The view from the Pod, No. 3: Betty's Tea Rooms, Harrogate

Heatwaves, Queues and the Quintessential English Tea

I'm sure most of you will have heard of Betty's Tea Rooms, whether you have visited one of their traditional victorian style operations across the various towns and cities in Yorkshire that they are located.  It's easy to spot them, even if you don't see the signs as they are the one shop on the high street that has a queue snaking out its doors from mid morning to late afternoon 7 days a week.  But why are they so popular? What are they doing to maintain such large queues and why do people put up with a 10-15 minute wait on the pavement.  

Well as a family we often try and make a detour to a Betty's whenever we are travelling on the A59 to Yorkshire, even if I am travelling alone I always try to pop in, just to buy some tea or one of their gorgeous Yorkshire curd tarts.  This time though we were in a quandary as to whether we stopped.  The weather was close to 30 degrees outside and on sweeping past the Harrogate restaurant we could see up to 30 people braving the heat for the sake of afternoon tea.  We decided we couldn't resist stopping and so found a parking space and joined the other patient customers.  Now what is typical of a Betty's customer? nothing demographically as they attract everyone off the scale from young to old, affluent to less so, and they have a steady mix of regular and one off visitors.  Geographically you can see so many nationalities represented from Japan and America as well as Europeans, all trying to take a bit of that Britishness about them that intrigues more than you or I sometimes realise.  

So back to our visit, something which astonished us was how impeccably the staff were dressed, even in this heat, and when you consider the managers are in full suits and the waitresses in full victorian style dress, and yet not a bit out of place it is excellent that they managed to continue the theme through, although we did feel sorry for them.  For drinks, tea for me is a no brainer, however I was also tempted due to the heat by the ice cream strawberry milkshake which was extremely refreshing, however over too soon and so it was back to the tea and adulthood.  

One thing that always pleases us is the child friendly approach, and although Jamie's Italian won the best child friendly restaurants last week, Betty's more than fulfils its obligation, with children's drawing kits, and friendly staff, it helps to allay the fears of boredom that we as parents often have when we sit waiting on many an occasion in a restaurant.  The menu's as well are well put together, with good fresh dishes and not a nugget in sight as you often still see in most places.  our children plumped for the omelette and the macaroni, which they ended up sharing with each other as both were jealous of the others food.

As for us, we chose the quiche and the caesar salad, the quiche really hit the spot in that it was had good texture and flavouring, the salad was different to the norm, and refreshing in that it consisted of some lovely local produce. with dishes serving all tastes from afternoon tea to Austrian dishes harking back to its heritage.  Although you will never hear music piping through the restaurant, there is never a feel of a library too, as it is is always full, hence the continuous queue outside, and because of this there is the constant chatter of all the table, whether it being a group of ladies in the middle of a shopping expedition or a family reunion, catching up with each other, or even a couple having a romantic lunch, no conversation imposes on another and everyone is captivated by the contents of their table.  

Overall the food should be the main star of the show, however the experience as a whole is the main star, with excellent service from start to finish and good choice for all ages to enjoy, and that is even before you see the sweet trolley and all it has to offer.  I personally will stick to the Yorkshire curd Tart, but I dare you to leave without trying one of the sweet delicacies on offer.

So to sum up, a good experience was had at Betty's, it is testimony to Managing Director, Linda Brunton Douglas and her catering teams that the name of Betty's is being sensitively managed and can only go from strength to strength.  If you ever happen to pass by one of their restaurants and see the queue of eager customers, don't be put off, join the line and treat yourself.  Its worth the wait trust me...

Inspiration - Who Inspires You?

So inspiration, it's a subject that crops in the media a lot at the moment, it's also a question a lot of recruiters ask at interview to break the ice and see what drives the candidate, but if you dig a little deeper what is "inspiration" and who inspires you.

Inspiration comes on a number of different levels, ranging from parents which is common in hospitality as so many of today's managers like myself had one or both parents in the industry running pubs or hotels etc, up to sporting icons, charity fund raisers and other high profile people.  We saw a lot of talk about inspiration around the time of Margaret Thatchers passing, and even though she divided the nation, people from all walks of life drew on her unique position of being the country's first female PM, and her rise to being one of the most iconic PM's as well, and how it both inspired them and empowered them to take a step into the unknown and try something that they may never have done.

