In the hot seat again
November 19, 2008 10:25 AM
Having three young children means I'm used to not having a lie-in at the weekend, but this Saturday I was up even earlier than usual to get to BBC Television Centre in London for a TV interview on the 'Your Money' segment of BBC News.
Even though I've done one live interview for the BBC before, on Working Lunch, it was still really nerve-wracking and completely outside of my comfort zone. Put me in a board room of 20 MDs talking about Jobsite's business model and I'm fine, but talking in front of cameras is a different matter. I have ultimate respect for people that can make this look effortless. The 'green room', where you sit before you go on, reminds me of a dentist's waiting room as you're filled with trepidation about the unknown!
However, I really wanted to do this interview as it was about giving advice to people who had recently been made redundant, or perhaps face redundancy in the near future. This can be such an anxious time and I was keen to help reassure people by offering practical tips to help them find a new job.
I always think one of the most important things to remember is that it's not you that is being made redundant, but the job which is no longer available so try not to take it personally. The other key thing we discussed during the interview was the importance of being prepared in the current climate. If you've already been made redundant then it's generally all systems go on the jobhunting but if you haven't, it's probably still worth taking some tentative steps so that if the worst happens you're ahead of the game. This means updating your CV, registering online for Jobs-by-Email so that relevant vacancies come direct to your inbox and brushing up on your interview technique at BeMyInterviewer.
It's also worth having a good think about your skills and seeing which are transferable into other roles. Just because you've been an IT Project Manager for years doesn't mean that's the only job that you can do. I know lots of people who have found jobs that they enjoy more, and are better at through redundancy. So if you have recently lost your job try to stay positive and hopefully the same will be true for you.
Dragons and Awards
November 4, 2008 9:36 AM
Last week I blogged about the PR Week awards where BeMyInterviewer was highly commended. Well this time it was Jobsite's turn to host the awards - Thursday night was the third annual RecruitRank Awards held at the exclusive London venue One Marylebone Road.
James Caan from Dragons' Den was the awards' host and joined me on stage to hand out the awards to the winners - he went down well with everyone there and had some interesting insights. As a fan of Dragons' Den, it was great to meet James, although when I told my 4 year old son that I was going to meet a dragon in London he was a bit concerned that I was going to meet a fire breathing, winged dinosaur.
James gave some great advice which was relevant to all businesses in tough times not just recruitment; particularly cutting out anything from our business plans which isn't absolutely critical.
It's always a great night of the year as it is Jobsite's chance to say thank you and well done to those recruiters who have worked really hard at delivering fantastic customer service to their candidates.
So congratulations to all the winners and finalists and hope to see you at next year's awards!
BeMyInterviewer highly commended
October 24, 2008 5:49 PM
TV is currently keeping us pretty busy at Jobsite but we found time this week to attend the PR Week Awards where BeMyInterviewer, our website where you can practice for interview with business leaders like Duncan Bannatyne, was highly commended in the Digital Innovation category.
This is BeMyInterviewer's second award nomination this year, and the first time Jobsite have been nominated for the PR Week Awards. The competition was stiff, with the likes of the RAF, Cadburys & the World Economic Forum.
We were pipped to the winners post by Cadbury's 'Bring Back Wispa' campaign which also won campaign of the year. However, as I'm pretty partial to a Wispa myself I was happy to come a close second to them.
Jobsite has the X Factor
October 17, 2008 3:15 PM
When we started Jobsite 13 years ago - we never could have imagined how successful it would become. If someone had told me then that Jobsite would be advertising on primetime TV in between programs such as X Factor and Coronation Street, I honestly think I would have laughed - but that is exactly what has been happening this month.
If you haven't seen the Jobsite TV ads by now - then you must have a broken TV set. I caught the ad myself this week while watching X Factor at home. Having seen the ads so many times in board meetings and corporate screenings, it was watching it at home in my living room for the first time that made it all seem real.
We've also got Jobsite radio ads playing across popular stations such as Absolute Radio (used to be Virgin Radio), Capital, BRMB and Real Radio Scotland. They're on throughout October so hopefully you'll hear them if you listen to the radio on your way to work.
You may also hear our series of 4 career advice podcasts which are being aired on Absolute Radio throughout October and early November looking at key jobhunting areas such as writing a great CV, getting a pay rise or handing in your notice. These are also on iTunes which is another place I never expected to see Jobsite! Last time I looked these were no.8 in the business charts there which is fantastic.
The TV ads have been live less than two weeks and we're already seeing them have a massive impact on Jobsite so I can't wait to see what effect the radio and podcasts have.
Jobsite on location
October 6, 2008 2:41 PM
Some of you may have heard the exciting news already, but for those who haven't - today Jobsite is launching the largest ever brand advertising campaign undertaken by an Online Recruitment company.
The adverts took two days to film on location in Notting Hill, London. I've been in front of the camera before but never behind (much less nerve racking), so it was something totally different for me, here's a couple of shots I got on my camera while we were filming.
We were up against the elements with the unpredictable British weather and time constraints were tight - so when it started to pour down I thought the worst. But Gazebos and umbrellas shot up faster than you can say 'action' and the director Jeff Stark used the weather to our advantage; including the rain in the footage. Jeff's energy was truly infectious and eventually brought the sun out.
The ads feature actor Max Beesley (from Hotel Babylon) Max was great to work with, and kept morale up between takes. If you want to see a behind the scenes look at the shoot, we made a special 'making of' mini documentary.
This campaign marks an exciting new era for Jobsite. It's the next logical step in our progression and part of our long term commitment and goal to become the UK's best known online recruitment brand. The first TV ad will premiere during the ad break of Coronation Street tonight - watching Corrie with a glass of champagne will be a first for me! But if you can't wait until then, click here for a sneak preview of the ads before they launch on TV this evening.