idealpeople blog

We’ve been trying really hard to avoid the whole topic of the big “R” but with the Chambers of Commerce convinced that the recession is on the way we thought we’d send out some hope signals to anyone out there who is wondering what effect it will have on their chances of getting a new job.

We’re all aware of the impact of the credit crunch and oil prices, and impact on businesses was inevitable - as it always is when consumers are worse off. But what’s going to happen to the job-seeker in these times? What impact does a recession actually have, and what can be done about it?

1) Fewer jobs, more competition
It is probable that there will be fewer jobs around. Broadly speaking, in harder times when the level of work has dropped, companies have two choices: trim back the workforce so it matches workload or seek more workload (good news for salespeople in the sense of availability of jobs, although maybe bad news in that no-one’s got any money you it’s harder to sell anything).

This means two things: redundancies and recruitment freezes. Or in other words, fewer jobs and more people fighting over what there is.

This in itself could have implications for candidates: more competition means less power to candidates and less scope for salary negotiations. And of course, in a world where living costs are escalating this is in itself very bad news.

Location, Location, Location
Another problem is likely to be location. Most people urgently looking for a new position will find themselves in a situation where local is the only option, as relocation becomes a bit of a problem. In a strong housing market, it’s relatively (which is an important word) easy to up sticks and move. Pop the house on the market, sell it the next day and off we go. With the state of the UK Housing market as it is, this is no longer the case. Relocation for home-owners in the short-term has become tricky.

Have we depressed you yet? Fear not, dear readers, because here’s Idealpeople’s guide to weathering the storm….

Look for something different
The technology is pretty unpredictable at the best of times, but it’s worth remembering that banks do still have lots of money. If the sector you’re in is struggling, look elsewhere - because if there’s money to be made, investment will be flowing in. Our hot tips include Green Energy/Clean-Tech/Renewable Energy, Security, Biometrics, Cloud Computing, SaaS and HPC/High-Performance-Computing, UI/User Experience, IPTV and Digital Broadcast and Defence.

Think outside the box
Let’s be honest - every candidate is going to be trawling the jobsites. So, instead, do what the majority aren’t - either approach companies direct (top tip: www.linkedin.com) or find a specialist headhunter or recruiter to go after local companies direct. Good recruiters know exactly who is doing what in the industry and exactly who to speak to - so make use of them.

Think like Candidate 2.0
Candidate 2.0 likes social networking, knows his or her USPs and isn’t afraid to be pro-active. You need to think like Candidate 2.0. Re-write (do not add to) your CV - using a benefit-led approach (click here) and don’t be afraid of direct approaches using e-mail, LinkedIn, Skype, MSN or Facebook.

Be brave
Recession? What recession? That’s got to be your approach. Despite the economic conditions, you have saleable skills. Economic conditions don’t make you unemployable - so be brave, know your strengths and don’t assume the worst. Find a company which matches your approach an you won’t go far wrong.

Of course, you’ll save yourself a whole lot of time by getting in touch with us and getting us to do the legwork for you…but blatant plugs aren’t what we’re for. Well, OK then, just a bit. Click here to register with us )

Games, Games, Games, it’s all we’re talking about this week - or so it seems…

We wanted to pledge our support for the Games Up? campaign, which aims to ensure that the gaming industry in the UK receives enough support to keep growing.

Now let’s be honest here for a minute: the Games industry gets an awful lot of stick. It’s constantly being blamed for turning our children into couch potatoes, it’s blamed for almost every atrocity committed by young adults the world over and - often - gamers themselves are seen in far from a positive light.

Quite why the general negative attitude is beyond us. And quite why the following facts are never made publically available also remains a mystery…

- 26.5 million people in the UK regularly play games
- The majority of these are adults
- the British Games industry makes games suitable for all ages - only 3 18+ titles were released last year
- The UK has originated some of today’s biggest global games franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, SingStar, Football Manager and Roller coaster Tycoon
- The UK industry employs over 10,000 people and contributes hundreds of millions of pounds to the UK economy

Despite this, the UK games industry is losing out to foreign territories who can offer publishing companies tax breaks provided by the government - much as the UK government gives to Film Studios in this country. So far, the government has been unwilling (or unable) to offer the British Games Industry any sort of assistance, meaning that the cost of creating games over here is uncompetitive for major publishers.

