The Energy Event 2012
Utility People exhibited for the first time this month at The Energy Event 2012 in Birmingham, and what an exciting place to start our energy events portfolio…
Utility People enjoyed exhibiting alongside many of their existing clients and it gave us the ability to not only to gain valuable information and insight in to new, up and coming organisations and in particular Renewable Energy, a part of the industry we are naturally very quickly moving into. As well as building key relationships with people we already knew it allowed us to get to know those we don’t and keep abreast of industry developments.
The Energy Event had over 6,000 visitors at the show which is a 66% increase on the 2011 audience and 91% of those surveyed at the event said that they would most likely return next year. The record number of visitors and the show’s incredible growth year after year confirms the growing demand for expert knowledge and access to innovative solutions and market leading suppliers. Indeed, The Energy Event is now firmly entered into the diaries of thousands of energy professionals looking to tackle their company’s energy costs through better energy management, efficiency and procurement solutions.
Part of being a successful recruitment company is the quality of energy professionals we can provide to clients and without a shadow of a doubt the Energy Event gave us access to not only high quality industry professionals but also those not accessible to other recruitment companies through a normal search and selection process.
So all in all we would like to thank everyone who came to visit us on the stand and i2i for organising the event and networking dinner, we’ll be back bigger and better next year…
How to deal with a Job Rejection
Human nature puts the majority of us in a defensive mood when we have been successful in anything. Stats tell us that you will have 3-4 interviews before landing the right role, meaning job rejection is an inevitable part of the job hunt process.
It is important to be true to yourself and look back on your interview as if you were a fly on the wall. You must ask yourself:
- Am I technically competent for this role I was unsuccessful for?
- Would I fit in culturally?
- Are there people out there with strong skills in certain areas?
From this you can then determine whether or not it was something you did in the interview that could be improved upon, or whether it is simply not the right role for you.
The main thing to take from job rejection is the feedback from the interview. As a candidate you must always gain feedback to understand where you can develop. How many of us can actually say we applied for one role and got that dream job?
With the stats showing that you will have 3-4 interviews before landing the right role, a job rejection should not be a bad thing and you should work on the feedback that you have been given to improve on your next interview. This will make you a stronger character and prepare you then for your interview with that dream role and company.
Just remember, a job rejection can make you feel rejected and discouraged, but it is something that everyone will encounter at some point or another. The best advice I can give is to not get too downhearted, the chances are your perfect role is just around the corner.
Get noticed when applying for Energy Jobs
We all know how hard it is to get noticed when applying for jobs online – here’s some of our top do’s and dont’s…
One of the best methods to be introduced to a company is to get recommended by someone you know – although this is not always going to be easy as you may not know anyone at the company you want to work for, so what can you do?
Research the companies on social media – they may have recruiters following them who post similar and relevant new job postings you are looking for so jump on anything that you are suitably qualified for
Don’t apply for jobs which you really aren’t qualified for – this will just lead to disappointment, read the skills and experience carefully
Consider starting a blog in your area of expertise – include it in your emails to the recruiters and they will be sure to mention it when recommending you to a client
Get professional help with your CV – to ensure your CV contains all the appropriate ‘buzzwords’ for your CV to be noticed, this will increase your odds of getting through to companies who use talent management software. You don’t always need to fork out for this either – lots of blogs will have sufficient advice for you to be able to build a noticeable CV
Pretty CV’s don’t get you the job – recruiters are looking for clean/easy to read documents which are formatted correctly to be compatible with all software.
Ensure your CV matches your online profiles – some potential employers will check you out on LinkedIn, so if your profile says something different to your CV they may decide not to interview on that basis
Don’t wait until you are out of work to look for your next move – for many people we realise this isn’t possible, but your chances of finding a new job are best when you are still employed, remember networking is still very important –be visible, upbeat and informed about industry trends and news
And finally, remember – looking for a new job is a full time job in itself. Do your research, know which companies you want to work for, every morning scour the job boards for new job postings and jump on anything you are qualified for (and interested in!)
Questions to be prepared to be asked in an Energy Interview
1. Tell me about yourself…
2. What made you choose this career?
3. Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
4. What do you know about our organisation, why do you want to work here and what can you bring to the company?
5. What do you think our company can bring you?
6. What makes you think you are the best candidate?
7. Do you prefer to wok by yourself or part of a team? If a team, what makes you a good team player?
8. Give us three objectives that describe you best?
9. What are your 3 main strengths and weaknesses?
10. What motivates you?
Questions which may catch you off guard!
