Fishing Industry Scotland 2012

Scotland has long had an association with the sea and fishing, as an island you would expect nothing else but for centuries it’s relationship has been a success commercially as the country possessed a fishing fleet, the envy of the world catching shellfish and whitefish for dinner tables here and for restautants around Europe. This relationship still remains a reality today but Scotlands fishing industry experienced a malaise and as it has had to compete with European boats which fish our seas. As well as the quota and tie up system whereby boats are limited on days at sea, the limits on certain specias such as Cod, which has been taqrgetted for many decades by fleets and has saw its catch numbers fall. In recent years the cod numbers has been protected with the implementation of the European "Cod Recovery Plan " this has caused whitefish or Demersal fleet to fall by more than half from 800 vessels to around 350.

In 2009 there were around 5,448 fishermen fishing in Scottish waters, a drop of 26 per cent since 1997. Nonetheless the expertise and skill of the countries fleet and industry as a whole cannot be questioned. Scottish boats provide around 60 % of the UK’s total catch, with the main activity at remote harbours such as Lochinver, Fraserburgh, Lerwick, Kinlochbervie and Scrabster. Fishing has always been a mainstay of the rural areas of Scotland accompanying farming as an important employer.

A major contrubutor of the Scottish fishing industry is fish processing which accounts for around 50% of total turnover and is the biggest employer within the industry as a whole. An important factor is that it provides work for women in what is mostly a male dominated industry.

The importance of fish processing goes beyond the working ports and harbours of the North abut has also bolstered the economic makeup of the central belt and the South. It is in the South this week which has seen developments helping the regions economy and jobs growth.

St James Smokehouse based in the Annan, Dumfrieshire has seen report strong exports as they prepare to open a new unit which will see 20 jobs created with the strong hope that will double that number once the plant is fully operational. The plant produces smoke salmon products for European and North American markets.
Another operation in the town Scallops Direct, the newly formed Shell fish operation, say they will shortly be recruiting after surviving a choppy start to business. Scallops Direct founder Geoff Tunstall said: “The business has had a bit of a stop-start time, partly due to some stormy weather which meant the boats could not get out and in particular due to a seemingly arbritary block on scallop fishing throughout the UK by the Government which lasted about three weeks in early November.”Scallops Direct offers employment for the long-term unemployed or people disadvantaged through disability, age or mental illness. Looking to add three new workers to the workforce of seven in the coming weeks, Mr Tunstall said: “We hope to shortly introduce value added products such as scallops packed with sauces and herbs and expand into the retail sector.”
jobs in the Scottish fishing industry currently include off shore roles including Crewmen,deck hand,Skipper ,galley man,winchman .Onshore jobs include factory processor,filleter,winkel harvester,cockle picker and picker

Graduates and Job searching in Scotland

In today’s world having a degree does not guarantee a job and therefore it is very important to have a strategy for finding the right graduate job. Where a degree is a vocational degree it is likely, of course, that a graduate will have a clear direction in terms of their degree, however where a degree is business related or the Arts or Social Sciences or even Mathematics and Sciences then graduates may be looking for specific graduate roles or programmes.
Many graduates wait until after their exams before even thinking about applying for roles, however in today’s world that can mean ‘if you’re not fast you’re last!’ and those that get off the starting block early get the traditional established graduate programmes. The university Milk Round is a good starting point for these roles and some of these employers are looking for graduates that they believe are focused and organised enough to be studying for exams as well as filling in application forms and attending interviews, as it is this level of organisation and flexibility they are looking for in potential managers within their company..
Where you are using other methods to locate a job, it’s important that you have a plan to follow as finding a job is a full time job!
1. Make a list of companies you would like to work for and go on each individual website and find out if they have a graduate programme and apply from there
2. For public sector jobs, individual council or civil service websites and websites such as Scottish Jobs on the Web are some of the best ways of locating public sector programmes
3. If there are particular companies you want to work for and they don’t have a graduate programme, it is worth sending a speculative CV and covering letter and then following up with a phone call to try to get at least a meeting.
4. Where you have had a work placement whilst at university / college, assuming you have done a good job generally means that you will have some sort of advantage in that they know you and trust you, even if you have to go through the official recruitment programme.
For Graduate programmes its worth remembering that for many there is the implication that graduates will be ambitious and therefore will be willing to move for promotion and this is likely to include London as most companies will have their head office in London and graduates should decide if this is in their short to medium term plans before going down this road.
For most employers, experience is a key attribute which makes it more difficult for graduates to go straight into a mainstream job. However Scottish Enterprise run a scheme whereby graduates may be able to get paid experience in established companies on short term projects. Whilst obviously a permanent opportunity is the ideal, this is a way of gaining experience, ‘trying’ different roles and also determining whether you may want to work for a particular company if the opportunity arises and endearing yourself if it does!
It may seem obvious, but experience of any sort is better than no experience to most employers. Some graduates concentrate totally on their studies whilst at University and don’t take the opportunity to get a weekend or summer job, this is a big mistake as traditionally graduate programmes have a high dropout rate in the first year; and whilst the current economy may make that less of a problem, the fact is that employers are more comfortable when a graduate has a track record of having maintained a job whilst at university than not. Having had a job throughout university indicates that the graduate understands the work place and the difference between studying and working.
So no longer is it enough to have a degree to get a job, graduates now need a focused strategy in terms of job hunting just like everyone else, if not even more so as they are not going with experience and when jobs are scarce employers are generally go for someone they know do the job immediately.

