Career Advice

July 22, 2016 by Julie McGrath

Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet is set to approve a scheme which will open up Superfast broadband to around 120 extra businesses in the borough.

If an application for European funding is successful, the Marches Broadband Grant project will provide eligible businesses across Telford & Wrekin with a fully funded grant to access fibre broadband.

In Telford and Wrekin, 98 per cent of the borough will be covered by the end of 2017 as a result of the Council’s Superfast Telford partnership with BT and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

The council is committed to seeking a solution for the other 2% of the borough, of which this scheme is potentially one, to get coverage as close to 100 per cent as possible.

The Telford & Wrekin element of the £4m project is seeking £237,818 funding from the European Regional Development Fund , which requires match funding of £158,545.

It is assumed that the level of grant payment to businesses will on average be between £7,000 and £25,000 per business although many grants in Telford and Wrekin are likely to be towards the lower end of the spectrum, as it has more accessible, semi-rural areas.

It will only be open to businesses that have not been broadband enabled by either the current Superfast Telford programme or by other commercial broadband investment.

A total of 124 eligible businesses have initially been identified in Telford and Wrekin and an expected output of around 22 per cent or 27 businesses, including a significant number of micro enterprises will potentially benefit.

Councillor Angela McClements, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for Customer and Neighbourhood Services, said: “We have made a commitment to extend fibre broadband coverage across the borough as far as possible.

“The priority is the delivery of Superfast Telford which is still in the early stages of delivery.

“However the Marches Broadband Grant scheme opens up the availability of fibre broadband to businesses that might not be covered by Superfast Telford, although some eligible businesses may receive superfast connectivity via the main programme.

“This demonstrates our commitment to ensure that as close to as 100 per cent of the borough as possible has access to superfast connectivity and all the benefits it brings.”

Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet – which meets on 21 July – is being asked to approve proposals for the match funding mechanism.

They are also being asked to enter into a partnership agreement with project partners Shropshire and Herefordshire Councils to deliver the grant project.

– telford.gov.uk

Interested in the development of Superfast Broadband and Business? Why not check out our latest job roles in these sectors by clicking here!

July 18, 2016 by Julie McGrath

IT Jobs feature: John Hanke Software Developer and Founder of Niantic creator of Pokémon GO

Here’s The Inspiring Story of The Creator Of Pokémon GO, John Hanke! Find out why it has taken him over 20 years to create an overnight success and what other IT jobs he has done throughout his career. Pokémon GO is everywhere. In just a week, it has become a worldwide sensation, and caused massive profits for Nintendo. But did you know that it took 20 years for creator John Hanke to make Pokémon GO to what it is today?

This week, the Pokémon Go app has broken all records, with 10 million+ downloads in the first week, exceeding Twitter in daily active users, and with higher average user time than Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram & WhatsApp.How did John Hanke create such a massive overnight craze? Here’s the 10 times he levelled up in his lifetime to reach Pokémon Go and what IT jobs he did along the way.

1st IT Job: In 1996, while still a student, John co-created the very first MMO (massively multiplayer online game) called ‘Meridian 59’. –

He sold the game to 3DO to move on to a bigger passion: mapping the world.

2nd IT Job: In 2000, John launched ‘Keyhole’ to come up with a way to link maps with aerial photography, and create the first online, GPS-linked 3D aerial map of the world –

3rd IT Job: In 2004, Google bought Keyhole and with John’s help, turned Keyhole into what is now ‘Google Earth’. That’s when John decided to focus at creating GPS-based games

4th IT Job: John ran the Google Geo team from 2004 to 2010, creating Google Maps and Google Street View.

During this time, he collected the team that would later create Pokémon Go.

5th IT Job In 2010, John launched Niantic Labs as a start-up funded by Google to create a game layer on maps.

“TT’S THIS IDEA THAT THERE’S STUFF ABOUT THE WORLD THAT’S REALLY COOL BUT EVEN THOUGH IT’S ON THE INTERNET, IT’S HARD TO KNOW WHEN YOU’RE ACTUALLY THERE.”John explains why he called it Niantic:“The Niantic is the name of a whaling ship that came up during the gold rush and through a variety of circumstances got dragged on shore. This happened with other ships, too. Over the years, San Francisco was basically just built over these ships. You could stand on top of them now, and you wouldn’t know it.”

6th IT Job In 2012, John then created Niantic’s first geo-based MMO, “Ingress”.

