Muovo

Muovo on jobs for expats

2012-02-24T01:43:00.002-08:00

Check out Muovo's answers to some of the most popular questions we receive on the job market from foreigners looking to live and work in Malta.

http://www.maltainsideout.com/21455/expats-jobs-in-malta-faqs/

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ngari/1507071686/

Do you agree with our answers? Do you have any other questions? Send your questions and comments to info@muovo.eu

Useful Links on other aspects of Malta living

Electricity tariffs:

Water tariffs

Grocery price list (updating soon)

Renting property in Malta

Quality of life Malta

History of Malta

Two Interview Types

2012-01-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

There are two main types of job interview: the ones where you simply answer questions and the ones where you set the agenda.

If you manage to turn your next interview into type #2, you're setting yourself up for success.

Let's see why:

Interview Type 1: The Question & Answer Pattern

This is the interview type that most people experience. It is is a common pattern that is ultimately frustrating both for the job seeker and the interviewer, leading to a protracted process.

The tendency to stick to the familiar and simply answer the questions posed to you in a rote fashion mostly serves to define you as 'typical', not so different from the person being interviewed next. You are merely someone else who think they can fill the role - but from the interviewer's point of view, simply do not understand THEIR industry and company enough to be offered the chance to join.

This type of interview has one typical conclusion: "we'll get back to you." They rarely do.

Interview Type 2: Problem & Solution Pattern.

Understand that hiring is not a pleasant prospect for most companies, but it's something that must be done.
So instead of following the pattern, make sure you avoid the single most crippling mistakes many commit and posing questions yourself.

You can ask the right questions by coming highly prepared to the interview. Simply going on their website doesn't cut it. Here are some tips:

Research the industry trends and predictions
Search the local news for mentions of the company
Check the share prices if it's a public company
Look at their marketing material for the past 12 months and identify any weaknesses.
Reach out to current employees through networks such as LinkedIn and instead of asking for advice, ask about what projects they are working on.

Yes, it's time consuming, but it's also highly effective. Knowing all there is to know about the company helps you effectively prepare the right questions. This is where you can shine and take control of the interview, presenting yourself as the solution they have been waiting for. By providing solid plans and figures and understanding the hiring psychology, you can guide your potential employer into saying YES.

What about you?

Have you experienced these types of interviews, or did we forget something? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

Malta's booming financial industry

2012-01-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

Malta is becoming a sophisticated international financial centre − FinanceMalta

Business professionals in the financial sector are finding that operating in Malta means successful growth both for business and personal careers. Since becoming a member of the EU, international financial institutions have been setting up locally with some great results.

"Malta currently enjoys a growing presence in four key sectors in the financial services industry − insurance, banking, trusts and funds, each of which registered a solid performance in 2011....Malta is clearly establishing itself as a dynamic, cost-efficient and English-speaking domicile in the European Union for the financial services sector." Source: The Malta Independent Online

As a sun-drenched Island which is a member of the European Union, Malta is not an offshore location, making it ideal for hedge funds to operate from here. Since the financial crisis that has hit most of the Western world, and particularly Europe at the current juncture, the strong regulatory environment present here ensured that the amount of firms operating in the financial sector has tripled, and employment in the area has significantly increased.

This exciting growth in the field was recently covered by Jeremy Khan in Bloomberg Markets magazine, focusing on the hedge funds moving to Malta (video).

This is definitely good news for business professionals hailing from Europe who are looking for a new place to start up again side. There currently are over 6500 members of the workforce employed in the fields of financial intermediation. This is significant n itself in a quite small pool of people in active employment (160,000). The growth in the sector contributes to an ever growing need for experienced financial industry professionals in Malta.

Are you a financial expert struggling to find career growth in your own country? Why do you think Maltese financial services are growing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Facebook!

If you operate in any of the fields and are willing to consider a move, take a look at the Financial service vacancies available in Malta on our website or get in touch with us for information and advice.

Failure is an option

2012-01-10T16:12:00.000-08:00

Check out the story of some of the best people in the world, and how they did not give up.

