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Recognising stress and how to help – a management guide

We get to hear a lot about the stress people experience at work. It is often the real reason they approach us to help them with a career change in the first place. By then stress has gone far beyond what is healthy.

Most people are all too familiar with workplace stress. The uneasy feeling and tension as a deadline approaches or the butterfly’s in the stomach as an important presentation or pitch looms. Some stress at work is good for you. It helps you to focus and prepares you for action. However, prolonged and sustained stress can lead to health issues, mental health problems and long term absence due to illness. That’s when it becomes a problem for individuals and the organisations they work for. Recognising and understanding how to tackle stress is something managers in all organisations, big or small, should prepare for.

In our blog ‘Start a conversation about mental health’ we explored the size of the problem and the negative effect on both an employee and their employer. Knowing what to do about stress at work is a key management skill that has important business, social and moral implications.

Causes of stress and recognising the signs

The top six causes of stress are:

It is really important that employers are tuned in to how their employees are feeling. The symptoms of stress can appear in a number of ways and some of the typical signs are:

Emotional – An individual may seem sensitive to criticism, be irritable, have an uncharacteristic loss of confidence or self-esteem, and seem to be less engaged.

Cognitive –  You may notice an individual is making more mistakes than usual, is having problems making decisions, or isn’t able to concentrate.

Behavioural – This could include things like consistently arriving late, not taking lunch breaks, taking unplanned time off, not joining in with the team or office banter, or maybe not meeting deadlines.

Physical – Employees who are stressed sometimes exhibit physical symptoms such as having a constant cold, being overtired at work, making less effort with their appearance, rapid weight loss or gain.

Managers have a massive and potentially difficult role to play.

Acknowledging that there is a problem is the first step. Understandably, many managers are worried about approaching the subject of stress, being wrong or causing offence. If the manager is part of the problem, then a neutral third party will be needed. Where there is one, a company’s HR department or outside provider can be an informal and independent sounding board.

Ask the employee for a quiet word somewhere private and then let them know that it’s been noticed they’ve not been themselves and ask if they’d like to talk about it. Any meeting should be confidential, non-threatening, open and provide an opportunity for the individual concerned, their line manager and any HR professional to discuss and identify what support the business can offer to better help the employee to cope.

Here are a number of short-term tactics that you can implement that can go a long way in helping you to tackle workplace stress:

Management style

Managers come in all shapes and sizes with a range of management styles. Some may be uncaring, inflexible or unsure. Others are nurturing, empathic and supportive. Either way, management style, good or bad, has a direct effect on staff wellbeing and morale.

Training managers in leadership skills can help. Key management behaviours to consider include:

How an organisation deals with workplace stress reflects massively on its reputation as an employer. For the sake of the health of individuals and the business, taking the issues seriously is good for everyone.

Employers and candidates tell us that First Base is their first choice for help with their recruitment requirements and their personal career progression. If you would like to know more about how the First Base team could help you, contact us on 01453 755330.

 

If you want that job – be on time!

Question: When is punctuality important at a job interview?

Answer: Always!

If you want to get off to a good start and earn some positive points at an interview, being punctual is absolutely vital.

“Punctuality is a fundamental business courtesy that demonstrates you can be trusted to deliver as promised” – David Tovey

First Impressions

It should go without saying, but it is never acceptable to be late to an interview. This is such a common standard that some employers will refuse to interview a candidate if they are late. Sadly some candidates still fail to realise that there is a basic requirement to be on time.

Look at it from the potential employers point of view. If the person who apparently is really keen to work for you walks in for an interview 10 minutes late, would you trust them to be on time and be organized throughout their employment with you? The recruitment process also takes up a lot of time for both employment agencies and employers – being late suggests that you are indifferent about the effort they are taking to help you find the job you want.

Have no doubt that potential employers have heard all the excuses:

Sorry I’m late..

“The traffic was terrible”

“The trains were running late”

“I had problems finding your offices”

Use these excuses (or the many similar ones) and all that the interviewer will be thinking is that you are not organised enough to plan your journey. They know what the traffic is like around Gloucestershire, on the roads and motorways. They know how the trains run, they also know about Google Maps and Sat Nav. Remember that they travel the same routes themselves.

“People don’t arrive late, they set out late” – David Tovey

But don’t arrive early

Arriving late is clearly not going to help you get the job you want – but being too early isn’t going to help your cause either. There are people who turn up 30 – 40 minutes early for a job interview and waltz in thinking it’s ok.