The result of this is fewer jobs and more of the UK skills-base leaving for higher-paid jobs overseas. The state of affairs will only get worse without support.

So it’s time to act…..before it’s

We work extensively with Games studios throughout the UK, recruiting at all levels for several major games houses. If you want to know more, register with us, or get in touch.

We’ve been promising this for some time, and now it’s finally here! Here at Idealpeople towers, we employ people who not only know quite a bit about Recruitment, but who also know quite a bit about recruitment within specific technology verticals.

So, allow us to introduce you to Patrick Kennedy, who heads up all of our Games recruitment within Idealpeople. He works with numerous Games studios throughout the country, and we knew you’d probably be interested in what he has to say on how to get into maybe one of the most competitive (and certainly most stable, despite any economic turbulence) industries around.

So, without further ado…

What’s the biggest challenge facing candidate looking at getting in to the Games Industry?
That’s a difficult question, every candidate has different strengths and every studio wants different things. The biggest challenge is both understanding where in the development of games you want to be and then getting the information you need to help you get there before you start university. If you have only just decided you would like to make games after completing a BSc E-Commerce degree and have been focused on Java - then you are going to struggle - a lot. A better question may be: how do I make sure I don’t encounter any problems getting in to the industry? That’s also a difficult question, but easier to answer.

Firstly, as with every profession - not everyone is cut out to do it. Playing games is fun, making them can be the opposite at times. Lets say that we are talking about those people with the natural components necessary to be a good games developer. In order to go through the perfect transition into industry after university you probably would have been thinking about making games from age 15! Yes, you need to start early, meaning Maths and Physics at A Level (GCSE too if you have the option), preferably making sure you get a ‘B’ grade minimum. Starting to learn the basics of programming early on goes a long long way to giving yourself that coding mentality. I’m not talking crazy multithreaded applications distributed on on n-tier architecture here, I’m talking about the basic principles of programming. A lot of programmers had that moment when a level of understanding reaches a certain point and it ‘clicks’ in their head, this will happen a lot earlier if you start to learn the basic underpins of programming early on.

So, you have two A’s in maths and physics eh? Well, off to University it is. It is very, very important you choose your university well, I won’t go into detail, just do some research. Scotland is very good for games degrees. When it comes to BSc Computer Game Technology vs. BSc Computer Science, my experience shows that most studios have absolutely no preference. What matters are the modules you choose and how well you can code. Choose all the programming modules you can. Yes, all of them. The better you can code the more success you will have with applications. If you can support this with evidence of your own demos or snippets of interesting code then you are at an advantage. Let’s remember game programming is just software development (of very cool software). This industry is one of very few that still labels coders ‘programmers’, you need to be a competent software developer. While on the subject of code, C++, C++ and more C++. Do not worry too much about learning other languages (other than English) apart from C++. Yes, Java is exploding, yes, C# has it’s benefits - but the vast majority of games are written in C++ and that’s not going to change in the near future. While choosing modules, think about specialisations. Gone are the days when two people made a whole game. Programmers are increasingly becoming specialists in select areas from the ever attractive and competitive graphics programming to other areas such as audio and tools programming. If I was starting University now, I’d aim for a network or audio programming and choose my modules accordingly. Very niche, less competition, rapidly increasing need for the skills and a more secure long term career. If throwing packets around or digital signal processing isn’t your thing then do something else of course, just choose the relevant modules. Also focus your demos, dissertation and any hobbyist work in your selected area to show off your skills.