Life is a videogame

2012-01-10T16:07:00.000-08:00

Great careers are funny sometimes.

They never take you to the places you planned to go. Most don't even start when they're supposed to.

There are certain fundamental facts that we are trained to accept about the world around us, how it works. We are supposed to stick to one place and one job, but not any more.

The IT professional in 2011 can be the conference personality guru in 2015. The University student who just failed a final semester test could be entrepreneur of the year in a few years time.

It's time to accept that like a videogame, great careers do not start off from base and then grow steadily until a plateau. What's more, failure is not to be avoided, but embraced as essential to learning how to be better.

Personal success in a world of shifting opportunities means that any person can re-invent themselves or paint a new directions within a handful of years. Getting that dream job or perfect career is a challenge that requires dedication and consistency, and most of all ACTION.

How are you playing the game?

Interview with Alex Grech, director at MUOVO

2012-01-08T05:44:00.000-08:00

This interview with Muovo director Alex Grech originally appeared in the Malta Chamber of Commerce publication The Commercial Courier in the October-November 2011 issue, which focused on HR and recruitment start ups in Malta.

CC: What were the main factors that led you to establishing the company – what opportunities did you see in the market?

AG: When we set up Muovo, we believed that there was a gap in the local recruitment market that we
could fill because of our local industry know-how and international expertise. We decided to focus
exclusively on sourcing professional positions, initially in the technology sector where all the founders
had extensive experience as industry consultants, technology and web developers. We gradually
added specialist outsourcing to our core recruitment services, to meet the requests of both clients and
professionals looking for project work, as opposed to traditional career paths. These days, Muovo
also specialises in sourcing executives for the financial sector.

CC: In your experience to date – what are the main obstacles that you have had to overcome
establish the company, penetrate the market and consolidate your client base?

AG: In 2007 we were a start-up in a market that was already dominated by a handful of large HR
recruitment firms. Soon after we set up, the emergence of the online gaming sector attracted a
veritable gold rush of recruiters, including overseas entities and individuals relocating to Malta. We
decided that we’d stick with sectors where we knew we had hands-on expertise, rather than follow the
scatter-gun approach of some of our direct competitors. The recruitment sector is a reputation game
– we focused on doing our absolute best, irrespective of the nature of the particular assignment or the
longevity of our relationship with the client. Since the best referrals are always word of mouth, we did
very little advertising, if any – our early clients became our best references.

CC: What has your strategy been in response to these challenges?

AG: To survive in the recruitment sector, you cannot operate as a passive intermediary – those days are
long gone. This strategy has been totally about adding value to our clients. Any company needs to
differentiate its offerings to survive, let alone do well in a crowded market like Malta.

Over the past years, we had several instances of foreign specialists moving to Malta without much
prior knowledge of living and working in the country. We have a network of associates who work
alongside our team to ensure that the candidate’s move to Malta is as seamless as possible.
Conversely, we are aware that time is a premium for everyone: our teams are set up to acquire a
quick understanding of our clients’ business cultures and work ethics to ensure that we can provide
the right shortlist of candidates in the shortest possible timeframes.

CC: Did the economic downturn affect the company and if so – how, and what action was
taken?

AG: The economic downturn hit all companies – particularly those in the recruitment sector, as many
organisations go for a headcount freeze when times get rough. In our sector, it’s also challenging
as in most cases we only get paid in the case of a successful placement. We’ve survived and even
thrived by working harder than ever at providing clients with innovative solutions, such as outsourcing;
and using down-time to cross-train staff.

CC: How have you ensured that you stand out from your competitors – what do you offer that
is different or better than others operating within the market?

We always wanted to be a boutique firm at Muovo. Our approach is about personalising the job
search and adding the intelligent human sourcing aspect to recruitment. We do not deluge our clients
with applications, but make sure that we create the relevant human connections. We do this by
immediately developing a deep understanding of the cultural issues at stake within the company.
We also use technology and lever on our in-house expertise in the strategic use of social media
tools to continue to enjoy an active database of valid candidates. We’re shortly launching our new
social-facing website to provide new features for our clients and candidates, wherever they choose to
operate online and offline. What differentiates us most is that we have some great people on board.

