3 million CVs created online: evaluation finds EU Europass is good value for money

The European Commission has presented a report evaluating Europass. Launched in 2005, Europass provides a coordinated portfolio of documents helping people to describe what they know and can do in a way that is clearly and easily understood throughout Europe.

The report is based on an external evaluation which concludes that Europass is achieving its objectives as a cost-efficient mobility tool for citizens, and that the service it offers is relevant to their needs. More than 12 million visits to the Europass online portal since 2005 are proof of its success, as well as the fact that more than 3 million people have already generated their CVs using the resources on the Europass website, a target that was originally expected to be reached only in 2010. Ján Figel', the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, expressed his satisfaction, saying: "In only three years, Europass is making rapid progress to becoming the standard reference for presenting one's credentials. Whether one is a student, a vocational trainee, an adult learner or a worker, the Europass offers everyone a clear, easy-to-use set of documents to show a potential employer or educational establishment what they have studied, what job experiences they may have, or what languages they can speak. The Report on Europass shows that this is valuable and cost-effective too. So, our message to citizens is: 'Show what you can do — with Europass!'" The Europass portfolio consists of five documents. The Europass CV (ECV) and the Europass Language Passport can be completed by citizens themselves, namely through an assisted online tool made available in 26 languages on the Europass portal, while the Europass Diploma Supplement, the Europass Certificate Supplement and Europass Mobility are issued to citizens by competent organisations when they have completed specific learning experiences. The total of Europass documents created online or issued to citizens since its launch comes up to more than 3.5 million.The Europass CV is at the heart of the initiative and its single most successful component so far. About 3.1 million Europeans have created CVs on the Europass portal since 2005, with more than 900,000 since the beginning of 2008 alone. The evaluation attributes this to the fact that the Europass CV is a useful tool for self-assessment based on learning outcomes (what a learner knows, understands and is able to do). The Europass portal has had more than 12 million visits since its launch in January 2005 and the trend is clearly upward, with almost 3 million visits in the first half of 2008. Surveys conducted for the evaluation have shown a high degree of user satisfaction. All of this confirms the relevance of the service provided and the high quality of the portal, which is developed, hosted and managed by Cedefop, the European Agency to promote the development of vocational education and training in the EU. However, while Europass CV is overall very successful, this is in particular with the highly-educated, and one of the findings of the report is that the representation of the low-qualified and the unemployed among the users of the Europass portal and the Europass CV needs to be improved. The overall conclusion of the evaluation report is that Europass is good value for money - a cost-efficient tool that is relevant to citizens' needs. The total annual budget of around €2.5 million covers both a network of national Europass centres and the running of the Internet portal. National Europass Centres (NECs), coordinated by the European Commission, play a crucial role in promoting the initiative. They also directly manage the Europass Mobility, a tool that describes skills acquired in a mobility experience, such as a participation in a student exchange or a work placement in another country. More than 100,000 such documents have already been issued. The evaluation report makes suggestions on how to extend the success of the ECV to all Europass documents. The uptake of both the Europass Diploma Supplement and the Europass Certificate Supplement has been below potential, and a stronger focus on learning outcomes – as opposed to learning inputs, such as the length of a learning experience or the type of institution – is seen as a promising way forward. With the support of Cedefop and the NECs, and in cooperation with guidance, employment and youth services in the Member States, the European Commission is planning to improve Europass on the basis of this first evaluation. A greater focus on learning outcomes and a wider outreach, in particular to the unemployed and the low-skilled, are among the key challenges to be tackled.

*Article from PublicTechnology.net

Take home pay - Limited company or Umbrella company

* - Article from sjdaccountancy.com

We all want to earn as much as we can. Unfortunately G & G Recruitment do not specialise in Limited and Umbrella Companys but, we hope this article from SJD Accountancy can help candidates choose how they work.

The real story.

