January 11th, 2010 . Posted by Sam Woodward Category: BlueSky news | No Comments »
Tags: BlueSky, PR for recruitment, social media

It looks like 2010 will be a busy year for us here at BlueSky. With a number of new clients this month and lots more potentials in the pipeline we’re pleased to say that it looks like the recovery may be underway. We’re even moving into a new office – and we’re looking to take on someone new to help us fill it.
The role remains title-less at the moment but will be something along the lines of Digital PR Executive. With the boom in social media, we need someone to support the PR activity we’re doing in this area and give us a hand with some general PR as well. Tasks will include: Read the rest of this entry »
December 23rd, 2009 . Posted by Sam Woodward Category: BlueSky news | No Comments »
Tags: BlueSky, PR for recruitment, Recruitment

Just a quick post to wish all readers a very happy Christmas and New Year from the BlueSky team. Today is our last day in our office as we move to pastures new (only up the road, but still it’s a new start for a new year with lots more room for us to grow). We’ll be taking a well earned break over the festive season to eat, drink, relax and all the other things you do over Christmas, as long as we don’t get stuck in the snow (fingers crossed.)
It’s been a tough year but thankfully one that’s ending on a high, with new clients starting in 2010 and lots of plans for the new year. From our perspective it looks as though the recruitment sector is definitely picking up with lots more people interested in raising their profile – let’s hope we’re right.
Have a very merry Christmas!
December 17th, 2009 . Posted by Sam Woodward Category: PR | No Comments »
Tags: #PRfail, Christmas, PR, press releases

It’s nearly Christmas. You know what that means – presents, turkey, carols, and apparently danger according to the many press releases about the festive season (sigh). I was wondering whether to blog about this or not – after all, it’s only a fellow PR person trying to do their job – even if they do send out the same ‘beware at the Christmas party’ release every year. But then I saw a press release today that convinced me that I should (see #1). Reading these, anyone would think that Christmas should just be cancelled as quite frankly it’s just too risky – surely Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without some over-indulgence?!
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December 10th, 2009 . Posted by Sam Woodward Category: PR for recruiters, social media | No Comments »
Tags: employer brand, online recruitment, PR for recruiters, PR for recruitment, social media, Twitter

Twitter – it’s like Marmite. It seems that you either love it or you hate it; or maybe more accurately you either use and benefit from it or you’re confused / uninterested / sceptical (perhaps all three.) I have certainly come across people from both camps, however the majority of recruitment professionals that I meet and talk to about Twitter give me that ‘look’ as if to say “I’m not convinced by your ‘Gen Y’ ways”. They just can’t see the value in using a tool made famous by Stephen Fry and Lily Allen in a viable way for business. I was probably one of these sceptics, as recent as a year ago, because I didn’t really know what Twitter could do. But earlier this year I bit the bullet and started tweeting, and am seeing the real benefits unfold.
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December 1st, 2009 . Posted by Sam Woodward Category: Recruitment | No Comments »
Tags: agencies, career, Facebook, motivation, Recruitment

Whilst browsing Facebook earlier this week, I noticed that a Facebook friend of mine had joined a recruitment orientated group. Seeing as though I read and write about the subject all day, I clicked the link to have a closer look at the group, entitled “How did I end up in recruitment?” You might have guessed from the name that it’s not exactly a forum for praise about how great recruitment is. Here are a few examples.
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November 29th, 2009 . Posted by Tracey Dunn Category: PR for recruiters, Recruitment | 1 Comment »
Tags: agencies, employer brand, marketing, online recruitment, PR for recruiters, PR for recruitment, recruiters, Recruitment

I look at loads of recruitment websites – and loads of recruitment brochures. And most of them are deadly dull. Now I know, as someone who has a lot of involvement in producing content for such things, that’s a pretty controversial statement. But it’s true. And it’s mainly because a lot of recruiters all say the same thing. Leaders in our field, passionate about client service, yadda yadda yadda.
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November 24th, 2009 . Posted by Sam Woodward Category: Employment, PR for recruiters | No Comments »
Tags: commuting, PR, PR for recruitment, stress, work

The latest headline to catch my eye was this: “Hosting a dinner party is ‘more stressful than going to work’”. Now, I can perhaps understand if you have a very easy job (was going to insert example here but wouldn’t want to offend any dog walkers etc) or you’re arranging a dinner party for 500 celebrity guests. But I did ask myself how making the table look pretty and looking up some Jamie Oliver recipes is more taxing than juggling a heavy workload, dealing with office politics, handling angry customers and everything else the workplace can hold.
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November 20th, 2009 . Posted by Sam Woodward Category: Employment | No Comments »
Tags: candidates, Google, interviews, Recruitment

…you’ll have to get through these interview questions first. These have been doing the rounds over the last couple of weeks, but I thought I would share a few of my favourites in case you had missed them, or wanted to take another look. Some questions are designed to test creativity, others are intended to test your ability to calculate. A handful are simply brainteasers that Google want to hear your responses to. Here are some of the more bizarre and thought provoking questions:
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November 13th, 2009 . Posted by Tracey Dunn Category: Recruitment | 2 Comments »
Tags: agencies, bonus, career, commission, employer brand, performance, performance management, recruiters, Recruitment, reward

Now here’s a debate. Should recruiters be rewarded solely on their billings? Should big billers be promoted into senior roles bcause they are big billers? Are big billers always the best managers?
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