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

As you know, being able to attract and retain the best talent in your industry is – or should be – a priority for any business and at Asset Resourcing, we are inclined to practise what we preach.

We have grown into one of the most successful and reputable recruitment agencies thanks not only to the levels of service we offer our clients and candidates, but also the people who work here.

The latest addition to Team AR is Annabel Dorrington who joined us in March 2012 as a Recruitment Consultant and Administrator.

Annabel comes to us from a Luton-based company where she specialised in IT recruitment, more specifically as a Java and PHP specialist. Prior to that, she was the Academy Coordinator for Michelin-starred chef Jean-Christophe Novelli’s Cooking Academy, based in the aptly-named village of Tea Green between Luton and Stevenage.

What does your role at AR entail?

It involves the complete 360° recruitment process –dealing with our clients, maintaining our ever-expanding database and making sure that all our candidates have precisely the right information they need pre- and post-interview, and moving forward into their new roles. I am also responsible for compliance, making sure that as a business, we understand and adhere to industry regulation and guidance.

What stands AR out?

I’m amazed at the professionalism of everyone here. The office environment is energetic and fun for sure, but I’ve come to a company that works both hard and smart to do whatever it takes to fill roles and source the very best candidates.

What constitutes a ‘good day at the office’?

A tough question because there are so many elements of working here you can derive satisfaction from, but looking from the standpoint that this is a career and not just a job, I am comforted by the fact that I can see a stable pipeline over the coming months where interviews, offers and placements are constantly within reach.

What traits do you need to forge a successful career in recruitment?

There are the obvious traits like employing good sales techniques and having good ‘people skills’ – I know this is a bit of an overused phrase, but what I mean by that is being able to talk professionally and coherently to corporate MDs, those just entering the job market and everyone in between. Perhaps more subtly, a very important aspect of what we do is having a strong knowledge of the market we operate in which enables us to offer advice and new thought processes to clients and candidates.

Where do you see the recruitment industry going in the next 3-5 years?

Recruitment appears to be moving towards a box-to-box approach where virtually all correspondence is conducted either on the phone or online and having to compete in an increasingly more crowded market for the best roles and candidates.

I’m not keen to go down this road and I’m happy that Asset Resourcing have upheld the more attractive ‘executive search’ methodology whereby we can maintain long-term relationships with clients, meet with them regularly – often called ‘talent management’ – and commit ourselves to helping them get what they want.

My favourite music is Rock or Metal

My favourite food is Smoked Salmon

My favourite books are written by Chris Ryan

My favourite films are Tron, Ironman, Platoon, We Were Soldiers and Clash of the Titans

To finish up, if there’s time outside of the office to relax Annabel loves the streets of Camden Town and red lipstick but hates wearing heels!

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Annabel Dorrington.

As always, Asset Resourcing is here for you for as long as you need us and for whatever you need us for.

Hopefully the sun will make more of a regular appearance over the next month, so enjoy April and we’ll see you in May.

Ben Sweeting & Michelle Scott – Directors, Asset Resourcing

The simple answer to this question is ‘yes, it would appear so’. We could of course end the blog post there, since we’ve asked a question then answered it, but you know by now that Asset Resourcing doesn’t do half measures.

We do what it takes to ensure our clients and candidates are happy by offering an unrivalled service across our four industry sectors – IT, Admin & Clerical, Accountancy & Finance and Sales & Marketing.

Getting back to the original question, the outward signs are positive.

Hourly rates are up from June 2011 when the average was £30.84 to March 2012 where they are £31.25. It doesn’t seem much, but a 1% rise is still positive. Also, 40% of IT contract roles are based in the South East whereas before the fall of 2008, that number was just under a third.

It is also worth noting that contract techies based in London and the South East typically earn up to 20% more than their northern counterparts thanks to the recent emergence of London (in particular the areas around Shoreditch, affectionately dubbed ‘Silicon Roundabout’) as a major hub for both IT start-ups and major players such as Google and Cisco.

Director of Asset Resourcing Ben Sweeting is equally as positive about the contractor market. ‘We have seen a four-fold increase in the number of IT-contract posts we’ve filled over the last 12 months, meaning specifically interim appointments where we run the contract, pay the contractor and have a liability to the client to see the project delivered’.

Taking a step back and looking at the overall picture, the demand for IT specialists in all areas is rising, especially in the financial services sector. Banks and financial institutions are now paying closer attention to  more robust regulatory issues and compliance, and this fuels demand for short and medium term candidates with specialties in web development, programming and cloud computing.

In addition, as more and more businesses are being ever-watchful over their budgets, particularly in areas traditionally hit during leaner times like IT and sales & marketing, this spells good news for contractors.

