Perhaps surprisingly the unemployment figures are not as bad as the early 90′s although they are at a 17 year high.

BAE Systems bring us structural batteries: http://bbc.in/yfXJ4m

Resourcing International in Middle East recruitment drive

Resourcing International, a subsidiary of the Resourcing Solutions Group has appointed Carl Simington as International Recruitment Manager for their Middle East operations. Carl will work alongside Ikram Rabbani, and will initially be based from Resourcing Solutions UK HQ until February when the Dubai office will be launched to provide recruitment services to the MENA region.

Carl previously worked for Resourcing Solutions and is returning to drive expansion of Middle East operations with a view to further develop the company in locations such as Australia and the Far East.

Richard Lawrance CEO of the Resourcing Solutions Group commented “Carl and Ikram’s expertise of recruiting in infrastructure and the built environment throughout the gulf region will support our client’s overseas recruitment needs of the hard to find scarce skills”.

In February, Carl and Ikram will be attending the Qatar Projects 2012 conference taking place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Doha.

Resourcing International specialize in talent management strategies to support companies with:

• Employment Branding
• Talent Communities
• Resource Process Outsourcing
• Workforce Planning Strategies
• Skills Gap Identification
• Market Mapping
• Sourcing and Attraction
• Talent Incubation
• Retention
• Competitor Analysis

The Resourcing Solutions Group are experts in supplying talent to the infrastructure and built environment.

Things are hotting up and although we appear to be on course to have everything ready in time (a mammoth achievement in itself) there are still some serious challenges to be overcome.

One such challenge is the plight of the Hammersmith flyover which has been found to have seriously deteriorated in some places. There is now a race against time to repair this vital part of London’s road network in time for the start of the games, during which it will experience vastly increased traffic volumes.

I will also be watching with interest the progress of the Emirates ‘Air Line’ cable car which is being built between the Greenwich peninsula and Royal Docks and I’m excited not only for the potential of projects such as this during the Olympics but also for the future enjoyment that should be available to all from the amazing infrastructure changes which are taking place for this great event!

Mirroring key cornerstones of the UK governments’ advanced engineering & manufacturing strategy, the Advanced Engineering UK group of events has announced its next stage of growth – with the introduction, for 2012, of the UK Automotive Engineering show, creating a 5-sector synergy for next year’s event.

The recent Advanced Engineering UK 2011 group of events, held at the NEC Birmingham on 9-10 November this year, saw a record attendance, nearly doubling on 2010, with a combined attendance over the 2 day concentrated event, approaching 7,000 industry professionals. Including four events, each reflecting key pillars of UK government’s advanced engineering priorities, the 2011 event encompassed

Aero Engineering 2011, The Composites Engineering Show, Energy Engineering 2011, and the UK Plastic Electronics show.

Ian Stone, Managing Director of event organisers UK Tech Events comments: “ the continuing rapid growth in attendees & exhibitor groups around this event cluster is yet further confirmation that these are the sectors around which UK businesses and supply chains are flourishing: in the high end, value added, and IP rich engineering market segments, where the UK provides world beating capability, innovation, skills and supporting academic infrastructure”. Indeed with some 400 exhibiting companies & organisations over the combined show floor, 140+ supporting integrated expert technology and business presentations and pre-show B2B meeting setting online facilities between participating groups, the event is already established as one of the most important dates in the UK Engineering calendar for thousands of organisations. Some 2,500+ individual company & organisation locations participated at this year’s event, including a record number of international attendee groups from Europe, North America & Asia.

