reed.co.uks most in-demand employers 2014

reed.co.uks most in-demand employers 2014 by Michael Cheary We learned a few things in 2013.We’re a little better at tennis than we thought (see also: a little worse at cricket); you can never underestimate the unpredictability of the weather; and that the name George has been a pretty popular choice for new parents.But what about jobs?Well, over 2013 as a whole, 1.6 million new jobs were added to reed.co.uk. On a day-to-day basis, that’s 40,000 more jobs than last year.  Couple this with positive official job market figures and a rising Reed Job Index, and there’s been an improving picture for jobseekers in most areas of the UK.In the spirit of review, we’ve looked at the whole of 2013 to highlight the UK’s most popular employers and our top tips for 2014:HSBCCategory: FinanceWhat they do HSBC is a leading international bank, providing services and products to around 89 million customers worldwide. We’re pretty sure you’ve heard of them…Who they hired in 2013 â€" Their UK recruitment this year has r anged from roles within branches and contact centres to specialist positions in commercial, corporate banking, marketing, HR and IT.What they plan in 2014 â€" Aside from the ongoing need for Financial Advisors and roles in Customer Service, they’re also looking to recruit for a number of internal financial, IT and HR positions at the start of the year.Did you know? â€" They operate over 3,750 cashpoints, and have over 7,200 offices in 85 countries worldwide. It really is the world’s local bank.Honourable mentions: Santander, BarclaysJobs with HSBC »  VodafoneCategory: Mobile TechnologyWhat they do â€" One of the UK’s most instantly recognisable brands, Vodafone is part of the world’s second largest mobile phone company. Founded in 1982, they now provide mobile and technology services to over 19.2 million subscribers.Who they hired in 2013 â€" Although the majority of their UK recruitment focussed on their retail operation, they also hired staff in roles ranging from Market ing and Purchasing through to Analytical and Web Development positions.What they plan in 2014 â€" In 2014, Vodafone will continue to recruit on an ongoing basis, looking for applicants with initiative, good communication and team-working skills to help drive their business forward.Did you know? â€" Vodafone’s head office is in Newbury, Berkshire. Worth considering if you’re ready to make your escape from the city…Honourable mentions: EE, Phones 4U  Jobs with Vodafone »DreamsCategory: RetailWhat they do â€" They’re Britain’s leading bed specialist. They aim to provide their customers not just with a comfortable and affordable bed and mattress, but with excellent customer service and care too.Who they hired in 2013 â€" Their main recruitment efforts concentrated on Customer Advisors and Sales Assistants, but they also hired a number of Home Delivery Drivers and Assistants.What they plan in 2014 â€" Theyre investing heavily in their web team to ensure all customers get a gre at experience whether they’re buying in-store or online, meaning there are a number of jobs in technology available.Did you know? â€" They have 270 retail stores across the UK and their longest serving employee has been with them for 25 years.Honourable mentions: Dixons, Farmfoods  Jobs with Dreams »CarillionCategory: ConstructionWhat they do â€" Carillion provides facilities management services and undertakes a range of construction projects across the UK, Canada, the Middle East and the Caribbean. They build roads, hospitals, museums, galleries and many other different types of buildings and complexes.Who they hired in 2013 â€" Construction was one of the largest emerging growth industries of the last 12 months, having an average of 69% more jobs available than at this time last year. Carillion was at the heart of this growth, advertising hundreds of roles, from general construction positions through to surveying and HR-based positions.What they plan in 2014 â€" One of Carillio n’s major projects will be the construction of Manchester Airport City, an £800million joint venture with the Beijing Construction Engineering Group, which has created thousands of jobs in the North West alone.Did you know? â€" The Tate Modern, the London Olympics Media Village and London Heathrow Terminal 5C were all projects undertaken by Carillion.Honourable mentions: HSS Hire, Jewson  Jobs with Carillion »Compass GroupCategory: Hospitality CateringWhat they do â€" They are the global market leaders in providing food and a range of support services to customers in the workplace, schools and colleges, hospitals, at leisure and in remote environments. Every day they serve a million meals and welcome three million customers worldwide.Who they hired in 2013 â€" Compass Group advertised over 3,000 jobs on reed.co.uk in 2013, and hired employees in everything from Chef de Partie positions, jobs serving executive dining, through to careers delivering integrated management solutions .What they plan in 2014 â€" To continue recruiting for their 7,000 UK sites, growing their team and continuing to deliver superior and efficient service for their clients.Did you know? â€" Its possible that Compass Group is, by their own admission, ‘the biggest company youve never heard of’, even though, aside from the 60,000 staff they employ, they’re also the UK’s 10th largest provider of apprenticeships.Honourable mentions: Giraffe, HarvesterJobs with Compass Group »How we worked it outWe analysed a range of data for the January to November 2013 period to reach our list of the most in-demand employers. This included: vacancies and applications; social media response; applicant enquiries; and diversity of roles.  Find a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Features