In a different way we have seen inspirational people in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in the last two years, with Lance Armstrong to name one who had inspired millions of people through his Live Strong charity and his fight against illness to win the Tour de France so many times only for the revelations on his drug taking to wipe away all credibility in this area.  Out of sport we also had the Jimmy Saville revelations that again takes the shine off in a big way all the work he did during his life with the various hospitals and charities. For people who have been inspired by these, it must be hard for them to take and thankfully is a position I have never been in, so see my inspiration go up in smoke.

On a positive note though most inspirational people are unaware that they are inspiring as it is just what they do, getting on with the job in hand, from Mother Theresa to Nelson Mandela these people aren't doing it for the column inches in OK magazine or for the money, they are doing it because they love their work, they feel that it is a job that needs doing.

On a personal note my wife's business which started about a year ago making dresses for girls of 1-7 yrs and personalised cushions for people to cherish, has been told by some of her 7,000 "likers" on facebook on a number of occasions recently that she is an inspiration to them. As she learnt to sew in order to set the company up and has worked up to 20 hours a day perfecting her craft and using her business acumen to grow "Betsy Boo Creations", even attracting media attention along the way thanks to Kirstie Allsopp's company Raise the Roof who profiled her.  This is hard to take in for her as she never set the company up with the mindset of inspiring people, merely to make ends meet at a tough time for both of us, which thankfully we worked through, however a large number of her customers have now dusted off the old sewing machines in the loft and have taken them out to give them a go again.

So as we have seen, inspiration can be driven on a number of levels, but overall it drives us to achieve and do something, hopefully bettering ourselves along the way.  With that in mind it would be great to hear your inspirations and so feel free to share them with us on here and hopefully it will "inspire" others to achieve their goals by hearing your stories.  In case you were wondering by the way, my first inspiration was Nick Faldo, and although I became quite good at golf I never made it to professional level, however the things I have learnt from golf which have been able to transfer into business have been invaluable and so in some ways my inspiration has helped to influence my life, however this changes with my first job in recruitment, and the Chief Executive of that business became an inspiring figure to me and gave me someone to take direct inspiration from, and I can happily say that I am pleased I worked for him for 8 years and grew a great deal under his leadership.

Go and check out my wife's company also, shameless plug I know, but I'd be in the doghouse if I missed the opportunity, so go to BetsyBooCreations on Facebook and take some inspiration.

The View from the Pod, No.2 : Rojano's in the Square, Padstow

The View from the Pod, No.2 - Rojano's (in the Square)

So next stop on our travels was the wonderful town of Padstow, famed for Rick Stein and his whole plethora of restaurants, cafe's and shops, however this review isn't one of those and it instead is part of the new guard in the town.  Rojano's In The Square, or Rojano's for short has been a must visit for us on a number of occasions now, it is a lovely restaurant just one road back from the picturesque harbour that is lined with all its shops and cafe's.  Owned by Paul Ainsworth, this restaurant has been transformed into a fresh and vibrant operation that is a casual but refined venue for lunch and dinner.

More importantly when you have children with you it is a restaurant that is more comfortable to suit their needs without losing any quality in the food that is on offer.  This trip to Rojano's for us was a lunchtime visit on a quieter day in February, and once again the restaurant didn't disappoint.  Looking around the restaurant it attracts all types of clientele, and on that day it showed it, there were parties of ladies out to lunch, retired couples of friends meeting, couples lunching out and families enjoying a bite to eat.  

The children were catered for and not just by the food, with drawing provided to keep them happy, and a very attentive staff all of whom seemed to be friendly and alert to the needs of 2 and 4 year old customers, Paul, the manager who served us indeed shared that he had children of similar ages at home and loved having children in the restaurant.  

In terms of the menu, this again is packed with dishes to entice, from nibbles to sharing options, every base is covered, we chose to share the Calamari which was billed as a main for one or starter to share and it was delicious, the dressing on the rocket was amazing, The dough balls that we also ordered were delicious and devoured by the children.  

As for the mains, the children picked pizza off the Bambini menu, with The Boy selecting a range of vegetables for his, while The Princess had the Bolognaise dish, which she polished off, we didn't take the offer of the full set menu for the children as the only disappointment was that the drink choice was Fruit Shoots of all flavours, a drink that we are passionately against and our children prefer fresh juice or water, so maybe this should be looked at, however this is a personal choice.

