Pronounced as "I Write" - unutterably unctuous, plausibly perspicacious

The End of the CV Database?

The End of the CV Database?

As a young-ish industry, subject to change at any time (as is the wont of many internet businesses) the online recruitment sector is subject to the threat of game changing moves, which can radically alter the premise upon which we mostly operate.  Our industry is entirely predicated upon a set of assumptions, about how we …

COMEDY COPYRIGHT

COMEDY COPYRIGHT

Plagiarism amongst modern stand-up comedians is viewed within the industry as a mortal sin, or at the very least as outright theft.  These artisans make their living quite literally by their wits, and jealously guard the form of words that they carefully craft into their act.  Not only one-liner gags, but whole scenarios, comic story …

Nazmin doesn’t live here!

Nazmin doesn’t live here!

Is a spam letter to a stranger at my exact home address suspicious? This morning I received a piece of sales literature addressed to a mysterious Miss Nazmin Subhan at my home address.  Sent via a DHL mailing service, it could, of course, be a clerical/ computer error, whereby her name has accidently been connected …

How is my blogging?

How is my blogging?

Much as I detest self-referential blogs that only ever talk about the “art of blogging”, and how hard it is, their social media stats, bounce rates, comment ratios etc, I’m going to go ahead and write one now.  Forgive me. I’ve been writing running and contributing to blogs for a couple of years, but only …

Little White Lies

Little White Lies

This is a response to the blog post by Mervyn Dinnen here. There is inevitable duplicity built into the entire recruitment process.  Would you advise a candidate to be scrupulously honest, and offer “full disclosure” in a discoverable way online? Lies being told. 1. Candidates appear at interview, pretending that they already want the job, …

Team Orders

Team Orders

I love Formula 1 motor racing, and have been staying up late to watch races from far corners of the world since the days of Nigel Mansell, Prost and Senna.  The events of the past few weeks have demonstrated that the biggest rivals are often within the same team;  Vettel and Webber have crashed into …

My Brush with Terrorism

My Brush with Terrorism

Or, how I came to be in the wrong place at the right time. This isn’t a funny or peculiar story.  I’ve retold it countless times, but never written it down, until now.  In 1984, when I was 18, I spent a second summer season working in the hotels of the Isle of Man.  As …

Why I Founded the NORAs

Why I Founded the NORAs

Ten years ago this very month, I started a new online business, AlljobsUK.com.  It was a pretty stupid thing to do, as I had already started a new recruitment agency just one year before. Especially stupid, because this meant that I was effectively trying to ride two horses with the one backside.  And two unbroken horses …

Supply and Demand

Supply and Demand

Last night I had cause to shop around t’Internet for a new washing machine.  It’s amazing the range of deals available, but of course the nature of a washing machine means that it needs replaced immediately, making a 10 day delivery wait unfeasible (there’s a lot of washing done in our house).  It put me …

Self Employed and Unemployable?

Self Employed and Unemployable?

There is a continually repeating “circle of life” in the UK recruitment industry, where its own progeny leave established firms to set up in competition. I know, as I’ve been part of it. The incidence of this is most evident amongst the small and medium recruitment firms up and down the land. As an industry, …