Why is Online Dating Still a Taboo

Why is Online Dating Still a Taboo Its 2009. We are all on Facebook, Twitter  and LinkedIn. We find our apartments online, our jobs online, and we shop online. We order food online, we keep in touch with friends and family who live far away online, and we look for pets online.   So why is it weird to shop for a significant other online in an age when everything else in our lives is online? Well, I dont really think it is. Maybe thats because I know several couples who are happily married or engaged to the person they met online. But why is it that my friends who do the online dating thing feel the need to look around and then whisper when they say match.com or eharmony?? I mean honestly-who cares?!   Although I have not been a member of an online dating community, I see its benefits for young professionals. Why? Because after dating a handful of people, you get to a point where you know exactly what you want. Also, our time and patience is limited. Meeting someone at a bar  who has your values and goals  is probably much less likely than being able to go online and say non-smoker, x religion, taller than x, wants/doesnt want kids or whatever your criteria are. From there, its all you.   Online dating just gives you a jumping off point to get what you want. There will still be a lot of people who you dont click with, or who pretend to be someone they arent. Sounds surprisingly similar to real life dating,  doesnt it? Maybe online dating just  needs some good PR or celebrity  success stories  so people start openly discussing it the way they discuss Facebook and Twitter. What are your thoughts? Why is online dating still taboo?

