Case studies

Permanent Placements up 10% as Employers Shun Short-Term Hiring

According to a new survey from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies, Professional recruitment firms are reporting that the number of candidates securing permanents roles in Jan 18 increased by ten percent

APSCo's data, which focuses on professional recruitment, reveals that vacancies for permanent staff also remained strong, increasing by 0.3% over the same period. This stability is reflected in the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics which reported in February that UK employment levels now sit at 75.3%, a figure that was higher than a year earlier and the joint highest since comparable records began in 1971.

While overall demand for talent remains resilient, vacancies for finance professionals to work on a permanent basis were particularly strong, jumping by 16% year-on-year.

Contractors out on assignment down

Demand for contractors decreased across many of the trade association's core sector groups. Vacancies within engineering, for example, slipped by just 5%, while demand within IT and marketing fell more significantly (by 8% and 21% respectively). Finance was the only sector where vacancies for non-permanent roles increased, with demand for contractors up by 2%.

The overall number of contractors out on assignment, meanwhile, dipped by 16% during the same period. This can largely be attributed to a significant 38% year-on-year fall in IT professionals working on a contract basis during this time.

Average salaries stable

APSCo's figures also reveal that median salaries across all professional sectors dipped by 1.2% year-on-year. This figure is characterised by notable fluctuations in terms of sector, with financial services and engineering, for example, recording uplifts of 1.8% and 2.4% respectively.

Graduates who left university this summer with degrees in Engineering may well qualify for the largest pay packets when starting work, according to new research by job search engineAdzuna.

The study, conducted in September 2017, analysed CVs belonging to recent graduates using Adzuna's ValueMyCV algorithm, to reveal which degrees are the most valuable immediately after leaving university.

Students bearing Computer Engineering degrees are destined to in the money and can expect to earn as much as £33,555 when starting out, making this subject the most lucrative degree in the UK. This is followed by Electrical Engineering (£32,781), Finance (£32,159) and Chemical Engineering (£31,880) qualifications, which are also top earners for new graduates.

Forming a clear trend, engineering-related courses dominate the top 10 list of highest paying degrees, with Software Engineering (£30,839), General Engineering (£30,557), Civil Engineering (£30,047) and Mechanical Engineering (£29,958) all also featuring on the list.

Computer Science (£31,698) and Information Technology (£31,162) degrees round off the top-10 UK's most valuable degrees.

 Table 1: Top 10 Most Valuable Degrees in UK

Average annual earning potential after graduation
Computer Engineering £33,555
Electrical Engineering £32,781
Finance £32,159
Chemical Engineering £31,880
Computer Science £31,698
Information Technology £31,162
Software Engineering £30,839
General Engineering £30,557
Civil Engineering £30,047
Mechanical Engineering £29,958

As we come to the end of the alphabet of SER, we have chosen the word Zeal.

Zeal is the great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or on objective.

We hope you have seen throughout the past 26 weeks our Zeal for helping find the right job for you.
We are passionate about changing the way recruitment services are perceived. We are passionate about our sectors.

We are passionate about having the right jobs for you.
We are passionate about peoples' futures and progression.
We are passionate about careers.

Submit your CV and let us help you.

Tel: 01254781300

Web: www.serlimited.com

Your Career, Your Future,
Your Choice.

Case Study for Watertrain Ltd
The water industry is rapidly growing and as such good people with the right experience are in high demand.

CASE STUDY

RECRUITMENT SERVICES TO THE WATER SECTOR

BACKGROUND

Watertrain is the predominant provider of high quality technical training and qualification programmes to the water sector. The water specific knowledge and competency qualifications delivered by Watertrain are accredited by CABWI, a nationally recognised awarding body. Watertrain sees its role as helping employers find effective solutions to immediate training needs and longer term staff development.

SER LTD OPERATING SECTORS

Asbestos Building Controls
Building Services Electronics
Environmental Fire & Security
Hydraulics Lighting
Audio Visual Manufacturing
Measurement Telecoms
Refrigeration Renewables
Waste Management Utilities

CHALLENGES

Watertrain was in need of a additional Tutors/Assessors to provide syllabuses on Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment and Network Distribution. Due to the working environmental of this industry we found finding applicants with the ability and willingness to carry out this role very difficult to find until we approached Becky Goodwin from SER Limited.