Lesley Malcolm, Director, Clearwater Brookes Ltd, 0141 582 1474
Clearwater Brookes are a Human Resources and Training and Development organisation that specialises in management development, leadership, employee development and executive coaching

Office Party Time ..Again!

Well it is nearly upon us the time to eat, drink and be merry with your work colleagues and superiors at the office bash. The aim is to have a jolly good time but not rock the applecart and potentially destroy your standing within the company. So here at Scottishjobsonthe.net we have came up with several key things to keep in mind which won’t stop you from having fun but will stop the demon drink causing you deep regret:
Don’t Do’s
Dress up like you are off to a rave!
As it is a ‘social ‘occasion it seems an obvious choice to dress up as if you are on a night out with your friends. To be honest avoid dressing up as if it was a Saturday night at a club or local pub ,as this bash is still a work event so treat it with that respect. The work night out has people of all levels of seniority present so remember that dress code should be checked beforehand. Smart casual a safe bet.
Drink like a Fish
Despite it being the season to be merry, don’t take this too literally on the night .Free drink leads to an attitude of a free spirit and this can lead to a loose tongue!
You may be a seasoned entertainer and be comfortable with your work mates but on this night of all a different type of pressure and atmosphere can occur .Have a dance have a laugh but at all costs avoid being offensive or behaving inappropriately as this could ,at best make you the main topic of gossip in the office. At worst it could lead to discipline
Become romantic with a colleagueWe all have feelings towards people but xmas and drink can make these feelings grow and if you are single and have thoughts of getting it on .Stop and beware. Any advances towards your
This is a tricky one. For singles, the office party may seem like the perfect opportunity to express your heart felt attraction to another...brakes on here! Perhaps best to wait till out of work time to express your feelings of love or similar!
Do's
Attend the PartyFor many the office party is their type of purgatory and is the last thing they want to attend. Non participation will be noted by your colleagues but also more importantly management will have noticed your no show. Our advice is bite the bullet and go. This is an opportunity to meet your managers on a more informal note and can be an excellent chance to make a good impression on them and lets them get to know you as well as you getting to know them. It is a good time to tell them how much you love the job and the company .Gold star on report card should be in the post thereafter.Chance to network you may feel you know your work colleagues and managers but here is a perfect opportunity to extend the real hand of friendship by chatting and sharing a joke.
This bonding and networking can allow acquaintances to become firm friends and additionally cement your place at work as one of the good guys.
In summary whatever you decide to do enjoy yourself and remember make it a night to remember for the right reasons!

The Job Detectives Holiday Snaps

Earlier this year Sherlock Mcholmes featured in a you tube video for Scottish Jobs On The Net as he decided that he wanted a change of career .And it seems the job detective got that new job and has been on a deserved holiday to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland .He kindly sent us some snaps from his travels.

Here he is at Royal Portrush ,home of the 2010 US Open champion Graeme Mcdowell.

A windy Coastal View from the West Coast!

Here at Killybegs in the West Coast of Ireland,a friendly fishing port.

On his way to a day trip to Donegal.

