Some businesses have what’s called seasonal trends. Meaning that at certain times in the year they are generally busier or quieter than others. For many retail industries these peak times often happen a few months of so in the run up to holidays such as Christmas. For other businesses they may find that the summer months are their busiest time and winter tends to be quieter.
It is important to assess whether your business has seasonal trends as this will allow you to get ready for these times.
You may need extra help around your busier periods but not be able to keep employees on throughout the year. If this is the case then you need to look in to hiring seasonal staff. This is usually done by offering a temporary contract of say 3 months. After which time you do not have to renew their contract if you do not have a need to do so.
If you’re in an industry where your busiest times fall in line with many other companies then you need to start early to be able to fill your vacancies before the competition snaps them all up. The earlier you get ahead and start advertising your vacancies, the sooner you can secure candidates and begin organising work rotas or shifts.

If your business is getting to the stage when you need to employ more people or if you have a member of staff leaving and need to fill the position, then you need to try and find the best possible candidates.

Many companies stipulate strict criteria that needs to be met in order for someone to apply for a job. This may be essential, where the job requires you to have certain qualifications by law, but if this is not the case then you may be missing out on an ideal candidate. 

Sometimes a candidate may not have all the qualifications or experience that you think you would like but that doesn’t mean that they are not the perfect person for the job. With any job role, personality plays a big part. You need to ensure that the person has the right work ethic and can mesh well with the rest of your team. Someone who is friendly, hardworking and willing to go the extra mile may be more suitable that someone who is more qualified.

You will need to analyse CV’s to be able to create a short list of people you want to invite in for an interview, but it is often only during the interview stage that you will really know if they are the right person for you.

If you are in the process of looking for work then you may have heard about how LinkedIn can help you. LinkedIn is a social media site that allows people to create a profile and put on information about themselves, previous work experience, qualifications and skills. You can build up a network on the site of people that you know who can then endorse you for skills, stating that they agree you are skilful in a particular area.
If an employer or agency is looking for potential recruits they may use Linked in to contact people listed with the skill set they are looking for to see if they would be interested in applying. They may also use this to access candidates who apply for jobs with them.
Whether you post anything on social media it is important to remember that it may be looked at in the future by potential employers and they may make assumptions about you based on your profile.
If you are looking for work then you can now set your LinkedIn profile to show that you are open to offers and looking for work. This will make your profile stand out a little to recruiters.

If you have something that you are passionate about and want to set up your own business, then you will need to decide if you are going to go self employed – as a sole trader or if you are going to set up a limited company.

There are pros and cons to both, but most people start off self employed and if their business grows, then they will switch to a limited company. If you are going to be having employees then you will need to be a registered company.

You need to think very carefully before setting up your own business as it can be risky. You may need to invest a lot of your own time and money in to your venture and be prepared to wait a while before you can start to take a decent salary out of it. If you take too much out of the business you may find that you do not have enough to pay suppliers and keep your business afloat.

You need to have a sound business plan with cash flow forecasts so you can see how much you need to be taking in order to keep the business up and running.

Applying for jobs can be time consuming and sometimes it can end up leaving you feeling deflated and worried. You may have to apply for a number of jobs before you get offered an interview. You need to make sure that you come across well in your interview and have the opportunity to discuss everything you want to.

Preparation is vital when planning for an interview. You need to put aside some time to go through the company’s website and / or social media accounts to ensure that you can find out some background information about them.

Try and find out about the ethos of the company and also how it is structured. Find out about the products and/or services they sell and rough pricing. This will help you when it comes to the interview as you will not only feel more confident but if they ask you questions to find out how much you know about the company, it looks good if you can show that you have used your own time in order to research them.

Allow plenty of time to get to your interview as arriving late, is never a good start.

It is thought that on average it can cost a business around four to five thousand pounds to fill a vacancy they have. This price can include advertising costs and the time taken by other members of staff or business owners to go through CV’s carry out interviews etc.

When advertising a job you may be inundated with CV’s which someone will need to go through in order to shortlist applicants that you want to invite in for interviews. You may have to do more than one round of interviews to find the right candidate and this can all take up a lot of time. If you decide to use an agency, they can take a lot of the hassle away from you by doing all the advertising for the position, filtering through CV’s that are sent in and then pre assessing people that you wish to attend an interview to find out if they are really suitable.

Obviously agencies will charge a fee for their service which is usually based on a percentage of the annual salary being offered to the successful applicant. This is often why it is a good idea to employ more than one agency to find you candidates as you will only pay the one who supplied the applicant that you employ but you have a good chance of finding people who are suitable. Also shop around for the best rate and do not be scared to try and haggle.

Many of us make New Year’s resolutions and sometimes these may be linked to jobs. If you have not been happy in your job for a while or simply fancy a change then you may consider looking for new employment. Most people cannot afford to be months without work so it is always a good idea to line up another job to start before quitting your old one. Most employers will understand that you have to give a certain amount of notice, so be sure to check exactly what notice you need to give.

It can be hard trying to fit in interviews etc. when you are supposed to be at work, so if at all possible, book the day off as holiday so you do not have to lie about why you need the time off.

Looking to move jobs can be nerve wrecking, but try and look at it as a positive step forward and take some time to consider what it is you really want to do. You may want to leave your job to return to education or possibly to go travelling. It may be that there comes a time when you cannot do this as you have too many responsibilities, so it is best to grab the opportunities with both hands when they arise.

If you own your own business then there may come a time when you need help with the work load. You may not feel ready to take on an employee or maybe you have employees but just need extra help for a short time. If this is the case then using a freelancer may be perfect for what you need.

Finding a freelancer can be hard work as you need to be sure that they are capable and also reliable. It may be that you need to trust them with client information or personnel files and so you need to be sure that they are trustworthy.

Ideally you want to try and obtain references and proof of previous works to make sure that they can do what they say they can. Never pay a freelancer in full upfront if you have not used them before, it is always best to set up payments based on work they have completed. You will also need to be in regular contact with them to ensure any deadlines that you have given them will be met. It may be that you ask the freelancer if they want to come and work in your office while they are working on your projects, this can make communication a lot easier and often improves productivity.

Often people need to find a job that offers part time working hours or change their current working hours to part time within their current role. This can be for a number of reasons such as other commitments e.g. taking a child to and from school, looking after a relative or for health reasons. Sometimes it can be hard to progress up the ladder in a part time job as you may feel that you simply do not have enough time to put in to the job and that the employer will not want to give you too much responsibility if you can only work part time. If you have tasks assigned to you that need to be completed on a daily or weekly basis in a part time role, then it is vital that you plan ahead and manage your time well.

If you are already in a part time role and know that your circumstances will be changing soon, which will allow you to work more hours, then speak to your current employer. Advise them of your situation and ask if there is the possibility of extending your hours or moving in to another role.

Jobs are something that most of us have to have in order to pay the mortgage or rent and to feed our families. Some people have been stuck in a job which they do not enjoy for years, worried about leaving it for the unknown.

Job satisfaction is important for not only your own health and well being but also for that of your colleagues and the company that you work for. If you are in a job where you do not believe in the products or services you are selling then this can have a detrimental effect on all. Many people that work in call centres say that they do not like the way they are trained to speak to customers, often trying to persuade them or pressurise them in to buying something. This can leave you feeling deflated at the end of the day and can have a massive knock on effect on your home life.

If you are in a job that gives you very little or no satisfaction, why not start to explore other avenues of jobs that you may be able to apply for, you never know, it could be the best move you have ever made.