So, you have ‘A’ grade maths and physics A levels and a 1st in BSc Computer Science with Games Development eh? Time to start creating the tool that initially represents you in applications: the CV. You need to make sure your CV says that you want to make games only. If you don’t get a job in games then you will sign on and make games at home for fun - that sort of mentality. I’m not advising that state benefits are the way forward of course but that level of passion is another box ticked. Any contributions you can show to a modding community or a non-profit/hobbyist game development project is also a major bonus. Put it this way: my company makes chocolate and I need help - I have two candidates, one general chef who likes to play football & DJ - and one that makes his own chocolate in his spare time. Who am I going to hire?

No, it’s not easy, but what good every came from easy? If you didn’t get a 1st or you didn’t do maths A level or any of what I’ve said it doesn’t mean you should give up. “Wow, I didn’t get any A levels - but look at these demos I made they’re awesome!” - Indeed, evidence of competence to do the job in question will outweigh any of the above. The above however will go a long way to putting you in a situation where you can tell hiring managers about your success’ and strengths. I placed someone last month who doesn’t have a degree, has spent the last 6 years coding in C for an aerospace company and it doesn’t say the word ‘games’ on his CV anywhere! He doesn’t even own a console or know the market. He simply was the right candidate for the right job (and a master of computational physics). Sometimes that happens but that’s not something you want to be hoping for. As an entry-level candidate you will not have the benefit of being simply ‘the right candidate’. Graduates are new to games development but also a commercial environment in general so my advice would be to stick as closely to the perfect candidate above as possible - it will make your life much easier.

What’s the most common mistake you see in applications from candidates looking to get into the Games Industry?
Wow, difficult question also. Things like ‘I have exposure to C++’. That’s like me saying I have watched some cooking shows when applying for a chef position. Not sure why I keep referring to chefs here :/ I also see a lack of flexibility which doesn’t help in a highly competitive market. “There are not many developers in Norwich, so I’m afraid that limits your search a bit.” Some people have genuine reasons for having to stay in one place. If you can be flexible, then do, it will help tenfold.

PhD and MSc candidates often have an expectation of £35k, which unless they are master coders, isn’t going to happen by quite a distance. I understand they have racked up more bills than their BSc counterparts but it doesn’t really make them that much more employable. £35k is around double a BSc entry level salary, and I know one thing, most studios would rather have two bright BSc graduates any day. They will all have to undergo the same training and development to bring them to commercial-coder standards so it’s a no brainier for the studio. MScs and PhDs are great and they will potentially help your career development fast track but I would advise to be prepared to start off in a very similar capacity as if you hadn’t done it at all.

There are arguably too many people coming out of university with Computer Games Design degrees. Someone should do something about it really, it’s really unfair to build students expectations incorrectly, the jobs just don’t exist in any kind of reasonable number. Too many skills in not enough depth to be able to add value to a studio in any development area. Animation is animation, programming is programming, art is art, a little bit of everything isn’t going to get you a job.

What single piece of advice would you give someone wanting to get into Games?
Ha, see the first question, I’ve somehow managed to talk for 20 minutes there.

Which area of expertise within Games (i.e. programing/design/art/engine etc) is the most sought-after at the moment?
Very good question with some quick and easy answers. Network Programming, Audio Programming, Physics Programming & Render Programmers cable of advanced shader development. That said, if you make these choices now, it will be 3 or 4 years before you’re looking for a position and who knows what the market will be doing then? Put it this way, if it was me I’d go for Network Programming for the obvious reasons.

Finally, how do you see the industry changing in terms of recruitment in the future?
If I knew that, I’d be doing it now! There is a lot changing in general, people are realising that actually having their own Google indexed website might help a bit! Then again, some do all that and don’t have contact details anywhere or a CV… This industry is one of few that really tries to engage with students prior to graduation. It still doesn’t work however, for a number of reasons that I won’t go in to here. Let’s just say in my opinion efforts from studios need to be more focused on preparation rather than aggressive recruiting. Studios don’t see the value in that (they could be spending time preparing someone for a career in a different studio), but then they don’t realise that students are just being bamboozled by tens of studios and false hopes of an easy ride. My solution would be to get every developer to contribute relative amounts towards an organisation that has the industry’s future talent at heart. If your studio and environment is good, people will come, simple. One thing is for sure, we need a whole lot more collaboration between government, universities and developers to make sure our graduates are equipped to do the job and also that the jobs are there in the first place. We try and do our bit here at IDP! I’ve done enough to make my matching and sourcing process very effective and it’s continually evolving, as an industry I have no idea how the others will cope with a decreasing number of quality entry level candidates and an increasing number of vacancies requiring industry experience. As I’ve said a few times here already, do enough to make sure you are of interest and none of this will matter. Easier said than done I know, but aren’t most things?