 It’s becoming more and more popular to replace permanent staffers (when they leave) with contractors and, says Richard Talbot, a director at Randstad, ‘43% of IT ‘permies’ expect to leave their jobs by the end of 2012 and this means companies are turning more and more to contractors to fill the skills gaps’.

According to the Professional Contractors Group, 75% of contractors have been in work for eleven out of the past twelve months and 84% expect even more work through 2012 and into 2013.

This confidence appears to have seeped through to contractors and it’s very good news for us at Asset Resourcing as we’re seeing huge increases in the number of contract positions we are being asked to fill.

Regardless of the type of job or employee you’re after, we are committed to ensuring we find you exactly what you’re looking for. It’s a simple business model, but it works!

Have a good month and we’ll see you in April.

Ben Sweeting & Michelle Scott – Directors, Asset Resourcing

Welcome to February. We’ve had snow, we’ve had the Englandfootball manager resign and we’ve just celebrated The Queen’s 60^th anniversary of her ascension to the throne. All in all quite busy and we’re only in the second week of the month.

The same goes here at Asset Resourcing although our busyness is limited to making sure our candidates find great jobs and our clients secure first class employees and we haven’t let Jack Frost, Fabio or Liz stand in our way!

The start of the year is traditionally associated with resolutions and thoughts of ‘this is the year I’ll get myself the perfect job’, and regardless of your reasons for wanting to move, we endeavour to do all we can to help you get there. However one question lingers – why do you want to move?  Some people want more money; some want a new challenge; some people’s roles have become stale or repetitive; some see no route for progression and some simply can’t stand their boss.

If it’s the last one, you’re most certainly not alone. Recent research suggests that upwards of 70% ofUKemployees are unhappy with their managers and one of the hardest aspects of having a ‘boss from hell’ is that you are left with very few resources to enable you to deal with him or her effectively.

That said, you mustn’t despair. Bad bosses give you an opportunity to think differently and act strategically for your own personal gain.

According to Canadian leadership consultant Shaun Belding, there are three main types of ‘bad bosses’ – aggressive, passive and controlling/manipulating and pitched right, all three can aid your progress providing you can identify the opportunities…

Shouty, aggressive bosses are often viewed as the most debilitating and while most of them have now been consigned to the 1980s or caricature TV comedy sketches, some remain. These days, that sort of behaviour is unacceptable almost everywhere (unless you happen to find yourself in the Manchester United dressing room) and while it can be demoralising and often terrifying, the aggressive boss is usually insecure and weak and he or she is taking out their frustrations/lack of opportunity/personal issues on you. 

It’s very hard to hide being an aggressive boss in an office environment and it’s likely that their unreasonable behaviour has been noted. This means they become easier to manage. Deal with the aggressor by learning to calm him or her while implying that their approach isn’t working but the key is to stay calm. A slanging match in the middle of the office is only ever going to end one way so use reason and logic and the aggression will recede.  

Passive bosses are usually pretty easy to deal with. They don’t like confrontation and are often shy and reserved. Most beneficial to you is that they will duck away from making tough choices and they are generally risk-averse. This type of boss is the most frustrating but they are also far less likely to present a substantial barrier to your own progress. Befriend them and support their seniority. They may turn out to be your perfect ally.  

The most challenging of all ‘bosses from hell’ is the controlling, manipulating boss.

This is someone who is both highly confident and will both notice and take full advantage of your insecurities, so how can they be resisted?

Firstly, they rely on emotion. They have the ability to stir up fear and elation seemingly at will but to counteract that, take the time to rationalise the situation and source the facts. Relying on interpretation is futile because it depends on an emotional response so stick with the facts, calmly ask questions and attempt to level with them.

This is, of course, easier said than done. If you tell them how you feel in a calm, private manner without initially making demands for change, they retain the initiative, which is what they want, but now you have presented the facts.

If you are ignored (which is likely), you have two clear advantages – you have clarity over the situation and you have manoeuvred a route for further action.

The manipulator is obsessed by his or her impact on you and again, their behaviour could be based on their own insecurities so once you can identify them, you can look them in the eye as an equal.

One of the issues we face in modern day society is that in any confrontational situation, we look for a win – lose scenario (as your tormentor would undoubtedly view it) but if you can seek out and achieve a win – win, your working life will become so much easier!

Here at Asset Resourcing, we are not just a recruitment company. We all have been on ‘the other side of the fence’ and most of us in our working lives have experienced a boss we didn’t particularly care for. If you have any issues or would like some advice on management or indeed any aspect of the job market, please contact us. It’s what we’re here for.

If you’ve genuinely had enough of your boss, call us and we will do everything we can to source your perfect job!

Have a good month and we’ll see you in March.

Ben Sweeting & Michelle Scott – Directors, Asset Resourcing