The Enigma Weekly Roundup | 26th June 2015

The best technology, business, recruitment news stories from the week gone by:

• Britain Hits Record Number of Startups as More Aspiring Entrepreneurs Take the Plunge – more than 600,000 expected to launch in 2015.

• 7 Personality Traits of Great Designers – You need more than just mastery of design skills and a good eye.

• SoundCloud is Making Things Harder for Third-Party App Developers – a major change from its current policy, which allows apps to make unlimited play requests.

• Mobile Recruitment Strategies will Shape Future – Companies need to utilise all possible avenues to ensure they are securing the right talent for their high ranking roles.

• Google for Nonprofits Launches in Scotland – Scottish Registered Charities can apply to join the programme which offers access to Google’s suite of free products and tools.

• Cambridge University To Offer Lego Professorship – The Lego Foundation gave Cambridge £2.5 million to endow a “professorship of play in education, development, and learning.”

• 5 Ways to Keep Your New Hires Happy – Candidates can be more selective and are more comfortable waiting for an offer — and job hopping when another offer comes in.

• The World’s Workforce Will Gradually Stop Growing by 2050 – Average growth over the next 35 years is expected to be just 0.3%.

• Lenovo is the Latest to Hop on the PC-on-a-stick Bandwagon – Who knew that stick computers were suddenly in vogue?

• Lexus Says it Built a Real Hoverboard – “When technology, design, and imagination come together, amazing things can be achieved.”

• Infographic: James Bond – HR’s Nightmare Employee – How much would he really cost Mi6 in claims?

• 8 Mistakes You’re Making When Writing A Job Spec – Some helpful, friendly, free advice

• 25 Things We Did Before Smartphones – It was a simpler time…

Friday Funny! Web Designers at Work….

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When Is It Time To Bring In A Recruiter?

Photo: Lauren Hammond

 

A recruitment consultancy is rarely a company’s first port of call when it comes to growing their team. As human beings we can be quite stubborn and insist that we can fix our problems ourselves. More importantly, we can fix them without spending any money.

But sometimes DIY recruitment causes more problems than it solves, and you can find yourself spending money when you’re trying to save it. You need to determine early on whether or not this is a job for you or for a recruiter.

This can be difficult to tell sometimes, so we thought we’d give you a hand in identifying the signs.

The Role Is Not Your Expertise
It’s hard to hire the best .NET Developer if you’re not actually sure what a .NET Developer does, and more importantly what they specifically need to do well in order to benefit your company. This is why specialist recruiters exist, to know exactly the type of person you need for your company when you’re not quite sure.

The Role Is Specific
If you’re looking for a role that’s flexible and that you can mould around the right person then maybe you could be better off looking on your own. However if your team is missing a specific skill set then you need someone with experience in getting those hard to find talents. Recruiters know who has those skill sets, who’s available and who would fit perfectly within your existing team.

You Don’t Have Time
Recruiting a new hire is difficult and time consuming and not something that every manager has time to do. While using a recruiter costs money, so does not having time to work on your own projects because you’re too busy trying to find your new hire. Think logically about how much time and money it will cost to focus on hiring and you might find that it would be cheaper, and much less stressful, to bring in a recruiter.

You’ve Already Tried To Hire And Were Unsuccessful
You’ve posted your ads, gone through the applicants, maybe even interviewed a few… and still nobody is ticking the right boxes. You don’t know what’s going wrong so you need to bring in the professionals who do, and who will make sure that the next round will go right.

If you recognise any of these signs then we can help! You can email us at hello@enigmapeople.com or give us a call on 0141 332 4422.

Other Helpful Links
8 Mistakes You’re Making When Writing A Job Spec
How To Maintain Healthy Candidate/Client/Recruiter Relationships
The 3 Most Common Lies Told By Recruitment Agencies

The Enigma Weekly Roundup | 19th June 2015

The best technology, business, recruitment news stories from the week gone by:

• In the Future, Employees Won’t Exist – Contract work is becoming the new normal.

• How Do Candidates Want to Be Recruited? – infographic from LinkedIn’s Talent Trends 2015.

• This Agency’s Office Literally Disappears After Hours So You Can’t Work Late – Forcing you to find a balance.

• Creative Job Applications and Tips for Your CV – Are traditional CV’s a thing of the past.

• Are Emoji Passcodes the PIN Replacements We Both Want and Need – it’s time to replace four digit PINs with a language everyone loves.

• Proportion of Women in UK Digital Workforce Falls to 27% –  According to a new report from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES).

• Win All You’ll Need to Become a Coding Expert with Intel’s IoT Challenge – Gizmodo has teamed up with Intel to create the “IoT Challenge” using Intel’s tiny Edison.