After that marathon, we’re off for a lie-down and a bit of GTA. If you want to know more about what we can do for you if you’re looking for a career in Games, then a good place to start is by registering your details with us by clicking here - or you can search our current games vacancies on our website - here, although Patrick’s the first to admit he doesn’t advertise most of his vacancies, so it is best to get in touch via the regsitration page on the blog.

Well well well readers we’re back. After a short break (no apologies I’m afraid, we’ve been rather busy and have some interesting news to tell you very very soon), we’re ready to pick up where we left off.

We’d thought we’d kick-start the second half of 2008 - awkward economic conditions and all - by giving you all some advice on where to live.

Now, if it’s the quality of schools, house prices or general standard of living you’re looking for, then we’re probably not the right people to be dishing out advice. Instead, we decided to go away and conduct a piece of research of behemoth-proportions to find out where the best place to live is if you’re currently looking for a new position in the technology industry.

We analyzed the amount of jobs currently available in each county (by running searches on job-boards who have full UK coverage) and the amount of people we know who have been looking for new positions in the last 12 months in each county. Using this information, we were able to calculate the potential candidates:jobs ratio (how’s that for elaborate measurement of the week? Do we win a prize?), and using the logic that it’s best to live in a place with loads of jobs and little competition from other people for those jobs, we came up with a list of the ten best places to live in the UK.

Still with us? Good. Here’s the results.

Best Places to Live in the UK Ranked by Potential Candidates:Jobs ratio

1) County Durham - 1.91 potential applicant for every job
2) Lancashire - 2.28
3) Cambridgeshire - 2.84
4) Berkshire - 2.99
5) Avon - 3.64
6) Tyne & Wear - 3.72
7) Surrey - 3.84
8) Gloucestershire - 3.89
9) Hertfordshire - 4.48
10) Hampshire - 4.61

So there you have it - County Durham is the place to be [ed: it’s a mighty fine place too]. Unless, of course you’re looking to hire people to work in County Durham, in which case, you’ll need to run a quick search on the blog and read up on Recruitment Branding, because you’re in for a hard time.

Want to know where your county ranked? Leave us a comment and we’ll let you know.

In the meantime, and given as we quite like shameless plugs and we do recruit UK wide across all areas of technology businesses, why not register your details with us by clicking here, subscribe to the blog by clicking here here or get in touch by clicking here?

We would like to apologise to DeeDee Doke, Editor of Recruiter, and to Recruiter magazine, for some comments we made in a recent post. Our comments were untrue and unfounded. We intended no offence.

For this reason, we would like to apologise unreservedly for the embarrassment caused to DeeDee.

Further, we would like to thank everyone at Recruiter for their work in reporting on the Recruitment industry. Their input into the recruitment community is both valued and necessary, and we are great admirers of the work they do.

We’re not normally that interested in the various ways in which the Recruitment industry dishes out awards to itself. That’s why, frankly, we couldn’t be bothered even mentioning the Recruiter Awards for Excellence this year. We can tell you that lots of awards were won by some companies. Great.

However, there’s an award ceremony happening tonight which has captured our interest. The TARGETjobs awards are given to graduate employers, across a broad range of categories, and are more aimed at both the quality of the work experience given to graduate hires and (arguably more interestingly) the way in which employers market themselves to potential graduate hires.

