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4 Technical & Transformational skillsets in high demand

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Businesses digital transformation requirements have accelerated with the additional demand on technology due to current circumstances. Technical and Transformational skillsets are highly sought-after now more than ever. With any change you will need people who can play various critical roles and keep your business operational, relevant and accessible. Digital transformation is about more than the technology needed to create the transformation: In fact, the technology typically takes a back seat to the other capabilities needed to make your digital transformation a success.

So, with regard to building your team, you may need to think outside the box, moving beyond the typical IT talent pool and skillsets. Building out a team of people who can flex their technical muscles when needed but can also pivot to call upon their non-technical expertise will help your organization meet the growing digital demands of IT and the business.

As a business or hiring manager focus on the areas that enable people and processes to accelerate your company’s strategy. Lead in areas such as enterprise service management, IT branding and communications, technology business management, digital adoption, and change management – all of which require skills beyond the purely technical. Likewise, other areas of your team could expand into roles including, digital solutions consultants, delivery managers, and process improvement/automation specialists.

 

4 skillsets that are in high demand

So what should you be looking for, besides the requisite (and important) technical skill sets? Consider the kinds of people listed below – and don’t be afraid to bring people onto your team who don’t have a traditional IT career path. Folks who have not spent their whole career in IT can add some unique perspectives and take the team in directions not previously considered.

Consider how potential team members could play these roles in your organization:

1. Connectors

It goes without saying that the IT team of the 21st century must be able to work with its partners across the business. But looking for connectors means finding those people who not only are good with people but also can make connections across the organization.

Connectors know people as well as the work that is happening across the organization.

They are tuned in to what is happening, not only in IT but also in other areas of the business. They know people as well as the work that is happening across the organization. They know if an initiative in IT for the finance team is related to an initiative in another area of IT supporting the sales team – and they know the people to talk to in order to make the connections.

2. Challengers

Challengers are the people who help us ensure we are doing our best work. They think critically about the path forward and are not afraid to challenge the status quo. This is different from someone who always questions things and puts up roadblocks: Challengers think strategically about the path forward and ask the “what if” and “why not” questions that are critical to any transformation.

3. Agilists

While traditional agile methodologies are important in transformation activities, an Agilist in this context is someone who can adapt to changes and unexpected turns. By definition, transformation is “a thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance” – so successful digital transformation efforts must include people who can recognize the need to change direction and quickly pivot to the new plan. They model how to effectively respond to change and will help others adapt as well.

4. Navigators

If we need to change course, navigators ensure we adjust our GPS settings to account for the re-routing across all aspects of the initiative.

Digital transformation by its very nature can be a bit chaotic and can veer into the tendency to chase the next “bright shiny object.” Navigators define the route and help keep the ship headed in the right direction; they remind us where we are trying to go and the path we agreed to take. And if we need to change course, they help us ensure we adjust our GPS settings to account for the re-routing across all aspects of the initiative.

As the IT landscape continues to evolve, how we support and partner with the business will continue to evolve as well. Focusing on both technical and transformational skillsets in your business will set the stage for success today and in the future. For more information on how to hire digital experts for your business or find a job that will challenge you, please get in touch.

Why is January the Best Time to Find a Job?

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January 2020 – Is the Best Time to Find a Job

During the Christmas period it can be a struggle to search for a new job, but once that’s over it is a brand-new year, and some say it is the perfect opportunity to find a new career. January has been classed as the hunting season when it comes to finding a new job. So, if you are one of those people that has ‘find a new job’ on their New year’s resolution list then listed below are some reasons why January is the perfect month to job hunt and what you can do to prepare yourself.

Why is it the best month?

Employers are looking for new employees

In the New Year employers are feeling motivational and are eager to see what talent they can employ. They have a clearer mindset at this time of the year as they are less likely to be tied down to deadlines and projects. As January is the month for job hunting, there is a lot more competition for employers to choose from. Having a greater talent pool will enable employers to choose carefully resulting in a greater chance of your CV needing to impress them.

New budgets

The first few months of the year are normally the best times to apply for new jobs. Many job deadlines close at the end of January, so it allows for candidates plenty of time to apply within the New Year. Employers are also given a new budget at the start of every year, so this gives candidates a better chance at finding a new job and being hired. The salary is the main factor a candidate will look at when applying for a new job, so linking this with a company’s new budgets may mean the company will have more money to give to candidates.

What you can do to prepare yourself

Update your CV

When applying for new job in January it is essential that you keep your CV updated to keep track of your most recent skills and progression. Your CV is the first thing an employer will look at and it is your chance to stand out from the crowd, therefore making it a crucial factor when you are trying to start a new career. The key areas of your CV that you will need to keep updated are:

  • Your skills (technical and soft)
  • Employment history
  • Work experience
  • Qualifications

Once you have updated your CV it is important for you to understand exactly what job you are looking for. Applying for jobs you are marginally interested in will not benefit you in the future as this will impact your engagement, performance and success. Instead of applying for any job, try and find roles that you are passionate about and perhaps create a list that aligns with your personality, skills and interests. From this you are able to understand what companies you want to apply for and why.

