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History repeating itself

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

History has a weird habit of repeating itself.

When I studied economics, we were told by our professor that not only the economy moved in cycles, but that events repeated itself, be it in different places and with different players.

When you look at what is happening in Europe you can see history happening all over again. The European economy suffers from over-inflated credit, financial and property markets. Japan suffered a similar situation in the late 1980's and they 'lost' a decade.

When you look at what happened in Japan we can see what might (will?) be happening in Europe.

Pensions
Governments and companies will reduce their funding of pensions and employees will have to pick up the bill themselves. Various governments have also increased the retirement age, meaning that people will have to pay longer into their retirement funds and start benefiting from them later.

More job insecurity
As the number of people in secure, permanent jobs will decrease, the number of people in part-time and freelance jobs will increase. Companies will want to remain competitive and this is one way of doing that. Germany for instance coped with the crises by reducing the number of hours people worked in order to save their jobs. In Holland more people became self employed in their own jobs enabling companies to be more flexible.

Technology will increasingly enable companies to do things faster with fewer people, meaning that middle management positions will increasingly disappear. This will also lead to lower pay and increased workloads as fewer middle managers will have to deal with more lower educated staff, doing more work.

Lower job satisfaction
All these downward pressures mean that there will be fewer jobs for graduates, something already obvious in the UK job market. It will result in more graduates taking on non-graduate jobs, pushing lesser educated people into even lower paid jobs. People will end up feeling not very satisfied with the work they do. On top of that the pay gap will widen as evidenced in the UK. Bankers are in a position to pick up (Or reject, be it under duress, Steven Hester @ RBS) million pound bonuses where the average worker sees the cost of living increase and their salaries not keeping pace. Another side effect will be that graduates will start emigrating to countries where they will be paid according to their educational level. Lots of Irish graduates are moving to Australia and a similar brain drain is going from Portugal to Brazil.

Is it all bad news?
Yes and no, it depends on how you look at things. If you're willing to move where the jobs are, learn another language, set up your own company, widen your experience beyond what you were trained for and be pro-active, you will be able to carve out a future for yourself. The main thing is not wait until work comes your way. It might never come.

So, research your industry. Which companies are growing, where are they based, what type of people do they need, are there new, fast growing companies? Can you form a new company with colleagues? Think outside the box, be willing to look at work in a different way and take new challenges in your stride.

The economic downturn might cause a lot of negativity, but there is always an upside. Look for the upside and you will have a thriving career. (But it might not be the career you originally set out for....)

Finding a Finance Job during the Recession

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:58:39 GMT

Finding a Finance Job during the Recession

With all the doom and gloom in the news about employment this week, thanks in no small part to the global financial meltdown, it’s easy to assume that jobs in finance are few and far between. We tell students that finance is a good sector to enter but this arguably only applies when the economy is stable.

Today’s financial climate means that many people are questioning their desire to enter a banking, finance or accountancy job. Banks might have lost some wealth and power, but they continue to be incredibly important to the economy. Without business loans and credit the economy will stagnate so it’s in all our interests to ensure that the financial sector is functioning effectively. Is it silly to consider a career in finance when we are in the middle of a recession?

Spam alert.....

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

We're getting reports again that people, especially in the Netherlands and Belgium, are being inundated with spam, allegedly coming from us. However, the spammer uses 'eurojobsnet.com' or 'europjobs.nl' or other email addresses that are similar to our email addresses. These spam messages have nothing to do with Eurojobs.com.

Eurojobs.com only sends out a confirmation message after someone has registered on the site and that's all the email you would generally get from us.

However, there seems to be a Russian spammer who abuses our domain name and sends out messages that claim to come from us.
You can check who the real sender is by opening the extended header of the email message and then use that IP address to perform an IP address check. This will generally reveal the ISP the spammer uses. The ISP should address the problem caused by the spammer through banning him from sending email through the ISP. Please complain with the ISP as this is the only way to permanently remove this nuisance.

In order to stop these messages you could also:

1. Ask your email provider to implement SPF (Sender Policy Framework) in order to distinguish between fake and real email messages. Once this is in place a mail server can see if messages actually come from the sender or whether it is spam.
This will stop the flow of spam messages immediately. Eurojobs.com is SPF compliant.

2. Create a filter in your email program for the email address they used, or use free programs such as Mailwasher to filter spam.