Just like when you turn up late, the recruitment manager is thinking.

Late or early – if they are thinking that about you before you have even introduced yourself – what do you think that does to your chances of getting the job offer?

Turning up too early for an interview can also make it awkward for your potential employer. The organisation might only have one meeting room, so if you turn up too early you’ll have to be seated in reception – sometimes next to another person also waiting to go into the interview for the same role as you. That can be uncomfortable for everyone.

A job interview provides the opportunity for you to shine, it’s your chance to make the right impression and the impression you make starts the moment you arrive. Those extra 30-40 minutes will count towards what the potential employer thinks of you.

What should you do?

Plan to arrive around 5 minutes early, not earlier and not later.

If you turn up too early:

When it comes to choosing between two good candidates, it can be the smallest of things that make all the difference. Don’t miss out on your finding your ideal job just because you didn’t turn up on time, it’s totally under your control. Check out our blog “Why didn’t I get the job”.

Employers and candidates tell us that First Base is their first choice for help with their recruitment requirements and their personal career progression. If you would like to know more about how the First Base team could help you, contact us on 01453 755330.

 

 

 

Start a conversation about mental health

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Businesses rely on having a healthy and productive workforce. Conditions like anxiety, depression and long term excessive stress are experienced by one in six British workers each year. Over the past five years, employers have repeatedly cited stress as the number one reason given by employees who take time off work.

Research by Mind, the mental health charity, recently confirmed that a culture of fear and silence around mental health can be costly to employers:

What does mental distress look like?

Although it can still be a taboo subject, mental distress is very common, with one in four people experiencing a mental health problem in any one year. Mental distress can affect how people think, feel and act and as a result, people may behave, communicate or respond in ways that give rise to concern.

In some cases, individuals may not disclose a mental health condition, but the Mind organisation suggests several behaviours to look out for that may indicate they are experiencing distress:

If you suspect an employee may be experiencing mental distress, it’s important not to make assumptions, consult them first about any impact this may or may not be having.

What can a business do?

Tackle the causes

Make sure that work the environment is suitable. Noise, temperature and light levels can all have an impact on wellbeing. Where possible and suitable to the business consider workspace dividers and quiet spaces to help improve the work environment. For staff working in isolation, ensure there are clear and regular lines of communication. This can be as simple as a regular phone catch-up.Consider introducing an informal mentoring scheme where suitable to help new staff members understand the business faster and to support them in their role.

The job

Set reasonable and agreed deadlines for work completion.
Provide a suitable working environment.
Define the work role and responsibilities as much as is possible.
Involve employees in the planning of their workload where possible.

The business

Encourage and promote an open environment at work. Employees need to feel confident and supported if they choose to discuss their mental health issues. Remember, it is their choice whether to disclose any issues and sensitive personal information should always remain confidential. Keep records of sickness absence and use them to analyse the causes of absence Promote a supportive working environment with regular catch-ups.

Career and personal development

Create clear management and appraisal structures involving the employee and take into account the views of employees with respect to job satisfaction and career development.

Support your people

If you become aware of a staff member experiencing mental distress the first step is to establish honest and open communication with them:

Sometimes staff may need to take some time off as sick leave due to mental ill health. If this becomes the case remember to:

Personal issues affecting staff

Try to stay aware of relevant personal issues affecting staff such as illness, bereavement and other stress related factors that may contribute to an employee struggling to cope in the workplace. This is easier to do when carried out informally such as a catch-up over coffee or lunch.

How a business deals with mental health issues reflects massively on their reputation as an employer. For the sake of the health of individual and the business, taking mental health issues seriously is good for everyone.

Employers and candidates tell us that First Base is their first choice for help with their recruitment requirements and their personal career progression. If you would like to know more about how the First Base team could help you, contact us on 01453 755330.

 
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Employee engagement: a key tool to grow your business

It is clear from our own experience of placing thousands of individuals into jobs with hundreds of organisations, that employee engagement has a major influence on business success. Today, the challenge is twofold:

Attracting the right people:

Retaining and engaging the right people:

Why does engagement matter?

 It is a well established fact that engaged employees drive more business growth. Companies with strong employee engagement rates experience 87% higher staff retention, 17% higher productivity levels, 20% higher sales and 19% increase in revenue.