• Scientists Inject Tiny, Rolled-Up Electronics Into The Brain –  A simple injection, it seems, can now fire up a brain and help to analyze biological activity.

• 7 Productivity Tip for Coders, From Coders – Work smarter, not harder.

• Microsoft’s ‘Elite’ Controller Is Good News For Gamers With Disabilities – The Elite controller is the only official option Xbox offers for players who want (or need) to tweak the control setups.

• 9 Career Lessons I Learned From Comic Books – Unlike “business strategy” tomes, comic book wisdom is packed into the fewest words possible.

• Uber’s Latest Training and Recruitment Tool is a Video Game – Via a smartphone game that loosely mimics the experience of being an Uber driver.

Friday Funny!

• 20 Tips for Acing your Interview – You’re not an applicant, you’re an appliCAN.

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Scot-Cloud 2015 – Scotland’s Largest Cloud Computing Event

Book your place now!

We are just days away from Scot-Cloud 2015, the largest cloud computing event in Scotland. Scot-Tech’s 2nd Annual Scot-Cloud conference focuses on the benefits of cloud service solutions and cloud based applications, discussing how these technologies can help transform your business.

The agenda will provide business case scenarios for cloud computing, looking at practical examples which illustrate some of the key benefits and challenges which must be considered.

Click here for the conference agenda

Speakers on the day include BBC Scotland, EMC, Amazon, Skyscanner and Pulsant. The conference will also offer a unique forum for engagement: bringing thought-leaders from business and IT together for networking, knowledge exchange and discussion, certainly an event not to be missed!

Enigma People is delighted to be supporting the event designed specifically for Scotland’s business leaders and IT professionals. The event will be held at Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, and is free to attend (t&c’s apply).

Last Few Spaces

200 registrations have been submitted to attend Scot-Cloud 2015. Last few spaces remain so if you use Cloud Services or are interested in hearing about the potential of Cloud for your organisation then book now!

Click here to register your space now

or visit www.scot-cloud.com

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The Enigma Weekly Roundup | 9th June 2015

The best technology, business, recruitment news stories from the week gone by:

• Fiat’s Clever Digital Billboard That Helps Drivers Parallel Park – They created an interactive video billboard using custom software and ultrasonic sensors that monitored the parking space.

• How To Manage Developers – Just Because You’re In Charge Doesn’t Mean You’re In Control

• Andy Murray Teams up With Seedrs Crowdfunding Website – The Tennis champion will provide the firm with advice on firms working in the health, sport and wearable technology markets.

• Ginger Emoji Campaign Calls on Scotland’s Redheads for Backing – A petition which asks that Apple include ginger emoji has gained almost 12,000 signatures

• Why Google and Apple Made Their Own Programming Languages – For Apple, Google, and even Microsoft when to release a new programming language means an uphill battle against the habits and routines of developers.

• Director Reveals Plan to Remake Star Wars Short Film in Scotland – The feature-length version of Black Angel to be filmed in Glencoe and Skye, as well as returning to Eilean Donan.

• Why Apple Paid for a 15 Year Old Developer to Come to its Conference and Meet Tim Cook – He has more than 5 app that have been downloaded more than 60,000 times in 75 countries.

• Australian Firm Sets up Base in ‘Smart’ Glasgow – The move further establishes Glasgow as a leading technology hub after it won a £24m future cities grant from the UK Government

• New Online Drivers License System Comes Into Force – An online service is replacing the paper counterpart,

• Scottish Entrepreneurs to SCALE New Heights – Three public agencies in Scotland team up with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Harvard Business School to run the Scotland CAN DO SCALE programme.

• 25+ Most Enlightening Digital Marketing Stats From This Week – Kids of the 80s and 90s are addicted to experimenting with online retail deliveries.

• Infographic: Global Recruiting Trends – Social media has made talent more accessible than ever before.

• 13 & 15 Yrs Old Brothers Built Mobile Web Browsering Alternative To Google Chrome – The young problem solvers got tired of waiting for Google Chrome to load on their mobile phones, so decided to do something about it.

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The Enigma Weekly Roundup | 22nd May 2015

The best technology, business, recruitment news stories from the week gone by:

• Wounded Sea Turtle Gets 3D Printed Jaw – A Titanium Turtle Jaw.

• United Airlines Offers Rewards for Spotting Bugs in Software – The most obvious caveat, you can’t get a reward if you are the source of the bug.

• ‘Cyber-Archaeology’ Salvages Lost Iraqi Art – Applying new technology to cultural heritage.

• JAVA Turns 20 – Happy Birthday Java.

• Why Clarks is Measuring Feet With iPads – Tic Tech Toe.

• Female Developers on the Rise in Britain – Women are entering the field at a faster rate than in the past.

