Posts Tagged ‘graduate’

Are you eligible? Having your documents ready for your job search.

July 7, 2011

Embarking on a search for a new job can be daunting however like all things in life it can go more smoothly with forward planning. This short article is aimed at ensuring you have the relevant factual information at hand. This is important as agencies (like20:20 Selection Ltd) and importantly employers do need to check your legal, employment and academic documentation. Hence if you have all this in order, then when it comes to you being made that perfect job offer the contract/job offer letter is likely to be with you more quickly.

 

The following checklist should help you with your preparation:

  • Passport & Visa (if applicable) – an employer can be fined for employing individuals who are not eligible to work in theUK
  • Driving Licence – you will need the paper and photo card parts. For field based positions you will need a validUKdriving licence with no more than 6 penalty points. It is important you make clear declarations about your driving history when asked as employers will check this with the DVLA.

If you have a nonUKlicence holder and need to convert your licence the following link will give you some guidance:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/DrivingInGbOnAForeignLicence/DG_4022562

  • A recent payslip. This will validated your current basic salary and your National Insurance number. If you are in receipt of other monthly benefits such as a car allowance this will also be verified on the payslip.
  • ABPI certificate – if you have sat and passed the examination you will need to produce your certificate if you are offered employment with a pharmaceutical company. If you have misplaced this, the following link may help

https://extranet.abpi.org.uk/web/abpi/exams.nsf/pages/duplicate_certificate_request

  • Highest education certificates (degree, nursing, A levels etc)
  • For nursing roles you will need your current NMC PIN number and date of expiry. Plus you will also be asked about the date of your last CRB check however your new employer will need to undertake a fresh check.
  • For sales positions you should also put together your ‘Brag File’ or portfolio of successes which should include Sales Data, other performance against KPIs, recent appraisal documents; in fact anything that you can use to sell you and differentiate you in the marketplace.

 

If you are not facing redundancy, timing your job search is also something to consider. For example,

  • We do come across people who may be tied in to car schemes. You are advised to carefully calculate the costs involved to you in walking away from your current agreement, as not all employers offer car opt-out schemes.
  • If you are going to jeopardise any bonus/incentive payments pay by leaving before a certain date.
  • If you have significant holiday commitments it is important you flag these. A job offer may be subject to you attending a training course on a specific date for a fixed time, however discussing these with your Recruitment Consultant early in the process may mean this can be negotiated. Also remember that holiday entitlement will be prorated depending at what stage of the leave year you commence work.

 

At 20:20Selection, we are here to help and guide our candidate along the process. Our specialist team can be contacted on 0845 026 2020 from08:30 – 18:00weekdays.

What I Wish I’d known As A Hiring Manager……….

December 13, 2010

It’s been almost a year since I joined 20:20 Selection Ltd as a Recruitment Consultant; and as we approach the shortest day and start the wind down for Christmas, I feel that it’s a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned over the last twelve months.

Firstly, I’ve realised that in the world of recruitment there isn’t a wind down for Christmas at all! In fact, at 20:20 Selection Limited we are still flat out busy, working on new vacancies as well as existing ones, for our clients who want jobs offered and filled over the next two weeks, in time for ITC’s on 4th January. I had naively thought that we would be starting on the mince pies and sherry by now, but in fact I suspect that the Season’s merriments won’t begin until 4pm on Friday 24th December.

When I was a hiring manager, both as a Regional Business Manager, and as a National Manager, I thought I knew quite a bit about recruitment. I thought I knew how to spot an outstanding candidate from an average one. I thought I knew how to really dig down deep to get to know the ‘face behind the mask’, so that I could recruit the best of the best; the gem who would fit into the team quickly and would add value from day one.

What I’ve now realised, is just how little I actually knew about recruitment when I was a hiring manager.

If only I’d known that:

  • An awful lot of work goes on behind the scenes, long before a manager receives CV’s to review.

 

  • For every strong potential candidate, the best agencies reject another hundred CV’s from the ‘Average Joe’.

 

  • The recruitment industry is incredibly competitive, with most clients now choosing a multi agency Preferred Supplier List.

 

  • Achieving exclusivity with a client, is worth it’s weight in gold, as it gives the agency the luxury of time to really match the best candidates to every role, and to deliver all the KPI’s, without being pulled into the ‘bun fight’ of trying to speak to candidates about a job first before the other agencies get to them.

 

  • Candidate loyalty only comes from delivering outstanding service. If people are registered with too many recruitment agencies, it is actually much more difficult to find them a job.

 

  • Not all agencies are ethical and professional, and some still work on a volume principle, sending far too many CV’s out for a vacancy, rather than only selecting candidate’s who really fit the brief.

 

  • We’re all fishing from the same candidate pool, and only the most skilled and experienced recruitment consultants know which bait to use to attract the most suitable, highest calibre people.

 

  • The world of recruitment is full of highs and lows. Nothing beats the feeling of placing a candidate in their perfect job. Equally, nothing matches the heart sink feeling when your super prepped candidate gets down to the last two, and gets beaten by a whisker.

 

  • It is extremely hard work, energy draining and soul destroying at times. It is also the most fulfilling, satisfying, people focused job I’ve ever done.

 

  • The role of the recruitment consultant is the ultimate selling role. You need to sell to clients to win the business in the first place, sell the job and the company culture to candidates and to sell candidates’ to hiring managers to encourage them to shortlist your people.