CC: What is your competitive strategy – is it price based, quality-based etc – or perhaps a mixture?

It has to be a mix of both – but if we had to choose, it’s always a quality solution.

CC: What are you plans and goals for the development of the company over the short, medium
and long term?

AG: We’re focusing on providing flexible options for companies who need to recruit for short term projects. One way we do this is by bridging the gap between companies and young people, specifically recent graduates, who are given the chance to work reduced hours for forward-looking organisations, gain soft skills and real work experience while they are still studying. We’re also looking at levering on our extensive overseas networks to also help people who are looking for a career move overseas.

CC: In a nutshell, how would you summarise the secrets to your success to date?

AG: We understand the challenges that our clients face because we’ve got first-hand experience
operating in the same sectors. We engage people who are curious and want to grow with us, and
our candidates trust us because we give them value to their job search, enabling the fruitful meeting
of professionals who are willing to work with those who want to engage them.

Looking for design ideas?

2012-01-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

Inspiration is important in the industry of design. It fuels daily work, infuses passion in it, and stirs emotion in the viewer. It's very easy to just give up when the creative spark is running low. Fortunately nowadays inspirational sources are always just a click away.

If you have hit a creative stumbling block, check out these incredibly designed sites for ideas!

Have you come away with ideas of your own? Great! Why not share them on Dribbble or your favourite site and let us know!

MUOVO annual shut-down

2011-12-23T03:19:00.000-08:00

Muovo would like to wish you all the best for this festive season!

We would like to inform you that Muovo will be closing for its annual winter shutdown from Monday 26th December 2011, through to Friday 30th December 2011.

We will re-open again for business as usual on Monday 2nd January 2012.

Regards,

Muovo

Managing your e-reputation

2011-11-03T10:40:00.001-07:00

Catch-22?

2011-10-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

Some interesting observations doing the rounds on LinkedIn and other networks lately:

Even with unemployment rates quite high, companies still struggle to find skilled workers, and filling a job can take months of hunting.

Most employers assume that this is because the education system is inherently flawed.

Employers are demanding more of job candidates than ever before. They want prospective workers to be able to fill a role right away, without enough training or ramp-up time.

In other words, to get a job, you have to have that job already. Recent graduates are some of the hardest hit as they join an unrelentingly competitive market.

Reality check: finding 'perfect candidates' is an exercise in futility.

One possible solution: The trick is to employ those who display the right attributes and potential of growing into that prized employee with some dedicated training and practice.

Another reality point: a lot of hires do not happen because of disagreements over salaries. The best candidates are not accepting what 90% of companies can offer them.

That's another reason for companies to expand their recruitment broader. Finding candidates is about the company also adapting to a unique person joining the team. Jobs can be organized in many different ways so that candidates who have very different credentials can do them successfully.

What are your thoughts? Can we overcome the catch-22 and give both companies and candidates the opportunity to clear the fog of assumption and connect on a genuine basis?

Thoughts on personal branding

2011-09-28T02:01:00.000-07:00

Personal branding is how you can shape others perceptions of your abilities to further your personal or professional goals. When you type an email, you’re branding yourself. If you have a conversation with a friend or family member, you’re branding yourself. How you dress, what you eat, and how you talk all contribute to your brand. Think of your brand as the summation of all the associations about you that are stored in people’s minds.

Social media changes everything

Before: Jobs are for life, stay loyal to the company brand.

Now: Loyalty is to your professional journey working with organisations that can support your aims.

Before: Only businesses and organisations are visible online, branding is a corporate issue.

Now: Social networks mean anyone who chooses to can become an online influencer. What you say as an individual counts.