You can also register with a recruitment agency that specialise in your area of interest and skills. Having a professional confidant in the industry can help you find jobs that may not be advertised on generic job boards.

 

Practice interview answers

For some it may have been a while since you have been interviewed and therefore it will be beneficial to practice some generic interview questions. If you have been invited for an interview, do not wait until the night before to go through potential interview questions, you should start preparing as soon as you can. The majority of employers will always start with questions about yourself such as ‘Tell me about yourself’ or ‘What do you do in your spare time’. Following this they may ask you some competency questions which are based on your previous experience and certain situations you may have found yourself in. Competency based interview questions are a good way of an employer finding out how you would handle certain situations if they were ever to arise, and this can say a lot about you. It is also a good idea to know what you are looking for from the jobs you have applied for. This way if you are asked during the interview process, you can answer in a matter of seconds.

Some companies will have a long interview process which can last a few months, whereas other companies may invite you in for an interview within the next week. Therefore, you should always be prepared and have an interview outfit ready, so you feel well equipped for when the day comes. You can check out other interview hint and tips here: https://2icglobal.com/interview-hints-tips/

 

Update your social presence

Although your CV and cover letter will be the first documents an employer will look at, it is also beneficial to keep your social channels up to date. Recruiters may look at your LinkedIn for example to see if your experience matches up with your experience on your CV. More employers are using LinkedIn and may want to view your profile before calling you. You should ensure that you have a professional photo on your profile, your work experience is up to date and you have the relevant skills listed as this can be a decider for some employers.

 

Good luck! We wish you the best in achieving your career goals this year, and hope you’ll be in touch with us if you’re looking for a change so we can help.

£2.8 million pound development will create around 2700 Shropshire Jobs

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The Marches LEP has awarded three contracts worth £2.81m to develop Advanced Manufacturing Hubs in the region which will create nearly 2,700 Shropshire Jobs.

Around 2,700 Shropshire Jobs will be generated as part of the private sector-led LEP’s plans for tackling the skills gap, the project will see regional training centres, in Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury and Hereford, set up to support employers in areas where there is limited access to workforce training.

The Shrewsbury Colleges Group has been awarded £425,166 to develop a ‘hub and spoke’ model of training provision, supporting 183 businesses and more than 450 apprenticeships.

Herefordshire and Ludlow College, with Herefordshire & Worcestershire Training Association has secured £464,763 to develop the third centre, creating 260 apprenticeships and supporting 225 businesses.

As well as apprenticeships, all three hubs will deliver more than 1,960 additional qualifications over the next five years.

Graham Wynn, Chairman of the Marches LEP, said: “We have a need across the Marches to ensure there are enough of the right people with the right skills to meet the demand of our employers. It is vitally important that they remain invested here, and continue to grow their business here.

“But this can only happen with additional capital investment. We developed this project to support the manufacturing sector to develop its skills base, equipping them to maximise future opportunities.”

Chris Greenough, commercial director of Salop Design said: “The key issue facing our sector is there is simply not enough people with the right skills, to do the jobs we need them to do in order to grow manufacturing businesses, the sector and ultimately the UK economy.

“The Marches LEP has developed a project which will see industry take the lead in training its own workforce. Our employer-led consortium is delighted to have secured this contract and look forward to delivering apprenticeship placements, training opportunities and supporting hundreds of businesses. Our aim is clear, 2020 learners by 2020.”

Ian Peake, Principal & Chief Executive of Herefordshire & Ludlow College, said:

“This significant LEP and College co-investment to develop Advanced Manufacturing Hubs in the Marches will have a transformative impact on education and skills development in engineering, strengthening the college’s capacity to meet the requirements of cutting edge industries.”

Lyn Surgeon, Principal of Shrewsbury College, added: “The project has cemented the relationship between Shrewsbury College, Shrewsbury Sixth Form College, Staffordshire University, Caterpillar and Festo, which will be collectively known as the Shropshire Advanced Manufacturing Skills Hub.

“It allows us to significantly extend our investment in state of the art equipment to suitably train the engineers of tomorrow and puts the college in the position of being able to offer a range of full time and part time courses from basic introductory levels through to degrees, apprenticeships from intermediate through to higher levels and bespoke training to meet individual company needs.”

The training centres are due to open in 2017. Funding for the project was awarded to the LEP via its initial Growth Deal for skills capital projects.

Upon completion of an apprenticeship, there are many opportunities around the county which are suited to newly trained professionals looking at taking the next leap in their careers. Check out our latest Shropshire Jobs on our vacancy page by clicking here!

