What are the opening hours?

Monday 8:30am - 5:30pm Tuesday 8:30am - 5:30pm Wednesday 8:30am - 5:30pm Thursday 8:30am - 5:30pm Friday 8:30am - 5:30pm

Blues Point Ltd

Blues Point is an established specialist Midlands IT recruitment company serving Derby, Birmingham, Nottingham and Leicester.

Blues Point is a Midlands IT recruitment company serving Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, Burton on Trent, Stoke on Trent, Lichfield, Tamworth, Stafford, Loughborough, Ashby, Chesterfield. Our main focus is the supply of permanent and contract staff for positions with an IT bias. Our success in this area has lead to requests for us to provide recruitment services in other areas including

Finance, Engineering, Sales and Administration; some of our clients use us as their sole supplier across all disciplines. We pride ourselves on taking the time to understand your business and on getting to know our candidates as our process is unique and highly efficient. We use technical and psychometric assessments and recorded video interviews - all designed to streamline the IT recruitment process and make it more likely that the successful candidate will be the best fit and will stay for the long term. We do permanent AND contract / interim appointments, at all levels, specialising in mid-range and senior. We guarantee all our permanent placements - standard is for 8 weeks but up to a maximum of 6 months. We've been in business since 2003 and now offer the most comprehensive IT recruitment process available anywhere. We serve mainly the Midlands cities of Derby, Nottingham, Leicester and Birmingham but can recruit all over the UK. For further details on why we are good at what we do or to place a vacancy feel free to call on 01283 530923 or email [email protected]

25/07/2024

Interview nerves? It's normal to be apprehensive, so you're not alone.

I read an article today about this very topic, called "Actors on 20 ways to look and feel confident – when you’re anything but!"

The link to the article is in the comments, but the main points are:

▪️ Embrace nerves as a natural feeling.
▪️ Combat fear with joy.
▪️ Learn how to hold yourself with good posture.
▪️ Smile to appear approachable.
▪️ Focus on your breath to manage nerves.
▪️ Project your voice with deep breathing.
▪️ Loosen your jaw to reduce tension.
▪️ Make eye contact to connect with the audience.
▪️ Own the space you are in.
▪️ Talk slowly to ensure clarity.
▪️ Prepare for technical failures, such as PowerPoint issues.
▪️ Use positive body language on dates.
▪️ Walk into interviews with positivity.
▪️ Brush your teeth before performing.
▪️ Maintain a sense of perspective about mistakes.
▪️ Avoid using alcohol for courage.
▪️ Dress comfortably for success.
▪️ Ignore the myth of imagining the audience naked.
▪️ Wear your favourite undergarment to boost confidence!

All good advice! And I'll add one more: practise with a friend (or friendly recruiter) on Zoom for those online interviews. You can record the screen and assess your own performance, if you dare.

Good luck!

24/07/2024

I went to the hospital the other day for a check-up on my hips, which were both replaced about 8 years ago (I bored you with blogs about it at the time).

It was a straightforward process - an x-ray followed by a 5-minute chat with the doctor.

Our discussion was very brief, partly because my x-ray looked healthy, and partly because the doctor had been secretly assessing my ability to get up from a chair and walk to his office after he called my name.

In the same way, an in-person job interview actually begins BEFORE you're in the room.

Be nice to the person who meets you at the door; they might have a lot more influence than you realise.

Besides, it's the right thing to do!

18/07/2024

Whenever anyone asks me what my number one evolutionary dream is, I always say that I wish I had extra-thick eyelids so that I wouldn’t be woken up at 4am in the summer months.

Or x-ray vision, which is the exact opposite. I’d take either!

But trying to evolve these characteristics in a single lifetime is a fool’s errand. I’d be better off working on something that is actually in my power to control.

Interview technique, for example.

In a face-to-face meeting situation, the number one thing you should strive for is the ability to get on with the interviewer. Forget invisibility, eternal youth, or permanently good hair – these are pipe dreams.

Instead, cultivate your people skills. Smiling, making appropriate eye contact, really listening, answering the question, being interested in and reacting sensibly to what the other person is saying – these are the superpowers that are within reach of us all, with a bit of practice.

They don’t guarantee success, but they just might see you through.

(‘See you through’ – get it?)

11/07/2024

This is an actual photo taken down the road from where I live. What are the options here? Apparently there are none!

And yet...

The ROAD AHEAD CLOSED sign does not mean what it says - there is a way through. The road is open for now, only closing in a few days' time once the other roadworks causing the diversion have finished.

If you're feeling like there is no way forward in your career, look again.

Sometimes it makes sense to ignore (or at least test) the signs.

09/07/2024

I read a news story today entitled: "Reform UK under pressure to prove all its candidates were real people". Apparently there have been doubts expressed that some of their candidates were not actually real people, because they had no profile photo, biography, or contact details.

Also - they didn't show up to the count!

