Web Editor - Current Vacancy

Web Editor skilled with CMS (Preferably RedDot CMS), HTML and experienced in writing and developing online content is urgently required. You will be assisting the Digital Communications Manager, working on the Intranet re-development project and other online content where necessary.

You will have excellent communication skills, work with a wide variety of staff to research, write and develop online content, prepare information in a clear, accessible and web friendly format and upload content to the intranet/website using a content management system (RedDot CMS). You will also have an understanding of HTML.

You will need to provide examples of other website that they have worked on. This is an excellent opportunity to work for a friendly Government organisation, so please do send through a detailed CV asap.

G & G Recruitment is working as an Employment Business.

Recruiter - Agency Practice

The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) has teamed up with independent recruitment agency scoring website Hirescores.com to launch AgencyWatch, an initiative aimed at encouraging best practice among recruitment agencies.
The joint project between HireScores and AgencyWatch invites members to rate their experience of recruitment firms and give appropriate feedback to agencies on the HireScores website. It will encourage them to share experiences so that all members benefit from a candid view of the best agencies to deal with.
The ratings system, created in conjunction with employers and recruitment agencies, produces aggregate results and rankings that are then displayed online so that clients and candidates can identify best practice at a click. The results can only be accessed and viewed by PCG members.
Commenting on the new service, John Brazier, managing director of PCG, said: “Many of our members rely on recruitment agencies to find their assignments and contract work so we are delighted to be launching AgencyWatch in conjunction with HireScores.”
Lisette Howlett, managing director and founder of HireScores.com, added: "The site isn't about naming and shaming. In fact, many of the recruitment firms we've spoken to are excited about letting their performance speak for itself. *Article from the Recruiter website.

Here at G & G Recruitment we would recommend that any candidates or clients who have had any contact with us go and rate us and add any comments regarding our service. This is one great way for us to ensure we keep our service standards very high.

Recruiter - IT Recruitment

There has been a drop in the number of new IT openings according to new research.
The research made available by ReThink Recruitment, an IT recruitment firm, has shown that the number of IT vacancies at IT firms has dropped by 18% in the last year and from 16,185 to 13,351 in the last three months. Banks appear to be tightening their IT budgets at the credit crunch bites.
As it stands investment banks are responsible for posting 37% of all IT vacancies. This contrasts with 61% in 2007. Retail banks on the other hand are now posting twice as many vacancies for the finance sector in the past year with a jump from 12% to 26%. Hedge funds now account for more IT openings than conventional fund managers.
Jon Butterfield, managing director, ReThink Recruitment, had this to say: “Investment banks are freezing IT spending in some areas, as they scale back their expansion plans. Growth in demand elsewhere, however, such as compliance and risk management, in response to the credit crunch and the Société Générale scandal, is providing some ballast to the market.” “Demand for IT skills in the finance sector is still significantly greater now than 12 months ago, so we should take some comfort from that. Retail banks, in particular, are investing heavily in e-banking and bolstering internal systems to combat online fraud. A lot of work is going on to try and speed up the processes needed to achieve compliance with money laundering regulations.” * - From Recruiter

Recruiter - Letters... Land of the giants or is small beautiful?

We felt the need to comment on your recent article 'Is being big always beautiful?' (Recruiter, 2 April), concerning the current mergers and acquisitions within the industry. As a large UK rec-to-rec consultancy we are constantly placing recruiters at all levels, from smaller companies to larger corporations and vice versa. Many recruiters tell us they prefer larger companies as they offer greater long-term security, structured career options, and the advantage of having a well-known brand behind them. However, just as many inform us they wish to work at smaller firms on the basis they will receive more recognition and appreciation, increased earning potential and the opportunity for more rapid career advancement. Both have selling points and valid reasons to be leaving or joining, and recruiters will always have their preferences to the type of company they want to work for, or are best suited to. However, in a desperately candidate-short market, is removing that choice from them really likely to improve recruiter availability? If the giants want to dominate, they must consider their offerings not only to the end user, but to their own staff — ideally combining the strong points of both large and small companies under the same roof, and the smaller 'gems' of the market will have to keep up, or lose out. In our experience there are only a handful of consultancies currently providing their staff all the advantages of a big company, while also appealing to the smaller firm enthusiast.
*Michael Bowden, sales director, Aston Taylor.

