What a year so far !!

What a year so far !

Here at Epitome we have had a fantastic year so far, Quarter 1 was our best quarter to date and May is looking like being our best month. So imagine our delight today when we received a letter to let us know we have been shortlisted as finalists for the Recruitment Innovator of the year at The Irish News Workplace and Employment Awards!!

We are so pleased to be shortlisted as this award acknowledges the fresh and new initiative which we are championing here in Northern Ireland.

Having worked within traditional recruitment agencies for a combined 25 years the consultants in Epitome are passionate about our new and modern approach. We are moving away from the traditional and becoming a trend setter, introducing a new model of managing recruitment campaigns.

But differentiating yourself in an overcrowded market can be a hard task, just think of the CVs you receive when advertising a vacancy, we see it every day with the applications we screen. Candidates can be very inventive to make themselves stand out from the crowd, they might use coloured banners, different fonts, larger fonts, pictures of themselves, and logos of the companies they have worked in,  I even had someone put their job title as “Time Traveller” this week and his name did not start with The Doctor!

So understanding how hard it can be to ‘stand out’ we are thrilled to get this recognition and be short listed in such a coveted competition. The best feedback however is that from our customers, we receive calls each week from new companies who have been referred by existing  clients, companies who are bored with their traditional methods and need to try something new.

We hope that the year continues as it has began, we will keep on preaching about our ‘different’ approach to recruiting and hope that all our followers keep their fingers crossed that we move from nominees to winners at the Awards in June!

Now on that note.....what will I wear....

Victoria Adams, Epitome Recruitment

Green shoots! Has spring sprung?

Maybe we’re being optimistic but the treacherous rain of the last few months seems to be slowly subsiding. The fields around us have new lambs and the trees have new buds. I saw snowdrops in my garden and there are cream eggs on the shop shelves...so has spring sprung?

Technically as I write this the answer is no, did you know spring doesn’t actually start until 20^th March but with less than three weeks to go before we spring to the end of another financial year have you already planned what your company will be doing for the new financial year that is nearly here. Whether you are blossoming like the daffodils or recovering like our battered sandy coastline, you really need to get those plans together now and within that you really should be planning about what key personnel you need to bring into your team to ensure you achieve all your goals for the coming financial year.

Our own winter was pretty full on, new staff joined the team and then we moved to our new bigger office (with a sea view), it has been the busiest January and February to date so it would be easy for us to forget about the next quarter and revel in the success we have had so far this year, but we all know that’s where the danger lies. Forward planning is the key to all business success regardless of your sector, even those sectors that are reactionary need to forward plan to a degree. So if you are thinking of taking on staff in April don’t leave it until the last week in March before you advertise thinking you’ll get someone quickly, recruiting staff is just like planting flowers , you need to sow the seeds early to ensure you get the best blossom! 

We believe the green shoots in our industry are certainly showing and this is brilliant news for everyone because if recruiters are busier then it means companies are hiring and the economy is certainly showing signs of, dare we say recovery.

Roll on spring and use it well to prepare for what we hope will be a blazing summer.

Victoria Adams, Business Development Manager, Epitome Recruitment