1. Who is your role model?
2. Tell us about the worst situation you have been in?
3. What is the riskiest thing you have ever done?
4. What has been your biggest mistake?
5. If you had to invite 3 people to a dinner party, who would you invite and why?
How to make your social media profiles energy job friendly
Social Media is now a massive part of our day to day lives, and it’s important not to forget how those photos, statuses and tweets may appear professionally. Employers often will trawl social media sites to conduct research on job candidates and if the impression you give on the social networking sites is not what they are looking for it can often have a real impact on your employability.
Here is how to maintain your social media profiles correctly
The first and most obvious thing is your privacy settings. Ensure that your wall posts, statuses, and photos are only available to be seen by your friends and not the general public. As all frequent users of Facebook will know, they do change your settings from time to time without telling you, so make sure you check them from time to time. No matter how private your profile is potential employers can still see your profile and/or cover photo so for your job hunting period try to ensure your picture doesn’t portray you as a scantily clad, beer swigging comedian.
Twitter can be seen as a catch 22 situation, on one hand you are there to voice your opinions and keep abreast of current affairs, but it can also reveal those opinions you wouldn’t want your employer to know. Most people don’t protect their tweets as the nature of Twitter means that to get the most out of it you need to have your tweets and profile accessible to others. But all sorts of conversations can set alarm bells ringing, from bad mouthing celebrities to suspicious retweets, if you are worried that this sounds like your type of tweets then probably best to start protecting them.
Twitter can also work to your advantage when job hunting, why not set up a ‘work’ profile and share relevant news to your followers and make sure you use it properly and interact with your followers in the correct manner!
Lastly, LinkedIn. Too many people set up profiles because everyone else has got one, and then don’t maintain them properly. As a minimum you should ensure that all information is up to date and that your career narrative, skills and expertise are properly represented. Ideally you should be using it to forge and maintain links and demonstrate your skills as a networker – join groups and discussions relevant to the industry you are trying to move into.
Midnight Walk – We did it!
On behalf of Utility People we would like to thank everyone who supported us to raise money for Grove House Hospice in St Albans. Our strong and dedicated team of 14 braced the wind and rain last Saturday 16th June 2012 to walk on behalf of the Hospice and have so far raised nearly £600 with some offline donations still to be added.
Grove House provide a caring and supportive service to the St Albans area and their mission of raising money for the hospice is an ongoing annual challenge. The funds raised this year are going towards providing additional services such as: specialist nursing care, therapists, counselors and physiotherapists.
We are delighted to be able to offer on-going support to Grove House and look forward to participating in many of their events to come.
Our Just Giving page is active until September if you would like to make any more donations. Just Giving
Why You Shouldn’t Take a Counter Offer
Using another job offer as a bargaining chip may be tempting, but too often, it ends badly. If you want a raise, then negotiate it on your own merits–or prepare to move on.
- Employers often make counteroffers in a moment of panic. But after the initial relief passes, you may find your relationship with your employer–and your standing with the company–has fundamentally changed. You’re now the one who was looking to leave. You’re no longer part of the inner circle, and you might be at the top of the list if your company needs to make cutbacks in the future.
- Even worse, your company might just want time to search for a replacement, figuring that it’s only a matter of time until you start looking around again. You might turn down your other offer and accept your employer’s counteroffer only to find yourself pushed out soon afterward. In fact, the rule of thumb among recruiters is that 70 to 80% of people who accept counteroffers either leave or are let go within a year.
- There’s a reason you started job-searching in the first place. While more money is always a motivator, more often, there are also other factors that drove you to look: personality fit, dislike of your boss, boredom with the work, lack of recognition, insane deadlines–whatever it might have been. Those factors aren’t going change, and will likely start bothering you again as soon as the glow from your raise wears off.
- Even if you get more money out of your company now, think about what it took to get it. You needed to have one foot out the door to get paid the wage you wanted, and there’s no reason to think that future salary increases will be any easier. The next time you want a raise, you might even be refused altogether on the grounds that “we just gave you that big increase when you were thinking about leaving.”
- You may be told to take the other offer, even if you don’t really want it–and then you’ll have to follow through. Using another offer as a bluff is a really dangerous game.
- Good luck getting that new employer to ever consider you again. If you go all the way through their hiring process only to accept a counteroffer from your current employer, then the former is going to be wary of considering you in the future. If it’s a company you’d like to work with, you might be shutting a door you’d rather keep open.
Now, are there times where accepting a counteroffer makes sense and works out? Sure, there are always exceptions. But it’s a bad idea frequently enough that you should be very, very cautious before doing so.