On the increasing ‘international attendance’ Stone comments: “UK plc is very much alive and kicking and at its most potent in the advanced engineering & technology sectors – providing truly world class partnership in technology transfer, component, parts, systems and equipment sourcing, together with precision engineering capability feeding into multiple advanced user industries. This event cluster is already establishing itself as ‘must attend’ for international delegations keen to achieve multiple partnership & sourcing objectives with one strategic visit – this trend we expect to increase exponentially year on year as we continue our collaborations with UKTI and other leading bodies”

The recent 2011 show provided attending groups with ‘individual’ show floor areas, providing diverse concentrations of industry-specific capability in aerospace engineering technologies & services, advanced composites design & manufacturing, energy industry engineering capability and the breakthrough area of printed & organic electronics. However ‘overall’, the combined events provided collectively a rich diversity of unexpected opportunities to tap into relevant technology streams over the show as a whole, reflecting the overlapping nature of all of these sectors. This was reinforced by the diverse programme of parallel industry business briefings, providing ‘big picture’ intelligence on the advanced engineering landscape in the UK at the same time as drilling deep into each of the individual industry sectors.

Dr Neil Calder, Congress Director for this year’s Industry Briefings programmes sums up by stating:

I saw a real thirst for the knowledge that was being transferred during both the strategic business briefings and the more tactical show floor open forum session, with many of the sessions being standing room only. These were made even more useful by the cross-sector intelligence that was being provided. We are aiming for an even sharper set of briefings and presentations for the 2012 show, providing high quality value addition to advanced engineering sector companies through this intelligence and foresight in technical and commercial fields.

Dates are already set for the 2012 Advanced Engineering UK group of events, again at NEC Birmingham on 7-8 November 2012. With an increasing take up of exhibitor space from each of the show segments plus the crucially important ‘new’ addition in 2012 of the UK Automotive Engineering show, bringing together the UK’s resurgent technology-driven vehicle design and manufacturing supply chains, the event is set to grow significantly yet again. For more information on the 2012 Advanced Engineering UK group of events visit www.advancedengineeringuk.com

The new Smart Energy zone within the All-Energy exhibition has energy efficiency, energy management and effective use of microgeneration at its core.

Exhibition stands surround a dedicated seminar area where exhibitors are invited to give case histories and technical briefings. Exhibitors will also be providing one-to-one advice sessions on their stands to representatives from businesses eager to cut carbon emissions, save energy and make cost-effective use of low carbon technologies. The Smart Energy trail will lead visitors to the special zone and also to other relevant exhibitors around the show featuring energy efficiency, energy management and microgeneration solutions.

Low carbon transport – another key constituent of energy efficiency – will be featured in the Low Carbon Vehicle zone of All-Energy and again will be the object of a visitor trail.

As part of the Smart Energy Zone, the BPVA (British Photovoltaic Association) will coordinate the “Solar PV Knowledge Centre” offering an ideal platform to meet solar industry leaders, manufacturers, project developers and financiers. In addition, a training / demonstration area will provide installers with an opportunity to be updated on technology and sector development.

If your business offers energy efficiency, energy management or microgeneration solutions, ensure you meet Scottish businesses and public sector representatives interested in your products and services by participating at Smart Energy @ All-Energy 2012.

Over 65% of the space has already been taken in the past couple of months. Don’t delay, contact the All-Energy team today to book your space.

Make your mark on the All-Energy 2012 conference! Now’s the time to submit abstracts for May’s free-to-attend multi-stream conference – visit the conference section for full information on topics and how to submit your abstract. The deadline for submission is rapidly approaching. We need your input!

Just Engineers attended the Advanced Engineers Exhibition 2011.

The world of job hunting has dramatically changed over the past 10 years. With the current economic down turn we are seeing more candidates entering the jobs market and having to face the daunting task of finding a new job. As a result, we are seeing two different groups emerging. In one group you have the computer & internet savvy candidates who know the difference between Recruitment Agencies, Job Boards, Social Media and all the ‘value added services’ that are available to them which claim to ‘help you find the perfect new job’. On the flip side you have a segment of society who may have been in the same role since leaving school, who have never had to look for a new job until now –asking the question “So what do I do now”?