So looks like the Job detective has had a good holiday and it wasn't long ago when he was unemployed and looking for a new direction but thanks to his online job search with the help of our site Scottishjobsonthe.net he has found a new career and is back enjoying life again!

Social Media and Job Hunting

Is social media stopping you from getting your dream job?
Jeff Goodwin the managing director at Internet Marketing Scotland discusses social media and the probability, of it helping you or hindering you when applying for a job.

As the unemployment rate continues to climb, when applying for a job we need to give ourselves the best opportunity possible. I wanted to take a look at social media and ask the “very important question”; Can social media help or hinder you in finding the dream job?

Social media sites have massive traffic:

• Facebook 500 million users
• Bebo 31 million
• Myspace 125 million users
(Depending on source of information)



So it's safe to say there’s a lot of information on people out there in cyberspace. Every day we write about our daily lives on social network sites and other social networking platforms like myspace and bebo, not realising that this very content may hinder our chance of finding work.


Reports in the US have revealed recently that people are not only losing their jobs over their exploits on social networks, but that employers are not offering jobs to people based on what they find on personal blogs and social networks. Sounds unfair, but the truth is: We make our information readily accessible to anyone who knows our name.

As more social networking sites services come online and more of our day to day lives are expressed online, more research by potential employers will occur. The things you say on Facebook, Twitter or any other open social networking platform is being searched by potential employers.

A lot of people will complain about employers doing this kind of search, but let's face it, it's no different than the typical credit checks, reference checks and background searches that companies perform before taking on someone. It's so much easier for companies to find out more about people by simply searching their name online.

Some people will argue that what they do outside of work is no reflection on what you do when you're at work. But this isn't strictly true. Your professional life is also closely connected to what you do in your personal life.

Most companies want to hire an all round decent individual, someone who is mature and good at what they do. Whether they admit it or not, companies don't want to hire people who "got wasted at the weekend". Or if you make racist or sectarian comments on your Facebook profile, they may think that you're more likely to make those same comments in the workplace, which can lead to a lawsuit.

Let's be honest here, not everyone loves their job, but ranting on Facebook won't make any difference. In fact it's more likely to get you sacked.


There is a flip side to this argument. You may be a really well educated all round individual with a passion for a specific topic (In my case: SEO search engine optimisation). If you blog about your passion and potential employers see this, you're more likely to get a job.

The truth is: Your potential employers are likely to take what they find as the real you. Pictures of you getting drunk or videos of you falling around don't go down well with potential employers.

I hope this discussion will prove useful for you in the future, for more information on Internet Marketing Scotland who is one of Scotland’s leading internet marketing company’s based in Glasgow, Scotland Contact them below.


Jeff Goodwin at Internet Marketing Scotland. Please contact him for a free, no-obligation consultation at jeff@internetmarketingscotland.com or call 0141 551 1238. His company’s website is http://www.internetmarketingscotland.com

How To Search for a job online by Lesley Malcolm

How to search for a job online

Traditionally there were various ways of finding a job; newspapers, sector specific publications, recruitment agencies, head hunters, Job Centre Plus, to name but a few and it pretty much depended on what type of role as to what method you used. However the internet has now pretty much encapsulated and overtaken everything else; for example generally if your job is in the newspaper or sector specific publication it will be on the internet as well, in fact many newspapers offer internet advertising that as part of the agreement to post in the newspaper. If you go to a recruitment agency, they will be posting roles online on their own site and on external job boards. So it’s pretty much everywhere and to not use the internet is like trying to find a job in the dark!

When you apply for most jobs on the internet you generally have to e mail your CV, so it’s important that you have an e mail address set up and that it’s an e mail address you would be happy that employers use and not something like sexygirl@...... , your name@ ..... is more appropriate.

Ensuring you get the best from your job search, it is important to maximise your search by ensuring that you input as many variations or possible job titles that you can think of. Remember that the job title you know the role as may not be what it is called elsewhere. For example an Human Resources Assistant may be a Personal Assistant, a Staff Management Assistant, an HR Officer or an HR Advisor to name but a few! So it would be sensible to input HR, Human Resources, Staff Management & Personnel to ensure you capture all possible roles.