There’s something of a battle royale going on in the award given to best ICT (we hate that terms by the way - what’s wrong with “technology”) graduate employer, between the serious big guns of the tech industry: Google, Microsoft, Intel, Accenture, IBM and BT have all been nominated - which makes for a tasty outcome. Especially given that’s it’s a student-vote category.

We thought we’d try and make a couple of predictions ahead of the decision. We’ve got six well-known employers here - so what do we make of them?

Google are an obvious nomination. Everyone knows what Google do. Google are “cool”. Google are taking on Microsoft. Google are successful, but they’ve done it in a very stylish way. Google - surely - will appeal to the hearts and minds of the undergraduate community, right? Even their recruitment mission statement - “we hire great people and encourage them to make their dreams a reality” - is geared at this audience.

In terms of the way they hire people, Google rely quite heavily on the fact that “we’re Google”. This is a sound enough strategy - if you’ve got it, flaunt it, right? Their recruitment brand is well established inside the minds of the people applying for roles, so they don’t need to do too much work to really attract people. Their recruitment website is relatively unspectacular - we found a short, one-paragraph overview of why you’d want to work for Google and three (somewhat random) pictures. Their site is more geared towards letting you apply for jobs quickly and easily than it is on really selling Google to applicants. Their application form is relatively simple. There aren’t many steps to go through. It’s clean, it’s quick, it’s easy. It’s Google.

Microsoft are another obvious nominee. Again, everyone knows who Microsoft are and what they do. How they differ to Google in terms of recruitment though is that whilst everyone loves Google, not everyone loves Microsoft. Their reputation (which has softened significantly of late) is more one of “the evil corporation” - compared to Google - and as such they’ve taken a much more sales-orientated approach to their recruitment brand. Their on-line careers centre is jam-packed with testimonials, and the scale of their “why work for us” section is impressive.

Where Microsoft really impress though is in their alternative strategies: their recruitment blogs (see this example) allow interested parties to interact with the people working on the front-line. Interested parties can ask questions on pretty much everything. This “open door” communication strategy really makes a difference (in fact, encouraging staff to blog has really helped Microsoft move away from their perceived reputation). Their fearsome six-stage interview process might lose them marks with the jobseeker community though.

IBM’s approach appears to be more traditional. IBM are associated with excellence, and as the reigning champions, they’ll be tough to beat. Their key message is one of inclusion: diversity, encouraging ideas and innovation. They even give a nod to their (watchword alert) Corporate Social Responsibility Policy openly on their recruitment pages.

If we’re going to be critical, it’s of their job listings, which is hard to search, although their graduate-specific site is not affected by this.

These three (Google, Microsoft, IBM) probably start as favourites. So what of the outsiders?

Accenture are very active at University fairs, and we know from our own experiences at University that lots of people are interested in applying off the back of this.

We could argue that they appeal less to those hardcore technology graduates - as a Consultancy, the picture is largely one of the focus being on clients and making money rather than hardcore technological development. In a Microsoft-esque way, they go down the route of blogs as well. Their on-line application form is a serious mission though - no way as simple as Google’s - and this blogger distinctly remembers getting bored halfway through when he thought about applying some four years ago.

Intel were a surprise to us in the list. They’re not particularly active on the University Fairs circuit (check the event listing on their website), and whilst their branding on their site is good, we’d be surprised to see them win. Sorry, Intel.

Which leaves BT. Now, we know that BT have worked exceptionally hard on their recruitment brand recently - and their recruitment website demonstrates this. It’s absolutely chock-full of information, testimonials and lays-out their training scheme and careers path beautifully. Given the problems they’ve had over the past ten years, they deserve the recognition they’ve got so far. But, they’re still an outsider, surely?

If we had some money to blow, it would go on IBM. But only because they won last year.

If we were deciding on the winners though, it would be Microsoft.

Why?

Because their recruitment branding is brilliant. They don’t let their standard drop and - despite the fact that they’re Microsoft - they still make a brilliant case for working for them. They don’t rely on reputation: their blogging angle is exceptional, and their wider use of blogs (despite a lot of initial negativity) is something we’d like to see encouraged by other companies.