I was speaking with my uncle the other day, who was recently made redundant for the first time in his working life. He’s In his mid/late 50’s and started working when he was a teenager joining the Royal Navy. After leaving the Navy, he joined the Metropolitan Police before retiring from the Met about 4 years ago. At this point an acquaintance who owned a building firm offered him a role within his company as “Operations Manager”. Subsequently, the recession hit and things got tougher and two months ago the owner of the company closed the firm and my uncle was made redundant. Speaking with him now, it’s clear that he doesn’t know how the job hunting process works. Why would he? He’s never had to job hunt before.

Before most of the previously mentioned services were available the recruitment process was simple. The employer advertised a vacancy in the local paper, if a candidate processed a relevant qualification, a little knowledge or experience to perform the role, they would apply to the employer direct in writing with a copy of their CV. The employer would source through all the applications and then interview the candidates that stood out. Once the interview process had taken place an offer would be made to the right candidate.

The question still stands: “So what do I do now?

Your Options

The list of options for helping you find that new role continue to grow with the development of technology. Prominence of job boards, aggregator sites and Social Media shows a distinct shift to online recruitment in the last few years, however the old mainstays are still relevant for some. Here’s a quick synopsis of your options:

• Local Newspapers & Websites

• Recruitment agencies

• Recruitment Job boards

• Job Aggregator sites

• Social Media

• Networking Events

• Conferences & Exhibitions

• Careers Fairs & Recruitment Events

As daunting as some of this may seem, all these services not only give you a greater chance of finding a new job, but they assist you in finding the right job in the right location, with the right package.

What are my next steps?

This will vary depending on each candidates preference, and there is no right or wrong way to job hunt:

1. Register your details & upload a CV onto recruitment job boards like www.jobsite.co.uk. If you have a significant amount of experience in a particular sector I would suggest focusing your efforts on specialist recruitment job boards, for example using www.justengineers.net if I was looking for vacancies within engineering. This method increases the chance to find the right role matching your education / experience, or for an employer to come across your CV.

2. Ensure you register to receive job alerts from each of the job boards you registered with. This ensure you’re notified of any vacancies being posted on the job boards that match your criteria.

3. Register with recruitment agencies that have vacancies within your industry sector. Making sure they cover the area that within an appropriate commute, unless you are willing to relocate.

4. Social Media sites like LinkedIn are also worth using. LinkedIn is a professional networking site that allows you to create a profile that is visible by other users. Registering with specific groups will also enable you to interact with other professionals, ask question and join in discussions within the same industry. There is also a section of LinkedIn where relevant vacancies that are suitable can be advertised.

Example.

Let’s take Phil as an example. Now Phil is a Senior Automotive Engineer, he has been with a particular firm since leaving school 30 yrs ago when he started working on the production floor. As a result of the economic down tern Phil has been made redundant for the first time in his life, He now has to face the world of “Job Hunting” and is confused with what to do to start looking for his new role.

So how would we advise him? Simple by following the steps above, this gives Phil the best possible opportunity to seek out alternative employment.

I hope this helps those of you who are unsure what help is available to them, and where to start with the process of getting back to work.

Good Luck!

Resourcing Solutions have actively recruited for the Middle East regions for the past 5 years and the move for Ikram shows the intent to have an active presence in both Qatar and the UAE. Richard Lawrance CEO of the Resourcing Solutions Group said “The move to appoint Ikram shows an ambitious growth plan for the business and as we prepare to open both our Qatar and UAE offices in the new year, these are certainly exciting times for the company.

With premises in these countries we will proactively assist our Middle East clients with their talent management and acquisition needs”. Ikram comes from a background of working internationally, specifically the Middle East and Far East markets Resourcing International expertise lies as Talent management strategists supporting companies with: Employment Brand Talent Communities Resource Process Outsourcing Workforce Planning Strategies Skills Gap Identification Market Mapping Source and Attract Talent Incubation Secure and Retain Competitor Analysis Resourcing Solutions Group are experts in the supplying talent to infrastructure projects in Rail, Construction, Civil Engineering, Infrastructure, Highways, Power and Water.