If you're trying to get your CV noticed or win votes (interviews) - don't do these things. LinkedIn is very useful if you're looking for a new role. Here are some tips:

▪️ Use a high-quality headshot - professionally taken if possible.
▪️ Craft a clear and concise headline that summarizes your professional identity and career goals.
▪️ Write a well-structured summary that highlights your key skills, achievements, and career aspirations.
▪️ List all relevant work experience with detailed descriptions of your roles, responsibilities, and accomplishments.
▪️ Add a comprehensive list of your skills - and seek endorsements from colleagues / ex-colleagues to validate them.
▪️ Include all relevant educational qualifications, certifications etc, and any ongoing professional development courses.
▪️ Connect with colleagues and other professionals to build your network. Recruiters will usually accept connection requests!
▪️ Ask for and display recommendations from managers / colleagues / clients to build credibility.
▪️ Regularly write and share articles, posts, and updates relevant to your industry.
▪️ Create a custom LinkedIn URL for your profile to make it easier to share and remember.

N.B. make sure you actually exist before doing the above.

08/07/2024

Oyez, oyez, oyez!

Yes, it's International Town Criers Day again. (The second Monday in July - put it in your diary).

These days we don't need town criers so much - WhatsApp and LinkedIn do much the same job, although with more humblebragging. But we can learn from them!

Criers are very good at getting their message across, clearly and distinctly. They are audible from a distance and they wear unmissable outfits so that you can spot them in a crowd. And there usually is a crowd, because they attract a lot of attention.

If you want potential employees to remember your job advert, or if you need employers to look at your CV, take a leaf out of the town crier's book.

Be concise, be different, draw a crowd.

28/06/2024

If I took one thing from the Biden / Trump debate last night - it's that video interviews are really good at showing the person behind the CV.

This is usually a good thing - but sometimes not!

21/06/2024

It’s my 10-year-old daughter’s school sports day this afternoon. I asked her which sports she was in, and she showed me her hand. The list is:

• Obstical
• Long jump
• Shot put
• Dress up (I’ll find out later)
• Egg and spoon

She’s confident of success in the egg and spoon, but not the others. There’s no obvious career path for her in the egg and spoon department, but it’s her favourite event by far!

The key to success in your working life is to enjoy what you do.

Work out what that is – and do more of it.

19/06/2024

The male proboscis monkey is an ugly beast, I think. But the female version doesn’t agree! The larger the nose the better, as far as they are concerned.

Why does it have such a large proboscis? Because a big nasal cavity equals a louder voice – useful for delivering those sexy mating calls in the dense jungles of Borneo.

How is this relevant to recruitment?

Because if you’re looking for work, you need to make yourself visible. Publicly, if you can – privately if not.

Go on the job boards if you like, but make sure you use LinkedIn to full advantage. Optimise your profile, connect to people who might be able to help you, use the Open To Work option, reply to relevant posts, and put something out there yourself. A comment, an article, even a video!

Your LinkedIn profile is your proboscis – make some noise with it.

18/06/2024

I went to the Nottingham Open (tennis) at the weekend, with my daughter. We arrived at 11am but play didn’t actually start until after 2 because it was too wet.

We had another rain delay at 3.30. It was very dramatic!

Seats G5 and G6 were perfectly placed to see the wall of dark cloud coming directly for us over the course of half an hour (see photo). Everyone else was aware of it too, and the waterproofs came on well in advance. We are a nation obsessed with the weather, after all!

Once play was called off, I was seriously impressed by how slick the process was. The net was down and the covers were on within a minute – just in time. The ball boys / girls fixed the covers and the air blowers got to work.

Reversing the operation was just as well choreographed, and play resumed about 40 minutes later as if nothing had happened.

Do you have a plan for when things go wrong in your team? Specifically, for if a key staff member is ill, or resigns? It’s worth thinking about this before it happens. Talk to your people about what’s important to them, keep your ears to the ground, and have some ball boys / girls ready for when the rain comes down.

(A good recruitment company is the ball boy / girl in this scenario).

17/06/2024

I was truly humbled yesterday to be presented with the award for...

BEST DAD EVER!

This is a staggering achievement. I reckon there are over a billion dads in the world, and I am at the very top of the tree.

At first I was worried that posting this news would come across as boastful, but then how else would all my LinkedIn connections know about it?

So - don't be shy. If you have an achievement you're proud of - put it on your CV!

14/06/2024

𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘆

It’s time to celebrate: the Euros start tonight - plus it’s National Beer Day tomorrow!

Well, that feels like bad planning to me. What are people going to drink during the opening match – hot chocolate?!
If only UEFA and the beer people had got together sooner to co-ordinate timings, this scheduling catastrophe could have been avoided.

Having a timetable is very important – especially in recruitment. Book interview dates in advance, give timely feedback to your candidates / agency, and make sure you have an onboarding plan in place before you start.

Go recruitment! Go football!

Address

181 Horninglow Street
Burton Upon Trent
DE141NJ

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5:30pm
Friday	8:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+441283530923

Website

http://www.bluespoint.net/, http://twitter.com/#!/BluesPoint

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