How to Negotiate a Salary Increase

How to Negotiate a Salary Increase A lot of us think about negotiating a salary increase, but not many of us muster up the courage to do so. In most situations it’s a stressful and difficult topic for people to approach their manager with. However, if you find yourself in the situation where you are negotiating a new salary, you must be prepared to put yourself in the most beneficial position. Here is an outline of 10 very important and effective tips to set you on the right path towards confidently negotiating a better salary, regardless of your current situation or expectations. Put yourself in the best possible position, read these carefully and look to apply them to yourself. 1) Be politely persuasive: If you’re at the position of negotiating a new salary, you must have some good reasoning behind it. So use these reasons as leverage to persuade the decision maker that this is a mutually beneficial decision, for you and the company. Always be polite too, even if you find yourself disagreeing with some of the feedback you receive. 2) Aim high, but be realistic: Negotiating a salary increase is not akin to selling a high-ticket item. You don’t go in with a high offer, assuming you will just work your way down to a happy medium. If you overshoot too far there is a realistic chance that talks will completely breakdown. So keep it realistic, but work towards the top end of the salary bracket you are in. 3) Use a serious but understanding tone: You need to set a serious tone if you want to be taken seriously. However, it’s important you take time to listen to and understand any feedback you receive. There are a lot of points you will want to get across, which is fine. But listen as well as talking. 4) Be clear about your intentions: If you have intentions on negotiating stock options, company shares, new commissions, be clear with what you want. Don’t over complicate what should be a straight forward explanation. You should have rehearsed what you’re going to say over and over in your mind already, making the discussion part easy. 5) Try to meet your managers needs too: A negotiation is a two-way process. Your manager may already have ideas he/she wants to discuss with you, or will have some off the back of the negotiation. Do your best to accommodate what they are asking of you, expect a little give-and-take. 6) Be ready with a ‘plan B’: It’s hard to predict what is going to come out of a negotiation. Often it goes in a completely different direction than anyone anticipated, but this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Have a plan B, or even a plan C ready in these cases. If you feel like you are losing the negotiation, and it’s going in a direction you are really not interested in â€" start again with plan B. 7) Research objective criteria: Presenting your case with some objective criteria as backup adds a lot of weight to your argument. If you can prove that similar firms within the same industry pay a certain amount, then you can argue that you should be getting at least that amount. Giving your manager some proof to work with makes their decision a lot easier to make. 8) Be prepared to hear ‘’no’’: It’s certainly not what you want to hear, and you shouldn’t really consider it happening. But if you’re not at least a little prepared, you won’t know what to do should it happen. Will you try again in the future? Or try to find another job with a similar company that meets your expectations? 9) Prepare to over-deliver on your promises: As part of the negotiations you will probably be promising to achieve certain goals or targets. If your manager agrees, there is nothing more embarrassing then under-delivering after they took a leap of faith with you. So you better be prepared to over-deliver on your promises, and make it happen at any cost. 10) Learn from your experience: Regardless how the process works out for you, learn from your experience. Most people go through very few salary negotiations during their employment. So learning from previous experience and improving each time can pay off in a big way. In Summary: Whether you are successful, ended up with a result you didn’t expect, or are completely shut-down, this is a learning process. If you meet the criteria above regarding being ready, and having clear goals and reasons for negotiating a new salary â€" go for it. If you don’t, you will always be wondering what may have been. I wish you success. Author: Noel Griffith is a webmaster at www.CareersWiki.com and works as a recruitment consultant and career advisor. Image: Shutterstock.

