We Must Be Doing Something Right

     

High demand for candidates and not enough supply, the recruitment industry has been a tough market of late. These challenges have been furthered by a record number of new agencies to have set up shop this year. With so much choice in the market, how do clients and candidates choose the best agency for them? How do you evaluate the best service?

The Recruitment Business Awards, run by Carnyx Group and The Drum Magazine, have been supporting and rewarding the industry for over 11 years. Similarly, The Marketing and Advertising Awards seek to award those who have “best confronted the changing demands of the staffing industry and displayed unparalleled excellence”. Both awards are judged by a leading panels of experts with extensive experience and knowledge of the recruitment industry and Enigma People Solutions is proud to have stood out and been recognised against our local and national competitors by both these awarding bodies.

Last week we were awarded a commendation prize for Best Small Recruitment Company at the Recruitment Business Awards. This is the 5th year we have been recognised by these UK wide awards and are delighted to have been the only Scottish company to have been awarded in this category.

This news came not long after being shortlisted for Best Regional Agency at this year’s Marketing and Advertising Recruitment Awards. We are absolutely delighted to be the only Scottish recruitment consultancy shortlisted for this category.

We must be doing something right

These awards are a reflection of the great service we offer to clients and candidates alike. The recruitment industry can be tough and it feels fantastic to be recognised for our efforts and hard work. The past year has seen Enigma People Solutions adapt our business model to better serve the market and better enable the industry to grow. Our updated testimonials page conveys just how we have helped those who have come to us for help. Our continued success has allowed us to actively grow the team in Glasgow and we are delighted to have a new member of the team joining us very soon (details to follow!)

But that’s not all

In the past year, our award winning team has grown so much so that we are now moving to a bigger, more spacious office! As of this week, Enigma People Solutions will be moving to the following address:

3rd Floor, Rear Suite
137 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow
G2 3EW

Although we will have to say goodbye to the West End, the burger breakfast van and our favourite mushroom soup café, we are excited to be working out of Glasgow’s City Centre (and closer to McDonalds), so be sure to come and say hi!

As always keep up to date with industry news and vacancies by following Enigma People Solutions on LinkedIn and Twitter @enigmapeople

Developing The Times

Enigma People Solutions spoke to Grant Gibson, Digital Innovation Manager for The Herald & Times Group, on their digital innovation and their search for a developer.
Hi Grant! Tell us a bit about The Herald Scotland and the digital innovations you have coming up?

It’s been a big year for the Herald Scotland. Thanks to big events in the country such as the Commonwealth Games, The Scottish Referendum and the Ryder Cup The Herald Scotland website has seen an incredible increase in traffic.

During the Scottish Referendum traffic to the website has doubled and it seems to still be continuing in its aftermath. In one month alone we have had 1 thousand new subscriptions, an increase of 10% in subscription rates.

The focus for us is the paywall system for these subscriptions and the security around it. Readers are required to register their details to receive their 6 free articles and the different subscription options across web, mobile and tablet has worked well in capturing subscriptions.

How do you translate a traditional newspaper to a digital offering?

For a digital business, their customer base does tend to be more tech savvy individuals, however a big challenge for The Herald Scotland is having such a diverse target audience. This does include an older generation who are not always comfortable with new technologies, and helping such individuals with accessing the technology is key. The Herald Scotland offer an excellent telephone service to help with phone subscriptions, offering support across different devices; tablets, iPads, Kindles, Smartphone’s, and across different platforms. This also means having a responsive design across devices/platforms for the best user experience.

You have recently recruited a PHP Developer, what do you look for when hiring a developer?

The challenge for a developer coming into the role is managing scale, and being able to manage the level of traffic which is coming in, and reacting to this traffic sometimes doubling over night. When interviewing what we look for, apart from the obvious skills, is having this experience of scaling things up.

What is also important is the ability to take over somebody else’s previous code. The Herald Scotland’s archive dates back to 1989 with over 1 million articles, and what we look for is somebody who won’t just rewrite the code, but somebody who can understand it and improve it.

Keeping up to date with the latest digital trends/news and asking candidates views on these also helps to provide insight on the individual. As does asking about what freelance projects they are involved in, such as building their own websites, during their free time. This indicates a passion for the skills and is seen to be a big positive when hiring.

