If you want an agile and innovative team, then you want a diverse range of opinions and viewpoints. Whilst this is not up for debate and sounds simple enough, we can all find it hard to look beyond the barriers of our own experience sometimes, and to consider something, or someone, new.

Using a specialist recruitment consultant to aid you in your search for a new hire simplifies the process, gives you the knowledge of experts in their field, and represents a real terms cost saving to your business. Not only this, but it also means that you may find yourself interviewing candidates that you or your team might not normally have spotted amongst the pool of the ‘similar and familiar’.

At CK Group all our recruitment consultants are highly trained experts, which includes annual workshops on preventing unconscious bias in the recruitment process. Our team are trained to find you the right skills for your business as well as enhancing your team.

If you are looking to build your team in the future, here are 3 considerations to encourage a diverse and inclusive range of candidate applications and in your selection process:

Applicant Accessibility

The first port of call for all candidates when researching your company or applying for jobs is your company website. Take a look at your website from the perspective of candidates with visual and hearing impairments. Load it up not only on a computer but other devices. Does it load well on a mobile phone? Now consider the text. See if it can be enlarged, and consider if you can integrate a screen reader into your website so your candidates can listen to the content.

If it’s not feasible for your business to integrate a screen reader, you can also create videos to sell your company and current vacancies to your candidates. There are a range of products out there at various price points. At CK Group we use an award-winning video
tool to advertise our roles and start a conversation with our candidates.

Job Advert Review

Once you have reviewed how physically accessible your job advertisement will be to candidates, it’s also worth looking at the wording of your adverts to ensure that the language and phrasing being used are not unwittingly excluding any skilled candidates.

At CK Group we review all of our job descriptions and adverts for gendered or racial language and phrasing. We will do the same for your business, but there are also lots of resources online discussing this topic and giving examples and advice.

Anonymous Applications

You have now received candidate applications from a wide range of backgrounds and it’s time to start shortlisting based on the skills they have to do the job. One way that you can prevent stigma and bias at this part of the selection process is to anonymise your applications.

At CK Group we can anonymise candidate CVs to various degrees depending on the circumstances and your preferences. This can include the removal of:

• Candidate name and age
• Personal pronouns
• Specific details of their entitlement to work
• University institutions and locations
• Other location data unrelated to the role

This gives you the freedom to know you are selecting the best candidates for the job regardless of unrelated factors such as gender or racial background.

Diversity in the supply chain

Your bonus tip is a reminder that taking a proactive approach to diversity and inclusion does not only have to be limited to what your business does. It also includes the type of suppliers and other businesses you engage with.

At CK Group we are critical of our own practices, running a D&I Working Group quarterly to seek employee feedback and ideas, but we also take the diversity and inclusion of our suppliers seriously. We consciously support suppliers and others businesses taking an active approach by choosing to do business with them.

What do you think of these ideas? Do you have suggestions of your own?

If you want to learn more about how we can support your diversity & inclusion initiatives, or just want to chat further about any of these suggestions, you can start the conversation with us today by emailing Naomi Menary at CK Group nmenary@ckgroup.co.uk

To learn more about Diversity & Inclusion:

No matter how relaxing or fun filled the weekend has been, the ‘Sunday Scaries’ often creep up on us and fill the final hours of the weekend with a sense of dread and anxiety. Our recent poll found that 46% of respondents suffer with the ‘Sunday Scaries’. We have a host of top tips on how to combat that Sunday night anxiety, but first, what are the ‘Sunday Scaries’?

What are the ‘Sunday Scaries’?

The ‘Sunday Scaries’ can present in various ways, but can be defined as a sense of dread or anxiety that shows up, usually, the day/night before you return to work each week. This anxiety is usually linked to premature worry and stress focused around the tasks and deadlines to be completed in the pending working week.

A recent study by LinkedIn found that 66% of Americans suffer from this type of anxiety on a Sunday night, whilst 47% say the recent pandemic has either caused or worsened their ‘Sunday Scaries’.

What are the symptoms of the ‘Sunday Scaries’?