Engagement goes way beyond a casual dress code. Companies gaining recognition as Best Places to Work For are working hard on many levels to engage their people. According to the Sunday Times Best Small Companies to work, the right things to on focus are:

 How First Base helps SME’s with engagement

For SME’s, the challenges of engaging and retaining talent can be exacerbated by limited resources, cost pressures, competition and lack of specific knowledge of HR and legal matters. Offering a package of perks, particularly to part time and temporray staff, can be a challenge.

To help our SME clients, First Base took a cold hard look at what is working regarding employee engagement around the world and came across a model that has been successful in the US for over 25 years.

The PEO (Professional Employment Organisation) model, which has recently been adapted to UK needs by our payroll partner, Hive360, is based on  ‘co-employment’ and group buying power. In America, where 3.4mi workers are employed through this model, companies using PEO grow up to 9% faster, have up to 14% less staff turnover, are 50% less likely to go out of business and reduce admin costs significantly per employee.

Through our partnership with Hive 360, we offer our temporary staff a pay & perks portal which gives them access to services such as 24h NHS approved telephone GP service, specialised phone counselling, health and wellbeing advice and thousands of shopping and lifestyle discounts. Through the portal they also receive payslips in a GDPR compliant way and be able to see their pensions performance in real time. This adds value to our relationship with temporary staff and in turn helps the employers we work with.

Employers and candidates tell us that First Base is their first choice for help with their recruitment requirements and their personal career progression. If you would like to know more about how the First Base team could help you, contact us on 01453 755330.

(This blog was adapted from an article provided by our payroll partner, Hive 360).

Giving 75% effort but expecting 100% pay?

No candidate would get very far in the recruitment process if on their CV or during interview they suggested they would give 100% in a new role based on that old employee ‘joke’ –

I give 100% at work… 12% on Monday, 23% on Tuesday, 40% on Wednesday, 20% on Thursday and 5% on Friday. 

A joke maybe, but if you are an employer, it’s certainly not funny if you are paying people their full salary for anything less than 100% effort. Whatever your job, the amount of effort you put into it will play a significant part in your potential progression, your career path and future prospects. Even if the job is something you don’t like very much, there are still benefits to giving it all you’ve got. While we might day-dream of just simply not showing up for work one day and moving on, burning bridges can easily hurt chances of future employment or opportunities. You want to give every job you do the most positive effort you can. Even if you leave an employer it’s much better that you leave with everyone wishing you’d stayed rather than happy that you departed!

Job Security

Employers are more likely to keep on individuals that show dedication even in a down time. Someone who puts 100% in their daily lives can secure their position within nearly any company regardless of the organisations situation.

Promotion and pay

Employers are more likely to provide more opportunities to those who do a little more than they are paid to in order to help to benefit the organization. If more work is being completed than expected, good employers will often offer better pay in order to keep you motivated.

Re-hire value

Leaving at the end of a temporary contract or after a period of permanent work with a positive reputation as a hard worker, dramatically increases your chances of being re-hired. On the other hand, leave with a less than favourable reputation and you may find doors permanently closed.

Job references

Even if you didn’t like your previous job, by giving it 100% of your skills and effort you help your position elsewhere if the prospective new employer calls your previous one for references. You want to create good word-of-mouth advertising for yourself and giving your best could go a long way to doing that.

Be respected by the team

Having a reputation as a shirker, getting away with doing as little as possible will not help your reputation with colleagues. As long as you are not always self- promoting, other people on the team will look up to you as someone who sets a good example.

Managers listen

Have a good work ethic and your ideas for improvements or efficiencies are more likely to be listened to by management.

Self-respect

 Even in a job that you don’t much like. Nothing is better for your self-respect than knowing you are doing your personal your best.

Whether you are in your dream job or not, putting effort into your work can benefit you on multiple levels. When you are looking to progress in your career, or simply secure your position, putting 100% of what you’ve got into the task can secure your future in a variety of ways.

Employers and candidates tell us that First Base is their first choice for help with their recruitment requirements and their personal career progression. If you would like to know more about how the First Base team could help you contact us on 01453 755330.

 

8 ways to boost employee wellbeing

Workplace absence is costing the United Kingdom’s economy £18 billion pounds each year – and is predicted to rise to £21 billion by 2020 according to research by the Centre of Economic and Business Research. HR professionals across the UK are reporting that a focus on employee wellbeing can play a significant role in reducing the cost to your organisation.

