According to a study by the University of Colorado Denver Business School, attractive women are discriminated against when applying for traditionally masculine roles or for roles in which appearance are not viewed as important to the job.

These positions include titles such as manager of research and development, director of finance, mechanical engineer and construction supervisor.

The study also found that attractive men do not suffer the same discrimination.

“In these professions being attractive was highly detrimental to women,” said Stefanie Johnson, assistant professor of management at University of Colorado Denver Business School. “In every other kind of job, attractive women were preferred. This wasn’t the case with men which shows that there is still a double standard when it comes to gender.”

Britain is Hiring Again!
More than a quarter of all UK companies say they plan to take on more staff over the next 12 months, helping unemployment fall below the current rate of 8%
The survey of nearly 700 companies by the Confederation of British Industry found 28% of firms were hoping to boost headcount, with 49% set to raise wages to around the level of retail price inflation.

In a further sign that the economic recovery is gathering pace, just 5% of the companies polled said they were freezing recruitment for the rest of 2010.

Last year more than two-thirds of companies questioned imposed a blanket ban on new recruits.

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3 interviews minimum for most jobs
Almost two-thirds (60%) of job seekers can expect to participate in three or more interviews with prospective employers before getting an offer.

Most job seekers have at least two (34%) or three (39%) interviews. As many as 20% have been asked to come in for four or more interviews. Only 3% of job seekers receive one interview.

“Employers are carefully assessing prospective employees in order to select the best from the larger pool of candidates available,”

Make the most of an interview by doing your research and being prepared to talk about how you can make a difference in the organisation.”

Among the key findings:

* The more senior the role, the more interviews. Some 27% of C-level and VP-level candidates can expect four or more interviews;
* Older workers participate in three times more interviews. Around 48% of those 55+ receive four or more interviews compared to 18% for those aged 25-34;
* Women participate in more interviews. Some 65% of women get three or more interviews compared to 61% of men.

“It’s harder to land an interview, let alone an offer,”

“Once you have the opportunity to present yourself, be prepared to come back again, and perhaps again and again. Communicate how you can add value to the specific opportunity presented and what related strengths and experiences you bring to the organisation. Tailor your messages to address the unique needs of each interview.”

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Jobs tax’ becomes election battlefield

Now that polling day has been set for 6 May, the electioneering that has already got underway will ramp up in earnest once Parliament is dissolved on 12th of April. One of the battlefields is the hike in national insurance which will no doubt be been dominating the headlines. Pressure has mounted upon Gordon Brown to scrap what is widely perceived as a threat to the UK’s economic recovery and a ‘tax on jobs’. His chancellor was unable to deny that the increase would cost jobs when grilled by MPs on 31 March.

As announced in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report, from 6 April 2010, the employee, employer and self-employed rates of national insurance contributions (NICs) will increase by 0.5%. This is in addition to the 0.5% already announced at the 2008 Pre-Budget Report that also comes into effect on 6 April 2010. In other words, employees will see a rise from 11p to 12p in the £ hitting their pay packet and employers contributions will increase from 12.8% to 13.8%.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne has committed to scrap this increase if the Tories get elected and claims that ‘everyone liable for Employee’s NICs earning between £7,100 and £45,400 – which is 7 out of 10 working people – will be up to £150 better off a year under the Conservatives. Lower earners will get the greatest benefit as a percentage of their earnings. Nobody will be worse off.’ The funding for scrapping the scheme would apparently come from cutting ‘government waste.’

CBI boss Richard Lambert hads already called for the proposed increase to be reversed and welcomed the Conservative proposals: ‘The Conservatives’ plan to reduce next year’s increase in employers’ NICs is welcome, and will help large and small businesses alike. NICs are a tax on jobs and increasing them is a bad idea when we want to promote job creation. We continue to call for the proposed increase to be cancelled entirely, as and when action on the public finances makes this possible.’

Lord Sugar, the government’s enterprise tsar made the point to the Daily Telegraph that ‘No one wants to see an increase in NI, including the Chancellor himself. I assume the increase is needed to balance the books somewhere or other. It’s very easy to promise cancellation, however those advocating it need to explain where they will find the money to do so.’