1. Get Discovered

Find your sweet spot: The secret to a successful personal brand is knowing your strengths, who your audience is and why they will buy from you. The digital economy benefits experts and those who can own their niche – by carving out a deep niche you can eradicate the competition. Your niche covers:

Skills (provide specialist technical or service skills)
Service delivery (a unique methodology, a different way of purchasing or billing)
Values (your style of service delivery matches the values of your customers)

To succeed in your niche you need to have:

Differentiation (standing out from crowd) with
Marketability (providing something others want and need)

“Work less, earn more, love your job”

It sounds too good to be true, but by doing what you love work will be fun, you will be more motivated so you can earn more. Personal branding adds value to your job or enterprise and improves happiness - in and outside work.Focus on what you do well – be a super-hero (or heroine) within your strengths. Outsource your weaknesses.

Use keywords to define what you do. These are words that you can use to attract the most website visitors (Search Engine Optimisation) which also align with your brand which you can use in all your content (talks, status updates on social networks, website, brochures).

2. Make a plan

Define your audience:
-              Who is the audience for your products & services?
                (location, lifestyle, demographics, buying behaviours)
-              What are their values?
-              Create User Personas – archetypes to describe the types of customers you have and what    they  expect from your business

Know your market:
Competitors       –            Who are you losing work to currently? What can you learn (and steal) from them?
Comparators      –             Who are your peers?  Who can you share with them and learn from them?
Key influencers                 –             Who do you aspire to be? How and when could you connect with them?
                                                (Tip: social media is a great short cut to influence your influencers)

Create your personal brand statement (external):
1) Personal positioning statement: what you’re best at who you serve
2) Personal Brand statement –your brand and your audience in one sentence

First work on your ‘log copy’ versions for your website, brochure or CV: 200 words, 100 words, 50 words, 35 words, 20 words, 3 words.

Create your personal vision statement (internal):
Where do you want to be – in 1 year? In 2 years? In 3 years? How do you want to be perceived in your specialism? Financial goals? Personal priorities?

3. Monitor your efforts

Monitoring your digital footprint:
Be aware of the ‘traces’ you leave: the internet is an evergreen cache, good and bad content takes a long time to disappear. Create new content to bury older content. Re-highlight great content (e.g. refreshing articles, linking to past achievements).

Don’t say anything online you wouldn’t want repeated.
Make sure you know and control the level of privacy on your networks.

Capture and consistently measure your brand against your objectives:

Google Alerts www.google.com/alerts – records new mentions of your name/brand
Web Analytics – measures web traffic, particularly referral websites
Social Mention - www.socialmention.com – your name/brand mention in social media
Measure growth in users of your social networks, email list, customer database
Capture and redistribute positive mentions, good PR and testimonials

visit http://www.stevepavlina.com to read more on Personal Development

The evolution of the modern CV

2011-09-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

Check out this infographic from RezScore exploring how we approach the CV has (or hasn't) changed.

The CV, when written right, does one thing, and one thing only: it gets someone interested in meeting you (in the context of an interview). Yet we hear of far too many stories from candidates of applications being rejected, or downright ignored by their ideal employer - who might or might not be employing at the moment. Due to inconsistent HR practices (website last updated in 2007!) most of the time, people have no way of telling whether it's the right time to approach.

In such cases, as recruitment consultants, it's up to us to explain that that probably there's a myriad of reasons that an application was not considered - and it probably has less to do with the CV itself as with the people reading it at the wrong time. A well-designed CV definitely helps but in most cases the reaction seems to be: "if I can only make my resume a little bit better I am sure I can get that meeting."The truth is that reason isn't even always related to the CV itself, but rather to other people's more timely expressions of interest, too many applicants, or a busy HR department in dire need of helpful advice from people close to candidates.

Maybe, due to this long traditional approach towards recruitment people can fail to look beyond this highly-charged document called the CV, and engage in stunted initial interactions based on knee-jerk impressions.

Maybe companies (and us recruiters, as well HR departments) should look past the CV a bit more. Peek out into who's out there, so to speak, ready to connect and talk. Ask questions, explore more.

Who knows if you just turned down or ignored the golden candidate who can turn your company around, given the time and resources?