Absenteeism is not the only problem, according to the Office for National Statistics the output per hour worked in the UK in 2015 was 16.6% lower than that of other G7 nations. Focusing on employee wellbeing is likely to increase productivity, the NHS Health and Wellbeing report shows NHS Trusts with higher wellbeing scores perform better financially, have higher patient satisfaction and registers fewer acute infections among staff.

With that in mind, we’ve listed 8 simple things you can start doing to boost employee wellbeing:

Natural light

Natural light has the power to boost mood, energy levels and productivity. A study by World Green Building Council shows workers that are exposed to natural light sleep on average 46 minutes more than those who are not, and that translates into a 18% increase in productivity.

Time to open those blinds!

A splash of colour

Dull grey offices are a thing of the past – or at least they should be. University of Texas researchershave found that bland grey, beige and white offices induced feelings of sadness and depression.

On the other hand, scientific studies have shown how colours can profoundly impact our productivity. Green and blue can improve efficiency and focus. Red increases the heart rate and blood flow, making people more alert. Yellow triggers creativity and innovation.

You are what you eat

If your employees eat healthy food, all the evidence is that they will be healthier, feel better, be more productive and take less sick days.

A few of the things you can do to stimulate healthy eating is offering free fruit, having healthy options in the cafeteria where you have one, at vending machines and by providing a space where staff can prepare healthy food.

Be flexible

Implementing a flexible working policy reduces stress and enhances your employees’ work-life balance. Many companies who adopted telecommuting have seen their productivity levels through the roof – Best Buy, British T4 Telecom, Dow Chemical show that teleworkers are 35-40% more productive, and American Express employees who worked from home were 43 percent more productive than workers in the office.

You don’t need to go fully remote to see the benefits – allowing your employees to choose when to come to the office or to split time between remote and office based work brings benefits too.

Your staff can avoid rush hour commute by comping to the office later – in 2016, the Royal Society for Public Health published a report suggesting commuting can negatively impact both physical and mental health; and they can work when they feel more productive and arrange their work schedule so that they can attend doctor appointments, for example.

Support fitness

Contribute to gym memberships, create running or walking clubs, stimulate workers to take part in sporting events by sponsoring them, stimulate cycle or walk/run commutes by having cycle racks and showers available – do whatever is within your reach to promote exercise and fitness among your employees.

Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, increasing alertness. Endorphins released after exercise improve mental health, and energy levels go up too because exercise intensifies your body’s ability to transfer glucose and oxygen throughout your brain and body. Being active also means an overall better physical health and boosts the immune system.

Taking breaks to win

Do you have a break room where workers can chill out, relax and take their mind off work? If not, it might be time to think about one. Recent studieshave found that a break once an hour increases work productivity.

It is important to encourage employees to take their full lunch break too and avoid eating at their desk. Taking a proper break is a proven way to sustain concentration and enhance creativity. People have the chance to socialise with members of other teams when spending some time at the break areas too, enhancing the potential for collaboration.

Say “Thank you”

From simply saying ‘thank you’ to developing an employee reward programme, there is a range of ways to make your staff felt valued and appreciated. At First Base for instance, our employees and temp staff enjoy benefits like shopping, leisure and dining discounts.

Counselling

A CIPD report shows mental health and stress related absences are the second biggest cause of absences in the UK, only losing to minor illnesses such as cold, headaches and stomach upsets. Making a counselling service available to your employees could be the support they need to go through a time of stress or poor mental health, reducing recovery times and making them feel worthwhile and appreciated.

Again, at First Base, we offer access to professional counsellors to help with a range of mental health issues via a smartphone app.

How seriously organisations take employee well-being is having a significant effect on not only absenteeism but recruitment and retention of talented people.

Adapted from an article supplied by our payroll partner, Hive360. 

First Base Clients and Candidates tell us we are their first choice because we are reliable, responsive and well connected. If you would like to know more about how our team can help your organistion with your recruitment requirements or with your next career move, contact us on 01453 755330.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Employee engagement – beyond the pay packet

Employee engagement was considered the biggest challenge of 2018 by 41% of 447 HR Directors in the UK interviewed for an annual survey*. But, what exactly is employee engagement?