FlexJobs Releases 3rd Annual List of Virtual Companies

FlexJobs Releases 3rd Annual List of Virtual Companies Embed from Getty Images Highlights 125 That Embrace Remote Work Computer/IT, HR/Recruiting Education the top three industries for fully virtual companies Boulder, CO,  April 4, 2016â€"For the third year in a row, FlexJobs, a virtual company itself, has analyzed hundreds of companies to find those that operate with fully or heavily distributed workforces. These  125 virtual companies  allow all, or mostly all, of their team members to telecommute 100 percent of the time, with computer/IT, HR/recruiting and education the most represented industries on the list.   Virtual companies operate across many industries, though, such as accounting, health, law, marketing, non-profit, news/media, sports, travel and others. When, where, and how people are working has changed dramatically over the last ten years.  Telecommuting has grown 103 percent  over the last decade in the United States and estimates project that  50 percent of people will work remotely by 2020. While many companies have begun to integrate remote work options into their traditional on-site work environment, there is a growing trend of  companies that fully embrace remote work  as an integral part of their business models. “Being able to choose where and when we work empowers us to be more productive, more engaged, and more balanced in every aspect of our lives,” said Adam Schwartz, Articulate Founder and CEO. “After fourteen years as a fully remote company, we’re convinced a distributed environment isn’t just good for our employees. It’s also one of the key reasons we’ve been so successful as a company,” Schwartz concluded. This is the third list of virtual companies  FlexJobs  has published, and each year has represented the growth of and interest in these remote-friendly work environments.   FlexJobs listed  26 virtual companies in 2014  and then  76 virtual companies in 2015  and now up to 125 virtual companies in  this year’s list, indicating that more businesses are turning to remote work as a sustainable and legitimate workplace model. The diversity of companies represented also demonstrates that the remote work model can be applied regardless of company size and/or industry. For example, Greenback Expat Tax Services provides virtual tax services, Aha! is a product roadmapping software, LoveToKnow is an online media company, Collage.com provides software tools to make custom art pieces, Tropical Travelers provides travel concierge services, TeamSnap is the number one resource for sports team management and GitHub is the world’s largest code host.   All are on this year’s list. “The bottom line is that a virtual company can be just as viable, professional, and successful as a traditional on-site company, and even more so,” said Sara Sutton Fell, founder and CEO of  FlexJobs. “Working outside the confines of the traditional brick and mortar environment can open doors to re-evaluate the fundamental ways work is viewed and done. In FlexJobs’ own virtual environment, we have built new and useful processes, learned how to collaborate creatively with each other, and grown a healthy, vibrant company culture, not in spite of our lack of headquarters, but largely because of it.” A wide variety of professional roles can be performed remotely. A sample of positions these virtual companies are currently hiring include Email Marketing Channel Campaign Manager, VP of Finance, iOS Developer,  Public Relations Professional, Campaign Director, Director of Business Development, Community Support Specialist and more. Additional facts supporting the growing popularity of telecommuting: Telecommuting grew 6.5 percent in 2014 alone, the largest year-over-year increase since before the recession. Half of American employees hold a job that is compatible with telework More than 2/3 of  employers report increased productivity among their telecommuters In 2015, FlexJobs experienced a  36 percent increase in remote jobs posted To see the full list of the 125 companies, please visit  https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/virtual-companies-that-embrace-remote-working/ To request additional information, please contact Kathy Gardner at  kgardner@flexjobs.com. About FlexJobs FlexJobs is the leading online service for professionals seeking telecommuting, flexible schedule, part-time, and freelance jobs. With flexible job listings in over 50 career categories, and opportunities ranging from entry-level to executive and freelance to full-time, FlexJobs offers job seekers a safe, easy, and efficient way to find professional and legitimate flexible job listings. Having helped over one million people in their job searches, FlexJobs has appeared on CNN and Marketplace Money and in  TIME,  Forbes,  Fortune, and hundreds of other trusted media outlets. FlexJobs Founder CEO Sara Sutton Fell has also launched two additional partner sites,  Remote.co  and  1 Million for Work Flexibility, to help provide education and awareness about the viability and benefits of remote working and work flexibility. Sutton Fell is also the creator of  The TRaD* Works Conference (*Telecommuting, Remote, Distributed), dedicated to helping companies leverage the benefits of telecommut ing, remote and distributed teams.