There is one question we get asked every day, not nearly every day or most days but actually every single day. “How much better off will I be using a limited company over an Umbrella company”

The main savings with a Limited Company over an umbrella are around National Insurance and the flat rate VAT scheme.

With an umbrella company you will pay both employees and employers NI. Employers NI is 12.8% of your salary, and employees NI 11% for the first £770 a week, and 1% thereafter (both after tax free personal allowances).

On a typical contract of say £350 per day you will pay around £300 a week in NI through an umbrella company whereas with your own Limited Company you will pay just £30, so the NI savings alone come to about £12,000 a year assuming a 45 week working year.
If you are a contractor on £200 per day you'll save £9,000 or if on £600 a day save £20,000.
The flat rate scheme is an incentive provided by the government to help simplify taxes and means you charge VAT on your invoices at 17.5% but only pay back the Revenue in your first year 12% of the gross amount and 13% in subsequent years.
This provides the following additional income (based on a 45 week working year):£200 per day contract - £1,530 extra per year£350 per day contract - £3,670 extra per year£600 per day contract - £4,590 extra per year

On top of NI and VAT you'll also earn interest in your savings (savings put aside to pay for your taxes) plus have access to a broader scope of expenses than using an umbrella company.
One way of looking at it is, if you have two contractors both on the same £600 per day. One contractor ‘A’ uses an Umbrella company and another ‘B’ trades through his own limited company the difference after the affect of NI and flat rate VAT scheme are as follow:
A - (umbrella) real value of contract after NI - £115,000B - (Ltd Co) real value of contract after NI and Flat rate VAT - £138,000

An extra £23,000 on the contract value, that’s like billing your clients an 38 days per year.
The above does assume the contractors are outside IR35, if inside you can still claim: travelling and accommodation expenses, 5% of your turnover, benefit from the VAT flat rate scheme and receive interest on the funds held within your own company.
Basically, income tax or corporation tax and personal taxes via an umbrella company or through your own limited company are roughly the same. There are of course more opportunities for tax planning through a Ltd Co but that’s something you can discuss in greater detail with an accountant.

If you would like to know more about working through your own limited company click here, download one of our many FREE to guides, speak to a one of SJD's Client Liaison Managers on 0500 152 500 (01442 232 700) or email mailto:michelle.turbutt@sjdaccountancy.com.
Other useful pages, guides and case studies include:
Take home pay calculator - How much could you be taking homeFirst time Contracting or Freelancing? - A summary of the alternatives along with pros and consStep-by-step Guide to Contracting - Download a FREE copy of our guideLimited or Umbrella? Can't decide? - We help you decide which is bestTake home pay case studies - Examples of contractors using a ltd co. & umbrella co.Umbrella company guide - Everything you ever wanted to know about umbrella company servicesIR35 Guide - A great plain English guide to IR35

SJD Accountancy is the UK's largest specialist provider of fixed fee, limited company accountancy services to contractors and freelancers.

We have been acting for contractors across the UK since 1992, have more than 8,500 clients; are the only national specialist firm of accountants with offices in all major cities; are the most recommended accountancy firm on the internet and have more qualified staff than any other specialist firm with qualifications from the following major tax and accountancy bodies - ATII, ATT, ACCA, CA, ACA, FCCA, ACMA.

SJD Accountancy offers a complete package including: completion of accounts, payroll bureau, dividends, corporation tax computations, personal taxation, free bookkeeping software, unlimited access to your accountant and all company returns for a fixed monthly fee of only £95 plus VAT.

We've have also won every relevant award possible, including: the 'Accountancy Age Award for Excellence' twice, once in 2004 and again in 2007, contractor UK’s 'Best Contractor Accountant', Sunday Times 'Best company to work for'; are a Quality Accountant as recommended by the Professional Contractors Group (PCG) and are recommended by the Sunday Times.

Interview Gaffes - The Top 5 Revealed

The top five interview gaffes have been revealed.