Just Giving
In a highly competitive market, Utility People have developed a culture to provide not only a first class service to our clients, but also a highly ethical one. This culture and ethos spills over into our own recruitment policy of hiring young local talent and giving them the tools to grow and develop. Taking this one step further, we were also keen to put something back into our local community, and so this year Utility People have pledged our support to a local charity – Grove House Hospice.
Grove House Hospice are an inspirational and dedicated charity providing care for local people living with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. At Grove House, care doesn’t come cheap – for example it costs £125 per day for each nurse, and like all charities, raising money is a never-ending challenge for them.
We are therefore very excited to offer them our support by entering a team in their annual fund-raising event – The Midnight Walk. This takes place on the evening of Saturday 16th June and our goal is to raise £1000. Any support you can provide, no matter how large or small, would be greatly appreciated, and if you would like to make a donation, please click on the link below.
“Switch On” to Utility People
By Lauren-Jade Kemp
We’re finally up and running…. Utility People have joined the blogging revolution, so welcome to our first blog.
Utility People are the Specialist Recruiters to the Energy Industry providing ‘Energy Jobs to Energy Professionals’. Now we know many of you may be thinking “Just another recruitment company”, but don’t right us off just yet. As jobseekers ourselves we have heard the same old recruitment spiel, listened to the endless empty job promises & sweet nothings delivered by your stereotypical recruiter. However at Utility People we pride ourselves on the service we offer, because believe it or not we know what we’re talking about!
Our Directors, Angela Peart & Linda Mason have a wealth of expertise within Energy & Recruitment and ensure that our team commits to personal training & development; in order to deliver the best possible service to our clients & candidates. Now we didn’t just stumble across the title Specialist Recruiters for the Energy Industry’, we have earned this reputation through delivering Professionals with a wealth of energy experience across Electricity, Gas, Power, Water, Sustainability, Renewables, Retail Energy, Smart Technology, Energy Management and Smart Grid ; where others have failed.
To give you a little insight into our company and to provide you with a human touch, why not meet our team…. http://www.utilitypeopleuk.com/about-us/our-team/
So bearing in mind our aim as a company is to deliver the best possible service to our clients & candidates, it was a natural progression for us to embrace Social Media as a recruitment tool. Luckily we were able to dedicate a brand spanking new resource (blog author) to create an online Social Media presence for Utility People, enabling us to tap into a multitude of recruiting opportunities. Leaving our ‘comfort zone’ and moving with the times was daunting, but hugely beneficial to gain the high calibre of candidate required in today’s competitive market.
Miriam Salpeter author of ‘Social Networking for Career Success’ addresses a candidate’s usage of Social Media as a ‘job hunting’ tool. By creating an online presence these candidates have a plethora of opportunities; Miriam refers to as a ‘Community of contacts’; at their fingertips. By carefully detailing their interests, skills & attributes they are opening up career opportunities which previously would have gone unnoticed. For recruiters this is brilliant. For example, by using a tool such as followerwonk you can search potential candidates by the keywords they use in their bio and match them to your current specialist vacancies. So with this new era in ‘job hunting’ it is hugely beneficial to embrace such social interaction and meet candidates half way in the ‘job hunting’ process. With the development of our Social Media presence across Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn and with our new addition in the shape of a company blog – eagerly anticipated some may say – we are able to provide the next level in recruitment.
Now, as we mentioned towards the beginning of our blog, we are not your ‘run of the mill’ recruitment company. The high level of relationships we have developed within the Energy Industry is reflected in the individually tailored service we offer our clients & candidates. On a daily basis we are talking to Energy Professionals, so we have our ‘finger on the pulse’. We are not limited to just ‘searching and filling jobs’, our in-depth knowledge of the Energy Industry enables us to expand even further, interacting with a breadth of people – all the time. This is demonstrated by the number of Commercial opportunities we have been able to generate for our clients.
To conclude, within our blog we will share developments within our company – Utility People, developments within the Energy Industry, career opportunities, tip’s on how to write the perfect CV, how to perform well at interview and much, much more. Now some of this may appear as patronising and text book stuff, however earlier this year we had a candidate walk into an interview whilst talking on their mobile phone! This is no reflection upon our candidate screening process, which I would like to add is very thorough – however it is indicative of the level of candidate re-education required, if one is to succeed within such a competitive market. Recruitment etiquette is very much alive and kicking, so let’s succeed!
Join Utility People on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and www.utilitypeopleuk.com.