Shaping Your Success August 2023

VWA's August 2023 Recruitment Guide

Welcome to the August edition of our monthly newsletter!

This month we’ve share our guide to succeeding in a virtual interview (yes they are here to stay!), plus we meet Principal Consultant Rosa, who shares some insights into her role alongside a few fun personal facts…

Last month we brought you our mid-year market summary for permanent candidates. This month we hear from Co-MD Nick Coleridge-Watts, who has put together a market overview for our temporary & contract candidates.

Let’s also talk artificial intelligence, with a recent VWA article exploring the realities of working with AI as an Executive Assistant and how we can use these tools to our advantage.

Finally, please do check out some of our latest live vacancies – is your next challenge awaiting you there?

Grab a cuppa and read on!

How to Succeed in a Virtual Interview

Like them or loathe them, virtual interviews are here to stay, with an estimated 85-90% of all first round interviews taking place this way. There are many advantages of course, most notably the flexibility and convenience of them, allowing for interviews to span time zones and work around busy schedules. They also help keep the interview process moving along which is great news for all involved.

Not long ago, any form of virtual meeting felt foreign and just a bit weird! But in a time of greater flexibility and hybrid working, we have become far more accepting of this 2D world. Despite this, an interview conducted virtually can feel like a very daunting prospect! You may find yourself anxious about the technology, fretting over what might fail or fear that you will struggle to engage and connect without meeting the interviewer in person.

In this article, we have put together our guide to help you shine through the process and avoid any pitfalls along the way.

Click the image to read the full article:

Meet your VWA Consultants

Get to know our experienced and dedicated team of consultants better with our Meet the Team series. Each month, we will be sharing a little Q&A with a member of the team so you can see, we really are a friendly bunch! This month, let’s find out more about Principal Consultant Rosa!

Click the image to read the full article:

Market Overview – Temporary & Contract Candidates

Hybrid Working

In 2023, temps have seen a bit less flexibility than their permanent counterparts, with companies less willing to justify the additional work of setting up short-term personnel for home-working. Those engaged in longer assignments see more flexibility, however the days of the mostly remote temp as a hangover from the pandemic are largely over. It should be noted that firms who continue to offer more generous flexibility get real buy-in from their temps.

Pay

Ongoing distortion due to the cost of living crisis has seen temp claims slowly rise in line with inflation, with the above lack of flexibility factoring into expectations. Temps in longer-term bookings also seek more favourable rates to counterbalance their lack of concrete benefits. Companies who have limited room to accommodate such rates have sometimes loosened their profile requirements to bring in good candidates from different backgrounds for whom competitive pay is lower.

Conversions

As is often the way when the overall economic picture is mixed, candidates who would usually stick to temp are considering perm conversions if the right opportunity comes along. This phenomenon has been exacerbated by the current state of the mortgage and rental market.

Culture

Companies wishing to retain a pool of recurring temps should be as mindful of culture as remuneration; whilst there are still candidates who see good opportunities purely through the financial lens, increasingly a respectful, forward-looking workplace environment is a search parameter. Diversity, inclusion and green initiatives, and their prominence within firms, reinforce these impressions and become reasons to stay in their own right.

If you have any questions or indeed have seen any other trends we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Email: [email protected]

Artificial Intelligence: Friend or Foe to Executive Assistants?

Artificial intelligence (or AI) is a term most of us are likely to be familiar with these days. Unless you’ve spent the last few months camped out on a remote Pacific island without any WiFi (we wish!), you will also know that AI has been making headline news on an almost daily basis recently.

This news has, at times, been fairly alarming, with concerns raised that AI poses the same threat as nuclear wars and pandemics. Just to alarm us all a little further, these concerns are being made by some of the world’s most distinguished experts in AI. Source: The Times

OK… so what should we do with this information exactly? Do we start to panic (and show the robots signs of weakness)? Or do we accept that AI is here to stay and learn how to both embrace and respect it, whilst using it to our advantage?

Click the image to read the full article:

What our candidates say…

Latest vacancies

Finally, please do check out some of our latest live vacancies board – is your next challenge awaiting you there?

Please click on the image or visit our website:

https://www.vwa.com/jobs

You can also send us your applications, or reach out to the team at?[email protected]?- we look forward to hearing from you!