christmas spirit

We've been flooded with Christmas cards this year from satisfied clients and candidates! Here are three of our favourites courtesy of Madison Soho and our faithful freelancers Connor Diep and Phil Smithson.

steps to a successful skype interview

We recently read a brilliant article in Forbes giving great advice on how to impress during a Skype interview. Here are the 4 main tips we thought we'd share with you...

• Eye-to-eye contact - the camera is the interviewer. Act like you would in a normal interview situation
• Watch what you wear - you wouldn't attend an interview wearing your pyjamas, and Skype is no different
• Detail is key - the little things matter, e.g. wireless signal strength; account photo (professional please!); volume levels
• Location, location, location - find a space which is as close to an interview as possible. Comfortable, quiet and decorative

In our experience, more and more clients are choosing to conduct Skype interviews, especially as they are more open to recruiting re-locators. Use these tips to the best of your advantage!

movember

What does everyone think to Blue Skies' David's Movember effort?

Cream Midlands

We sent our Creative team off to the Cream Midlands Awards last night. They came back with some brilliant photos (and some very sore heads). See for yourselves...

Some of our lovely Creative team pose (pre-champagne) at the beginning of the awards

Our lovely Emma provides a helping hand to McCann Ericksonn and carts their award round

Shaun Loynds from McCann Erickson and Vineet Raheja celebrate their win

Laura and Lizzie rub shoulders with Daniel Vigrass from Madison Soho

Gareth Hopkins at Big Communications and Richard Newell at Chapter share a post-award beverage

2011 Round-Up

It's never too early for a yearly round-up right?
Here is our candidate newsletter that went out today highlighting some of the Blue Skies and recruitment highlights of 2011.


Two weddings!

Happy Customers

When we get praise we like to shout about it! We've been busy placing some great candidates and here are some kind words we received this week from a couple of happy customers...

Join our circle

Have you spotted our new Google+ button down there on the right?! Fancy coming to join our circle? Give it a click and have a look round our page.

Interview Do's and Don't's

A bit of interview prep do's and don't's from us helpful folk here at Blue Skies...

• Do find out who will be present at your interview. What is their position? Find out a bit more about their background by looking at their Linkedin profile.
• Do prepare a couple of questions to ask. How many people are in the team? How long have they been working for the company? What has the business achieved this year?
• Don’t be afraid to take a bit of time before responding to a question rather than blurting out something you're not happy with afterwards. Better to be safe than sorry!
• Do prove your passion. Show them you’re passionate about the brand and that you have done your research on the company
• Don't forget to big up your work experience. Think about something that you have worked on that might be relevant to the position that you are applying for and be prepared to answer any questions on it
• Don't forget your work samples - you want to show them what you have achieved
• Do your research. Visit their website. Use their product or service. Visit one of their outlets. In fact, use any method possible to get closer to the company and go that extra mile!
• Don't forget the basics. Ensure that you fully understand the job description. Ask your Blue Skies Consultant if there is anything you are unsure of. Take a copy of the job description with you as well your prepared questions. Plan your journey and make sure you know when and where your interview is taking place and who with
• Do rehearse. Think about what the client is specifically looking for (for example skills and experience) and think about how you are going to demonstrate your capability in those areas
• Do remember that first impressions are key! Smile, be honest and engage your audience!

Are you prepared this Christmas?

Blue Skies Insight - October

Presenting... our October Insight piece, which highlights just how many companies are satisfied with the recruiter they use!

Hello from Blue Skies

Our first blog post... how exciting! We'll be throwing out career advice, industry news and general bits and bobs from the offices to keep you bang up-to-date with absolutely everything! So, let's crack on...