 

– MarchesLEP

 

7 MUST-HAVE skills for a job in Digital Marketing

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There’s currently a talent gap in digital marketing and employers are on the look out to fill them…

The industry is currently experiencing a talent shortage in digital marketing. According to recent studies, 90% of marketers report suffering from a shortage of digital skills, and only 8% of surveyed companies feel strong in the area of digital marketing.

Here are seven of the most important skills that you need to make yourself a desirable job candidate in the digital age:

 

1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): Of the companies looked at for the study, in which hundreds of job postings for digital talent were analysed, 14% cited SEO as a required skill.

To compete as a candidate for a digital marketing job, you must have technical SEO skills, including server-side settings, sitemaps and server response codes. Moreover, competitive candidates should have experience using various tools to identify customers’ search behaviours and the competitive landscape.

 

2. Pay-per-click: Seven percent of the companies that were looked at in the study listed search engine marketing (SEM) as a required skill for their organisations, and one of the most important and growing facets of SEM is pay-per-click (PPC). In order to demonstrate your abilities in this area, you need to show that you have the research and analytical skills required to create and execute a strong PPC plan that aligns with an overarching marketing strategy.

 

3. Mobile: To demonstrate value in this area, you need to understand how mobile marketing differs from desktop marketing and communicate why that matters to the rest of the business. Moreover, a digital marketer should have general familiarity with mobile development in order to best communicate with the design team and create a cohesive mobile marketing strategy that aligns with other online and offline efforts. Get familiar with its vocabulary, including things like SMS marketing and responsive design.

 

4. E-mail marketing: You need to be able to do more than send out regular communication. You must be able to optimise your e-mail marketing by crafting a compelling strategy, testing relentlessly and refining content based on what works best. It’s also essential that today’s marketers understand the best ways to develop distribution lists and use e-mail nurturing to create more business opportunities.

 

5. Social media: Ten percent of the businesses that were analysed in the study cited social media experience as a requirement for applicants, and that doesn’t just mean that they want someone with an active personal Twitter account. Digital marketers need to understand how to develop a strong social media presence to help bolster their brands and further their marketing goals.

 

6. Content management: SEO, e-mail marketing and social media skills are useless if you don’t back up your technical skills with excellent writing for multiple platforms. The ability to flow easily between writing e-mails, press releases, website copy, proposals, social posts and even code is key to success in today’s digital marketing field. Make sure that you demonstrate your ability to write across media, and to guide and polish the content of others on your team.

 

7. Analytics: In the study, a whopping 13% of businesses listed analytics experience as a required skill in their job descriptions. In order to be a truly great digital marketer, you’ll need to not only implement strong inbound and outbound digital strategies, but also analyse them regularly and use those insights to constantly improve. If you want to make it in a digital marketing job, it’s time to make ROI your middle name.

 

If you feel worthy of utilising all of these skills within a working environment, check out our latest Marketing role by following this link!

 

If you would like to learn more about Digital Marketing Strategies, there are many courses which you can enrol on to. Check out the Digital Marketing Course websites below!

Digital Marketing Institute

Home Learning College

Chartered Institue of Marketing

FutureLearn

Online Marketing/SEO Training

 

– Avi Levine

Shropshire Careers & Enterprise Advisor Network complete success!

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More than 40 business leaders celebrated the launch of an initiative in Shropshire

Representatives from companies across Shropshire attended the launch of the Careers & Enterprise Company’s “Enterprise Adviser Network”. The initiative is aimed at building stronger guidance-based relationships between businesses, schools and colleges so that young people are equipped with the knowledge to effectively develop their workplace skills.

Held at Enginuity in Coalbrookdale, the event focused on the important role that businesses have in ensuring that young people have access to the right careers advice at the right time, and the impact that access to business leaders who take on Enterprise Adviser roles can have on young people.

Speaking at the event, Dr Floyd Millen, Head of Operation Delivery at the Careers & Enterprise Company, commented on the importance of integrating business and skills in Shropshire.

“It’s great that this is happening here and now. As someone who grew up a few miles away and now lives in the south east, I’m pleased that the Marches LEP and Telford & Wrekin Council have demonstrated their commitment to bringing businesses and schools together in a way that will provide young people with transformative, life changing experiences. It is, therefore, a pleasure to be here at the official launch of the Enterprise Adviser Network.”

Drawn from across the public, private and third sectors, senior business people who become Enterprise Advisers will provide advice to school and college heads on how to effectively engage local businesses in the development of careers and enterprise plans.

Paul Hinkins, Deputy Chair of the Marches LEP, was also at the launch and highlighted why closer ties between business and education are so important – especially in an area like the Marches:

“The Marches covers a diverse geography of rural, semi-rural and urban but shares many of the same barriers as the other 38 LEP regions: namely those of a skills void and an ageing workforce.