For many people the ‘Sunday Scaries’ may present as a physical or mental reaction such as the following:

• Feelings of anxiety and dread
• Irritability, anger or resentment
• Restlessness and fatigue
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Procrastination/ loss of motivation
• Sadness and loneliness
• Headaches
• Upset stomach
• Changes in appetite
• Racing heartbeat
• Sweating
• Feeling panicked

What causes the ‘Sunday Scaries’?

The ‘Sunday Scaries’ can be caused by:

• Feeling unprepared for the tasks you need to complete in the week
• Worrying about unfinished tasks from the previous week
• Lingering thoughts and feelings from a poor work environment
• Imposter syndrome
• Poor work-life balance
• Not being able to disconnect from work one the working day is over
• Lack of rest

How to tackle the ‘Sunday Scaries’

1. Determine the cause

In order to feel educated and in control of Sunday anxiety, finding the root cause should be the first step. Gaining a better understanding of the causes can help put the correct solutions in place to reduce stress.

An effective way of doing this would be to create a list of troubling thoughts and worrying events that are on your mind in order to see where the anxiety is coming from.

2. Implement mindfulness and anxiety-reducing habits

Mindfulness and anxiety-reducing habits are coping strategies that can usually be done anywhere, anytime. There are various techniques available to manage anxiety and balance stress levels. These may include:

• Meditation
• Mindfulness and gratitude exercises
• Journaling thoughts and feelings
• Using visualization techniques
• Reciting positive affirmations
• Practicing yoga
• Reduce caffeine intake

3. Ensure your weekend includes both fun and rest

Where possible, try and reserve a portion of your weekend for both fun and rest. Whilst it is tempting to fill your weekend with household chores and errands, create time, such as Saturday evening through to Sunday, for things you enjoy and guilt-free rest. Incorporating relaxation into your routine allows for a moment of ‘me time’ before the busy schedule of weekdays sets in, giving you something to look forward to as well as a good environment to foster positive thoughts and feelings about the week to come.

4. Give yourself something to look forward to on Monday

Planning something fun for Monday can make starting a new week seem a little less intimidating. This could be something as simple as grabbing a coffee on your way into work, cooking your favourite meal in the evening or meeting up a friend to break up the anxiety of starting afresh. Make Monday a day you look forward to in order to start the week on a positive note.

5. Use ‘do not disturb’ notifications when the working day is over

In a world where technology is at the forefront of keeping us connected to family, friends and colleagues, it can also mean that work emails and notifications can reach us after the working day has ended.

Using ‘do not disturb’ functions and silencing notifications outside of work hours could be beneficial way in reducing the ‘Sunday Scaries’ and reinforcing a positive work-life balance. Whilst keeping on top of your workload is important to reduce anxiety, taking time away from the world of work is equality as important to ensure a positive mental state and to balance expectations within the workplace.

6. Know when to ask for help

Whilst the ‘Sunday Scaries’ can be a weekly occurrence, it is important to recognise when these anxieties are becoming more serious. If this anxiety is starting to affect both work and personal life, the above techniques are not helping, or you’re feeling as though you cannot see a way out of your negative mental state, then it may be time to ask for help. Talking to your management and HR about workplace benefits and support as well as disclosing your feelings to family and friends could help end the cycle and help prioritise positive mental health.

If your anxiety is overwhelming, and you feel it may be time to look for a new role, take a look at our current vacancies or contact one of our Consultants to help you find your next role.

Mental Health Awareness Week is an initiative led by the Mental Health Foundation to shine a light on mental health. This year’s particular theme is #tohelpmyanxiety and it takes place between 15th and 21st May.

Anxiety is a normal emotion in everyone, but it can be difficult to discuss this in the workplace and get support when its needed. As an employer, there are lots of things you can do to give employees the support they need, both during Mental Health Awareness Week and beyond…

Mental Healthcare

Whether you have the infrastructure and finances available for a fully comprehensive employee assistance programme, or if you are an SME looking to give your employee’s access to a private medical scheme, there are lots of options on the market to suit your needs.

When considering private medical provision, make sure you ask your provider if they cover psychiatric care. The levels of this can vary depending on your budget and what your business actually needs. It’s worth considering how the benefit can be accessed to give it the best possible chance of affecting your employee’s lives.