For our mains, we went for very different dishes ranging from Sirloin Steak which was cooked to perfection, as it was asked for medium rare, the chips also had a crispness and texture that was extremely morish.  I on the other hand had a blast from my past and chose the Calzone, a favourite when I was younger with the lads having a cheeky takeaway as a student, however this surpassed any previous attempts I have had, it was full of flavour with a some good spicy arrabiata to make the taste interesting, the mozzarella was melt in the mouth stuff and the presentation of the dish was worthy of any dish in Paul Ainsworth's other more established restaurant in Padstow, if it wasn't a calzone.  Being in Cornwall and having a cornish style Pizza seemed apt and everyone enjoyed a taste of it as it was probably the best of all the dishes chosen.  

Overall,  the experience was an enjoyable one for the whole family, equally so if you were going for a evening meal as a couple or with friends this is a great place to go with good all round menu, and also great cocktails upstairs.  If you happen to be on holiday and visiting Padstow this year make sure you visit this restaurant, and it will give you a break from all the pasties and cream teas on offer.  Finally also if you get chance, try the charcuterie plank, we did on a previous visit, great to share, all the meats are full of flavour and the fondue in the middle is a great accompaniment to the dish.  Rojano's is the place to go for all reasons and so if you get there this summer, don't necessarily make a bee line for the seafood restaurants pay Rojano's a visit.  Thanks to Paul Dodd the General Manager for another great meal.

Service:  5/5

Price:     5/5

Food Quality:  4/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Overall experience: 19/20

Peapod is 1 year old!

So we have chalked up our first year as Peapod Recruitment, Wow that was quick! overall it’s been a good year, a learning curve and an experience.  We have built up new skills, re-acquainted ourselves with old ones and placed candidates along the way.  Hopefully you are a client reading this who has experienced our work and now have an employee placed by us, but also you could be a candidate or client who hasn’t worked with us yet, and I hope that that will change in the next year or so.

Don’t worry this won’t be a sales drive on what we can offer.  

Peapod was created by Sascha Rawlinson and myself coming up with an idea over coffee, that with her operational experience over a number of years and with a client viewpoint on work, along with my recruitment career with national recruiters over 12 years in hospitality recruitment, that we should combine our knowledge to create a friendly and personable company, avoiding all the usual fanfare and small print that comes with a lot of recruiters, keeping the terms simple with no hidden charges and getting the job done.

This has worked throughout year one on the whole, and we have done everything from appointing General Manager’s to Head Chef’s, contract catering Operations/Area Managers to CDP’s, its been hard work, however it has been rewarding and hopefully will continue into the next year. 

Hopefully the guide’s we have posted have been useful for CV’s and interviews and I have had some good feedback on these and how they have helped candidates get interviews, so if you haven’t seen them go and check them out.

So for year two, keep an eye on our blog which we hope will continue to interest you and also we will be writing more restaurant reviews of clients, potential clients and just good places to eat, after all we are in the business of food and good service.  And finally feel free to give us feedback, comments on the blog or email us directly as we want to grow this further to let you know what’s going on in the industry, we have our twitter site @peapodrecruit and so join us on here and you will know when the latest blogs are out and also see what is being tweeted in the industry with what we retweet as well.

Here’s to Year Two, we’re off to celebrate the occasion and then get back to helping you find that next role you are looking for!

Provenance is crucial!

Knowing the provenance!

Over recent weeks, we have seen some pretty large operators and food retailers hitting us with revelations that horse meat has been found in their produce.  Everyone from general consumers to hospitals and schools have been affected by this, with one thing in common, the end user, in this case the consumer doesn’t know where the food has come from, or apparently what it contains.  But even more of a scary thought was the trail of blame that each supplier put out, that their meat had come from somewhere else, with trails crossing backwards and forwards across Europe.

Now most of the products found have been discovered in what you would call the ‘ready meal’ department which has been going through a renaissance in recent years as more and more ready meals have been sold each year, especially with each supermarket setting up its own ‘Dine in for 2’ offers (It should also be pointed out that M&S, the creators of this meal deal and whose produce relies greatly on ready meal products has found no traces, as their Chief Exec proudly boasted last week).  For me though the scariest thought impacts on the discovery by Lancashire Council that 40 of their schools had been supplied horse meat, unknowingly within the cottage pies that they had been supplied. 

For me, a father of two children who will soon be entering mainstream education in the near future, this was both surprising and shocking.  Shocking that the horse meat got into the system at all and surprise that schools were selling ready meals to primary school children instead of making fresh on site, especially with dishes as simple as Cottage Pie and lasagne.  I know that no harm can come from horse meat itself, but if you order beef on a menu, you usually would expect to receive it. 

Now I am not daft and realise the argument of cost is banded around by the various authorities, who at the same time are trying to cut millions of deficit off their council running costs, but it does surprise me that they feel fit to put the health of the children that they are helping to develop at risk by providing a product that they don’t know its contents or its provenance.