The 2010 Budget stated that net borrowing for 2010/11 would be £163bn, dropping to £74bn by 2014/15.

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59% of graduates in the last two years are not working in a profession related to their degree

In a week when final-year university students turn their attention to jobhunting during the Easter break, a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) finds that nearly six in ten (59%) of employees who graduated in the last two years are not currently working in a field or profession related to the degree they studied.

The survey, Focus on graduate jobs, which is based on responses from more than 700 graduates in employment, comes against the backdrop of Government pledges to significantly increase - to 75% - the proportion of young people they want to secure a degree or equivalent level qualification.

In addition, the survey, conducted for the CIPD by YouGov, finds that among graduates not working in a field related to the degree they studied:

•* 58% of those who graduated in the last two years said this was because they were unable to find a suitable job;
*• 28% of recent graduates said that their degree did not equip them with the skills that they needed for the workplace;
•* 21% of recent graduates chose a new career path after finishing their degree;
•* A quarter of recent graduates (24%) had since decided to postpone the start of the careers entirely.

The figures raise questions over the Government’s continued efforts to expand enrolment on university degrees, and their desire to chase the new 75% target for young people to be educated up to degree level, particularly at a time when the UK labour market has contracted significantly.

Tom Richmond, Skills Adviser at the CIPD, said: “Our survey findings suggest the Government’s target of 75% of young people achieving a degree or equivalent level qualification is counter-productive and should be urgently reviewed. As rising youth unemployment threatens to create a ‘lost generation’ of jobless young people, the rising number of students unable to work in jobs related to the subjects they studied at university threatens to create a ‘disillusioned generation’ of graduates, unable to find graduate-level employment but still saddled with thousands of pounds worth of debt.

“If this is the situation today when our graduation rate is 39% then the consequences for future graduate job prospects look bleak indeed if there really is an attempt to nearly double the numbers of graduates in the UK. To compound this, the recent announcement of an extra 20,000 university places in this year’s Budget makes the creation of a ‘disillusioned generation’ even more likely.

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Bosses to pray for early England World Cup exit

By Mike Jones - Recruitment Today

Some company bosses are likely to be praying for England to make an early exit from the World Cup.

A good run from England will boost pub and supermarket takings - and morale in general.

But it could also cause havoc for other employers with staff taking unscheduled time off or pulling “sickies” to watch games.

More than half (53%) of working males and one in five women (21%) intend to watch the 2010 World Cup matches scheduled to take place during office hours as they happen, according to a poll by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Overall, 39% of workers said they intend to watch these games.

While some employees (14%) will be watching at work with permission from their employer, a minority (5%) intend to watch without permission or call in sick. Employers can also expect significant numbers of staff to take annual leave (9%) or use flexible working policies to take time off (11%).

Michael Rendell, partner and leader, human resource services, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said: “Employers anticipating a spike in annual leave requests and absenteeism among football fans need to plan for the impact on staffing and productivity. There is huge goodwill to be gained from accommodating flexible working requests or allowing staff to take a couple of hours out to watch the games.

“With pay rises scarce and bonus pools down, this is a great way to thank and engage staff while bringing a very tangible opportunity to revisit and communicate flexible-working policies.”

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Employers satisfied with Recruitment Agencies

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has issued a statement of findings from its JobsOutlook.

This report, surveys a number of employers to evaluate the needs and satisfaction of recruitment agencies. The positive statistic that came out of this report was that 91% of the employers surveyed stated they were happy with the service they had received from their recruitment agency.

REC’s director of research, Roger Tweedy added that this is very encouraging as we have just gone through a very difficult period in the job market and this shows recruitment agencies have been maintaining their high standards to please their clients.

Other findings from this report were that 10% of the employers are planning to increase their permanent workforce.
61% of the employers stated that they will continue to use recruitment agencies in the same capacity.
70% of agencies said that their temporary staffing situation will stay the same; this is a slight drop from the last report which stated 77% of the employers believed it would stay the same.