• Don’t Invest in UK until EU Exit Vote, Warns German industry Boss – This comes after Deutsche Bank considers moving parts of its British division to Germany if the UK votes to leave the EU.

• Planet Earth Now Has a Flag for When We Reach Mars – Centred in the flag, seven rings form a flower, a symbol of the life on Earth.

• Reflections from Gartner Digital Marketing Conference 2015 – Business require to match digital thinking with digital doing.

• Propose To Your Beloved With This Bitcoin Engagement Ring – A 3D-printed piece of jewelry with a QR code.

• Supermarket’s “Indoor Sat-Nav” Guides Shoppers to Discounts – The LED-based technology provides in-store directions to shopping list items via their phones.

• 5 Fascinating Start-ups From Edinburgh’s Tech Sector – Edinburgh has grown to become one of the most interesting places to do business in the whole of Europe.

And Finally Some, Friday Fun…

• The Latest in Aquatic Ridables, The Electric Wakeboard – Nobody messes about in a boat any more.

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The Enigma Weekly Roundup | 15th May 2015

The best technology, business, recruitment news stories from the week gone by:

• First Ever Detailed Image of Thunder Captured – Since thunder can’t be seen to the naked eye, scientists created an acoustic map of thunder.

• Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Bristol – The smart cities to watch out for.

• Bitcoin Technology Will Soon Power the Stock Exchange – If bankers at Nasdaq have their way, the technology will soon make trading their stocks more efficient and reliable.

• [Video] This Fashion Brand Used Drones Instead of Models at their Runway Show in Silicon Valley 

• Why the Election Result is Good News for the ICT Sector – According to IT Pro Portal.

• Positive Trends in Scottish Digital Industry – More sales and more staff all round it seems!

• The Cities with the Highest Jobs Growth – Edinburgh has the highest growth in job postings and fewest applicants per job.

• Why Recruiting Needs To Be An Extension Of Marketing – Business branding is crucial to recruiting success.

• Should IT Recruit Attitude Rather Than Skills? – It’s time to look beyond the traditional technology talent pool when it comes to recruitment.

• Nokia is 150! – From paper and rubber to some of the best phones ever.

• Buzzfeed and NY Times Begin Publishing Directly on Facebook – Instant Articles will appear in newsfeeds from today.

• Researchers Make Semiconductors Just Three Atoms Thick – The end is in sight for achieving the thinnest and most flexible semiconductors possible.

And Finally Some, Friday Fun…

• How to Reduce VR Sickness – Just add a virtual nose, this has been shown to reduce the effects of simulator sickness by 13.5 percent.

Note the massive nose sitting in the middle of the game’s frame.

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The Enigma Weekly Roundup | 19th December 2014

We bring you a roundup of technology, business and recruitment news from the past 7 days:

• The Top 10 Most Popular Google Searches In 2014
• 15 Digital Trends for 2015 – Infographic
• Doctors Can Now Successfully 3D Print A Knee Joint
• BT to Acquire EE for £12.5bn
• Spy Agency GCHQ Launches New Code-Making App
• Connected Cities to be Largest IoT Market
• UK Space Organisation & Raspberry Pi Offer Kids the Chance to Send their Computer Code into Space
• Scottish University Research Amongst the World’s Best
• Experts Reveal their Digital Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2015
• Mobile Phone Firms Agree £5bn Deal With Government to Improve Coverage
• Cramped in Coach, but With Better Entertainment
• Software That Helps Spot Sneaky Infections
• The Recruitment and Employment Confederation Launches ‘Manifesto for Jobs’
• Happy Holidays From Enigma People

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The Enigma Weekly Roundup | 5th December 2014

A roundup of our favourite technology, business and recruitment news from the past 7 days:

• Tim Berners-Lee: we need more MPs who know how to code
• Edinburgh Takes Top Spot For Technology Companies
• How To Hire When Everyone Wants To Found Their Own Startup
• Agency Uses Custom Software to Give Employees Free Beer For Completed Timesheets
• Top Brands Increasingly Making Use of Responsive Design
• A Nostalgic Farewell to Microsoft Clip Art
• What Are The Highest Paid Jobs of 2014?
• BBC Technobabble Tool Lets Children Make Their Own Games
• Nintendo Wants to Bring Game Boy to Smartphone and Airplane Screens
• These ‘Smart’ Ballet Shoes Digitally Paint Dancers’ Fancy Footwork
• Driverless Cars Launch in Four UK Cities Next Month
• Smart Earplugs Block Noise, but Keep Smartphone Alerts
• Real-Time Counters Show The Insane Amount Of Money Tech Giants Make Every Second
• What Scotland Gave The World – Celebrating St Andrews Day

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