One simple thing we can do to make talent finding and HR friendlier and less of a barrier: whether you're a job seeker or a top recruiter, don't let your online networking profile languish; explain the reasons behind that connection request, and follow up with the right questions and advice.

What's your opinion? Does the CV hold too much of our collective captive imagination?

Five Minutes Insight

2011-09-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

This great presentation is worth way more than the five minutes you will spend clicking through it.

Letting Go

View more presentations from yiibu

A quick tour of the site's new design

2011-08-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

You’ll notice we’ve got a new look here at www.muovo.eu !

For job seekers, looking for new career options is often a case of trial and error and taking blind shots in the dark. MUOVO takes pride in humanising recruitment and using its years of experience to help turn the job search into an understandable process with a purpose.

We’re well into our fourth year of operation — we launched in 2007 — and other than a few tweaks, we’ve had the same website design since then. A lot of things changed in that time. We grew; our clients looked for something different in an overcrowded market, and we started offering new services.

So it felt like time to freshen things up a bit. A few of the highlights:

1. The big new feature on the front page is Search. Our website is now a fully-fledged job search engine, with a lot of different options for candidates to locate vacancies they're looking for, in the industries they want. There are lots of other little changes you might notice —result can be sorted by date or relevance, you can apply directly from the page, and a lot more. Search can also be deployed from everywhere in the site, making sure you will always be ready to go back into the job hunt.

2. Fresh design! We want you to find what you're looking for easily and quickly, and our new design is fun & quirky (thanks to the ICON team!).

3. Social features! You will notice a myriad of different ways to connect to the Muovo team all around the website - from Facebook, to LinkedIn, to Skype - we're all over the web. There are also a couple of more sharing tools for those of you who want to go beyond Twitter and YouTube. We encourage you to use these tools to participate in our Refer A Friend scheme

4. Alerts! We now provide multiple ways to easily subscribe to your favourite Muovo content, whether it's our blog or the latest vacancies via email or RSS

Our core mission is to help career seekers connect with awesome employers, so we hope that the rebooted website will extend our core service of providing access to quality career opportunities.

We hope you like it!

Social media & looking for a job

2011-07-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

How relevant are your online activities to your potential employer? How should you tailor your Facebook and LinkedIn usage to enhance your chances?

Social media such as YouTube, LinkedIn and Wikipedia have all been expanding our ability to voice public opinions, learn faster and more efficiently, and make new contacts.

Online extensions of your real life work now matter much more than you think when you’re searching for a new job.

The question 'what level of influence do you hold over the people you have connected with online?' has become very relevant for employers who are seeking people who can not only come up with creative ideas but ensure that their execution holds a lasting impact. You must also take into consideration how websites like Klout are measuring your activity.

Professional recruitment service providers such as Muovo can help candidates with their social media usage so when the time comes for submitting your interest in a company or role, you would be positioned positively in the interviewer's perception.

Twitter: If a candidate posts a lot of industry-relevant tweets, it indicates a passion for the space, which typically translates when they are interviewing. Twitter also allows people to foster a more personal connection and enter into a ‘conversation’ with them, which sometimes leads to hires down the line.

Facebook: A lot of people are now employing the site's privacy settings effectively. Yet if this is your main way of getting traffic to an external blog that you keep and to share interesting links, make sure that your Wall is accessible to Everyone and search-engines are indexing your posts when you start job hunting. This helping potential employers assess your spheres of expertise. The most important thing to keep in mind is to keep your Facebook presence as professional as possible.

LinkedIn: Josh Yehaskel, a leading director for Digital Media company Three Pillars in New York, describes Linked in as "one of the most important tools when looking for a new role, and just in general. I wouldn’t say it matters more than a person’s resume, but definitely as much in the sense that it’s a passive way to keep your professional background and accomplishments out there like a ‘line in the water.’ I encourage everyone to be as detailed and thorough with their LinkedIn profiles as possible.”

To conclude, the advantage online media offer over traditional telephone & CV approaches is that it is a much more personal method of connecting with real people working in companies that you admire. Understanding who the person on the other side of the interview table is (their interests and hobbies, for instance) allows anyone to find a common bond, something that make all the difference and enhance the first impression you make.

