Unless you’ve been in an underground bunker for the past couple of weeks you will have noticed the horrendous weather we’ve been having. It’s been reported as the wettest June for 150 years, and it seems like its going to continue well into August.
The adverse weather conditions are not only affecting the summer barbeques but also the building and construction industry. The north has been worse hit and has suffered severe flooding in the last couple of weeks making construction and other outdoor work impossible as other outside work. Many projects have had to be put on hold until the bad weather subsides, which could see the industry lose millions.
So far approximately 30,000 homes have been damaged by the flooding in South Yorkshire and reports have estimated that it could be a year before families can expect the damage to their homes to be rectified. The local authorities in Yorkshire have already set aside £18 million for a home improvement programme.
A lot of the people affected weren’t covered by insurance and will now be facing a large bill to restore their beloved homes. Unfortunately there are some rogue traders out there that are taking advantage of these people in vulnerable situations and over charging for poor workmanship.
Donations for the flood relief effort is being co-ordinated by the 'South Yorkshire Community Foundation'. Cheques should be payable to: 'SYCF Flood Disaster Relief Fund' and sent to:
South Yorkshire Community FoundationClay StreetAttercliffeSheffield S9 2PF
People can also make cash and cheque donations at any branch of Yorkshire Bank:
Account number: 21890701
Sort Code: 05-08-03
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
How will 1st July effect you?
You will probably have seen the adverts or if not you definitely would have heard that Britain will join Ireland on 1st July in a nationwide smoking ban. This is something that has been discussed widely for many years and as a non smoker myself I’m very pleased to see it enforced. However there are many of you out there that do smoke and will see 1st July as a huge change to your lives, going to the pub will never be the same again whether you smoke or not.
The smoking ban is being introduced to protect non smokers from the harmful effects of second hand smoke. Smoking will be banned in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed public places and workplaces, this includes public transport and work vehicles used by more than one person.
Work places may or may not decide to arrange premises for smokers to use but many have taken the ban as a catalyst to have completely smoke free premises and no ‘fag breaks’. Although this is not true for all companies the customary fag break which many employees take throughout the day may be stopped. I have worked with many people who do smoke and take breaks throughout the day, I don’t smoke and have to sit at my desk until lunch time for my break, whilst they feel its ok for them to sit outside and gossip with a cigarette, with or without the smoking ban this is unfair
The public have been asked to ‘report’ possible breaches of the law with a freephone telephone number to report such incidents (0800 587 1667). If you are caught smoking in public you may face a fine of £50 (reduced to £30 if you pay within 15 days), employers failing to display the correct no smoking signs could be fined a maximum fine of £1000, and people in charge of smoke free areas will be fined for failure to prevent smoking in a smokefree place and could receive a maximum fine of £2500.
Whether you agree with the ban or not it is here to stay, if you have more queries about how the ban will effect you visit www.smokefreeengland.co.uk.
The smoking ban is being introduced to protect non smokers from the harmful effects of second hand smoke. Smoking will be banned in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed public places and workplaces, this includes public transport and work vehicles used by more than one person.
Work places may or may not decide to arrange premises for smokers to use but many have taken the ban as a catalyst to have completely smoke free premises and no ‘fag breaks’. Although this is not true for all companies the customary fag break which many employees take throughout the day may be stopped. I have worked with many people who do smoke and take breaks throughout the day, I don’t smoke and have to sit at my desk until lunch time for my break, whilst they feel its ok for them to sit outside and gossip with a cigarette, with or without the smoking ban this is unfair
The public have been asked to ‘report’ possible breaches of the law with a freephone telephone number to report such incidents (0800 587 1667). If you are caught smoking in public you may face a fine of £50 (reduced to £30 if you pay within 15 days), employers failing to display the correct no smoking signs could be fined a maximum fine of £1000, and people in charge of smoke free areas will be fined for failure to prevent smoking in a smokefree place and could receive a maximum fine of £2500.
Whether you agree with the ban or not it is here to stay, if you have more queries about how the ban will effect you visit www.smokefreeengland.co.uk.
Friday, 1 June 2007
Site functionality
Construction4professionals.com, the unique agency only niche construction job board, announces its latest functionality improvements. Following its successful launch in November 2006 Construction4professionals has continued to evolve and has recently taken on board client and candidate feedback in order to make the site functionality even more easy to use. It is our philosophy that the technology should be leading edge but that the functionality should be effective and uncomplicated. The best analogy is a swan gliding across a pond seemingly with ease whilst paddling ferociously beneath the surface.
Following our recent market research it is apparent that the most important factors for any recruiter is the ability to quickly and easily post vacancies, to then have only relevant candidates applying and the CV searching facility returning only the most relevant candidates.
In the last two months we have upgraded our job board to make sure that its features are simple to use and deliver tangible benefits to our clients. Construction4professionals offers Artificial Intelligence searching which enables recruiters to search and match to very specific criteria within their job descriptions. There are also improvements to our standard CV searching and CV direct functions. In terms of job postings they are very simple to undertake and we now have given clients the ability to set up their own bespoke auto-responses, screening questions per job role and contact detail options in terms of where replies are sent to. Job posting have been designed to suit every need, click4construction.com is fully integrated with Broadbean and other auto posting software as well as being able to accept XML feeds from client websites. The site can integrate to specific company Applicant Tracking Systems so that when a candidate applies to a vacancy on Construction4professionals they are automatically directed to the recruiters vacancies on their corporate website. Recruiters are also able to easily save specific candidate profiles for later reference. Other functions include the ability to purchase services on-line which are automatically activated in real time, the ability to set up accounts and unlimited sub accounts. Recruiters have the option to post and edit a company profile which can be designed by the in-house design team or could be simply text and company logo. Users can also benefit from help and advice on job posting and relevant industry news in the news section.