G & G Recruitment's view on this - Small is beautiful as everyone requires that extra bit of customer care! Come and register with us and let us work for you.

Teacher - Current Vacancies

Our client is seeking 2 Maths Teachers and 1 R.S. Teacher to start in September. Experience of teaching A-Level is desirable but our client will consider any qualified teachers.
If you are interested please do send through a detailed CV asap.

G & G Recruitment is working as an Employment Agency.

.NET Developer - Current Vacancy

.NET Developer skilled with both .Net Framework versions 1.1 and 2.0 and various development technologies including C#, ADO.Net, HTML and web scripting languages such as JavaScript and VBScript and RDBMS like MS SQL Server.
You will also have good knowledge in DTS Packages, .Net Web Service and have strong skills in back-end development and design using SQL Server. Excellent knowledge in Triggers, Views, Functions and Stored Procedures
You will gather requirements design & develop software solutions for the web and windows based applications. If you have these skills are self-motivated, have the ability to communicate effectively, are willing to accept responsibility and have excellent analytical and logical skills then please do send through a technically detailed CV asap. G & G Recruitment is working as an Employment Business.

The Hunt for Candidates

The secret to successful recruitment is finding the right candidate first. With there being so many agencies now (a reputed 1500+ in the London area alone) it really has come down to the ability to attract the best candidates. There are the usual methods - advertising in the news papers, advertising online on job boards, word of mouth, candidate recommendation and head hunting.

Nowadays, online appears to be the way forward with more and more people opting to hunt for jobs online, or just to make their details available online. So much so that SEO, social networking sites and key words are all the craze now in sourcing that 1 candidate who will get the role. Even more so that most of the candidates are apparently passive - ie, they aren't actively looking for work.

Here at G & G Recruitment we would love to hear from any IT or Information Management candidates (be it permanent staff or contractors) on how they conduct their job hunt and what they look for in agencies, adverts or even just that first approach, phone call or e-mail.

Im sure in about a year's time it all will have changed again but, that is unfortunately the nature of the beast of the industry which we work in.

Sales Executive - Litho, Digital, Print, ISO

Sales Executive with experience of the Print Industry and more specifically Litho and Digital Print is required.Your role will be to help grow the business through the promotion of litho & digital print, print management, brand asset management and FSC and ISO 14001.You will be tasked with working alongside the Sales Director and Sales team in implementing an effective marketing strategy and ensuring the company's sales grow.This is an excellent opportunity, so please do send through a detailed CV asap.

VOIP - Good Idea?

We are about to move to a VOIP telephone system at G & G Recruitment. Having searched through all the different options available to us and listened to the different advantages and disadvantages we chose the VOIP option.

Not without some trepidation though. VOIP, according to some, has poor line quality. However, from the large number of clients I call, who are on VOIP lines, I cannot say I have noticed this. One thing is clear - the cost benefits. An initial outlay for us will be made back within a few months due to the smaller number of lines we require and the number of minutes we get included in our package.

Well, the decision has been made so only time will tell if it is the right one.

Next up for review is our Broadband provider. If any of our clients or candidates have any thoughts on this, which i am sure you do as you work in the IT and Information Management industry, then please do let me know.

Candidate Ideas

G & G Recruitment Solutions are continually looking at ways to improve our services, not just to clients but, to candidates as well. In todays ultra competitive market, it is just as important to ensure that candidates feel all their needs are being met, that the agency they are using knows what they are looking for and that should they require any job hunting advice that they can get an honest and helpful answer.