3. If you use Thunderbird or Outlook, download the Thunderbird SPF extention or a filter such as SpamFighter to verify if the sender of the email are who they claim they are.

4. If you are using BT/Yahoo or Ymail do the following:

Send an an email to abuse@bt.com and copy the long (extended) header of your email into this message. This contains information as to where the email originated. You will probably get a nondescript, automated reply from BT stating that you should ban the domain. Don't ban the domain as this means you will be banning another victim of this type of scam and you will still be blasted by spam.

(BT will only realise what they are advising when a BT.com address gets spoofed in a spam message and they tell you to ban BT.com. Pretty stupid advice!)

What BT/Yahoo really should do is implement the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) properly, so the amount of spam reaching your inbox reduces dramatically. SPF checks if the email comes from the authenticated IP address linked to the domain. If not, the email is spam and should be binned automatically.

If BT fobs you off, send them another email demanding they implement SPF automatically rather than leaving it up to you to activate it.

BT/Yahoo SpamGuard (For what it's worth)

Keep SpamGuard turned on. To check if it’s on:

Click Options in the upper-right corner of your Mail page.
Click Spam from the list on the left.
In the “SpamGuard” section, next to “Control SpamGuard,” do you see a check in the box beside “Automatically send suspected spam to my Spam folder”? If so, great! SpamGuard is ON. If not, turn it on by placing a check in that box.
In the area above your spam options, click Save Changes.

Also in the “SpamGuard” section, you can specify how often you’d like Yahoo to empty your Spam folder (They do it automatically once a month, but you have options to empty it faster), and you can indicate your preference for showing – or blocking – images. Image blocking is another effective way to fend off spam!

How can you report spam on Yahoo?

Easy! Don’t open a spam message. Just click inside the check-box next to it, then click Spam to let Yahoo know it’s something you’d rather not ever see again. Yahoo pays a lot of attention to spam you report to them. It gives them tools to disrupt the latest tricks and techniques that spammer individuals and spammer companies are using to try to evade the Yahoo filters.

Reports of spam originating from a Yahoo! Mail account (i.e.,user@domain.com) receive their special attention. Since spamming is expressly prohibited in Yahoo!’s Terms of Use, any account caught spamming will be canceled.

If you change your mind or think you made a mistake, just look for the next message from that sender in your Bulk folder and click Not Spam to reverse your vote.

Report spam on other sites:

You can report spammers on iPillion.com

Jobs in Information Security

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Information Security refers to the protection of our information from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction and it has never been more important. With more and more of us using the internet for banking, information storage, discussing our lives and actions via social media, it can be scary to think about how much information is held about us online. Even scarier is to think about who can see this information. Nearly all organisations collect and gather information about employees. Social media sites like Facebook and Myspace hold information about your sex, age, job, school, area, your friends etc, whilst many different sites will have your credit or debit card details if you have purchased something from them.

Identity theft is an increasing concern as just one slip in information security can lead to your details being leaked. It is unsurprising that we, as consumers, are becoming more and more wary about who and where we give out our information.

Just look at the recent case with Sony. In April, Sony admitted that it had lost large amounts of customer data, which could possibly have included financial information, after a major hacking operation into its PlayStation Network service. The company acknowledged that all 70 million users may have had their name, address, country, email address, birth date, PlayStation Network/Qriocity passwords and log-ins, and handle/PSN online ID stolen. Although this, it is believed, was done by hackers, this was just one example of the threat of personal information being leaked.

Sony has just recently announced that they have employed a former Department of Homeland Security official to head up its information security and privacy issues. This measure shows how seriously Sony has taken the leaks.

Working in this sector can be both interesting and rewarding. Information security jobs are amongst the most important in the world and can be amongst the best paid. Companies are taking a lot more care with these issues as a lack of information security will only serve to hurt both the customer and the company. Businesses won’t want the negative press that comes with a breach in their information’s security (like that of the Sony case) and people want to be able to trust the people who hold their information.

More and More Brits are Considering a Move Abroad

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:51:07 GMT

A recent study by the Post Office has shown that over 50% of British people are considering or have considered moving abroad. With the recent economic downturn and the threat of things getting even worse this figure seems pretty realistic. We were warned by experts about a double dip recession and by the look of things they were right.

Unemployment figures are at a phenomenal height and figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in the 3 months leading up to July this year UK unemployment rose by 80,000 to 2.51 million. Perhaps most significant is the increase in youth unemployment which rose from 78,000 to 973,000. It therefore seems reasonable that more and more people are considering moving abroad.