At CK Group, we offer our PAYE contractors an Employee Assistance Programme accessed via an app/website. From here, our contractors can access online counselling via email or phone, making it accessible across the country wherever they are based.

Financial Wellbeing

In a survey run by the Mental Health Foundation, 10% of UK adults reported feeling hopeless about financial circumstances. If your business does not already have a financial wellbeing policy in place, this is something that you can use to direct your staff to the services (internal and external) that they can access to seek advice and alleviate some of the financial pressures they are facing.

At CK Group our Financial Wellbeing policy acts as a guide for employees to see a quick overview of everything the business has to offer, such as additional paid time off, emergency leave, salary sacrifice schemes, and employee assistance support, to name a few. Just making all the benefits your business already has more visible is a great first step to supporting your team.

Employee Voice

The title of this section is not accurate, as the word ‘employee’ is a generic term for anyone employed by your company and says nothing about their individual identities and perspectives. Creating platforms for employees to be heard (and taking action on what you hear) creates a more inclusive and welcoming environment, and, if done well, alleviates anxiety about those extra parts of our lives not related to work.

At CK Group we have a few employee forums, but most notably is our Diversity and Inclusion working group which meets quarterly. We are currently running our annual (anonymous) D&I survey as a compliment to this group to make sure we get as many views as possible. Listening to your team is the simplest way to know how and where to commit your resources to support them better.

Supporting Connection

There is a very real chance that you don’t get told everything that your employees feel (even with employee forums and surveys). This can be for many reasons, some of which are completely unrelated to how you act as a business. This final tip is about how you can foster connection between your team, to give them safe spaces to express themselves and seek support in their own way. Connections can’t be artificially created, but by making the space for them they can happen organically:

• Make sure employees take their lunch breaks. They may use it to spend time together
• Provide hot drinks. Even the small amount of time it takes to move from your desk and make a drink (and have a chat with a colleague whilst doing so) can help reduce stress and reframe your thoughts
• Suggest initiatives like walking groups to encourage team members to get out of the office. The fresh air and the exercise are great for releasing anxious stress and clearing the head
• Allow pets in the office. This is not as much about connection, but if all your team are comfortable (and not allergic) having a friendly pet around can relax the atmosphere of the office and spark conversation.

We are looking forward to seeing how other businesses are addressing the important topic of anxiety for Mental Health Awareness Week this year.

If you found this advice useful, you may also be interested in the following article:

Social media has become a part of everyday life for many individuals, but can it impact your future job prospects? According to a survey by The Harris Poll, 55% of employers who use social media screening say they have found content on social platforms that has caused them not to hire a candidate.

Here are our top tips for social media usage throughout your job-hunting process:

1. Audit your social presence before applying for new roles

A great place to start in gaining an understanding of what information is available from your social media platforms is to perform a search of your name across a well-known search engine. It’s important to understand what information comes up at face value on a basic search that could be performed by a potential employer. Once you’ve assessed the information that appears, you can act accordingly on each social profile.

2. Make profiles and content private

Though social content should be uploaded for your own viewing and the viewing of friends and family, certain content should be restricted from the eyes of a hiring manager. It may be wise to hide any content that does not represent yourself professionally, and keep personal profiles private. This can be done by limiting those who can view certain posts or by making profiles completely private.

3. Be mindful of what you post and share

While being active on social media is positive, users should be mindful of what they are posting on their platforms. Profiles should be free of any offensive/tasteless language, content and interactions, if this is not a true reflection of your personality. Any inappropriate content could significantly hinder future job applications and associate said individual with views or actions that may not reflect positively upon their application and wider personality.

4. Separate personal and professional

Social media can also be beneficial to your application as long as you separate your personal and professional life. Professional platforms such as LinkedIn could be an essential element in your application, offering more information about your career and qualifications. By ensuring that your professional profiles are regularly updated and contain only relevant and useful information, it could create a positive online image that could enhance your status as a potential candidate for a role.

5. Be truthful

On both personal and professional platforms that may appear when searched, it is important to be truthful. Do not fabricate or exaggerate details, such as qualifications, as these will often be questioned and sort out online throughout the application process. Any false information on your profiles will often come to light and could be damaging to your chances of getting hired.