“I ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU COULD MAKE AN AWESOME GAME USING ALL THE GEO DATA THAT WE HAVE. I WATCHED PHONES BECOME MORE AND MORE POWERFUL AND I THOUGHT THE TIME WOULD COME THAT YOU COULD DO A REALLY AWESOME REAL-WORLD ADVENTURE-BASED GAME.”John explains: “In the case of Ingress the activity is layered on top of the real world and on your phone. The inspiration was that it was something that I always used to daydream about while I was commuting back and forth from home to Google.”

7th IT Job: In 2014, Google and the Pokémon Company teamed up for an April Fools’ Day joke, which allowed viewers to find Pokémon creatures on Google maps.

It was a viral hit, and got John thinking the idea could be turned into a real game.

8th IT Job: John decided to build Pokémon Go on the user-generated meeting points created by players of Ingress, and the most popular became the Pokéstops and gyms in Pokémon Go.

“THERE ARE PORTALS IN ANTARTICA AND THE NORTH POLE, AND MOST POINTS IN BETWEEN.”As John says, ”The Pokéstops are submitted by users, so obviously they’re based on places people go. We had essentially two and a half years of people going to all the places where they thought they should be able to play Ingress, so it’s some pretty remote places.”

9th IT Job: John raised $25 million from Google, Nintendo, the Pokémon Company and other investors from Dec 2015 to Feb 2016 to create 40 new IT Jobs and launch Pokémon Go this year.

10th IT Job: John and his team launched Pokémon Go on July 6th in USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Since its launch, Nintendo’s share price has risen $12 billion, and the app is already generating over $2 million daily in in-app purchases, making it an overnight phenomenon.

The overnight success of Pokémon Go has taken John Hanke 20 years to create. Throughout these 20 years, while he had a big vision of a game layer over the world, he didn’t know what form it would take. At every step, he just focused at his next level up.

July 14, 2016 by Julie McGrath

I’ve Graduated – What do I do now? 6 reasons why you don’t need to panic!

It’s that time of year again! You have done all the hard work; you have received that really expensive piece of A4 paper that states you have officially entered into the adult world. Employment is looming and inspiration has yet to strike about your future plans, it’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of despair. All of your friends are starting fancy grad schemes or tracking off around Europe, while the only thing you’ve got lined up is a Game of Throne’s Marathon and scheduled panic attacks about the graduate job market, while mum and dad breath down your neck about getting a job!

Your student discount card is about to expire, and if another family member asks you about your career plans then you might just have a breakdown. Sound familiar? These six points might help to reassure you.

1. You’re still young

Those who started a three-year course straight from school will have only just turned 21, so there’s no rush to accept the first 9-5 job that you’re offered. Becky Williams, a recent graduate from Cardiff University, turned down several graduate jobs in favour of continuing with bar work.

She says: “I don’t see the point in accepting a poorly-paid graduate job that I’m not even sure I want to do, just because I’m expected to. I’d rather save up until I’ve had time to decide what I really want to pursue.”

2. Comparing yourself to other people is a waste of time

Just because your housemate has secured their ideal job doesn’t mean that you’re a failure by contrast.

3. You can’t discover who you want to be until you find out who you are

Personalities often change at university, which can be daunting beyond the bubble of campus life. Challenge yourself by experiencing something new, while you still have the chance. Chris Jenkins of Southampton University has just returned from Southeast Asia, in time for his graduation:

“I had wanted to travel and experience different cultures for a while, and the summer before starting work provided that opportunity. It was the best experience of my life. I thoroughly recommend going out into the world and seeing it for yourself, regardless of whether you have a job lined up for your return”, he said.

4. Many successful career-people have ‘fallen into’ their line of work

Recent statistics from the New College of the Humanities found that 19 out of 20 graduates had switched jobs within three years. Be confident enough to accept that your dream career might not be as you had hoped, and devise a new plan according to the aspects that you enjoyed.

5. Your degree won’t go to waste

Deciding that you don’t want to be a psychologist doesn’t necessarily mean that the three years and thousands of pounds spent on a psychology degree was all for nothing – any university education teaches a desirable skill set. According to Prospects, many graduate employers seek degree-level candidates rather than those disciplined in a specific subject.

6. You’re not alone

Marcus Zientek, a careers adviser at Sheffield University, says that many students are unsure of their plans after graduation:

“How uncertain they are does vary, from those who have an interest in a general area of work but have not yet decided about it, to those who describe themselves as not having any ideas at all.