Jobslook is a report based on 200 employers and presented on the results of the last 3 months i.e. 600 responses. This report is published in conjunction with KPMG.

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Work/life balance outranks salary on UK job seekers’ priority list

Work/life balance was ranked above salary as the most important consideration when looking for a new job, according to a recent poll.

Furthermore, the majority of respondents cite improving work/life balance as a top career resolution for 2010.

When asked about career goals for 2010, the vast majority of respondents (81%) want to find a job they love, followed by 10% who want a pay rise or promotion and 4% who are just hoping to avoid redundancy. Respondents were divided on what is the most important consideration when looking for a new job. The complete breakdown includes:

* Work/life balance: 36%
* Competitive salary: 31%
* Training opportunities: 27%
* Ability to travel: 3%
* CSR initiatives: 1%

The past 18 months of redundancies and cutbacks have taken a toll on workers, many of whom have put in extra hours in hopes of saving their jobs.

This new data reveals that Britons are reassessing their priorities and looking to reclaim life outside of work as the economy slowly recovers in 2010.

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UK out of Recession

The UK economy has come out of recession, after figures showed it had grown by a weaker-than-expected 0.1% in the last three months of 2009.
The economy had previously contracted for six consecutive quarters - the longest period since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955.
There have been recent recovery signs - last week, UK unemployment fell for the first time in 18 months.
The UK’s had been the last major economy still in recession.
Europe’s two biggest economies - Germany and France - came out of recession last summer. Japan and the US also emerged from recession last year.
The weak level of growth took its toll on the value of the pound, which fell against both the dollar and the euro on the money markets.

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94% of UK employers plan no more job losses

Nine out of ten (94%) of employers are not planning any more job losses, according to a new Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) survey.

Instead, one in five are now expecting to increase their permanent staff over the coming year.

The REC’s January JobsOutlook shows a continued increase in employer confidence with one in ten businesses planning to hire staff in the next three months. Most employers (75%) expect their head count to stay the same but even with these employers job opportunities will arise.

The feedback from professional recruiters confirms that fluidity is returning to the jobs market with more employees looking for new opportunities and employers now being prepared to replace leaving employees.

Roger Tweedy, the REC’s Director of Research said: “The road to full employment will be slow but the trend of increasing employer confidence and a return to hiring is now established. We need to avoid any kind of employment legislation that will add to employers’ costs and so hinder job opportunities.”

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UK employee confidence increases

UK employee confidence increased 2.6% in the fourth quarter 2009 and showed an increase of 5.3% since the first quarter,
according to a quarterly measure of worker opinions from Kenexa.

Anne Herman, research consultant at the Kenexa Research Institute, said: “Employee confidence fluctuated throughout 2009,
with the majority of the countries reporting both increases and decreases. India and China were the only two surveyed countries that had an increase in scores, quarter over quarter.

“We enter 2010 on a positive note. Our studies have linked employee confidence to higher country-level GDP and
stronger organisation performance, among other metrics.

“Therefore, this indicates that as employee confidence increases, GDP and organisation performance should both improve, indicating that we appear to be in a state of resurgence.”

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Goals and resolutions for 2010

Happy New Year! As we prepare to ring in 2010, you all may be thinking about resolutions and your goals for the coming year. But, setting a goal is only the first step in achieving something and it is important to map out exactly how you plan to do it.

If you’re not in work, create a schedule for each day and set yourself weekly targets to complete. These could include a particular number of CVs to send out or contacts with whom to meet or call.

And if you’ve already got a job but are looking to make a switch, set time aside each week to carry out your research and make applications. After all, staying focused and determined is the best way to ensure you keep your resolve and make 2010 a year to remember.

The silver lining to the recession, is that whilst the recruitment sector has been “hit the first and the hardest”, it also is a sector that will “bounce back quickly”.

Remember Recruitment companies are keeping their best consultants in place, despite often “running below capacity”, this ensures that they well poised and ready to take advantage of the upturn.

You’ll be pleased to know that Alexander Chapel Recruitment has retained its best consultants to take advantage of the upturn, and to help you find your next career whatever your current situation call us now …

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