Enigma People Solutions is proud to be supporting the upcoming Herald Scottish Digital Business Awards on 23rd October 2014! For full details of the awards visit: http://herald-events.com/digitalawards/

For the latest IT and Digital vacancies in Scotland follow Enigma People Solutions on LinkedIn and Twitter @enigmapeople

A Champion Recruiter’s Commonwealth Perspective

Glasgow is all set to stage one of the world’s largest and most prestigious sporting events – the XX Commonwealth Games. The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow over the next couple of weeks as athletes from all over the Commonwealth arrive on Scottish soil to compete in 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The lead up to this event has been phenomenal and walking through Glasgow city centre you can literally feel the buzz and the excitement. From George Square’s “Big G” 3D installation to statues of the thistle themed games mascot displayed throughout Glasgow city centre, with kids clambering over Clyde to get a picture with him. Not to mention the Queens Baton Relay Race returns to Glasgow for its final journey as it travels around Glasgow for three days before the Opening Ceremony of the XX Commonwealth Games on July 23^rd.

The excitement of the games brings with it, the spirit of teamwork, people coming together to celebrate an iconic event and commemorating the hard work and achievements of hundreds of athletes across a number of exhilarating sports.

I don’t know anybody better to tell me about the importance of the games than Enigma People Solutions founding director Ben Hanley. With two silver and one gold Commonwealth Championship medals to his name Ben has lived his whole life with a special affiliation with the games and what they represent.

For Ben, it all began at the 1970’s Championships Games where Ben’s fathers was part of the Nigerian contingent and mother a local athlete. Fast forward to the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh when a young Ben Hanley, a keen sports enthusiast who was actively participating in 6 or 7 sports, had the highly influential experience of meeting Frank Dick – coach to the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Decathlon champion Daley Thompson. Frank Dick, the former director of coaching for UK Athletics, renowned for being one of the greatest sport coaches in the world, played his part in influencing Ben to pursue his love of fencing and compete in the Scottish Men’s Commonwealth Sabre Team in 1990, 1998, 2002 and 2006 bringing home the prestigious medals.

It doesn’t end there however, Ben has also been coaching young Sabre athletes for over 14 years, leading his athletes to win over 5 Commonwealth medals, and is also the current coach for this years Scotland’s men’s and women’s Sabre team competing in the The Commonwealth Fencing Championships 2014. Fencing was last in the Games in 1970 however in line with Commonwealth Games federation, the sport holds it’s own Commonwealth Fencing championships in the same year as the games.

Ben has always had an affinity for what the games stand for. For many, the Commonwealth Games are the first step into a journey of sports excellence and gives athletes the opportunity to strive for excellence. Not only that, they are a means of bringing people, communities and business together to celebrate and take part in sports history.

The impact of the games has been, and will continue to be huge on Glasgow and its local businesses. The Commonwealth Jobs Fund was designed around the Games to support local businesses and young people in Glasgow to come together and create employment opportunities. The fund has helped hundreds of people in Glasgow find employment and as a matter of fact a number of Enigma employees, (including me!) wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the fund. As a small business owner, Ben has of course felt the positive impact of the fund and the Games, but also as a coach and mentor, the meaning of the games resonates strongly with Ben’s beliefs. As a former competitor and current coach to the Scottish National team one of key phrases used regularly is “high performance attitude” towards teamwork and reaching your goals.

High performance attitude is a notion Ben picked up from a sports conditioning coach and is the manner in which he urges his athletes and his staff to approach their goals, be it sports related or career related. High performance attitude means working towards your goals with attention to detail, being prompt and punctual and focusing on targets and goals. In addition to this, being acutely self critical and willing to use criticism to spark one’s own development to achieve realistic goals is something Ben believes in. Working closely with athletes, Ben sees the benefit of adopting these characteristics into any work ethic. As an owner of an award winning recruitment business, Ben implores us as a team to adapt this attitude to the work place, teaching us that success and performance are years in the making, through hard work, determination, talent and the right use of mentoring and coaching. Working towards developing these skills, investing time and training in talent is something we as recruiters can see benefiting not only local businesses but the UK economy as whole. The values of the games, the athletes’ determination and attitude to succeed are something we can all admire and emulate.

The Commonwealth Games have changed the look and feel of Britain and has taught us as a nation to celebrate the integration of societies, bridge gaps in culture and celebrate our athletes achievements. Furthermore it has the ability to help promote Scottish Businesses in the global economy and teaches us the work ethic and skill to help our businesses achieve this. The events will allow Glasgow to shine in the eyes of the world and it is the hope that its legacy will be felt by all people, communities and businesses in Scotland for years to come.

For the latest in technology recruitment in Scotland please follow Enigma People Solutions on LinkedIn and Twitter @enigmapeople