But so that you don’t have to put in all possible titles in every time you log on to job search, most job sites generally allow you to set up a profile and input all the key search words along with other relevant factors such as geography and salary scale and they will then send you an e mail with all jobs that meet those criteria on a regular, generally daily basis. The more specific you can be in terms of titles and other factors the less likely you are to receive irrelevant e mails. For example if you just put the term engineer in, you are likely to receive many irrelevant roles and this becomes very off putting when doing your search and also may mean you actually end up missing a good role because you tend to skim your e mails as you get so much ‘junk’!

Also to refine your search you can use Boolean language – by placing words in speech marks the search will be for an exact phrase “administration manager”, without the “ “ results can feature jobs with either word.

Whilst the job site may automatically may automatically send you an e mail, it is important to not get lazy and just wait for the e mails, you should be pro actively searching on a daily basis as each job site will update their information at different times and also your job may be on multiple sites and others who are actively searching may get their CV’s off first. Whilst a canny employer would ensure that they review every CV, with the numbers of applications some companies are getting they may chose to not review anything after a very short period of time as they have so much volume, even though initially the vacancy may have been open for a longer period, they may choose to close it early.

Be clear about what you want – just trying to find ‘a job’ on the internet is a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack – there are so many! Think about either what specifically you want to do or if you are genuinely not sure, think about what skills you have and try putting them in the search engine and see what kinds of jobs come up!

Lesley Malcolm, Director, Clearwater Brookes Ltd, 0141 582 1474

Clearwater Brookes are a Human Resources and Training and Development organisation that specialises in management development, leadership, employee development and executive coaching

A Client of Scottishjobsonthe.net in the News..

LANARKSHIRE RECRUITMENT FIRM ON TRACK FOR 50 PER CENT TURNOVER BOOST

Summary: Ten Live Ltd, a Lanarkshire recruitment firm, is on track to boost turnover by 50 per cent in the next year after securing a factoring facility from Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.

LANARKSHIRE RECRUITMENT FIRM ON TRACK FOR 50 PER CENT TURNOVER BOOST

Summary: Ten Live Ltd, a Lanarkshire recruitment firm, is on track to boost turnover by 50 per cent in the next year after securing a factoring facility from Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.

The local economy is showing signs of recovery and the demand for staff has risen, as a Lanarkshire recruitment firm is set to increase turnover by 50 per cent to £3.75 million in the next year, after securing a factoring facility from Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.

Ten Live Ltd, based in Coatbridge, was established in March 2010 by four recruitment professionals who possess over 40 years of experience between them.

Currently employing nine people, the business sources both permanent and temporary staff for local companies operating in the distribution, manufacturing, industrial and engineering sectors.

The firm, which generated a £1 million increase on forecast turnover in its first year of trading, found demand was high for its services as the economy recovered, and so approached Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance for a cash flow solution to capitalise on growth opportunities.

The funder provided Ten Live with a factoring facility, which is leveraged against the value of its issued invoices to provide a steady, dependable cash flow. This assists the business during peaks and troughs which are inevitable when dealing with a variety of industries operating with different seasonal requirements.

Now Ten Live is on track to increase turnover to £3.75 million in the next year and take on four new members of staff by the end of 2012.

Gary Telfer, joint managing director of Ten Live Ltd, said: “Since we established the business 17 months ago, the demand we have seen for our services has surpassed all expectations.

“The distribution clients we provide staff for are particularly busy at the moment and to ensure our liquidity remains buoyant and able to cope with the gaps between paying wages and receiving payment from our clients, we decided to utilise the factoring facility from Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance

“As a result of this cash flow boost, we are now in a strong position to extend our reach across Scotland and expand into new sectors, as well as increase turnover.”

Rona Thomson, client manager at Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, said: “Gary and his team work hard to go the extra mile for their clients and provide recruitment services 24 hours a day to support customers.

“It is fantastic to see a business, which was established in difficult economic conditions, pushing full steam ahead to capitalise on opportunities in the recruitment sector presented by a strengthening economy and local job market.

“The factoring facility we provided is ideal for a young company like Ten Live, as it is based on issued invoices and grows in-line with sales. This enables the firm to expand at its desired rate, without worrying about the impact of growth on cash flow and day-to-day running costs.”

The company was recognised at the Lanarkshire Business Excellence awards earlier this year, taking home the best new business accolade.

Joanne and Gary with Rona Thomson of Lloyds