HSBC graduates talk inclusion and individuality - Debut

HSBC graduates talk inclusion and individuality - Debut Right now, we’re in an age where it’s hard to stand out. Amongst a sea of applications, how do you showcase your personality to an employer? Well, it turns out HSBC may have the answer. We spoke to three graduates who work for the multinational banking firm to gain an insight into their own perspectives of what it was like to gain a role within the company, and how it differed to many other application processes out there. Not only that, but we also got a glimpse into the working life of a grad in the banking world and some examples of the opportunities that grads have to make their mark on the company. Intrigued? Well read on for more… A refreshing application process Rather than asking for the traditional CV, HSBC invites graduates to go through a short application before automatically moving on to the full  online application system. This “online immersive assessment” is designed to provide students with a real insight into the culture of HSBC using real-time scenarios to provide an in-depth understanding. Christy Simanjuntak, RBWM Graduate Trainee â€" Advance Propositions Manager â€" Banking Propositions, states: “The application process was straightforward. It took me less than 10 minutes to input my details!” Not only that, but the process looks to match people to roles through their strengths, behaviours and individuality, as opposed to purely on skills and experience. After all, many people can have similar backgrounds, but everyone is different and works differently, and this can have an effect on a team dynamic. Tamir Ahmed-Choudhury, Jade Proposition Manager (RBWM Graduate trainee), comments: “There was an emphasis on making sure your values, mind-set and motivations were aligned with the company.” “This allowed me to feel comfortable in drawing upon experiences from all parts of my life and really demonstrate attributes through examples that resonate most with me.” Applications like this ensure that your attributes will fit in well with a particular role, and that’s down to the strengths-based process that HSBC has implemented. Psychometrics and strength-based recruitment is on the rise and are proving effective when it comes to matching grads into their careers; as Christy points out: “’Strengths based’ measures what you are capable to do in the future, rather than what you have done in the past.” HSBC has decided to adopt the strengths based selection methodology to ensure that new employees will not only perform exceptionally well in their role, but will have a genuine motivation and energy for what they do. When using strengths in a recruitment context, it provides a more engaging candidate experience, leading to better hiring decisions, reduced time to offer and lower attrition rates. Once in role individuals are higher performers, experience less stress and absenteeism, show increased levels of motivation and report higher job satisfaction all because individuals are using their strengths experience in a role. An inclusive environment Despite being in a large company among many other graduates, HSBC trainees have many opportunities to express themselves and their opinions. “Your opinion is weighed in and appreciated during meetings. Where you have demonstrated achievements and understanding, you will be given project ownership,” Christy explains. These sorts of initiatives are also incorporated into business life at HSBC. Interns and grads have the chance to chat to other inspirational figures in the businesses and contribute fresh ideas to more senior figures in the company. Bowen Sun, Commercial Banking Management (CMB) trainee at HSBC supports this, claiming: “People are open and connected. I feel comfortable to ask for help from my colleagues, and even senior managers.” Graduate work is also recognised and valued at HSBC, as Tamir discusses: ”I undertook a piece of competitor analysis at the very beginning of my rotation which has then been used to support and reshape the thinking of the senior managers in my team. It has been used and drawn upon in multiple strategy proposals as well as the AOP.” Driving DI initiatives is one if the biggest elements in HSBC. The banking giant has been recognised as Company of the Year at the European Diversity Awards for multiple campaigns, including launching gender-neutral pronouns and testing a guide on learning how to manage money with dementia. Tamir also states: “Personally, the inclusion of multi-faith rooms and facilities has shown HSBC’s support of embracing different faith practices within the workplace.” LGBT+ is also massive part of this culture, as Christy relays: “Last month, employees were invited for the LGBT+ Event in Birmingham. While working for HSBC, you will learn that you can be different and still find a place in this large community.” At such events, the company invites senior employees from the LGBT+ community to share their own stories and offer advice to attendees. A wide variety of backgrounds Now, it can be easy to dismiss the idea of applying to  a company like HSBC if you don’t have a degree related to finance. However, the company does not  â€" we repeat, not â€" require graduates to have studied in this area. “I didn’t have a background in finance,” says Bowen, “but HSBC provides plenty of opportunities for graduates like me to become skilled professionals.” It’s these opportunities that give graduates the drive to apply and come to work everyday. Tamir saw this excitement first-hand when attending a university careers fair and speaking to HSBC grads: “The enthusiasm and passion of the HSBC representatives sparked my initial interest in the company”. On their  Commerical and Retail schemes, HSBC actively looks for graduates from different degree disciplines. From architecture, to business, to social studies â€" grads on this scheme needn’t all come from the same background; instead, they must be able to build relationships, communicate effectively and learn lots about a business. Skills that are taught across a range of subjects. Following this, you are then able to learn on the job and train up to become a skilled professional.  Training and development can vary depending on a role;  grads can undertake part-time study, use online resources, join employee resource groups around various topics and have a mentor in a more senior-level role that will be able to offer advice that can be used in building a future career at HSBC. HSBC offers a variety of schemes across the four key business areas (Commercial, Retail, Global Markets and Global Private Banking) as well as within its support functions such as operations, research and security services. There are also international opportunities; for example, on the Retail Banking Wealth Management (RBWM) scheme, grads have the chance to be considered for roles worldwide once they have completed their rotations. Being a part of a massive company may not initially seem like a place where you can make an impact, but these grads have proven that HSBC welcomes and promotes individuals from all walks of life, and allows their opinions to not only be heard, but taken on board and implemented into the business. The company also recruits for people, not parameters. So know that if you apply, you’ll have the chance to showcase who you really are. This article was written in collaboration with HSBC. Find out more about graduate roles and internships and graduate roles with HSBC on  the Debut app. Connect with Debut on  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  LinkedIn  for more careers insights.