time employee (five days a week), you are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks per year. In old money, that’s 28 days. If you work part-time, your entitlement is the same as a full-time employee but it is pro rata, so 5.6 times your usual working week. If you work four days a week, you get 22.4 days, for three days a week you get 16.8 days, and so on.

As soon as you start work, you start to build up your holiday entitlement but your employer can control when you take your holidays. As an example, if you work for a fireworks manufacturer, you may not be able to take holiday days in September or October, since those are likely to be your busiest months of the year. The same goes for Christmas cracker makers or Easter Egg distributors.

When you do take holiday days, you get exactly the same rate of pay as if you were at your desk. In addition, when you finish your job, you get paid out for any days you haven’t taken as part of that year’s allowance.

Each individual employer has their own rules when it comes to holiday entitlement and there are number of things you’ll need to check with them before you start making plans –

• Some businesses give you the bank and public holidays IN ADDITION to your statutory entitlement while some don’t and you have to factor them in to your plans
• You may not be allowed to take off more than say, two weeks in any one chunk
• As we alluded to earlier, there may be seasonal restrictions on when you can take time off.

It’s also important to note that you remain entitled to your holiday entitlement while you’re on ordinary and any additional maternity and paternity leave as well as adoption leave.

Not to labour the point, but we do stress that in the first instance, if you do think you’re not getting what you’re entitled to, speak to your boss or your employee representative/trade union official and ask for their help.

Of course summer and winter holidays aren’t the only reasons to take time off… 

Jury Service

• If you’re called up for jury service, your employer has to allow you time off. If they don’t, they could be in contempt of court
• Your employer doesn’t have to pay you whilst your away but you can claim travel and food expenses from the court
• You can defer jury service, but only once and for no more than 12 months from the original date

Dependants

As an employee, you have the right to unpaid time off to deal with a spouse, parent, child or anyone living in your household as a member of the family. It’s often called ‘compassionate leave’.

Different people have different views of what an ‘emergency’ is but essentially it’s described as an unexpected or sudden problem involving someone who depends on your care or help. It could be illness, injury, childcare or issues with children at school all the way through to death.

If a situation like this arises, speak to your line manager. They are usually very understanding when it comes to family issues but don’t assume anything!

Other Reasons…!

There are plenty of other reasons you’ll need to take time off, for example sickness (which we will address more completely in a later post), travel disruption (of which we are all too familiar) and for things like public duties (you may be a school governor or a magistrate).

As always, we are here not just to secure you a great job, we are here to offer you advice and guidance across all aspects of your working life. If there’s anything you don’t understand, or you need clarification, please call us and we’ll do everything we can to help you. It’s why we do what we do.

Have a great month and we’ll see you in June.

Ben Sweeting & Michelle Scott – Directors, Asset Resourcing