Yesterday evening we hosted a very special Vegas Glamour event in aid of the much loved Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.

The evening hosted for clients operating in secretarial and business support, was held at our London office in Aldwych. The office was transformed with a Vegas theme; meeting rooms were renovated into iconic Vegas hotels, Casino tables took residence in reception, a swing singer set the mood and a mixologist welcomed guests with signature cocktails.

• In the MGM Grand guests were able to  have some fun with Vegas style games, drinks, nibbles and cupcakes
• In the Bellagio the theme was beauty and guests were invited in to hear about the latest hairstyles for the party season from top stylists from the Andrew Jose Hair Salon and be pampered with a mini manicure, eyebrow shape or HD Brows. A personal trainer was also on hand to give tips and advice on how to get healthy in 2013
• Caesars Palace featured some great makeup and skincare tips from the Mary Kay makeup team
• The Luxor offered celebrity spray tanning to give attendees a true Vegas glow!
• And last but not least the Venetian was home to the  Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity where guests could learn more about the charity and pledge donations.

Over a hundred clients and business contacts attended to support the cause and take part in pre-Christmas networking and the money raised contributed to the total of  £941 raised by Morgan McKinley for the Rainbow Trust, a charity that provides emotional and practical support individually tailored to families of children with a life threatening or terminal illness. The charity relies on fundraising for 95% of its income so events like this are essential in providing vital support to families when they need it most.

We hope to raise even more for the charity at our Christmas party this Friday (30th November 2012) where we will be holding a raffle for all London employees.

To find out more about this event you can view the press release here, you can also visit Flickr to view all photos from the evening.

event, Morgan McKinley, rainbow trust, vegas

Our science recruitment team based in Ireland has been retained by Monaghan Biosciences to recruit 5 innovative scientists.

• Programme manager
• Senior research associate
• Research associate
• Applications scientist

International Jobs, International Opportunities, jobs Ireland, scientists ireland

The Olympics is here and London is most definitely in the grip of  Olympic fever!

Aside from the sporting spectacular there are approximately 70,000 volunteers taking part in London 2012. These ‘Games Makers’ are the lucky few as hundreds of thousands registered interest with volunteer positions being heavily oversubscribed.

There is no doubt this will be a hugely rewarding experience for those involved. The scale of the world’s largest sporting event means huge numbers of volunteers are needed to keep competitors and crowds safe, happy and informed.

As well as reflecting a huge enthusiasm for the games, there is also perhaps a desire to gain relevant and valuable experience for CVs in what is currently a tough economic environment. Volunteering presents a great opportunity for all and  specifically, 18 -24 year olds at a time when youth unemployment is high.

Volunteering builds employability and sets those involved apart from other candidates. Volunteers should be sure to make the most of their experience by presenting it the correct way on their CV.

It’s a little late if not already involved with London 2012 but for more information on alternative volunteering programs visit: http://greaterlondonvolunteering.org.uk/

cv, Employability, games, London 2012, Olympics, volunteer

The latest Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor was released this week – registering a surprise fall in job opportunities in the London financial services market from May 12 to June 12 – 33%.

After two consecutive months of increasing job opportunities from March to May, we’re actually not so surprised to see a fall – the road to economic recovery is expected to be very ‘up and down’ as Mervyn King forecast back in February. However, it’s the size of this drop that was not anticipated.

It’s hard to give specific reasons for this significant drop as we continue to operate in an unpredictable hiring market, however further economic commentators from REC/KPMG, Grant Thornton/ICAEW and the Organisation for Economic Development have all flagged that the UK and wider global economy is not exactly looking stable right now.

Eurozone issues continue as politicians within the PIIGS (Portugal , Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) continue their discussions on bailouts, a possible Greek exit, the future of the Euro and what they need to put in place to rejuvenate their economies.

At this half year point, we are well below the number of available jobs that were in the hiring market in June 11 – 53% less to be precise and as our rolling average graph will show you we are also some way below that figure. We look forward with interest to seeing how the first month of H2 pans out. Please look out for our July 12 London Employment Monitor at the start of August.