Having said that, we’re more than likely to be wrong. We’ll let you know the results.

Well, good morning and good Monday. The sun is out and as we’re high on energy, we thought we’d carry on where we left off last week and moan about something. Today, we’ll mostly be moaning about be “Fast Time Architecture”.

Never heard of Fast Time Architecture? Hey, you’re missing out. What is it?

Well, here’s the official definition:

A client’s requirements are reviewed by a senior account executive and assigned to pre-screeners. Pre-screeners utilize a Boolean search string in conjunction with a dynamic search engine to comb our vast database. This allows us to focus directly on technical requirements and generate a list of likely candidates.

Why is it this week’s catchphrase of the week?

Because the creators of the phrase (and of the notion too) have been really annoying us.

Based in California, no less, CGT Consulting manage to prove that the traditional spam tactics which have given recruiters such a bad name aren’t restricted to the UK’s shores.

We get e-mails from different Consultants at CGT every week. Here is this week’s version:

Hi

[name removed]
CGT Consulting Inc.
[phone number removed]
www.cgt-consult.com

So let’s get this straight. These guys are specialists at recruiting for any position of any type.

And they’re so good at it, they can even supply a recruitment company like ours with Contract and Permanent IT/Engineering staff. How did we get on their database? Do they even know who we are? It really is ridiculous.

From what we can work out, the business model here goes something like this….

Step One: Mass-mail an e-mail to every company in database every week
Step Two: Wait for responses. Hey, we’re bound to get a couple
Step Three: Keyword search against a CV database
Step Four: Send out every single CV with the relevant keyword in.

Call the whole thing “Fast Time Architecture”. That sounds clever.

We call it spamming.

Now here’s a story we can get our teeth into….

For those too busy to click the link, it’s all about a new system being set up called the “National Staff Dismissal Register”, which is a system where an employer can log the details of any member of staff who was fired or who resigned from their post as a result of theft, dishonesty or damage or a central register.

We stumbled upon this story quite by accident, but quite why there’s not more of a fuss being made it is beyond us (hey, maybe we’ve all been too interested in the Mayoral elections or the Champions League to care about something important and potentially damaging…), so we thought we’d have a go at…well, kicking off about it.

The general idea behind this is clear. You have a member of staff who is *accused* (this is the key part…wait for it) of doing something dishonest and is subsequently fired or resigns before going through a disciplinary. The employer in question then logs this person on this dishonesty database which other employers can check before offering them a job at any point in the future. This means that other companies reduce their risk of hiring dishonest people who might cause harm or damage at work. Clever? Maybe.

What’s absolutely not clever is that an employee (or ex-employee) can have their details registered even if they haven’t been convicted of a crime by the police.

WHAT? Er, what happened to innocent until proven guilty?

This is a solution so ridiculous that it deserves all the scorn that will inevitably be thrown at it - after it’s been implemented at great cost of course.

We can imagine thousands of people wrongly accused of stealing toilet rolls being literally incapable of finding a new job because of this - even though they have no criminal background and have never been shown to have committed an offence. Or, even worse - a company putting an ex-employee on the list just because their boss really didn’t like them….

We’re sure that there’s a few multinationals out there who earn scandalous profits despite paying their front-line workers miserable pay (ahem) who would benefit from this. However, we’ve got a couple of other suggestions as to how to solve this problem without having the side-effect of possibly ruining an innocent person’s career:

1) Let your competitors hire the people who you think stole from you
Seriously. If they are indeed guilty, then it’s your competitors who will lose out, isn’t it? Where’s the love-in come from?

2) Well, like, take a reference….
Last time we checked it was perfectly legal to mention in a reference that you fired someone. Have you tried actually taking a reference? It’s something you should think about maybe.

Of course, we’re not condoning stealing from your employer. But surely someone in a position of genuine authority must recognise the damage this could do? Please? First it’s checking people’s MySpace profiles for skeletons in the closet - now it’s this. What happened to hiring the best person for the job? Honestly, we haven’t heard or anything this silly all week.