“Panicking doesn’t help and is unnecessary anyway. Don’t let things drift – keep calm and make a plan. Realise that you’re not deciding what to do with the rest of your life, but choosing a good next step for you.”

What to do next – Keep you options open, and get yourself out there!

Graduate careers fairs are an important resource for graduate appointments – even if you don’t get a graduate placement as a direct result of the fair, you’re still taking steps towards your chosen career and moving closer to recruitment in your perfect job.

A suitable graduate placement can be difficult to find, and with the amount of competition vying for graduate appointments you have to use every avenue you can to maximise your chances of finding the right graduate placement for you.

Careers fairs are one of the best ways to find graduate appointments in your area of interest. A careers fair is an excellent opportunity to meet potential employers face to face and market yourself to your chosen industry. Even if you haven’t finished your course and are still in further study, careers fairs are still worthwhile as a source of information, contacts and interview experience.

If you are interested in attending a graduate recruitment careers fair, the upcoming ‘National Graduate Recruitment Exhibition’ may be the ideal opportunity for you. It will be taking place on the 4^th and 5^th of November and will be held inside the NEC in Birmingham. Check it out by clicking here.

Job recruitment at careers fairs

Job recruitment careers fairs offer a multitude of benefits to graduates. If you’re ambitious and organised you can get a lot out of a career fair, including;

Honing your interview skills – Even if you aren’t offered a job, talking to prospective employers about graduate appointments gives you valuable confidence and experience of interviews.

Expanding your network – Meeting job recruiters and even fellow graduates helps you build useful contacts for future reference.

Learning industry information – Speaking to job recruitment professionals in your chosen sector is a great way to learn about the industry.

Gathering information about companies – Investigating the kind of graduate placements offered by a company tells you a lot about that organisation as a whole.

Job Hunting

It’s rare to fall straight into a job after you’ve graduated. Job hunting can take several months so it’s important to stay motivated in your job search and make the most of the opportunities and support out there. These jobseeking tips and tricks will help you choose your ideal career, search for job vacancies and stay focused on your career goals.

Research industries and companies that interest you
Get out there and speak to companies proactively at exhibitions etc..
Sign up to recruitment consultancies. Let them help and identify your next career move
Stay motivated. It can take a while to find that right job role. It will be worth it!
Graffiti Recruitment can give sound industry advice hints and tips on your next move.

If you are interest in IT Technology roles then be sure to check out some of our latest jobs by clicking here!

Need advice on employability? Look no further.

www.graffitirecruitment.co.uk

June 22, 2016 by Julie McGrath

Microsoft is buying the professional networking website LinkedIn for just over $26bn (£18bn) in cash.

The software giant will pay $196 a share – a premium of almost 50% to Friday’s closing share price.

The deal will help Microsoft boost sales of its business and email software.

Microsoft said that LinkedIn would retain its “distinct brand, culture and independence”.

Ben Wood, head of research at CCS Insight, said the deal would give Microsoft access to the world’s biggest professional social network with more than 430 million members worldwide.

“That’s a valuable asset that can be deeply integrated with a number of Microsoft assets such as Office 365, Exchange and Outlook. That said, Microsoft has stated that the company will continue to operate as an independent business, so we’ll have to see how deeply the integration occurs,” Mr Wood said.

Analysis: Rory Cellan-Jones, technology correspondent

Ever had one of those annoying LinkedIn emails inviting you to “endorse” a contact for some skill or another? Perhaps LinkedIn chief executive Jeff Weiner and its founder Reid Hoffman deserve to be endorsed for salesmanship after today’s deal.

After a tricky period in which the shares have fallen amid widening losses, they have persuaded Microsoft to make its biggest deal. The software giant is paying a 50% premium on Friday’s closing share price to buy LinkedIn, a price which amounts to $250 (£170) for every active user. To put that into context, that’s about the market value of Sky, or eight times as much as Daily Mail owner DMGT – and they are both profitable.

But this deal is about more than money: it is meant as a powerful signal of where Satya Nadella is now taking Microsoft. He sees its future as a cloud computing business providing all sorts of professional services to clients – including a social network to connect them to each other.

“We are trying to ride the wave of the new technologies,” Mr Nadella told me from Seattle. “It’s about AI, it’s about mobile, it’s about cloud and we’re trying to bring those things together.”

However, the deal to buy Nokia’s mobile phones division had a similar logic – and the entire value of that purchase was written off just a year later. So Microsoft’s investors may look at that $26bn price tag nervously, while anyone with a few LinkedIn shares may be using the network to send a message of congratulations to their board.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said he had long admired LinkedIn: “I have been thinking about this for a long time.”