“Here in the Marches, there are too many people in the 16-54 age bracket that leave to pursue careers elsewhere – we need to prevent that from continuing by encouraging young people to realise their potential with businesses already based here and those which will invest in the region in the coming years.

“We know that 44% of employers in the Marches see a lack of skills as a barrier to growth and that 45% of employers found it a challenge to recruit in the last year. With those facts in mind, the introduction of the CEC Enterprise Advisers should be warmly welcomed.

“This initiative encourages businesses to go into schools and tell young people the options open to them – an approach which helps us retain our home grown talent. It also helps us to identify how to help schools and colleges navigate a fast-changing careers landscape and to give students the best chance of reaching their full potential by providing friendly, strategic advice and guidance. I’d strongly encourage all businesses in the region to consider how they could contribute to this this.”

The launch event also included input from John Gallagher, Vice President at Cap Gemini and Katherine Kynaston, Assistant Director of Business, Development & Employment at Telford & Wrekin Council.

 

– MarchesLEP

Top-10 Signs you have a Bad Boss

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A dream job includes not only your passion and high compensation but also good co-workers and an excellent boss. Unfortunately, not every job has a boss that will suit you and vibes with you. A bad boss will have a negative impact on your working experience and will sometimes force you leave your work.

Here are some traits of a bad boss to watch out for.

1. Speaks offensively and seldom communicates with the team.

Communication is the key to a relationship and the relationship between manager and employee is no different. If your manager yells or says derogatory words to you or the team, not only your self-esteem suffers but pressure also increases.

Your manager should know when or what to say during a talk and he/she should always communicate with the team. They should give clear instructions about the project and provide the full job details.

 2. Fear is his/her form of motivation.

 Motivation is one way for an employee to work hard for the company especially since there are other things an employee thinks of. A manager that leads his/her team via threats such as firing you if you do not do your job properly should not be a boss in the first place.

Positive motivation such as offering rewards and providing constructive criticism remove the tension around the workplace and increase the self-esteem and energies of employees.

3. Wants complete control over your job.

 A company hires an employee because he/she have met the qualifications for the job and he/she has the necessary skills and abilities. A manager that tells you what you SHOULD do, expects to do your job the way he/she have done it, and control every aspect of your job is a hazard to every employee’s personal growth and self-esteem.

A good manager should let their employees do their own ways of how to accomplish the project. They just need to provide clear instructions and specifications.

4. Blames the team for failures.

 One of the worst feelings is being blamed by something you did not do. A manager that blames his/her team for failures and only accepts accomplishments is a really TERRIBLE MANAGER.

He/she should always sticks for the team and he/she should always do what is best for the team. The relationship between manager and employees is always give and take.

5. Does not consider suggestions other than his own.

Your boss is THE BOSS for a reason. He/she has acquired enough experiences and has the required skill set to be in the position he/she is in now.  Although the boss should always be the one to lead and employees should follow him/her that does not mean that he/she is always right.

A great boss asks suggestions from his/her team and consider other options for the sake of the project. The accomplishment of the team is also the boss’ accomplishment.

6. Does not do his/her job properly and you work harder than him/her.

Your boss should always set as a role model, as an example of the company’s vision and mission. Your boss should work as hard as his/her employees and he/she should do his/her part of the project just like anybody else.

As told by Moses’ teachings, “”Always do for other people everything you want them to do for you.”

7. Does not provide guidance.

First time employees need guidance from their boss and other co-workers especially in the first few weeks of their jobs. A proper briefing about the job should be conducted and from time to time, the boss should always check you to see your work and to see if you are comfortable and well-adjusted.

8. Does not have a firm goal or vision.

A boss should always have a clear heading on where to lead his/her team.

Your boss should lead his/her team as instructed by the company’s vision and mission. A boss could also lead his/her team on their own terms provided that it complies with the company’s vision and mission.

9. Ignores the importance of team-building activities.

Team building is there for a reason. It strengthens the relationship between the company and its employees. It is a medium where employees can release their stress acquired in the work environment and it is a reward for employees for all their hard work.

10. Your boss makes you work hard but the compensation is low.

Your salary should be based on your performance and the quality of your work. There should be a set of guidelines and rules assigned to you and you should not accept any other works that is outside of your contract.

A good boss rewards employees who work hard and provide good service to the company. Employees should not be underpaid and they should have the respect they deserve.

The difference between a great boss and a bad boss is a thin line most people do not realize. They should use their status for the greater good of the company and they should treat the employees with respect. The employees are the lifeblood of the company and they should be treated fairly.

Everyone has the right to be treated with respect within a workplace. If you are looking for a new opportunity within the Information & Technology industry, check out our latest job opportunities featured on our jobs page by following this link.

 

– Lianne Martha Maiquez Laroya

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