Research Research Research!!!

Research, Research, Research !!!

I often get asked by candidates “What is the client like?” or “What areas should I concentrate on to impress?” Questions that are good and show that they want to make sure they make the right impression, but I also sometimes hear from clients that the candidate came into the interview and knew nothing about them or the role even though as a consultant I had pointed them in the right direction.  These are obviously the poles apart elements of research that you should do before going to interview, but the amount of research you do is critical to success and failure and in my opinion shows your level of passion for wanting a job.

By the time you get to interview stage it is highly probable that you are on an equal skill level with the other interviewees, and so research is a key area to make an impact.  So below are some points on what you should look to do to get the best preparation for that interview:

1. Learn about the company - Knowing about the company nowadays is a free and simple thing to do with the internet showing you everything about the company, what its achieved and even who you are meeting (especially with Linkedin).  

2. Visit the site - Other elements of research which are easier in public operations like hotels, restaurants and bars is to visit the operation, experience the service, pre sales where possible and get a feel for the general atmosphere, what the staff were like and how your overall experience was.  Go to the interview with constructive and honest views as these will show for your eye for detail, and shouldn’t offend then.

3.  Use your consultant - This may be merely talking to your recruitment consultant if you are going via a consultancy, they will probably know the client and their style of management, or areas that they focus on in interviews, it is good to have a sounding board when running ideas past them on how to approach the interview as well.  

4.  Questions - Although you are being interviewed, don’t forget, the interviewer will always ask you for your questions at the end of the meeting, make them useful, creative and of a level that shows you are interested, not “how many days holiday do I get”.

5.  Your career - Go through your CV prior to your interview, even with friends or family and think about times in your career when have come up against difficulty, or created something that has saved the company money, or something else where you have made a difference, the client needs you to be able to throw scenarios back at them, it shows that you are decisive in your thought process and capable of doing the job.

Overall good research can be the difference between getting a job and being one of the nearly candidates.  Make sure next time you have an interview you do your research and the job you are looking for could be yours.

Lets Continue that Feel Good Factor!

Lets continue that Feel Good Factor!

Watching the Olympics over these past two weeks has given us all a real boost of positivity that has been missing over the past few years, even the press have stopped talking about empty seats, and have gone positive talking about gold medals!  It is really great to see everyone together as a country supporting the athletes who have given us real role models for once.  

So lets hope that this feel good factor continues into our economy in the next few months and see a stop to the doom and gloom that seems to have been around forever (2007 to be truthful).  One thing that can come from this is that the professionalism of some of our key industries may come to the fore.  The British Isles (Or Team GB as it seems to be referred to currently) has a great deal to offer with excellent Chef’s, restaurants and hotels in every corner and now is the time for them to shine, as people see what a success the country has made of the ‘Worlds Greatest Show’ they may come here over the coming years and we can show them what else the country can do.  

This will also allow a lot of businesses to grow, and develop, they may do this in a number of ways, from developing the young members of the team to approaching companies in recruitment like us to bring in some strong talent available on the market, either way they must do it in a committed and professional manner that will help develop the industry and show that it means business.

This is the opportunity to continue that feel good factor and having shown the world how well we run such a large event, hopefully this will spread through future international conferences and other events in the future and give the country the boost it needs!  

Everyone's got an opinion!

Something funny happened to me yesterday, and it brought me to ask how companies come up with names, and what makes them think its a good idea.

It only struck me when I was entering a building yesterday and on telling the concierge our company name he retorted with "another random name" it was probably a bit rude on his part, but I guess he hears that many different company names on a daily basis that Peapod was one of the new band of different names from the ones of years gone by when everyone sounded like a firm of Accountants. So how do companies come up with names, some happen as subconsciously as ours did (see the blog what's in a name), but some take weeks and months to come up with, with the end result being a scientific concoction that nods towards the industry they are in. Then there are those who spend thousands and sometimes millions of pounds on employing consultants to come up with something catchy and memorable, only to find that they could have been more creative themselves.

Ironically as I left my meeting I walked down the street and stumbled across a company called Pod who are a coffee chain in London, I had never seen or heard of them before, but they had similar fonts to us, a similar colour scheme on their website and I guess a similar ethic (albeit in a different industry). I had never seen or clapped eyes upon Pod when we created Peapod, but in some ways it could look like we had.