If you’re looking for your next role, please take a look at our current vacancies.

Last week, we ran a poll to find out if our respondents felt confident in identifying the signs and symptoms of burnout. While 68% said they could correctly identify the signs and symptoms, 32% felt they were unsure or could not.

Burnout can be described as a state of mental and physical exhaustion. Burnout can be prevalent in various ways and is caused by various factors both inside and outside of work.

What are the signs and symptoms of burnout?

Individuals may experience burnout in different ways, but the most frequent signs and symptoms may be:

• Feeling tired or drained most of the time
• Negative feelings surrounding work, usually feeling helpless, trapped, or defeated
• Feeling detached, overwhelmed, or alone
• Procrastination/ taking longer to complete daily tasks
• Self-doubt

What causes burnout?

Burnout can be caused by a number of factors including both mental and physical constraints of work life. These can include:

• Unmanageable workload
• Unclear communication/ expectations from managers
• Lack of support
• Time/deadline pressures
• Long working hours
• Poor work-life balance

Preventing burnout

Luckily, burnout can be prevented before it becomes a large issue. Educating employees about the signs, symptoms and causes is a great place to start meaning burnout can easily be identified. From here, the risk of burnout can be reduced. One of the easiest ways to do this is to promote an open and honest atmosphere in the workplace.

Opening up the conversation about expectations, goals, concerns, and internal support systems can be a powerful tool for combating burnout. When employees and management alike are encouraged to communicate their thoughts and set effective boundaries, it fosters a supportive environment of collaboration and trust which may help employees and managers alike reduce their risk of burnout.

The risk of burnout could also be mitigated by utilizing annual leave and mental health resources included in your employer’s benefits package. Using the full entitlement of annual leave can provide the opportunity to step away from work, relax, and mentally disengage from the workplace for a temporary period of time.

Remote working and burnout

Burnout may be harder to spot in those colleagues that work remotely. Frequent contact and communication, for example through check-ins or one-to-one meetings, should be maintained so that remote colleagues do not feel ‘out of sight and out of mind’.

Helping those experiencing burnout as a colleague

If you suspect a colleague is experiencing symptoms of burnout, there are simple ways you can help as a colleague:

• Open up the conversation: If you suspect that someone is experiencing burnout, seek a quiet and private moment to ask them how they are feeling. Show empathy as you listen to their response, and be considerate in your reaction. Knowing that someone is listening can often be beneficial for those experiencing stress by giving them a platform to express their feelings and the events that have led them to feel burnt out. You should aim to have a further understanding of your colleague’s feelings and the root cause of the problem.
• Prioritise the workload: Following this, if the cause is work-related and you are able, help your colleague organise their tasks by prioritising their to do list. Often, colleagues experiencing burnout due to their workload are unable to see an end to their to-do list. If there are any low-priority tasks that you can handle, you could offer to lend a hand or provide guidance on delegating some of their workload.
• Be a friend and offer support: In addition to providing professional assistance, offering personal friendship and support can be a source of comfort for colleagues. Colleagues may need a moment to breathe away from the task at hand, so taking a moment to offer more personal support can be just as useful.

Helping those experiencing burnout as a manager

From a managerial perspective, there are some additional ways you can help those struggling with burnout:

• Be an advocate for your team: Ensure your team is meeting the goals of the wider business whilst communicating that your team/ individuals on your team are currently at capacity and cannot increase their workload. Let your team members know that it’s okay to ask for help and that you will advocate for the time they need to complete their current workload without being further overwhelmed.
• Remind employees to look after their health: Make sure employees are aware of any physical and mental health benefits they may have as part of their benefits package. While you can provide support in the workplace, it may also be beneficial for them to seek some further support temporarily to help reduce stress appearing in their life outside of work.
• Listen: As simple as it may seem, listening is often the most important tool to help. Knowing that somebody is taking their thoughts on board and trying to find a solution can make a large difference to those that are struggling.

If you are struggling with burnout, it may be time to talk to your manager and ask for help. Please take a look at our free resources to help you manage your workplace happiness and mitigate difficulties.