Have you used social media in the past to get a job or are you working on doing so? Share your success stories or stumbling blocks you're finding in the comments below!

Muovo is on the move....

2011-07-19T05:24:00.001-07:00

Check out our latest international job opportunities on www.muovo.eu. Join us and work in the UK, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and more...

Get your creative juices flowing!

2011-07-06T03:59:00.000-07:00

We love creativity and design here at the Muovo offices, especially if it's retro or geeky. In fact we believe that gamification - where the processes inherent to games are tied to goals - is the way to go for organisations in all areas (companies, schools) to improve the experiences they offer. By adding fun and creativity to the world of work, we can get more things done and enjoy doing it.

So what better way to celebrate this than by uniting both games with creativity?

Here's a way for you to train some of those creative brain cells on your lunch break. If you're a gaming fan or grew up playing Atari, you will appreciate the simple beauty of Pixel Art!

Probably the geekiest branch of the art world, pixel art captures the retro charm of the 8-bit computers of the 1980s. PXLPNT is a web-based pixel art generator that’s beautiful in its simplicity, letting you create your own art with ease.Once you’re done, a ‘Share’ function lets you post your finished design to locations like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, or simply to a URL. You can see some example creations posted to the PXLPNT Twitter account.

Let us know what your creations are! We encourage sharing on our Facebook Page...and while you're at it you can consider joining our group, Creative Industry in Malta on LinkedIn!

Maybe yours will inspire someone else to create something new today!

via (The Next Web)

Software Development and Web Designing Industry in Malta

2011-06-21T02:25:00.000-07:00

Article by Finny Mathew

When speaking of software development or web design, industries tend to focus on countries like the UK, the USA and Australia; however, Malta is also pacing towards the front line with excellent quality web designing standards and software development standards.Both are includes much more than the mere needs of the client. Software development is a structured, planned and complex process of computer programming which entails writing and maintaining a large amount of source code. In broader terms it includes everything between the conceptions of the desired software to the final outcome of the software. Everything that we see on the World Wide Web could be termed as web designing. This includes layouts, texts, fonts, colours, backgrounds, contents and other factors. All these make a website more interactive, user friendly and convenient to browse. However, the most important component of any project is the knowledge of the required skill set, along with the expertise and experience.

There is a significant amount of software companies in Malta, which specialise in various open source and Microsoft technologies offering quality solutions in all dimensions, such as, software development, mobile app development and web designing and development. Ranging from oil and gas to shipping and logistics, from manufacturing and retail to sales and marketing, from banking and insurance to almost any industry you can imagine; these companies can offer solutions meeting the requisites of every industry. A professional company in Malta has the potential to deliver web designing and software services on any required platform; and eventually shapes up ideas into reality, so that one not only survives the competition but surpasses it. Furthermore, they provide the cost-effective services and are equipped with cutting-edge skills to deliver avant-garde solutions.

Web development and software development companies in Malta are constantly keeping up-to-date with the latest technologies which enhance the delivery of solutions to meet the requisites of every industry.

What is the perfect length for your CV?

2011-06-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

We have seen CVs over 30 pages long (true!) with photocopies of all their certificates on top of that. This is not an autobiography you’re writing. It’s a curriculum vitae. It’s a lot shorter! (via)

People often feel that a one-page CV is worth less than a two-pager but this is definitely not true. It is much better to have a good, strong one-page CV than a two-page one that is padded out with unnecessary information. You should always be aiming to exclude irrelevant information which may detract from other more important points.

Often a CV which has been spread out over two pages can, with a little careful tweaking, be made to fit onto one page – and this tends to have greater impact. It is of course important not to force a CV unnecessarily onto one page when two pages would be better but a 1½ page CV tends to look incomplete and weak.

Regardless of the length, do make sure that all your most important information is conveyed on the first page or, for a one-page CV, in the top half of the page – because too many recruiters simply won’t bother to look any further.

What if your finished CV is more than two pages long?