The deal was “key to our bold ambition to reinvent productivity and business processes”, he added.

The company planned a different approach to integrating LinkedIn to preserve its culture and brand, Mr Nadella said: “That’s what’s going to be very very different about this.”

Microsoft had a long record of successfully integrating acquisitions, he explained, citing Minecraft – the video game whose maker it bought in 2014 for $2.5bn – as well as its very first purchase: the presentation software PowerPoint for $14m in 1987.

LinkedIn shares soared 47%, or $61.50, to $192.60 in New York following the announcement of the deal.

Shares in the company, which floated in May 2011, have fallen by more than 40% this year.

The stock plunged by a quarter in February after the company issued a profit warning for the first quarter and reported an annual loss of $166m.

Ivan Feinseth, analyst at Tigress Financial Partners, said that LinkedIn was a great business “even though the company stubbed their toe back in February. It’s a premium company and it deserves a premium valuation.”

Shares in Microsoft fell 2.6% to $50.16, bringing the decline this year to almost 10%.

‘Incredible opportunity’

Jeff Weiner will remain chief executive, reporting to Mr Nadella. He and Reid Hoffman – the chairman, co-founder and controlling shareholder of LinkedIn – both backed the deal.

“Today is a re-founding moment for LinkedIn,” said Mr Hoffman. “I see incredible opportunity for our members and customers and look forward to supporting this new and combined business.”

LinkedIn has been trying to expand by offering users more messaging options, mobile apps and a revamped “newsfeed” to help boost engagement.

Last year, the site pledged to send less frequent and “more relevant” messages after numerous user complaints.

The takeover is by far the biggest acquisition made by Microsoft, which paid $8.5bn for Skype in 2011 and bought Nokia’s mobile phone business for $7.2bn in 2013.

The LinkedIn acquisition also eclipses the $19bn that Facebook paid for WhatsApp in 2014.

Despite having a cash pile of about $92bn, Microsoft said it would pay for LinkedIn mostly by issuing new debt.

It expects the deal, which must be approved by regulators in the US, EU, Canada and Brazil, to generate annual savings of $150m by 2018.

– Chris Johnston

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June 20, 2016 by Julie McGrath

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June 15, 2016 by Julie McGrath

A human-carrying drone has been given approval for test flights in Nevada, the first of its kind in the United States.

The autonomous drone – dubbed 184 – can carry one passenger and was developed by Chinese company EHang.

A prototype was shown off at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with the company hoping to sell the drones later this year.

Experts were divided over whether such a system would have mass appeal.

Officials from the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems granted permission for the drone to be tested and offered to help EHang submit the results to the Federal Aviation Administration in a bid to win further approval.

It is not clear whether the drone will carry a passenger during tests.

“I personally look forward to the day when drone taxis are part of Nevada’s transportation system,” the institute’s business development director, Mark Barker,told local the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The prototype drone is over 4ft (1.2m) tall, weighs 440lb (200kg) and has eight propellers.

It can carry a single passenger for 23 minutes at 60mph (96km/h).

Passengers enter their destination on a 12in (30cm) touchscreen in front of their seat, and the drone’s on-board computer works out the best route.

There is no passenger over-ride function, meaning the user cannot take control in an emergency.

In the event of a malfunction, the drone would land in the nearest available area.

It is likely to sell for between £140,000 ($200,000) and £200,000.

Big leap

Regulation of commercial drones has proved tricky in both the US and Europe, and some doubt passenger drones will ever get off the ground.

“It feels like it is a long way off,” said Douglas McNeill, a senior analyst at consultancy Macquarie.

“Drones will first have to prove their worth in less people-facing roles such as deliveries of small cargo.

“The other question is whether people will be willing to fly in a pilotless aircraft, and that seems like a big leap.

“People are sensitive to reduced journey times, and if drones could do that it would be a big plus – but I’m not sure that they can.

“Consumers are led by what regulators say are safe. And if they say these drones are safe, people might be more willing.”

Dr Mirko Kovac, director of the Aerial Robotics Lab at Imperial College London, said: “Passenger drones have huge potential.

“They can decrease congestion, offer flights in challenging environments and in developing countries where the road infrastructure is not as developed.

“We don’t even think about large aircraft flying over large cities on autopilot.

“Yet people are afraid of drones, some of which may use similar robotic technology.

“I think society will overcome this once the technology is more proven.”

– BBC News