So, you’ve found a job description you really like to look of, however you don’t have all the requirements for the role. But do you need to fulfill every element of the job description in order to be successful in your application?

The short answer is no! Rather than discounting yourself from the process, a great place to start is by assessing whether the skills you are lacking are key requirements for the role. An employer will not expect to recruit someone who fulfills every criterion for the role, but would like to appoint someone who meets a good selection of the job description and experience needed. Whilst some of the requirements may be non-negotiable, certain elements will be flexible and can be adapted to suit the right candidate. Where there are gaps in skillset, further training and support could be provided, giving the right candidate the chance to develop with the role.

Top Tip

Whilst you may have gaps in skillset, make sure you express in the application the ways in which you meet the job description and demonstrate these with strong examples so that the hiring manager sees the strengths in your experiences.

Whilst these experiences will strengthen your application, there may be certain skills that can be transferred from previous roles that will also be beneficial. When thinking of these transferrable skills, you should consider, ‘how can these skills add value to the company you are applying for?’. Whether it’s excellent communication skills, experience in various IT software, or unpaid work experience within the science industries, these can aid your application by strengthening areas of your CV that may be lacking specific requirements of the job ad.

Top Tip

Detailing any volunteer work or unpaid work experience alongside your transferrable skills gained in previous employment can be beneficial to your application by showing your interests and that you are driven by more than monetary reward. Remember to explain what you were responsible for and how this directly relates to the objectives of the potential future employer.

Most importantly, do not let imposter syndrome or lack of self confidence deter you from applying for the role. Even if you were not to be successful, then the application process may provide valuable interview experience. Getting used to various job application processes and interview styles from failed applications will be a beneficial activity in your job search by strengthening your future applications.

If you’re looking for your next role, why not get in touch with our teams? We also have a host of free resources to help you throughout your job seeking journey.

This March marks the anniversary of CK Group’s diversity and inclusion working group. One year ago, having signed the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter, the business embarked on a journey to put diversity and inclusion at the center of what we do. Along the way we have made steady improvements and had some great conversations, but also learnt a few lessons.

If your organization is looking to start its own D&I journey, here are our 3 top tips on how to get started:

Build the Structure

Central to any successful initiative is knowing where it sits in your organisation and how it will be supported. A successful D&I strategy cannot be the responsibility of one person, although one person can lead the charge and start the change.

Put D&I firmly on the agenda. At CK Group D&I initiatives (and sustainability) are incorporated into our annual business strategy. By having this documented as one of our annual targets, it holds us to account to ensure we deliver.

To deliver on the strategy, decide how you are going to act. Put in place a process that is simple, as the more complex you make it the harder it will be to maintain. At CK Group we have a working group who meet quarterly to air colleague ideas and agree what we can put into action.

Keep the Conversation Going

Now you have a structure, if you are lucky your team will become engaged immediately and ideas and feedback will start flowing. Do not feel defeated if this doesn’t happen, as it is normal that staff will take time to buy in to a new initiative. As you commit to maintaining your process, over time staff will start to take you seriously.

At CK Group we take a couple of approaches to keeping the subject alive within our teams. First, we conduct annual workshops on ‘Unconscious bias in the recruitment process’ to train our team and discuss experiences they have faced that they need support with. We also hold one companywide working group per year, to give the whole company the opportunity to see and hear about what is going on across the business and to give their thoughts and ideas.

Start With What You Have

You don’t need to come up with a shiny new idea that no company has ever previously concocted. Start small, and look at what you have in place already. How do your existing policies and employee benefits include, or exclude, your staff?

At CK Group, we are proud to have a long history of charity recognition, however there has not previously been a process for managing the variety of charities so that they properly reflect the people in the organization. We are therefore currently implementing a quarterly charity recognition scheme, with a plan to change the charities we recognize more regularly and to obtain employee recommendations to ensure we support the issues which matter to them.

Bonus Tip

To look at D&I as a standalone topic diminishes the impact it can have across your organisation. If you want to make a real impact, open up your mind to all the things you can do to make your employees feel they can express themselves.