In recruitment I hear the word provenance a lot, mainly as I deal with good quality contract caterers who although in it for a profit, are happy to produce a product that they are proud in, and in turn expect the people they employ to share this belief.  This almost always means producing the dish on site from fresh ingredients, and although the costs may be up, the long term take up of school meals usually goes up, which in effect eradicates the cost, and overall provides the children with good quality fresh food.  

Fresh food is on the whole is healthy food, you know what is going into a dish and obviously this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ingredients that we don’t know about.  I realise that a trip to your local butcher or an organic farmer is going to be more expensive, but you at least know where the food has come from, you can trace right back to the original source, and know that the meat on your plate is 100% beef etc.  There are a number of ways to counter the cost that seems to be creeping up, in order to facilitate this extra cost, meat free monday’s was something championed by Paul McCartney in recent years and this makes good sense as the cost difference help. 

So lets hope that this scare over the past 6 weeks has given the major food producers and suppliers a jolt in the right direction and that they will now be a little more careful about what goes into their products, lets also hope that councils like Lancashire start to put the health and well being of their pupils ahead of cost and maybe even look into producing on site, like they used to, without fear of not knowing what they are serving.  Overall only good can come from this and hopefully will provide us with a better offering next time we go to the supermarket or order online or more importantly what our children eat at school.

The view from the Pod: No1, Rick Steins Fish, Falmouth

The Peapod review: No1, Rick SteinsFish, Falmouth

So whilst down in the South West recently I decided it would be remiss of me not to have some lunch at one of the regions great restaurants, and as we were in Falmouth, the obvious choice was the Rick Stein Fish & Chip Restaurant down on Maritime Quay, and as we had our children, The princess aged 2 and the boy aged 4 with us, it seemed a sensible choice.

In the past I have eaten at the original Padstow restaurant which was an enjoyable experience, however here there is a much more defined menu, so it was a good chance to experience a fuller menu, as well as plated service(Padstow served all food in cardboard containers).

The Restaurant in Falmouth which is in a newer part of town with a variety of other branded and independent restaurants as well as the Maritime Museum which is well worth a visit.  It is an open restaurant with plenty of space and a good feeling of not being sat on top of each other like the original can often give.  The service here is friendly and the children were made welcome and entertained by a well thought out colouring/games sheet with every colour crayon you could need.

As for the menu, there are a variety of options ranging from the a la carte, to a selection of 2 and 3 course options.  We both plumped for the 3 course which at £19.95 was very good value.  To start we chose the Salt & Pepper Prawns and the fishcake.  It would be fair to say that this was the weakest part of the meal, still not shabby though.  The prawns were lovely and fresh, however most of the Salt and pepper flavour remained on the outer shell and so it amounted to more of Prawns with garnish.  The fishcake was more of a hit, and was extremely tasty, as you would expect, homemade and with a lovely sweet chilli sauce to complement it.

At this point it would be good to mention the service, during the course of the meal we were served by two of the staff, who were excellent in their interaction and conversation, they were attentive and informative and we felt very well catered for throughout the meal, engaging with the boy as he likes to tell them about everything in his life, and making their experience very enjoyable.  The childrens menu is very good it should be mentioned and ours both emptied their plates of the Fish with new potatoes (They don't like chips! ...Yes I know?) and peas followed by ice cream.

On to the main, which for both of us was the Cod and Chips, this as you would expect was delicious, coming in a lovely beer batter, not to thick, but nice and crunchy on the outside and falling away inside and cooked to perfection, the chips were good chip shop style chips however slightly on the drier side which was good.  The homemade tartare sauce was exceptional and the mushy peas were, well mushy peas, washed down with some mild ginger beer the main course was very good and what you would expect from this tried and tested dish.

Finally the desserts, we decided to chose differently here, and so ordered Apple Pie and Treacle Tart.  The Apple Pie came with vanilla ice cream and was delicious, the pastry was short and complemented the apples well, however we were both taken by the treacle tart which was amazing, the taste of the tart, combined with the clotted cream that accompanied it was declared by my colleague as the best they have ever had, some praise from a dessert connoisseur.  In seriousness, the tart was rich but not sickly, it had a lovely consistency and provided a great way to end a very good, reasonably priced meal, which I believe you would struggle to match for price and quality.

Service: 4.5/5

Price:     5/5

Food Quality:  4/5

Cleanliness: 5/5

Overall experience: 18.5/20

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!