Working in Wealth Management

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:07:13 GMT

Wealth Management is an extremely important part of people’s lives. It can be described as the integration of a person’s investment, tax and estate plans into an all-encompassing plan to accomplish their individual objectives. People want to know that their money is doing the best it possibly can for them, that it is ‘working’ for them i.e that it is making them more money. There are hard decisions to make and it can be difficult, especially if you are new to investing and don’t know where to start. In this case people seek out help from a financial advisor.

But why work in wealth management? James Anderson, a financial advisor for Welbeck Group, a financial planning and wealth management company in London believes that it can be extremely interesting and hugely rewarding, “You get to see what happens, understand people's money, how the news relates to people's financial circumstances. You get to see the whole picture and of course helping people shape their future.”

International Prospects for Women

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:26:15 GMT

International Prospects for Women

A recent survey done by Natwest International Personal Banking showed that 83% of women believed that working abroad has helped them advance further in their career. Working abroad is believed to demonstrate a good attitude in facing new challenges that come with such a career move. Furthermore, opportunities may be available in other countries that their home country may not offer these women; therefore international relocation does appear as a positive step up the career ladder for many. There is also a great amount of enthusiasm shown by women who want to work abroad and expand their horizons.

How to apply in the digital age

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:52:36 GMT

How do you apply in a digital format?

These days the majority of your documents will be in digital format. And you will have left traces behind on social media sites such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. You might have placed some holiday photos or pictures of a work do on a site. Or you might have recorded a video CV and put this on YouTube. Recruiters will be able to track all this down on-line and see what you've been up to. (That is if you have used your real name for all these sites.)

So, how do you present yourself when so much information about you is already available online? Colorado Technical University (a university on the other side of the pond) has created a really nice bit of information about what to mention in and how to create the perfect CV.

Have a look:

European democracy in doldrums

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 02:41:57 GMT

European democracy in tatters?

Just a few of the headlines in the last few days:

- Coulson arrested over NOTW phone hacking scandal
- French police begin investigating second Strauss-Kahn case
- If I could, I would leave office now, says Berlusconi
- Court to decide on Lagarde ‘misconduct’ inquiry
- Yulia Tymoshenko, former Ukrainian PM in court for pre-trial hearing over abuse of power

It looks like a trend in Europe these days. Get a powerful job, then abuse the power that comes with it. Regardless of whether people are elected to high office or have been promoted to powerful positions in business, European ‘leaders’ seem to have got a real taste for abusing their power for their own good.

Why is this happening?

How NOT to apply for a job in Europe

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:56:20 GMT

How do you apply for a job in Europe?

When you want to find a job in Europe, you need to follow some standard rules of behaviour.

The main thing is that you need to convince a potential employer of your suitability for the job. This will entail your education, experience in previous jobs, your personality and whether you can be relied on.

You start by checking if the requirements described in the advert are covered by your experience. If not, don't apply. Employers have to wade through piles of totally irrelevant applications in order to find the right candidate. If they are looking for an Microsoft .Net engineer, don't apply if you're a gardener. There is an obvious gap in your experience and you won't be able to do the job.

Employers in Europe can only hire people who posses the correct paperwork. If they don't, they will get fined heavily. So make sure you have your paper work in order. Check our other blog posts to see what is required.

Don't pester employers. If you keep on ringing begging for a job, you make sure they will NOT hire you as they will be put off by your insistent calling. Do not expect employers to call you back just because you want to speak to them. They have no reason to speak to you when you call them out of the blue. If you were an employer, would you be tempted to call back someone who does not leave their name, contact details or email address? Or obviously won't have the right experience?

Listen to this message: Desperate caller

This call is violating several European standards of behaviour. He does not leave his name. He does not mention which job he is applying for. He does not even mention his experience or if he is allowed to work in Europe and the fact that he rung several times on a Sunday indicates that he has no idea what is expected in Europe. The chances that he will be rung back and eventually might secure a job are zero.

Do your home work. Make sure you fit the requirements perfectly. Don't give an employer a reason not to speak to you. It's a simple sales process. You are the "goods" that are for sale. Make it attractive to the potential buyer (the employer).

You wouldn't want to buy something that doesn't fit your own needs or that annoys you, would you?

So, put yourself in the position of the employer and ask yourself: "Why would I want to hire me?"