In January 2023 CK Group introduced additional paid volunteering leave to encourage our staff to go out into their local community and support the causes that matter to them. Whilst not immediately a D&I strategy, it gives our employees the opportunity to express themselves and make a difference in the areas that matter to them outside of work.

In summary, it’s not about doing it right, but instead, doing it right now. Start talking about diversity and inclusion, find a sustainable way that works for your business, and start off with those small changes.

CK Group are working with a leading global diagnostics company to recruit for a number of vacancies. These roles are based out of the sites of leading global pharmaceutical companies. Our client offers complete solutions, including instruments, reagents, automation, services and software designed to address evolving needs of clinical laboratories and healthcare professionals.

LIS Engineer Support Specialist

Location: Stevenage

Salary: Excellent salary available

Requirements:

• Experience of working in a fast paced, operational environment.
• Experience of working to a GxP standard desirable.
• 2+ years’ experience within Scientific services or similar sector.
• An interest in learning technical competencies.
• High customer focus.
• Ability to travel.

The main purpose of this position is to provide high quality support to the engineering team to help provide a high-quality service to a wide range of laboratory equipment within the R&D community. Key responsibilities include stock control, work order management, engineer administration, workload planning and scheduling, and entry level maintenance and calibration of laboratory equipment. Primarily based at a client site in Stevenage but on occasions may require travel to other UK R&D sites.

Customer Support Engineer

Location: Stevenage

Salary: £32,000 – £40,000

Requirements:

• Advanced Modern Apprenticeship to NVQ 3 in engineering or equivalent experience in relevant scientific engineering.
• 2+ years post apprentice experience within the Laboratory Instrument Support sector.
• Very strong analytical skills with proven ability to break down and solve complex problems in a logical and structured approach.
• High customer focus.
• Ability to travel.

The main purpose of this position is to provide high quality specialist engineering support to a wide range of laboratory equipment within the R&D community. This will involve facilitation of repair, maintenance, calibration and certification of laboratory instrumentation. Other responsibilities include supporting in maintaining availability of essential spares and training of other scientific services staff or customers on utilisation of equipment. Primarily based at a client site in Stevenage but on occasions may require travel to other UK R&D sites.

Scientific Equipment Coordinator

Location: Macclesfield

Salary: £27,000 – £34,000

Requirements:

• Experience of working in as a planner or coordinator, ideally in a scientific or pharmaceutical environment.
• Proven ability to break down and solve complex problems in a logical and structured approach.
• Strong relationship management and communication/influencing skills.

The main purpose of this position is to manage, organise and implement high-quality specialist coordination & front-line troubleshooting support to a wide range of laboratory equipment, including supporting tasks in the lab space to drive quality and efficiency for the client’s scientific staff. Key responsibilities include coordination of repairs and preventative maintenance, acting as a single point of contact for all visiting engineers and hosting throughout their visit and inputting all required data into client asset databases.

Lab Equipment Engineer

Location: Highfields Caldecote

Salary: Excellent salary available

Requirements:

• Advanced Modern Apprenticeship with NVQ 3 in engineering
• Experience within the Laboratory Instrument Support sector
• Very strong analytical skills with proven ability to break down and solve complex problems in a logicaland structured approach

The role provides high quality specialist engineering support to a wide range of laboratory equipment within the scientific community such as Balances, Centrifuges, Incubators etc. The main purpose of this role will be to ensure prompt, flexible, customer focused equipment support whilst maintaining compliance with statutory, regulatory and engineering standards. You will be required to diagnose faults on complex equipment and systems utilizing the multi-disciplinary support internal and external to the team to produce a satisfactory solution.

Automation Engineer

Location: Highfields Caldecote

Salary: Excellent salary available

Requirements:

• HNC/HND in relevant engineering discipline.
• 5+ years experience within the Laboratory Instrument Support sector across a wide range of scientific and/or automated systems.
• PC literate in Microsoft packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc).

The role provides high quality specialist engineering support to Lab Automation. You will plan and carry out engineering maintenance and commissioning work associated with scientific equipment and systems. You will also monitor the performance of the scientific equipment and systems using Key Performance Indicators to instigate improvements and influence changes.

