There has definitely been rising fluidity in the employment market in recent years, with employees changing roles and businesses more frequently, and employers increasingly restructuring and relaxing contractual ties.

When they do hire, employers increasingly want employees that match their culture whilst job seekers similarly want to work in an environment where they feel comfortable, and one which matches their style and ways of working. After all, we all want to be happy at work, right?

We asked Anthony Carnell, a recruitment & selection design architect with specialists Human Core, for advice on the questions to ask to find the right culture match…

With employers increasingly talking about cultural fit we need to define the right questions to ask employers to make sure that you will fit the culture of the role. These questions are all positively phrased, designed to stretch, but not embarrass the interviewer, but, most importantly, work out if you would fit their culture and they would fit your needs… Continue reading “Being Happy in your Job: 15 Questions to Ask a Potential Employer for Culture Fit” »

The internet, with its range of digital tools and resources, provides many opportunities to connect with people and organisations you’ve never met before, offering a great way for jobseekers to source, research and prepare for a range of vacancies and career opportunities.

In most cases this is completely safe, but unfortunately in a very small number of cases, there are opportunities for scams, with unscrupulous operators looking to prey on the optimism of the job seeker. You need to take basic precautions to ensure that the people and organisations you are dealing with are genuine.

Watch this video for some of the ways that you can protect yourself online and job hunt safely…

For more information check out our blog on safe online jobhunting…

There are times when, despite your best efforts, the job hunt slows down. They may be seasonal (eg Christmas, Summer holidays) or because the sector you’re looking to work in goes through quieter times. It’s important to keep the momentum going, so watch our 5 tips for making it happen…

You may also want to check out our blogs on what you shouldn’t do during the search, and how best to use social media in the job hunt.

We have posted before about the challenges facing the engineering sector in attracting candidates – particularly among women. But how can this trend be reversed? One recent answer to this question may be surprising to some: children’s toys.

Stanford Engineering graduate Debbie Sterling is the inventor of a new construction toy that’s designed to inspire more girls to become engineers. “Goldie Blox”, the funding for which was raised on Kickstarter, has certainly created a lot of discussion – but can giving such toys to children really alter their future careers?

“Research shows that the earlier kids get interested in math and science, the more likely they are to go into those fields as adults,” according to Goldie Blox publicity. “Unfortunately, girls are losing interest in math and science as young as age 8. Take a walk through a toy store and you can begin to see why; the ‘blue aisle’; is filled with construction toys and chemistry sets, while the ‘pink aisle’ is filled with princesses and dolls.”

While Goldie Blox has definitely been designed to fit into the “pink aisle” (risking the kind of controversy that greeted Lego Friends – the ‘pink Lego’ of 2012 that attempted to win girls over), it also takes its cue from scientific perspectives on childhood play. Goldie Blox taps into girls’ developmental strengths – their verbal skills, particularly – to help get them more interested in building and design. Continue reading “Child’s play: what’s the link between toys and careers?” »