The CIPD defines employee engagement in three aspects:

Putting it into more concise and practical terms:

“Employee engagement is the extent to which people are personally involved in the success of a business.”

Looking at it like that, it does make a lot of sense to invest in employee engagement, ensuring your employees are invested in the success of your business. And data backs that up too:

However, engaging employees goes way beyond having a casual dress code and offering free snacks at work. Here are some powerful ways to motivate and engage your employees:

Empowerment

Do your workers feel comfortable to challenge superiors and suggest alternative strategies and solutions to problems? If the answer is no, it might be time to empower them to do so. Not only can your business benefit from different perspectives and potentially more efficient solutions, your workers will feel they have a voice and are valued in the company.

Communication

Internal communication strategy should be focused on informing employees of decisions being taken, changes and achievements in the company. But communication goes beyond that. It is also key to ensure workers are clear about what their roles entail, what is expected of them, what are their KPI’s and so on, preventing uncertainty on all levels.

Decision Making

Involve workers on the decisions that will directly affect their role. This goes hand in hand with empowering employees, valuing them and giving them a voice. But besides that, it also improves morale and motivation and gives workers a sense of responsibility over the decision made, focusing more on problem solving.

Measuring Output 

Your employee’s efficiency should be judged by results, not hours. Expecting workers to sit on their desks even when they have already finished their tasks and are delivering what is expected of them and more creates a culture of ‘presenteeism’ disengagement and boredom. Measuring output, rather than input, makes for a much more engaging and productive work environment, where employees are happier and more able to manage work-life balance.

What can First Base help with?

Our temporary staff are provided with perks including NHS approved 24h GP phone service, 1000’s of shopping and dining discounts and specialised counselling service. All of that in the palm of their hands, with our ground breaking mobile portal where they also have access to fully GDPR compliant payslips, insurance discounts and training by market leaders, plus much more.

If you would like to know more about how the First Base team can help you with your organistions recruitment requirements or your next career move contact us on 01453 755 330.

*source: Cascade HR

Adapted from an article provided by our payroll partner Hive 360.

Why use a recruitment agency?

With record numbers of people in work (32.54m and rising according to the Office of National Statistics in January 2019), it is not surprising that employers are increasingly turning to trusted Recruitment Agencies to find the talent they need.  How clients work with their Recruitment Consultants has changed and there are more reasons than ever for businesses large and small to use a reputable agency. We have certainly seen clients now spreading the net to find the candidates they need.

 

Advantages of using a Recruitment Agency:

Candidates, not applicants

It takes effort and time to attract applicants whether they are responding to your advert, applying on spec or through your website. Inevitably a lot of time will be invested in filtering, assessing, matching and communicating with people who apply for the roles you have available. It’s at this time that the best talent is often lost due to delays and a poor applicant ‘experience’.

A good Recruitment Agency will only present you with candidates – job seekers that have already been screened and selected because they match the criteria you are looking for and are worthy of interviewing.

Save time

Recruitment is a time consuming activity. By using a Recruitment Agency you save time dealing with the application process, screening CV’s and avoiding initial interviews with people who turn out to be unsuitable. You and your own team save time on dealing with the whole recruitment process as they deal with everything from application through to providing feedback to candidates on your behalf.

Reach and Connections 

Hard pressed HR or in house teams benefit from the long established reach and networks of a trusted recruitment partner. A good Recruitment Agency can generate a shortlist for interview faster than an in house resource because they working full time on building the networks and connections where high quality candidates can be found. Recruitment Agency web sites attract people seeking a career change every day, this provides a data base of talented people that can be matched with the employment opportunities you have

Fast access to key skills

At the top of the list of reasons for using a Recruitment Agency for many companies, is short term access to the key skills they need to cover leave and demand peaks. With high employment it’s not surprising that there is pressure on recruiting temporary staff as well a permanent staff. A good Recruitment Agency will have great relationships with their bank of workers, will track their availability and be able to place them in short term roles very quickly.

Promote your employer brand 

A Recruitment Agency will position your company and promote your business to appropriate candidates. Whatever the size of your organisation, it is always helpful to have someone who understands your business, can answer questions that may arise and who is on your side to sell your company at a time when there are many more employment opportunities for good candidates.

Expert Knowledge 

With consultants that specialise in specific sectors, a Recruitment Agency provides a wealth of knowledge that helps them to understand the skills and characteristics required of a specific role. This helps them to refine their search and put forward the most appropriate candidates. Sector specialists can advise on how to attract the right candidate and what salary range is considered competitive in the local area.