Integrated Systems Specialist

Location: Stevenage

Salary: Excellent salary available

Requirements:

• HND in a Mechatronic related subject.
• Extensive experience in lab instrument support.
• Pharmaceutical / Regulated working background.
• Experience of servicing scientific equipment.

You will carry out on-going system performance analysis based upon error logs, live run interventions and root-cause analysis & trending of errors to mitigate their reoccurrence. You will also develop and implement a proactive maintenance regime for key equipment.

When new and exciting vacancies arise, it can be difficult to attract talent throughout periods of economic uncertainty. For many, taking the leap of finding a new job in unpredictable circumstances can require a vacancy to be more beneficial to them than their current position. Here are our top tips for attracting top talent during periods of uncertainty.

1. Salary transparency

A poll conducted by us found that 64% of respondents would not apply for a role if the salary in a job advert was described as ‘competitive’. A simple way to attract talent is to be transparent about the salary available for your vacancy. If it is not possible to display a direct salary, then applying a salary range to the advertisement is a perfect way to attract candidates and open the conversation about their salary expectations. In the current market, candidates do not want to dig for further information, so displaying salary ranges could be make or break when it comes to applying. For example, if the role is advertised as a £30,000 per annum salary, a great salary range would be £25,000-£45,000.

2. Benefits packages

Displaying elements of a benefits package in a job advertisement can often show talent the value of the role beyond the salary. Often a company may have great benefits without even knowing it. Whether you’re offering extra holidays, healthcare schemes, or free gym memberships, these additional extras can inform individuals of company culture and bonus features of the role, which in turn boost the attractiveness of your vacancy.

3. Clear and concise recruitment process

Reassessing the recruitment process to make it as simple and quick as possible can also help attract top talent. If candidates are already questioning leaving their current role, a long and over complicated hiring process will almost certainly turn them away from completing the application process. Be clear, efficient, and concise in your hiring and talent will be more likely to be attracted to the company. For example, assessment centres can often be a huge put off to potential candidates as will a long multi-stage recruitment process. If a recruitment process must have multiple steps, 2 stages may be considered an optimum amount.

4. Flexibility

In a post-pandemic world, flexibility has become an attractive trait when looking for new roles and employers. Being open to flexibility, whether it be hybrid working or adjustments for family life, could be a key selling point for potential candidates.

5. Investment in employees

Job seekers are often keen to find roles with companies that will invest in their growth and professional development. Providing opportunities for training and mentoring can attract top talent and shed light on their ability to grow with the company. This is particularly appealing in times of uncertainty as candidates, who may already be wary of looking for a new role, may feel more inclined to apply based on the job security of the role.

If you need help finding top talent for your vacancies, get in touch with our recruitment teams to help expand your search.

‘Quiet Quitting’ has become an online trend which has sparked conversation across various platforms. Coined by TikTok Content Creator, Zaiad Khan, quiet quitting can be defined as the rejection of hustle culture and the reclaiming of work life balance. It is the completion of your work duties without going above and beyond the expected requirement of the role. So, why is quiet quitting happening?

1. Burnout

One reason that quiet quitting may be occurring is the idea of burnout. Burnout is a state of exhaustion due to work-related stresses, and has been significantly more prevalent in recent years. Some signs of burnout can include: feeling drained and tired, feeling overwhelmed and trapped, self-doubt, and procrastinating when trying to complete tasks to name a few. Burnout can be a key component of quiet quitting as individuals are more likely to retract from their daily duties of the job, and quietly retract from over achieving in their role.

2. A Shift In Mindset

Due to the pandemic, the expectations of the workplace have changed, but so have employees’ mindset. After a change in work place practices and an increase in hybrid working, employee’s mindset has also shifted, favouring a better work-life balance. This can lead to quiet quitting as people move away from the hustle of the workplace and rebalance their priorities to their home life.

3. Loss of Passion

For some employees, quiet quitting may occur due to feeling lost and a lack of passion within their role. Whether they’re managing a large task for a continued period of time, or failing to see a route of progression within the business, employees may disengage from their duties and reject hustle culture if they feel their task list no longer sparks the drive and determination they once had in their role. Whilst this could only cause temporary quiet quitting, it could also be a leading factor for individuals beginning the search for a new job.