G & G Recruitment Solutions knows that are consultants are always willing to help out and offer advice. However, we are currently looking at ways to improve the communication lines and see if we can't improve our service.

We are currently looking at implementing an instant messaging system that would enable all candidates to ask a question to a consultant and receive an almost instant response. Any comments regarding this idea, or any other ideas you may have, please do contact us on 0844 800 4984 or info@ggrecruitment.co.uk. We really do want to improve our service, make sure we stand out from the crowd and ensure we rise above the traditional view of a recruitment agency.

G & G Recruitment Solutions specialises in sourcing IT and Information Management staff for the Public and Not-For-Profit sector. So should you be looking for work in these areas, please do forward your CV through to us.

Project Manager, Systems Development - Current Vacancy

Project Manager, preferably Prince 2 experience or qualified, with experience of managing development projects is required to project manage the development of systems applications.

You will be responsible for the design and building of strategic systems, build and maintain good partnerships with external computer partners and ensure that the client derives maximum benefit from technology opportunities.

This is an excellent opportunity to work in a friendly organisation and contribute to the development of an ongoing IT Development Strategy. If you are interested in this role, please do send through a technically detailed CV asap.

IT Support Technician - Current Vacancy

IT Support Technician skilled on Windows 2003 server, Active Directory, Windows XP, MS Office and TCP/IP is urgently required. Any experience with SQL Server would be highly desirable.

You will provide general IT Support to users face-to-face and over the telephone. You will also manage helpdesk requests, walk the floors once a week to provide ad hoc support and provide adequate cover for the IT Manager.

This is an excellent position to gain more experience in a friendly organisation. If you are interested please do send through a technically detailed CV asap.

G & G Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency.

Salary Growth - Credit Crunch

The REC and KPMG recently published their Report on Jobs which the recruiter reported on. Please find their report below: -

Apparently, salary growth slowed with modest recovery in permanent hires and rise in temporary jobs in March bringing a modest rise in permanent staff appointments while salary inflation eased to its lowest for two and a half years.

Weaker demand for staff and an easing of skills shortages contributed to low wage inflation. Although permanent salaries continued to rise in March, the rate of growth slowed. Inflation of temporary staff pay quickened slightly, but was only marginally above February's 22-month low. Meanwhile, brisk growth of temporary staff appointments suggests that employers continue to favour flexible workforces. Permanent staff placements rose modestly in March, while growth of temporary billings held firm. Recruitment consultants reported a rebound in permanent staff placements in March, following a slight dip the previous month. The number of people placed in permanent roles rose modestly, while anecdotal evidence suggested that the expansion in placements was supported by increased activity levels at client companies. Demand for permanent staff rose across seven of the eight categories of permanent staff monitored by the March survey. The strongest expansion rate was for engineers and construction workers, followed by executive and professional staff. There was higher demand for temporary or contract employees across the board in March. Again, the strongest rate of growth was for engineering and construction, followed by secretarial/clerical. Demand for blue collar staff once again lagged in last place.The knock-on effect of the credit crunch was first seen by the financial services sector, with annual growth of vacancies falling since last summer to a rate of just 2.7% in the three months to February. This is the second lowest in more than two years. Alan Nolan, director at KPMG, said: "The banking crisis is clearly taking its toll on the financial sector. IT and computing are among the sectors where demand for both permanent and temporary staff is weakest." However, fears are growing that jitters in the City will have a knock-on effect on other sectors. Although demand for staff in the engineering and construction sector is still strong, major contractors now worry that the turmoil in the financial markets will result in major office developments becoming casualties of the credit crunch. "No matter what sector, employers are becoming increasingly cautious about the outlook. Demand for staff is slowing and employers are hedging their bets with more emphasis on temporary hires, while pay pressures are easing somewhat. This further evidence of a softening labour market is a green light for an interest rate cut this week." Helen Reynolds, acting chief executive, Recruitment and Employment Confederation, added that the modest rebound in permanent placements suggests the labour market is holding up. She said: "Employers are dealing with the economic uncertainty by keeping close check on salaries, as indicated by permanent staff wage inflation coming in at a two-and-a-half-year low. Currently, the worst effects on the jobs market are being felt in the City, as banks retrench. But demand in other industry sectors such as engineering and construction shows no sign of slowing." However, job losses on the scale of the dotcom crash in 2001 are highly unlikely, Reynolds added.