Long term relationships 

A good Recruitment Agency is interested in building long term relationships with their clients. They develop a deep understanding of how you work and become a part of your team, available when you need them and ready to find the people you need to achieve your organisations goals and objectives.

Why First Base?

With a reputation for being reliable, responsive and well connected, the First Base team has matched hundreds of businesses with thousands of candidates since 1997. Do get in touch if you would like to find out more about how we can help you.

David Tovey and Tricia Hay

 

What happens to employment rights with a ‘no deal’ Brexit?

 

In a recent technical update, the Government has stated that there will be no change to worker’s rights and protections in the event of a no deal Brexit.

The update confirmed that after March 29th 2019, regardless of whether a deal is reached between the UK and the EU, workers will continue to be covered by The EU Withdrawal Act 2018 which translates EU legislation into UK Law.

In the technical update (Workplace rights if there is no Brexit deal) published on the .Gov website, the Government stated that domestic legislation already exceeds the level of employment protection under EU law. Although there may be minor amendments to reflect the fact that the UK is no longer a member of the EU, there will be no policy changes.

Secretary for exiting the European Union Dominic Raab said: “The technical notice on workplace rights explains the steps we are taking to transfer all EU legislation into UK law in time for exit, so workers will continue to be entitled to the rights they have now, such as flexible working or parental leave. In many areas we already go much further than the EU.”

The government has noted that there might be some implications to workers’ rights in the event of employer insolvency. In particular, employees that work in an EU country for a UK-based employer might not always be protected under the national guarantee established in that country, which could affect their ability to bring a wage claim.

European works councils, bodies representing European employees in an organisation, might also be affected. UK regulations will be amended so that no new requests to set up a European works council can be made and provisions are put in place to allow existing councils to continue.

It said organisations with European works councils might need to review any agreements made if there are no reciprocal arrangements between the UK and EU.

Whilst this means no changes in the short term, there is of course no guarantee that a future Parliament might not enact changes to the current legislation.

If you want to work with a local recruitment agency with roots in the local community, a passion for people, a commitment to excellence, and you know where to find them, you can contact First Base.

Tricia Hay, Director

So here’s why you didn’t get the job.

We had to pass on bad news recently to a candidate well qualified for the job they had been interviewed for. It’s never a pleasant task to have tell someone they won’t be going forward to a second interview.

We’d asked for feedback from our client of course and it was disappointing to hear that someone we thought to be a switched on, intelligent and capable individual had made one of the most basic mistakes when applying for a job.

They had failed to research the company and didn’t ask any insightful questions. It turned out they hadn’t even bothered to follow the link we’d provided to the company web site.

Show genuine interest

It’s fair to assume that when you are invited to an interview, the employer has shown interest in you. They will already have read your CV carefully and prepared questions based upon it to find out if you are the talented person they need for their team. They may even have carried out some internet research.

Put yourself in the employers shoes for a moment. How would you feel if the person you were interviewing didn’t even know what products or services you provided… let alone any current news that was available and in the public domain? The right candidate will do at least basic interview research.

It’s not as if researching a potential employer should be a surprise to a candidate. Many of us are old enough to remember visiting the local library, reading business newspapers, or visiting Companies House to do our research. Today it’s really easy to research an organisation (even MI5 and GCHQ provide plenty of information) and if you don’t demonstrate a genuine interest, don’t expect as good response from the employer!

Ask insightful questions

“Judge a person by the quality of their questions rather than their answers” – Voltaire

One way to impress a potential employer and demonstrate you have done your homework is to prepare a few insightful questions. An insightful question is one related to the research you have done and is by far the best way to demonstrate you have done some research without actually having to say you have.

“Has the new product launch recently announced been well received by customers?”

“Will the contract the company recently won in China mean you will be recruiting more staff?”

“I understand that the company recently merged with a competitor, has this changed the business strategy”

Today’s employers are unlikely to make an offer to someone who hasn’t bothered do some interview research. When you are competing with others who understand this, it can be the quality of your research and questions that can be a major differentiator.

If you’d like to know more about researching an potential employer or about asking great questions or any other aspect of how to impress at interviews; register as a candidate, contact us or call Tricia Hay on 01453 755330.

By Tricia Hay and David Tovey