There’s only one answer to this question – unless you are a ‘special case’ you need to keep working on your CV until you’ve reduced it to the standard two pages.

Take a long, hard look at your CV and consider:

Removing some of the less important points you’ve made
Finding ways to communicate the same points more concisely
Ruthlessly eliminating all unnecessary words and phrases
Axing non-essential sections, for example your Objective
Placing your Interests & Activities under Other Details
Changing the design and page layout to create more space
Editing, rewriting, polishing and perfecting until it fits!

Contact Muovo for free review of your CV

Send in a copy of your CV to info@muovo.eu with the subject header: CV REVIEW and one of our recruitment consultants will assess it and email you with their suggestions as to how it could be improved to ensure it is viewed more positively by a prospective employer.

More career advice:

Interviews: maximising your potential

Software Tester Wanted

2011-06-09T04:51:00.000-07:00

Our client, a leading telecoms sector company in Malta, are looking for an experienced Software Tester.

Read more on our site: http://www.muovo.eu/muovo/vacancy_detail.aspx?id=273753

Interviews: maximising your impact (part 1)

2011-06-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

1. Preliminary

Preparation

• Find out as much about the company as you can. Get hold of annual reports (available in large libraries or directly from the company itself), research the company on the internet. If you have applied through a recruitment consultancy (such as Harvey Nash) most of this research will have been done for you. The type of information you might want to research: nature of the business, number of people, revenue of company, revenue forecast, number/location of offices, general dedication to career development.

• Try to judge what the strategic and operational objectives of your prospective employer are, how this role contributes to their achievement and what you may bring to fulfil these objectives.

• Sign up for Google News alerts to keep up with latest developments in the company. http://www.google.com/alerts

• Allow plenty of time to travel to the interview location - plan to arrive 15 minutes early. Always wear smart business attire (even if the company allows casual dress). Make sure you are clear on who is interviewing you and what the interview process is. How many interviews will you have? What are the interviewers' names/job titles? How will these people contribute to the decision making process? Will there be any tests? If you are working with a recruitment consultancy (such as Harvey Nash) most of this research will have been done for you. Bring along a spare copy of your CV.

Before

• Upon arrival, if you have brought a coat/umbrella try to find somewhere to put them before you meet the interviewer. Sit down, look relaxed (even if you're not!).

• Upon first meeting your interviewer make sure you shake his/her hand firmly - make eye contact, smile. Be prepared to make polite conversation - 'Did you find us OK?' - always try to answer these questions with more than just Yes/No answers. Perhaps you might want to comment on the attractiveness of the office environment or the ease by which you got there.

• In the interview room, play safe with your etiquette. Don't take your jacket off without asking, sit down after or at the same time as the interviewer.

• Pay close attention to your physical communication throughout the interview. This means good eye contact (i.e. looking at the interviewer for over 70% of the time - if you have more than one interviewer always try to address all of them with your answers). Don't cross your arms (it looks very 'defensive'), don't slump in the seat, smile.

• Don’t be flippant, keep control of your sense of humour, at least at the first stage and treat the beginning of the interview with the seriousness it deserves.

• When meeting senior prospective employers who are not UK nationals, ensure you know the etiquette and protocols that ensure you are not offensive. If you show that you have the knowledge and apply the etiquettes, you will give yourself the edge over your rival candidates.

How to land an interview with the best resume

2011-05-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

(via)

Having difficulties capturing the best you can be in a traditional CV format? Stay concise, focus on your accomplishments, and don't hold back.

Do you think the perfect resume is a subjective idea? The recipe for an outstanding resume is actually fairly universal in terms of look, length, and basic content. With the right approach, you can churn out a stellar resume that will appeal to potential employers and land an interview for your dream job. Here are some resume writing tips and a sample resume to get you started.

Design is crucial.

Build your resume around the essentials.

Want more on the best way to handle CV writing? Check out the rest of this article on resume tips for job hunters.

Did you know that the word Role is increasingly being used in organizations? instead of jobs?