In other news, we’ve just part-launched our new job-search functionality over here. Check out http://www.idealpeople.net/candidates/index.php. We’ll have a job search bar on the blog, just as soon as we’ve figured out how.

Happy hunting!

We’ve had quite a few enquiries about the difficulties of obtaining UK work permits recently - and we’ve promised to post some information relevant to those who are interested.

Despite the widespread myth that immigration is a “problem” in the UK, and that - for some reason - people come to the UK purely to claim benefits (a claim so ridiculous we can’t help but chuckle), it’s actually very difficult for anyone outside of the EU to come and work in the UK. We deal with a lot of very highly skilled migrants, and as such can offer you a relatively good view of what problems you’re likely to encounter when seeking work in the UK under any kind of permit.

By far and away the best type of work permit you can get for the UK job market *used to be* the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) visa. The HSMP’s major advantage was that it didn’t require any investment or significant effort on the part of any potential future employer. Once you had it in hand (and you could apply before even arriving in the UK), you were free to work for any UK employer, for upto four years - and could extend it beyond that providing you were in continuous employment. After five years of working in the UK, any foreign national can apply for permanent residency.

Unfortunately, from April 2008, the UK government is phasing out the HSMP. This will inevitably cause untold problems to those already working under the HSMP, but that’s a different subject altogether - although check out the Voice of Britain’s Skilled Immigrants website for more information and an interesting update…

The government’s new scheme allows people to work in the UK under what they’ve called the “Tier 1 (General) highly skilled workers”. (Great name, eh?) This, for all intents and purposes, is exactly the same as the old HSMP, just with a different name. To apply for this type of right to work in the UK, you must be able to show how highly skilled you are by achieving 75 points on the UK Immigration Agency’s points scale - with points being awarded for academic qualifications, previous earnings, previous experience and your ability to speak to English “language” (excuse the quote around the term “language”, but this author finds it offensive - a post for another day maybe..). Full details of what points you get for what are available from three different web pages - here, here and here. Why they can’t just put all this on one page is beyond us, but hey. There’s also a complete guide to applying, which you could download from the above website, but finding the link is an absolute nightmare. So you can download it from us instead by clicking here. Please note that we’re just changing our web-hosts so it might take a day or two for this download to be available please bear with us.

So, if you’re not completely lost by now (oh - one thing we forgot - there’s an eligibility calculator you can use just here, then it’s worth having a serious look at this scheme. We’d much rather it was still called the HSMP, but that shouldn’t stop you.

There are other ways of getting to work in the UK. Probably the most obvious is to get a Business and Commercial Work Permit. This allows you to be employed by a UK employer for a specific job. The problem with this is that it requires significant effort and some investment from a future employer - and where things get tricky is that the employer must be able to prove that there are no suitably qualified UK residents who can do the job. We know from bitter experience how hard this is, and as such many employers are reluctant to go down this route. Generally, the best way to go about this is to actually apply for a job that you look especially suited to, and mention that you need a work permit. It’s a long and arduous process though.

There are many other ways of getting into the UK and working here. The International Graduates Scheme (IGS) is one way - although it’s only open to recent graduates and only allows a one-year stay. This is problematic because not many employers will want to employ you just for one year, and getting a longer permit under the new points-based scheme is far from guaranteed at the end of the permit.

There are other options too - although none of them are particularly good avenues for technology professionals.

So there you have it - we’re off for a bit of a lie-down after trying to unravel that. All that’s left to say is good luck, and feel free to get in touch, subscribe to the blog for e-mail updates, or register your details with us here.

Happy hunting….

If you enjoyed this morning’s little story, check out the sequel - again, from Hereisthecity.com…

‘Never busier’, Ronnie lied.

‘Phew! That was close,’ Ronnie said to his silent colleague as soon as they exited the building. ‘I thought that she was going to sling us off that bloody list there and then. I think it was the bit about being a general niche provider with global reach that won her over in the end, you know. Now, how the hell do we get back to Croydon from here ?’

Wonderful stuff…