Most recruitment veterans, not sure if I am a veteran or not (yet), will tell you that as months go, May isn’t that exciting for recruitment.  For us at s1jobs some interesting things did take place.  For a start the number of vacancies advertised on s1jobs was at its highest levels since February 2009.  Another great sign that the Scottish economy is truly moving and there are new jobs flooding the market as companies prepare to sprint out of the recession.

During the last few years direct employers have been looking for ways to control costs, control their employer brand and in tow increase the quality of hires they are able to make.  One of the most common tactics used to accomplish this is to bring recruitment in-house.  Now I am not going to walk down the path of commenting on its validity but taking February 2009 as a benchmark, the number of direct jobs from employers on the site have grown 240% compared to May 14.  This reassures me that s1 jobs has played a vital role in helping them achieve some of these objectives and it’s a pleasure to serve so many great Scottish employers.  Regardless of whether your tactics is in-house, recruitment agency, recruitment process outsourcing(RPO) or referral one thing is for sure, in the new market we can see ahead the dominant focus must be on employer brand.

Before All Else, Be Armed.
Technology vacancies in Scotland are at a record high and the gap in the jobs market for these skills has pushed up the price of specialist IT staff such as developers and electrical engineers to 3 times the national UK average.

The market is suffering from a war for talent, where companies are fighting for very scarce specialist talent. When the UK recession hit, not enough companies were in a position to hire graduates 3-4 years ago. This has resulted in a vast underinvestment in Scottish talent. Not enough people were getting hired and so unable to gain the relevant industry experience that employers are now looking for. Today this demand has risen dramatically with UK Tech companies having grown at a rapid pace. The sector is now performing better than it has in decades. In Scotland in particular, this success can be attributed to the vast number of start ups in ‘tech hubs’ Glasgow and Edinburgh, so much so that tech jobs in Edinburgh now rank as the second highest paying salary in the UK, closely followed by Glasgow.

Making a return
MORTON Simpson has returned to Thorntons Property Services to take on a senior role in the firm’s Dundee office.  Mr Simpson, who has worked in the property industry for nearly 30 years, having previously worked in Thorntons’ Angus office. He joins from law firm Blackadders.

He said: “Thorntons shares my dedication to providing outstanding customer service to clients. We want to give sellers the confidence that they will receive the best service and price when they put their property on the market with Thorntons.”

CONNECT2LAW, the referral and support network for Scottish law firms, has added solicitor Stephen Vallance to its team.

Mr Vallance joins the network, operated by Harper Macleod, after building up his own practice, Vallance, Kliner & Associates.

Anne Macdonald, head of Connect2Law and partner at Harper Macleod, said: “We’re delighted that Stephen has agreed to join our team as we look to improve our service to members and work with even more of Scotland’s law firms. Stephen has a wealth of experience and the distinct advantage of having been there and done it.

s1jobs has seen a positive start to 2014 in the Construction industry.

But not only is the construction industry showing signs of growth, it’s moving on too. Employers within the construction industry are starting to recognise that their candidates are no longer searching the papers for their next move.

Jennifer Brown of Contract Scotland comments…

“IT literacy is assumed these days rather than requested, take it from us; we haven’t seen a paper CV in years! Similarly newspaper advertising is a thing of the past.

s1jobs, Scotland’s No 1 recruitment platform, is to underline its commitment to job seekers and employers by featuring high volumes of apprentice vacancies for the first time.

s1jobs has secured a partnership agreement with QA Apprenticeships, the UK’s leading learning business, which will result in around 150 posts being advertised over the summer months.

The partnership, announced during Scottish Apprentice Week, will increase the chances of the right candidate being matched with an apprenticeship role as they will be advertised to one of the largest job-seeking audiences in Scotland.