2011-05-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

‘’Jobs’’ tend to be collections of tasks drawn together for completion by a person employed for that reason. The tasks are fixed and the ways of doing them prescribed. Changes to the lists of tasks are only achieved after formal process. However, for many organizations, this approach is too ridged and inflexible. The world of work is no longer that simple. Change is real and normal. Employers need to be dynamic to survive, and individuals have to be flexible if they are to remain employable

A ‘’role’’ is different in that it is used to describe the part the individual is expected to play in the organization. It is a more fluid concept as individuals have greater capacity to shape their roles to determine the level of contribution made to the achievement of the organization’s goals. This can be more than just the level of performance and standard of competency; it includes the part the individual pays in the wider life of the organization.

Via ''Manager's Guide to Recruitment and Selection'' By Margaret Dale

The 'people industry': recruitment challenges and how to search for right talent

2011-05-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

by Neville Bezzina

The reality: skills mismatch

Malta's greatest economic resource is its people: their skills, their abilities and flexibility. The principle of human skills development is also outlined in the government's Smart Island strategy, aimed at boosting Malta's relevance in the ICT and technology sectors.

The main idea of the strategy is to equip the younger population with the right degrees and work experience in order to fulfill the demands of the market. This is being addressed through initiatives such as the EU-funded STEPS scholarships, of which one main priority area is to address 'skills mismatches': that is, reducing the gap between what business need in their employees and what the labour market currently provides.

The gap is all too palpable and real, with local businesses often being unable to find suitably qualified experts locals to fulfill certain duties.

Rapid solutions required by businesses

Cultivating the right skills through the educational system to match the rapidly shifting economic market is a complicated process, however, and one that takes a lot of time.

In an economy that immediately requires highly experienced and knowledge-specific individuals, Maltese businesses currently face the challenge of attracting the right talent from abroad. Most local web and software development houses are categorised as SME's, and face an uphill struggle in compelling foreign professionals to come and work on the island.

According to Alex Grech, director of Muovo, a boutique ICT staffing solutions firm in Malta, a company's willingness to adapt available opportunities to the right candidate positively suggests that a particular business is an attractive place to work at. Professionals nowadays are always on the move, on the lookout for better and more lucrative positions and opportunities and business must adapt to this new reality and offer a better package in order to employ the best talent and emerge as a market leader.

Sometimes the challenge is even more fundamental. Attracting the right applicants for vacant (and critical) positions is critically hindered if the reach of the company's people network is limited.

Consulting with experts; amplifying reach

Enterprises who are struggling to fill vacancies need to laterally re-think their recruitment efforts. In an ideal scenario for Maltese companies, they would be able employ someone whose role is specifically directed at reaching out to working professionals and actively building a system of relationships with potential employees. The reality is that economically, this is rarely possible, but a parallel effect is achievable through working with a third party recruitment company.

Companies who engage with recruitment experts start creating a presence as a potential employer in the mind of those professionals within the agency's candidate database. Through outsourcing their search, companies amplify their reach as the amount of time spent attracting potential employees is exponentially increased. Companies which diversify recruitment efforts by leveraging the already-embedded networks of third party recruitment solutions gain a double advantage over their competitors: their people network is amplified, and their particular opportunities are heard by a targeted and filtered audience.

Where to next?

It is difficult to anticipate how recruitment in Malta will evolve in the coming years. The current trend shows a strong movement towards more affiliate deals and usage of curated online social professional networks. The best recruitment agencies for Maltese businesses to work with are those who focus on building a network of highly specialised workers, who adapt to technology and offer better quality to their clients, as this is the current need of the market.

There are still sectors, such as the financial services industry, in the Maltese economy that are facing an urgent shortage of skills from the local market which the educational reform is too slow to provide. When it comes to positions requiring highly skilled and adaptable people, such as jobs with strong components of applied IT and business know-how, employers' currently must necessarily look to expand and consider foreign talent, making working with the right recruitment partner an important competent of the recruitment strategy.

For further info on targeted recruitment solutions contact Muovo

21 443 000

www.muovo.eu

info@muovo.eu