 

  • The term KAM is overused, and means so many different things to different companies and different people.

 

  • The pharmaceutical market place is very still unstable. Candidates seem to have very high expectations about their employability, and so a key part of the recruitment consultant’s job is to manage expectations and to really explore motivation in a very competitive environment.

 

  • As more and more companies choose to install electronic CV logging systems, it becomes increasingly difficult to ‘sell’ the candidates into hiring managers. Therefore, it is even more critical for a candidate’s CV to be absolutely outstanding, to differentiate them from the rest of the crowd, and to be as clear and as achievement focused as it can possibly be.

 

So, one year ends and another is just around the corner. I have learned a huge amount over the last 12 months, both about my job as a Recruitment Consultant, and also about myself, my own motivation and what makes me smile. I’d forgotten the buzz that is to be had from working in the toughest sales arenas, and I’d forgotten just how much I still want to win and to succeed. Every day is different, every day is action packed, and every day I live on my wits, and I’m ready to deal with anything that comes my way. I’m looking forward to the Christmas break, but I’m also optimistic and hopeful that 2011 will be a very fruitful year for 20:20 Selection Limited and for our selected candidates.

by Sam Harrison

QIPP

October 21, 2010

FACTSHEET

WHAT IS QIPP?

The QIPP agenda is undoubtedly one of the most significant NHS policies that all organisations who conduct business with the NHS will have to take onboard.

Quality

Innovation

Productivity

Prevention

The agenda will have to run through the every thought and every process that takes place throughout the NHS from Primary Care Trusts to Secondary Care to General Practice.

QIPP will affect every department and individual who works for the NHS – for example front line clinicians, PCT commissioners, estate managers, laundry services, ward staff, ambulance trusts, etc.

Why?

The year 2010/11 is the last year in which the £102 billion that is spent on the NHS is set to get an increase in funding of around 5.5%. For the foreseeable future the growth will be limited to inflation. The NHS needs to identify £15-£20 billion of efficiency savings by the end of 2013/14 that can be reinvested within the service so that it can continue to deliver year on year quality improvements.

HOW WILL QIPP AFFECT PHARMA?

 

In order to do business with the NHS in future, organisations will need to focus on how the products/services that they offer fit in with the local QIPP agenda. Clearly organisations will have to attain immediate overviews as to how the QIPP agenda is going to be adopted at local levels, as it is anticipated that new, complex information resources will be required to deliver tailored solutions for each NHS customer.

PCTs will be looking to move services into primary care to reduce cost and improve Quality and Productivity. Pharmaceutical companies are already working on how to utilise their existing knowledge of World Class Commissioning to drive their targeting and market access strategies – so the platform may already be there, but the message will need refining for the QIPP.

Specifically, some of the areas which the pharmaceutical industry might be concentrating on refining their messages and strategies could include:

  • to reduce preventable hospital admissions resulting from sub-optimal medicines use in chronic medical conditions (e.g. COPD)
  • to identify patients who are currently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as having a treatable chronic medical condition (e.g. COPD, diabetes, cardiovascular disease)
  • to improve medical adherence and thereby improve health outcomes and reduce waste by reducing levels of non-adherence to medicines (e.g. community pharmacy monitoring schemes, GP staff training)
  • to improve adherence to NICE guidance (e.g. hypertension, DVT prevention)

 

RECOMMENDED EXAMPLES

There have already been some significant improvements made to Quality and Productivity and Department of Health has provided some recommended examples.

Opportunistic screening by pulse palpation of patients over 65 has been used in 18 regions to improve detection of atrial fibrillation. Quality is improved by the optimal treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation reducing risk of stroke. Productivity is increased by the reduction in costs associated with stroke and its complications.

Ten pilot trusts have succesfully implemented service re-design for the Fractured Neck Femur patient pathway. This improved quality by: improving multi discplinary and cross agency teamworking, reducing mortality, and time to theatre, and earlier mobilisation. Productivity was improved by reduced length of stay, readmissions, and delays to the theatre.

The NHS Institute supported Chief Executives and senior leadership to champion change and improvement across NHS organisations in all areas of the stroke pathway. Quality was improved by reducing mortality, time in A&E, and delay in CT scanning. Productivity was increased through reduction in length of stay and readmission.

The NHS Institute has supported ward leaders and nursing teams with innovative methods to improve the ward environment and process. Over 60% of NHS Acute Trusts are implementing the Productive Ward programme. Key improvements from the programme include improved quality through increasing direct patient care time and staff satisfaction and improved productivity through reduced staff absence and reduced length of hospital stay.

Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals have successfully implemented an electronic blood transfusion system. This has improved quality by reducing transfusion errors and the time taken to deliver blood. Productivity has improved by reduced blood usage, wastage, and staff time.

Enhanced recovery programmes use evidence based interventions to improve pre-, intra-, and postoperative care. They have enabled early recovery, discharge from hospital, and more rapid return to normal activities. Quality is increased by reducing complications and enabling a more rapid return to function. Productivity is improved by reducing hospital stay.

To improve the uptake of QIPP by clinicians the Department of Health has published a guide entitled:  The NHS Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention Challenge: an introduction for clinicians www.somaxa.com/docs/file/QIPP_2010.pdf

Further information on QIPP can be found at:

www.link-gov.org/content/view/463/188/

www.library.nhs.uk/qipp/