Download or view previous London Employment Monitor from the Morgan McKinley website

eurozone, Financial Services, Hiring, jobs, London Employment, London Employment monitor, Morgan McKinley London employment Monitor, REC

Morgan McKinley has just released its latest Employment Monitor together with the results of its yearly Bonus Satisfaction Survey.

Whilst city hiring is steadily on the increase with 17% more available jobs on the market since the last reported statistics from April 12, the Euro debt crisis coupled with the current state of the UK economy means that the total number of job seekers is still down 58% on last year’s figures.

So why has the number of job seekers dropped 58% since last year?

Well, there are several contributors but the main ones are:

• The number of available jobs is still down by 25 % year-on-year, so there is significantly fewer roles on the market for candidates to interview for.
• The poor economic background naturally leads to a lesser inclination for professionals to start looking for new jobs; also the high numbers of job seekers in May 11 was prior to the London FS market redundancies. This suggests that there was more confidence in the market in May 11 compared to now (May 12) where the uncertainty could deter professionals from leaving their current roles.
• The bonus satisfaction survey released also lends support to the lack of job seekers to an extent. Of those surveyed the satisfaction toward remuneration is leveling out with 42% saying they were satisfied with their bonus. In the past, a high level of dissatisfaction with compensation could have correlated with an increase in job seeking numbers around May-June following the bonus payout.

To view the full results of Bonus Satisfaction Survey and the May London Employment Monitor please the main website.

Also don’t forget to watch the video below where Andy Evans comments on this month’s results.

city jobs, Financial Services, Financial services hiring, London Employment monitor, Morgan McKinley London employment Monitor

Interview advice, Interview technique, interview tips

A recent article that I read talked about employers being warned about not putting too much trust in using social media, to solely recruit for new employees into their businesses.

The findings of this article stated that 57% of employers are searching for potential candidates on sites such as LinkedIn .  However only 5% of those individuals surveyed would actually hire individuals from these social networking sites.  In comparison to this, 19% of respondents said that they would hire primarily from recruitment consultancies with 76% preferring to use a specialist agency.

These are very interesting findings which will lead me to believe that whilst these sites are fantastic in terms of building your network of contacts and profile, they are limited in terms of ensuring that you are using a multi-layered approach to find the best talent in the market place.

Many of our clients will rely on us to use this approach to find their new employees and whilst we will use social networking to headhunt and source candidates, we will still use many other mediums, particularly focussing our efforts on referrals and recommendations to our business.  Our clients will also be very reliant on the fact that we will have met candidates sent to meet them face to face, that all will be fully referenced and this then in turn still highlights the importance of specialised recruitment consultancies.

To view in full, please click here

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I read a very interesting article on the Accountancy Age website recently about the lack of female progress onto boards. The author, former PwC director Francois Moscovici, discussed whether the chronic under-representation of women on boards is a talent pool or company issue, and suggested ways forward. She believes more companies need to refine their recruitment practices, systematically include women on board short lists and better manage their executive pipelines – steps I very much agree with.

View the full article here

The facts and figures around this issue continue to be disheartening. According to Corporate Women Directors International, almost a quarter of the world’s 200 largest companies still do not have a single woman on their boards of directors. And the picture in the UK definitely needs improving. The representation of UK female board directors (14.3%) lags well behind Norway (39%), Latvia (23%), Sweden (21.9%), France (20.5%) and other nations.

I believe that increasing these percentages can only be a good thing. Surely greater diversity in boards will lead to more informed, sounder decision making? In her article, Moscovici argues that women lack the confidence and attitude to push themselves through the glass ceiling and that they will only apply for a job if they are 100% confident about their competence. In my experience as a recruiter I haven’t noticed a significant difference between the genders in this respect but in this current economic climate, perhaps a few more risk averse board members is just what we need!

Source: Accountancy Age, 12/09/11

Accountancy Age, diversity on boards, women on boards