The point I am getting to in a long and meandering kind of way is that although some people may think the name strange or different as the concierge did, embrace it as there's always the same amount who like it and think its innovative, overall its your identity and no-one else's and you should be proud of it. Also don't think too hard as sometimes the answer is there and waiting to be discovered.

Interview from Hospitality Events North with us!!

Darryn Wright, Director of hospitality management and catering recruitment agency Peapod Recruitment, talks to H&E North about attracting candidates to the right role.

What is Peapod Recruitment?

Sascha Rawlinson, my fellow Director, and I launched Peapod Recruitment in March of this year. After we both spent 12 years each in recruitment and operations for the hospitality and catering sectors, we decided to set up Peapod. As Director, I oversee recruitment within the events, hotels and catering sectors.  

We use our experience in the industry, offering a personable service and providing candidates with the essential information and advice to help them prepare for their meetings.  We have a wide network that we use to help us find the right candidate, matching the briefs that clients give us.

What type of roles do you cover and are you a nationwide service?

We cover all managerial levels, from Assistant Manager and Sous Chef up to Operations Director and above. We are based in the north of England; however we have experience of recruiting nationally and since we opened have been looking at roles as far afield as the Home Counties, South West and Scotland.  

What was your role prior to becoming Director and have you always been involved in the hospitality industry?

Prior to setting up Peapod Recruitment, I graduated from Lancaster University in 2000 with a degree in hospitality management. After 18 months in operations I went into recruitment, initially with Chess Partnership for nine years where I oversaw the northern office before moving on to another company where I worked in a similar role for two years.

What are the benefits of going through a recruitment service for those on the hunt for a new role?

By going through a recruitment company, candidates are getting knowledge and information to help their application. This information can be anything from CV advice and interview guidance to research assistance, depending on the level of role that they are going for. Recruitment companies also get roles that aren't necessarily openly advertised and so it is good to keep in touch with recruiters as sometimes there are jobs that they are working on that candidates could be suitable for.

Since the recession first hit, have you noticed any changes in the roles you are providing? Has the number of applicants altered or have there been any other changes?

When the recession first hit, the roles that were being recruited for obviously moved to just essential positions. Also, candidates who were in roles stopped looking and held on to their positions due to insecurities in the job market. Over the past two years I have seen a huge change, with a big increase in numbers applying for roles now compared to 2010. Overall, the market has become healthier in the past year. Only time will tell if that will change again.

What advice would you give to people trying to break into the catering and hospitality industries in the current climate?

Get your CV right. There are high numbers of candidates applying per job at the moment, so the clients can be a little more picky in who they shortlist to meet. Also, make sure your skills are relevant to the role that you are applying for and that these skills are mentioned on your CV. This is crucial in catching the eye of either the recruiter or client making the selection. Register with a couple of recruitment consultancies as one is never enough, but don't register with too many. Build a relationship with the consultant as they are key to you finding a role. Candidates that made an impression with me even a few years ago are sometimes the first people I speak to when I pick up a role.

What is the future for Peapod Recruitment?

It’s still early days for Peapod Recruitment. We are building on the great start we have had and want to continue this, developing more relationships with potential clients and candidates. It’s been a great first few months for us and hopefully word will spread about how we operate through providing a knowledgeable, personable service at good value and ultimately finding the right candidates for the client.  

Seven Steps to Success with Your CV

Seven Steps to Success with Your CV

There are many schools of thought when it comes to writing a CV, and everybody has an opinion as to the best way.  I hope to be able to share my thoughts on here as to what I hope will help you get the most out of the document that is your first and sometimes only impression that you can make on a client or recruiter.

Get the presentation right!

A well presented CV will catch the eye, keep it simple, nothing too fancy, but keep it organised.  Obviously the content needs to be right for the role, but good presentation goes a long way.

Length of CV 

How long should it be?  The length of CV is a bone of contention for a lot of people with different schools of thought, 2 pages, 3 pages, more, which is best?  In my opinion 3 pages should be enough to get across the important career history, any more than this and it won't get read by clients.

Keep it punchy! 

When writing your CV put yourself in the position of the reader. break it up for them into bullet points to get your point across!

Keep it relevant! 

The Client is looking for relevant information that would suit the vacancy they are looking to fill, so tailor your CV to the role you are applying for with experience that they are looking for (obviously make sure it is something you have done in YOUR career! and keep examples to back these up in your head for when you get to interview).

Keep the reader informed!  

Sometimes CV’s come in with companies that the reader won’t know, the internet helps you find out nowadays, however a brief 2-3 lines below the job title on who they are is the best way of giving the reader a brief synopsis of what they do.