THE KEY POINTS

Tutors/Assessor were required
Water/Wastewater, Network Distribution background
The ability to deliver industry recognised qualifications

CURRENT SITUATION

Watertrain Ltd found that they were dealing with numerous recruitment agencies from across the UK and further supported this via local press advertisements and the occasional job board.
This approach was proving to be:
Time consuming
Expensive
Difficult to control
Producing numerous duplicate applications and fee claims
Ineffective in sourcing high quality Tutors/Assessors

ACTIONS

SER Ltd was known to Watertrain Ltd and it was decided to appoint SER Ltd as the preferred recruitment consultancy to Watertrain Ltd with the view of addressing the above issues.

ACTIONS/SOLUTIONS

SER Ltd appointed an Account Manager to Watertrain Ltd and then arranged a further site visit to understand the company's operations, approach and culture. It was important that SER understood what skills the Tutors/Assessors would require and what they would be required to do on a day to day, week to week basis. SER planned to focus on staff retention ensuring that a strong candidate fit was achieved and therefore removing the continual "urgent" need to recruit and replacing it with a more selective approach which would mean a further increase in the skills level.

REASONING

The thought process behind this was based on the following factors:
SER Ltd being specialist recruiters to the engineering market
Level of knowledge and understanding of the Water sector in the UK
In-house candidate database
Recruitment vetting process
Trust and open approach

RESULTS

Hazel Sarath – Quality Assurance Manager
Watertrain have found SER very professional in approach with a high standard of customer service, which is consistent in approach. This is excelled by a front facing approach- where sales executives undertake an initial recruitment needs analyses prior to recruitment taking place. We found this valuable as a 'get to know you' tool, which has led to the most suitable candidates being forwarded. We have successfully secured 3 full-time permanent employee- who not only have the right technical experience, but the right personalities to fit into a small team. I have found working with SER seamless and like the positive energy that they generate over the phone and during face- face meetings.

Watertrain has no hesitations in recommending SER as a recruitment agency and will continue to use them as the preferred choice of recruiters in the future.

Welcome

SER Ltd would like to welcome four new recruiters to the team.

Roger Taj
Kym Barton
Sarah Bailey & Lauren Colman

Roger comes with a wealth of business management experience and will be responsible for the continuing recruitment that we provide within the HVAC Sales sector. Replacing Chris Ragnal who has decided to join one of our Clients JCI as part of their continuing focus on in-house recruitment. Roger will be tasked with continuing to build long term business relationships with our every growing Client base within the HVAC sector while bringing a proactive active to sourcing outstanding talent within the sales environment.

Kym joins us as a junior recruiter and will be focused on the Asbestos sector. Mainly responsible for sourcing Asbestos Surveyors, Analysts and Lab Techs.

Sarah Bailey joins SER Ltd from previous roles within Business Development and is tasked with driving forward our recruitment services within the telecommunications market. Mainly focusing on Sales and Tech roles throughout the UK.

Lauren is our newest member to join the team. Joining as a junior recruiter, she will be working along side Dan Walton in the FMCG Machinery.

Should you wish to contact any of our three new recruits feel free to call SER Ltd on 01254 781 300

Specialists within Engineering Recruitment

31557600 seconds in 1 year.
525960 minutes in 1 year.
8766 hours in 1 year.
365.25 days in 1 year.
52 weeks in 1 year.

1 year is a long time and in 1 year you can achieve so much, learn so much and progress so much, but a lot can also go wrong in 1 year. At the start of a year, you may be happy with your job, it may be challenging you, it may be exactly as you wish it to be, it may be perfect for you.

In the blink of an eye, things can change (refer back to L is for Life), you may need to make a change and through no fault of anyone in particular, you may need to be looking for that next step. You never know when this is going to happen.

In the last year at SER there has been a lot of change from new offices, new website, new employees – it goes to show it's not different for any of us including businesses. The company you wish to work for could grow and take on new staff which they couldn't have don't at the start of the year.

1 year = 365 opportunities
Submit your CV today and we will monitor the situation for you and contact you when vacancies that you seem perfect for you arrive – we will phone you and you never know it may just be the perfect time.

Tel: 01254781300
Web: www.serlimited.com

Your Career, Your Future,
Your Choice.

Xenon is a chemical element that has the symbol Xe. It was discovered in England by the Scottish chemist William Ramsey and English chemist Morris Travers in September 1898, shortly after their discovery of the elements krypton and neon.

Xenon is used in flash lamps and car headlights and both bring light. They are going to help you see things more clearly

How does this link to SER?