A lot of time, effort and research have gone into developing the functionality of this site to make it as user friendly as possible and to deliver the required benefits to the recruiter. Please do not hesitate to contact the Construction4professionals team in order to arrange to benefit for our unique service offering.
Following our recent market research it is apparent that the most important factors for any recruiter is the ability to quickly and easily post vacancies, to then have only relevant candidates applying and the CV searching facility returning only the most relevant candidates.
In the last two months we have upgraded our job board to make sure that its features are simple to use and deliver tangible benefits to our clients. Construction4professionals offers Artificial Intelligence searching which enables recruiters to search and match to very specific criteria within their job descriptions. There are also improvements to our standard CV searching and CV direct functions. In terms of job postings they are very simple to undertake and we now have given clients the ability to set up their own bespoke auto-responses, screening questions per job role and contact detail options in terms of where replies are sent to. Job posting have been designed to suit every need, click4construction.com is fully integrated with Broadbean and other auto posting software as well as being able to accept XML feeds from client websites. The site can integrate to specific company Applicant Tracking Systems so that when a candidate applies to a vacancy on Construction4professionals they are automatically directed to the recruiters vacancies on their corporate website. Recruiters are also able to easily save specific candidate profiles for later reference. Other functions include the ability to purchase services on-line which are automatically activated in real time, the ability to set up accounts and unlimited sub accounts. Recruiters have the option to post and edit a company profile which can be designed by the in-house design team or could be simply text and company logo. Users can also benefit from help and advice on job posting and relevant industry news in the news section.
A lot of time, effort and research have gone into developing the functionality of this site to make it as user friendly as possible and to deliver the required benefits to the recruiter. Please do not hesitate to contact the Construction4professionals team in order to arrange to benefit for our unique service offering.
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
The Rise of the Internet
On-line advertising is a huge growth sector within the world of advertising and latest industry analysis shows that its growth rate is outstripping all other advertising media. On-line is specifically capturing market share at the expense of hard copy trade and press advertising. It is no coincidence that the major media groups are investing ever more heavily in their on-line products. We believe we have entered the market at just the right time with the right product as the growth in on-line advertising is particularly strong in the recruitment sector and specifically within the construction industry.
The advantage of on-line advertising is that it is cheaper, can be readily amended even mid campaign, it enables very clear data capture, provides ongoing exposure, does not become quickly dated, normally has a longer shelf life than hard copy, encourages return visitors and delivers a much better return on investment. Also with better design quality, improved internet speeds, faster and more powerful computers and the widespread use of broadband on-line access is almost universal and as such the target audience is now greater than that available through press. We welcome these developments and have placed our job boards at the forefront of what we now undertake as our core business.
The advantage of on-line advertising is that it is cheaper, can be readily amended even mid campaign, it enables very clear data capture, provides ongoing exposure, does not become quickly dated, normally has a longer shelf life than hard copy, encourages return visitors and delivers a much better return on investment. Also with better design quality, improved internet speeds, faster and more powerful computers and the widespread use of broadband on-line access is almost universal and as such the target audience is now greater than that available through press. We welcome these developments and have placed our job boards at the forefront of what we now undertake as our core business.
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Niche vs Generalist
Perhaps unsurprisingly we are big believers in niche job boards.
There must be something to the argument in that two of the big generalists are adding niche boards to their stables at an ever increasing pace at the moment.
The beauty of niche is that the boards attract only specific candidates to specific sectors and as such, appeal to recruiters operating in those particular market sectors. As far as candidates are concerned they know that jobs on a niche board are going to hold relevancy for them. A generalist site cannot hold information, links, news, PR, advice, etc on every industry in the UK market, whereas niche boards can add value to client and candidate users by providing such industry related material on their sites.
Niche sites can also narrow down further on skill sets and search terms than any of the generalists and as such, deliver much better and more relevant roles on searches.
Having been a candidate, a client and now a job board operator I can say without any doubt that my most positive experiences in terms of relevancy have been with niche boards rather than generalists.
Andy
There must be something to the argument in that two of the big generalists are adding niche boards to their stables at an ever increasing pace at the moment.
The beauty of niche is that the boards attract only specific candidates to specific sectors and as such, appeal to recruiters operating in those particular market sectors. As far as candidates are concerned they know that jobs on a niche board are going to hold relevancy for them. A generalist site cannot hold information, links, news, PR, advice, etc on every industry in the UK market, whereas niche boards can add value to client and candidate users by providing such industry related material on their sites.
Niche sites can also narrow down further on skill sets and search terms than any of the generalists and as such, deliver much better and more relevant roles on searches.
Having been a candidate, a client and now a job board operator I can say without any doubt that my most positive experiences in terms of relevancy have been with niche boards rather than generalists.
Andy
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
Welcome!
Welcome to Construction4Professionals blog, we are all very new to the world of blogging so bear with us as we aim to learn the ropes. We aim to 'blog' as often as possible to give our users an insight into the world of construction4professionals, so remember to keep checking back regularly for updates.
For those of you who don't know anything about construction4professionals.com shame on you, we are a quality job board aimed at the construction market, you can read more in the 'About Me' section to the right.
If you have anything you would like us to discuss in up and coming blogs please email us at general@construction4professionals.com.
For those of you who don't know anything about construction4professionals.com shame on you, we are a quality job board aimed at the construction market, you can read more in the 'About Me' section to the right.
If you have anything you would like us to discuss in up and coming blogs please email us at general@construction4professionals.com.
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