4. Lack of Wage Increase

Changes in the economic climate could also be responsible for quiet quitting. As inflation and cost of living rises, a large number of the workforce are not seeing an equal increase in their wages. Some employees may feel their output at work versus the income they are receiving is no longer proportionate, leading to a ‘minimal work for minimal pay’ mindset. This negative mindset could in turn lead to an adoption of quiet quitting habits.

5. The Mental Health Pandemic

Another side effect of the pandemic is the fact that mental health suffering has greatly increased, with the World Health Organisation reporting that the global prevalence of anxiety and depression has increased by 25%. Quiet quitting could be an action taken by an employee struggling with their mental health as a coping mechanism to reduce the amount of bad mental health days they experience and to help them cope during a difficult period. For many individuals, speaking out about their mental health, particularly at work, could be a challenging thought, therefore dealing with it privately, and potentially quiet quitting from role, maybe the most appropriate action they feel they can take.

If you recognise any of these signs in yourself then it may be time to talk to your manager about your role and how you’re feeling. Or, if you feel like now might be the right time for a new challenge, get in touch with our consultants or search the jobs on our website.

An interview’s purpose is to evaluate an individuals ability to fulfill the role advertised. In most job interviews, a candidate may be asked to discuss their strengths and weaknesses as part of the process. Whilst this offers the opportunity to talk about positive qualities and identify areas where you may have grown, it can be difficult to determine what answers may be the most appropriate.

Why do interviewers ask about strengths and weaknesses?

Asking about an individuals strengths and weaknesses gives the interviewer insight into the personality traits, characteristics, working style of the interviewee. It gives them the opportunity to see how they assess their own skills and talk about their attributes. But how should strengths and weaknesses be addressed with professionalism and confidence?

The first thing to consider when answering this question is how can you keep responses relevant to the role you are applying for. To exercise this, make a list of strengths and weaknesses that can be cross referenced with the job specification to ensure the answers are aiding your application. These strengths and weaknesses should be a mixture of technical skills, transferable skills and personality traits to give the answer depth and variety, ensuring you are exposing your strongest assets and expressing negatives that are not detrimental for the role. Make sure to be honest and factual about your skillset.

Another thing to consider when this question arises is whether to talk about your strengths or weaknesses first. In an ideal scenario, talking about weaknesses first gives the opportunity to leave the interviewer thinking about the positives rather than negatives within your answer.

Weaknesses

The formula for creating this answer is simple to follow; state your weakness, add additional context and further explain how this point has appeared in your professional life. Adding an explanation to the point will show the interviewer self awareness and how you have dealt with any adversities, showing how you have grown from the weakness.

Example Answer (based on a personality trait)

“I find that I can be quite self-critical. Despite trying my best with tasks, I sometimes feel as though I could have done more or approached the task in different way even though I was successful in meeting the aims and completing the project. Previously this had led me to feel quite negative about my abilities and allowed me to often feel burnt out. I have recently done a lot of work to combat this, firstly by allowing myself to look back and reflect on the positives of each task, and recognise my strengths in each one. This has allowed me to slow down and see the value of my work.“

Strengths

Following a similar format to the previous answer, talking about strengths offers the opportunity to express how you would be a good fit for the advertised role. It can be just as difficult to talk about strengths as it is weaknesses, but by selecting similar experiences (related to technical skills, transferable skills and personality traits) you can easily show how your strengths could benefit the company you are applying for.

Example Answer (based on transferable skills)

“I believe that one of my key strengths is my ability to problem solve and think on the spot. I am able to take complex problems and break them down into feasible steps to get the project completed efficiently. Being able to see the problem from different perspectives and adapt quickly can often help me lead and support the team, and allow me to better communicate with my team members throughout the process. I think this would be beneficial in your team as it would ensure that deadlines were hit on time.“

Key Points To Remember

• Be honest
• Be specific in your responses
• Make sure your strengths are supporting your application
• Make sure you explain how your strengths/weaknesses have emerged in your professional life
• Be confident

For more interview advice, follow the links below.