The top five gaffes, according to executive recruiters TheLadders.co.uk, are:

1. Inappropriate clothing. One candidate wore a boob tube to an interview.

2. Lying. A candidate was asked to complete an interview in French, after claiming to be fluent in the language.

3. Having a go at former employers and colleagues. One candidate did not bank on his interviewer being related to his previous boss.

4. Acting desperate. A candidate that admitted the interview had not gone well and then claimed that they could work in another part of the organisation.

5. Being unprepared. Upon being asked what they could bring to the role, one candidate responded with: “What is it you do again?”
Sarah Drew, general manager of TheLadders.co.uk, said: "Sometimes the most able candidate on paper can shoot themselves in the foot when you actually meet them. What you, as the potential employer has to do, is assess how much of it is just interview nerves and how much of it is indicative of their inability to do the job!" *Article from the recruiter.

For any interview hints or tips please do contact G & G Recruitment Solutions.

G & G Recruitment gets RSS feeds

G & G Recruitment solutions are happy to announce that candidates can now subscribe to our all new RSS feed which will allow candidates to keep abreast of all our latest jobs quickly and efficiently. We are hoping this will not only aid our candidates in applying for jobs but, also help our client's as it will increase the number of applications for our roles.

RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts in a standardized format.[2] An RSS document (which is called a "feed" or "web feed"[3] or "channel") contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs or filtered displays.[3]
The benefit of RSS is the aggregation of content from multiple Web sources in one place. RSS content can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader" or an "aggregator", which can be web-based or desktop-based. A standardized XML file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds.
The initials "RSS" are used to refer to the following formats:
Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)
Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91).
RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats. Although RSS formats have evolved since March 1999,[4] the RSS icon ("") first gained widespread use in 2005/2006.

Successful Recruitment - Honesty by all

Successful recruitment depends on a number of things.

A. The right sales staff to get the initial role on within the client.
B. The right consultant to ensure that the client receives the service they deserve.
C. The right candidate for the client's role.

The last one is the hardest. One of the reasons for this is a breakdown of communication and a lack of trust between the Recruitment Agencies and the candidates generally caused by pre conceived perceptions of Recruitment Agencies. It is true, there are some Agencies out there that will lie, push, conceal and generally do anything to ensure that they get a placement.

At G & G Recruitment we are focussed on ensuring we listen to candidates’ needs, we are honest and up front, we provide regular feedback and do not push or cajole them into interviews or roles they are not interested in. This has led to us having many happy candidates. But, it has also led to us being stung by candidates that still do not trust us. All we ask is that candidates do as they say.

A. Make sure you mean it if you say you wish to go forward for a role, after being asked about location, salary, organisation, role and any other details you may request.
B. Make sure you mean it when you confirm an interview.
C. Make sure you mean it when you accept a role.

We have recently been stung by the whole "emu" process of candidates who mysteriously become incredibly quiet after confirming they wish to go forward for a role, confirm an interview or even accept an offer of employment. They were given every opportunity to say no. We would much rather candidates said no at the start of a process rather than not turn up or not answer their phone. This lack of respect comes from the pre-conception that all agencies abuse the candidates and will do anything to get a placement. But not all agencies are like this, in fact it is an ever decreasing minority. I understand that sometimes things change but, is it really that hard to call or send an e-mail when things do change rather than wait till the last minute or even not bother at all. I have heard the saying, look out for number 1, don't worry about saying yes to every job opportunity. But really, what is the point of going forward for a role you would never accept. Plus, you may think that it does you no harm in doing the "Emu" but, your name is remembered and will not so readily be forwarded to a client when you are next looking for work. What goes around, comes around.

I am thinking, would candidates be so willing to do this, if like agencies they could be rated on websites.

I do apologise if this sounds like a bitter rant but, I truly do hope it gives an honest picture of how trust and honesty in the recruitment process could really benefit all parties.

Any comments on this, please do contact us on info@ggrecruitment.co.uk or simply leave a comment on this post.

Happy Summer all - it appears to have arrived!!!

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.