Good News for Freelancers and Self Employed

It’s just been announced that Chancellor Philip Hammond has cancelled the proposed Budget plan to increase National Insurance for the 4.8m self-employed. 

This is great news for creative, marketing and digital freelancers.  It's also  good news for companies employing freelance people on a regular or ad hoc basis.  Unfortunately if the proposed increase had happen, I am sure this would have lead to most freelancers increasing rates to pay of the extra national insurance they would have to find.

Freelancers are a huge benefit for the growth of the UK as it enable companies to employ these people on a adhoc basis rather than commit to a permanent role, especially when there is uncertainty.  This is one reason why Green Shoots Recruitment Ltd refers to its Freelancers as Super Hero's it's their ability to fit seamlessly into an organisation to instantly add value and take the pressure away from other members of staff.  By using experienced, skilled and specialist freelancers, we can match these people to a companies requirement, based on 20+ years experience recruiting in the Creative, Marketing and Digital Sectors.

As a self employed freelancer there is no guarantee of income, they do not get paid holiday pay or sick pay, having a lower rate NI does help.  They can offer their particular skill to different companies and freelancers often like the variety and flexibility of this type of employment.  Which is why the proposed increase would have been detrimental to them, businesses and the economy

Is it just me or does it feel good to hear we may actually have a government that is listening to the people, taking advice and acting on it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39278968

Unemployment figures drop again

UK unemployment has fallen again this month to 4.7% its lowest since the summer of 1975 according to The Office for National Statistics (ONS).

They are still being cautious as the gap in wages has narrowed and has slowed significantly in the first 3 months of 2017.  Wage growth is one of the most important pieces of data that the Bank of England uses with regards to interest rates. The next interest rate policy is on Thursday next week.

Zero contract hours now equates to 2.8% of all people in employment.

Constantly being rejected? Could this be the reason?

It is highly likely that your CV has spelling and grammar errors in it!

Ok so I’ve probably lost you now!  Are you are thinking, I’m a great speller, I’ve got a qualification to prove it and I’ve proof read my CV,  it’s perfect this doesn’t apply to me? 

Please keep reading........

You will be surprised to learn that most of the CV’s we receive have spelling and grammar errors in them, a whopping 95 to 98% of applicants. These are from people of all ages and include lots of people who are surprised to find an error in their perfect CV.

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Mistakes will prevent you getting a job!!!!

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Companies will overlook your details assuming: You lack attention to detail.  Have a poor command of the English language.  Think you will make lots of mistakes in written work, which could damage their brand and reputation.  That you simply don’t care enough to present yourself properly as a future employee for their company.

Your CV should represent the very best of you and your experience!

I often have conversations with people, of all ages, when I am interviewing, about how very difficult it is to spot our own mistakes, in things we type ourselves.  Our brains are very clever at working out what we mean to say, which leads to the copy we write, reading ok in our head but not necessarily on paper.  It’s not until someone else reads it that they spot the errors.  You can spot some mistakes yourself by re-reading, especially if you walk away and check it later.  However having another person check it, helps ensure any additional errors are corrected ahead of you applying for a role.

I use this example when I give career guide talks at local universities, to emphasis the point to students, before I ask them to check each other’s CV.   As this is not exclusive a young person problem, anyone would benefit from this quick test.

"i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg, if i an raed ths jsut igamine how mnay msitaeks cluod be in yur CV!"

Ok so this is an extreme; however it just shows how our brains help us out.  It can usually work out the word if the first and last letters are in place and all the other letters are jumbled up.

For the last few years, I have seen more capital letter errors.  This includes, job titles missing a capital letter on the 2nd word.  Lower case I’s being used.   Descriptive words, in job experience text starting with a capital letter, when not part of a job title.  I can only assume this is due to texting, where we use less capital letters, looks like our brain is evolving to not spot these as important mistakes.

As an experienced recruiter, if I spot an error I am always happy to point it out, so it can be amended ahead of it reaching a potential employer, however this is a last resort and I have also rejected applicants with numerous errors in their CV, especially if a role has an element of proof reading or attention to detail in it.

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The simple fix is: 

Ask someone else to proof read your CV! 

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Highest Employment in 11 years

Unemployment at it's lowest for over a Decade, showing the UK jobs marketing has remained resilient despite the warning it would be hit by the Brexit vote.

UK unemployment has fallen by 7,000 to 1.6 million people according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Wages have increased by 2.6% in the last 3 months of 2016 which was faster than the rate of inflation. 

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/feb2017