Should you wish to see the full report, please do contact us on info@ggrecruitment.co.uk.

Server Support Engineer - Current Vacancy

Server Support Engineer with 2 years+ Windows NT4/2000/XP/2003 server, Novell skills and good networking skills is urgently required. You will provide infrastructure support services, including system/server installation, support and maintenance of clinical, non-clinical and security systems and to manage server performance through monitoring and maintenance work. Any experience with Exchange, Linux and firewalls would be highly desirable. This is an excellent opportunity, so please do send through a technical CV as soon as possible. G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Business on this role.

Managed Service Providers - Not what they're cracked up to be

Ive written on this subject before in the recruiter but, here i go again. It still annoys me to see how more and more companies and organisations are signing up to these managed services thinking they will save them time and money and bring in the quality candidates.

Well, so far, in my experience it has done the opposite within the niche area of IT and Information Management. Not only do MSPs (Managed Service Providers) cut out the chance of working with a number of agencies due to the small mark ups Agencies have to sign up to, but they also cost the agency more in interest as payment takes longer to reach them.

We have had the great experience of a MSP forgetting to add a contractor of ours onto the system. This meant that payment was delayed initially by 2 months. It then took them a further month to clear the invoices for payments. This meant they had simply passed the invoices onto the client, who has a 30 day payment period. So 4 months down the road and we are still waiting for payment. What is even more annoying is that we worked with this client direct before the MSP, charged the same mark up and had absolutely no problems. Sometimes a middle man doesn't help!

Another common experience we have is the re-released job. On another MSP agreement we have jobs get released time and time again. Obviously delivering the quicker more efficient recruitment the MSP promises!

Before you ask, we have stopped actively chasing these MSPs unless they come in at a client where we have worked before. Then we try and make them work but, i have not seen one client benefit so far!

Right, must now go back to work. Im urgently looking for a Helpdesk Analyst, Database Analyst, E-Learning Developer and Systems Analyst. So if you fit one of these titles, please do send me your CV ASAP.

New Financial Year finally taking effect???

After a slow start to April it finally looks like the New Financial Year budgets have been sorted as several ICT vacancies have begun to filter through. Despite the credit crunch and all financial doom and gloom we are hopeful that in the Public and Not-For-Profit sector there should not be too much of a down turn in recruitment for IT and Information Management professionals.

Should you be looking for any kind of work in the IT and Information Management sector, please do have a look at our website, www.ggrecruitment.co.uk, or send us your details on info@ggrecruitment.co.uk.

Database Analyst - Current Vacancy

Database Analyst technically skilled with Excel and Access to an advanced level is being sought. Any experience within a Charity or with SQL Server, Impromptu or Raisers Edge would be highly desirable.

This position requires someone with an analytical mindset who is experience and skilled at collating and manipulating data to produce routine and ad hoc management reports. You will have experience of ensuring data accuracy and quality.

This position is working in a very friendly charity within nice London offices. If you are interested, please do send through a detailed CV asap.

G & G Recruitment are working as an Employment Agency.

E-Learning Developer - Current Vacancy

E-Learning Developer with technical experience in SQL Server, ODBC, Excel, Access, SQL Queries and MS Office is urgently required.

You will lead and administer the development of the VLE (virtual learning environment) and other e-learning tools. You will work with the IT Network Support team and MIS team to ensure reliability and integration of the VLE with other college systems. You will also manage course structures, user accounts and groups within the VLE.