Well when you are trying to do something in the dark can be complex, so having light on a situation is going to make things easier. With SER's specialist knowledge, we can be your light. We can help direct you to the right job for you. We know the industry and we know the people you want to work for.

Let SER shed some light on the situation for you.

Tel: 01254781300
Web: www.serlimited.com

Your Career, Your Future,
Your Choice.

Working is part of everyday life, and it is actually quite difficult to think of a life where you don't need to work, how else would you provide for your families or maintain your lifestyle.

If you need to work, you might as well enjoy it, and if you aren't enjoying it, then maybe it is time to do something about it. You spend so much time working that it can really drain you to not enjoy it.

So what are some of the things that contribute to whether you enjoy working?
• Culture
• Support
• Progression
• Rewards
• Fun / Enjoyment

At SER, we understand that these are the things that make you happy in your working life, and we know that different people feel differently about each of these areas and that all people are motivated differently.

SER will speak to you and understand your motives, experience an other requirements and will use this to find a position that you are suited for, and provide you with the things you need to enjoy work.

 Contact us today to take the next step in your career

Tel: 01254781300
Web: www.serlimited.com

Your Career, Your Future,
Your Choice.

It is illegal to employ someone that does not have the right to work in the th UK, under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. New sanctions have been introduced with the Immigration Act 2016. If an employer employs someone they know or have reasonable cause to believe is working illegally, the employer can face a custodial sentence of up to 5 years or an unlimited fine..
Do not rely on race, ethnicity, accent or appearance to determine whether you should complete checks. To avoid breaching the Equality Act 2010, there must be a consistent approach across the board.

In the United Kingdom all employers are required by law to check their employees have the right to work in the UK. The British government website states that "You must check that a job applicant is allowed to work for you in the UK before you employ them."

A complete guide to the combination of documents accepted as right-to-work documents and how to check them can be found on the .gov website. The correct document combinations depend on the potential employee themselves, but include these documents:
• Passport
• Biometric Residence Permit
• National Identity Card
• Full Birth Certificate
• Certificate of Naturalisation
• Passport with valid Visa inside

'As the Acceptable right to work documents document states it is the employer's responsibility to check the validity of the documents presented and "you must be in the physical possession of the original document or documents"

Find out if a potential employee has the right to work in the UK and what documents employers should check.
https://www.gov.uk/legal-right-work-uk
There will be no change to the rights and status of EU nationals living in the UK, nor UK nationals living in the EU, while the UK remains in the EU.
Gov.uk has plenty of information, links and a checklist that explains the types of documents that are acceptable for checking an employee's right to work and how long the check is valid for.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-work-checklist

You may need to ask the Home Office to check an employee's or potential employee's immigration status if:
• they can't show you their documents, eg they have an outstanding appeal or application with the Home Office
• they have an Application Registration Card
• they have a Certificate of Application
You should see if they can work legally in the UK before asking for a check.

At SER we are preparing for the upcoming changes which are due to happen when GDPR is introduced, 25th May 2018.
EU Parliament & Council approved the GDPR on the 14th April 2016 and will be enforced 25th May 2018. Non-compliant companies will be subject to heavy fines of either 4% global annual turnover or twenty million euros

It has been introduced to give everybody more control over how their personal information is processed. We now have to have permission to use personal information and this can be removed at any time by a candidate request.

 Consent will be one of the lawful grounds for data processing.
A GDPR-compliant data sharing agreement will be used when sharing information with a third party such as umbrella companies.
It will affect EU based candidates, companies collecting data from EU candidates, organisations collecting or processing personal data of EU candidates. This includes our own staff, candidates for both temp & perm positions, clients and even potential clients.

'Personal data is any information (hard copies and soft copies) relating to an individual, whether it relates to his or her private, public or professional life. It can be anything from a name, address, medical information, phone number, posts on social media'. Personal data that is hidden via pseudonymisation may also be included, depending on whether it can be identified to a candidate. Pseudonymization is a procedure by which the most identifying fields within a data record are replaced by one or more artificial identifiers, or pseudonyms.

Personal data also includes all data that can be related to an individual, who can be identified by the information – either directly or in-directly.
It could also include piles of loose paper hanging around the office, which holds information that can be easily accessed.

BREXIT WILL NOT AFFECT ITS INTRODUCTION INTO THE UK
In preparation for the change we will be attending workshops and running in house training for all employees, to ensure that we are all ready for these changes.