Use the full page! 

A lot of CV’s I see have a lot of blank areas, some lines start half way across the page leaving a big gap to the left and the CV then goes onto more pages to get the info on.  By using the full line you can get more info in about what you have done! as long as it is bulleted to break it up the reader will take it in and more importantly your jobs that are relevant sit higher up the CV.

Get the order right!

Most importantly in my opinion You need to get at least your latest two positions on the first page, a lot of CV’s either start with education, or start with the candidates first job and you actually get to the important part on page two or three.  If you can get your last two positions on that first page you have more chance of getting the interest of the reader!

The job market is getting more competitive currently with a larger number of applicants per role.  Clients will probably want to shortlist 5 candidates to meet and you have to imagine that they have already selected 4 by the time they get to your CV on the pile of applications.  What will make them put yours into the shortlist? Hopefully the pointers above will help you get shortlisted!!

To view our jobs and post me your updated CV, go and check out our website on www.peapodrecruitment.co.uk

Or email me us at info@peapodrecruitment.co.uk

Progress

So after a busy first month of getting our name out there and picking up positions we are now fully into the swing of things, interviews have been arranged, offers have been given and placements have been made and it feels like we've been trading for years.  The response we have had from clients has been overwhelming and we have enjoyed talking to contacts new and old about how we operate, what we would like to achieve, and how we can help them.  At least I don't have to answer questions about our name any more, as I a refer people now to read last months blog (see What's in a name).  


It's good to see that the poor economy and news of another recession quickly following on from the last one has not affected too many businesses and that currently companies are still looking to grow and develop.  Candidates are as keen as ever to further their careers and look for the next challenge.  Even more so we found when we went to the Conference & Hospitality Show in Leeds last week that the mood is certainly more buoyant than in previous years, and lets hope that continues.  It was good to go to the show in Leeds where amongst others, James Martin was putting on some demonstrations, and that show in itself has grown over the past few years.


So, what are we going to include in the blog in future postings, well, we will tell you more about us in time and you will learn about useful skills needed in your job search, but overall we will show you that we are human and hope that you get to know about us and how we operate.


Recruitment can often be seen as a faceless and heartless business and yes there are cutthroat operators out their, but our approach is to personalise the process wherever possible. If you are looking for advice or news on vacancies, just pick up the phone and we will be happy to help you.  Keep an eye out for our future blogs and give us any feedback we're always keen to hear from you!

So what's in the name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)


For us the name 'Peapod' is a sweet smelling name and How did we come about it? is a question that pops up every time we speak to clients and candidates.  Well here's the answer.


There was no scientific process to coming up with a name like Peapod, although we did try a few methods to come up with the name.  Numerous ideas came and went before we settled on it, some were good, some ok and some, well lets be polite and say we decided against them.  


We tried numerous options and every time checked on whether it had been thought of before, on most occasions it belonged to someone, usually an IT company in Milton Keynes or a graphic design company in Cleethorpes ... (me neither), but just when we thought we had come up with the right name we had a flash of inspiration which changed it all .........


From our 3 year old son, Oscar, who whilst having one of our weekend family cuddles along with our one year old daughter Betsy declared that the cuddle with us all wrapped snug under the duvet was like being 'peas in a pod'.  My wife and I looked at each other and i think that she saw the glint in my eye about what he had just said.  Needless to say the we were onto the laptop in no time seeing whether 'Peapod' had been used before, it had, but not in a way that bothered us and certainly not in recruitment, and so it was on to the domain company to to buy the name in all formats we could find. 


The peapod analogy works in a number of different ways, but mainly that peas fit into a pod as well as candidates into a job as we would like to hope that all the candidates we place are a perfect fit for that position.


So, no matter what science and thought processes you put into coming up with an idea, sometimes its worth listening in to your son or daughter and just maybe they will come up with the idea without even knowing it, or do they???

Welcome to Peapod

Welcome to Peapod Recruitment, having opened for business last week, we are now up and running and working on our first vacancies.

You are probably asking though, who are Peapod and what do you recruit for?

Well look out for our future blogs to find out more about the team.

If you are a client looking for an open and honest recruitment style that doesn't mess around with jargon, and are very affordable, then hopefully we are that company, call us to find out more about how we can help you, and we might even tell you why we came up with the name Peapod!

For now though enjoy our website, look at our jobs and keep watching for the next blog!