This is an excellent position to gain more experience within the E-Learning field and work within a friendly College. Please do send a technically detailed CV asap.

G & G Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency.

Niche Staff - Housing Associations, NHS, Charities, Public Sector

G & G Recruitment Solutions is a specialist IT and Information Management recruitment agency. We are constantly on the look out for candidates with skills within niche areas. For example, we would be delighted to register and actively promote candidate's CVs who have experience with: -

Universal Housing
Orchard Housing
Academy Housing
SX3 Housing
EMIS
TOREX
PAS
Raisers Edge
Visual Alms
Care

Or have experience of providing IT or Information Management expertise within the following sectors: -

Social Services
Housing
Health
Not-For-Profit
Government

We focus on customer service and would be happy to offer advice or help in any area of your job hunt. Any questions, please do go to our website (www.ggrecruitment.co.uk). If this doesn't answer your question, then please do give one of our consultants a call on 0844 800 4984.

IT Systems Analyst / Developer

Seeking IT Systems / Software Developer (VB, VB.Net, SQL), Data Analyst, Project Manager (Prince2) skilled with Business Analysis, BPR & Application Management. If you are looking for a wide based role filled with plenty of variety then look no further. This is a position filled with responsibility that encompasses a huge spectrum of functionality... It is essential you have skills in Software Development such as VB, VB.Net and SQL as you will be creating, changing and supporting Software Applications including Interfaces between systems and Front Ends. You must also have worked with analysing and managing data and producing Management Information Reports. In your role you will lead upto 10 members of staff in project teams and focus on IT System redesign, integration and support. Highly desirable are skills and experience in:- Business Analysis, Project Management, BPR & Application Management as these will be areas which you will have responsibility in. Please do apply now by sending a technically detailed resume through to Mark for consideration and further information about this challenging role.

G & G Recruitment are acting as an Employment Agency.

Helpdesk Support Analyst - Contract role

Helpdesk Support Analyst with 1 years experience of working on a Helpdesk providing support via the telephone using SMS is required.

You will be required to work on the helpdesk taking between 70-100 calls a day. The will be dealing with peoples IT Problems and you will be expected to resolve calls using the SMS application (remote access into people's pc). You will also be available to assist the junior members of staff with training

This role is within the NHS, so any experience within the NHS would be highly desirable. Please do send through a technically detailed CV asap.

IT Support Officer - Current Vacancy

Essential working knowledge required:Windows Server 2003, Exchange 2003 &
Citrix Presentation Server 4.5

1. Administer and support Local/Wide Area Network and associated systems.

2. To provide PC support to users at various stages of implementation, including the provision of start-up manuals, briefing papers and the co-ordination of training sessions.

3. Operate internal helpdesk (IT support) facility and provide technical support to users on all system hardware and software including office applications.

4. To train users and produce appropriate documentation in the safe use of all office equipment and systems including telephones.

5. To be responsible for establishing and maintaining time scales with users for receipt, processing and circulation of the Groups data input and output.

6. To be responsible for operation of all systems and monitoring them.

7. To maintain the systems configuration files.

8. Manage running and storage of backup media.

9. To maintain all necessary records for monitoring data processing.

10. To write access procedures for all applications software, and to ensure files are properly protected.

11. To ensure in-house maintenance assistance is provided, and maintenance call-outs are made when necessary for all equipment and a complete log of all maintenance calls is kept.

12. To train and advise users on preventative maintenance.

13. Assist IT Manager to schedule and supervise the installation of new hardware and to test operation.

14. To set up and maintain security files, including providing appropriate access to new users.

15. To maintain a register of all hardware and its location and all systems software.

16. Deputise for the IT Manager in their absence.

17. Ensure that the Data Protection Act is adhered to and that all requirements under the Act are met.

18. Undertake financial administration e.g. raising purchase orders, processing invoices and recording information on expenditure.

19. Be available, when required, to respond to emergencies within the IT area of responsibility, out of normal office hours.