Salmon Smokehouse Further Job Boost

A Seafood firm which has featured in our blog previously continues to grow  with the announcement of the creation of 25 new jobs .James Smokehouses based in Annan ,Dumfriesshire is adding a new production line to create more ranges in it's award winning products and  is adding 25 jobs new jobs as it gears up for  new production line in its expanded facilities.
The newly developed unit will act as a  a fish filleting operation, will see the Smokehouses production boom. James Maher the company president ,  said: “What we’ve built has the capacity to do 142,000 kg a week -- and that’s only one one shift, five days a week. “Potentially you can do two shifts, and you’ve got the potential for 300,000 kg a week.”
The Recruitment drive for the line has  already taken place to add to the  50 existing staff, with Mr Maher describing that the vacancies recieved a   ‘really good response’.
And although the compnay originates in Newton Stewart in West Dumfriesshire there were was good business reasons for building  the smokehouse in Annan.He explained: “One of the original attractions for me of Annan is that there is a large number of experienced people who are already fully qualified and trained and experienced in the fish industry and working with food products.”
James Smokehouses also have a base in Miami,  James Smokehouse distributes products around the world, which includes Australia,  Portugal within the last week and shortly in Saudi Arabia, while attending trade shows in Amsterdam and Brussels.
And the company too ,is looking to add to the two awards it won in last year’s Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards, nominated in the categories Retail Fish and Food Service at the 2012 ceremony taking place on May 24.

Technicians Boost!

Great news for job seekers! Employers back new Commitment to professional technicians A new formal Commitment to professional technicians has been launched following an 18 month employers’ review revealing an alarming gap between the number of technicians in the UK and the 450,000 skilled roles that will need to be filled if the economy is to recover and continue to compete internationally.
The technicians, skilled to a professional level, are needed to fill roles in engineering, science, medicine and many other technical occupations by 2020 but there are currently only about 15,000 people sufficiently qualified to take those jobs.
The review was undertaken by the Technician Council, a government funded body tasked with making recommendations on the future of technicians.
It sets out eight practical recommendations for action, which will be delivered through this new Commitment backed by UK employers, professional bodies and sector skills councils.
The Commitment, launched by Steve Holliday, CEO of National Grid plc and Chairman of the Technician Council, is supported by Oliver Letwin MP, Minister for Government Policy advice, and John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning. They hope that the enhanced recognition, rewards and lifelong learning opportunities will encourage more young people to embark on a career in technical skills.
The Technician Council’s recommendations are aimed at providing clear, structured career paths for technicians. They strengthen the infrastructure underpinning the registration and professional development of technicians, provide active support and increase the pool, status, transferability and diversity of professional technicians across all sectors of industry.

Click here to see Steve Holliday explain morehttp://www.broadcastexchange.tv/live/employers-back-new-commitment-to-professional-technicians

Would Scottish Independence adversely affect job prospects in Scotland?

My answer to this question is I don’t know and despite what all the politicians tell us, unless they possess Psychic abilities no one actually knows but, I hope that I give a more balanced outlook than someone who has a already formed a strong opinion; because as we know when someone is in either of these highly passionate camps they tend not to want to see the other perspective.

So lets look at :

Yes it would

In the period leading up to the independence vote in Autumn 2014, experience tells us that there may well be some external companies that who may have thought about coming to Scotland who would now think twice in this unsettling period. Primarily because they are not sure of what they would be getting into and what sort of political landscape an independent Scotland could sustain. This is backed up by the fact that in the period leading up to the last General / Scottish elections there was a definite lull in job vacancies being posted. This was further exacerbated in the period after the election, when spending cuts were to be announced by both the Westminster Government and the Scottish Government. This period was definitely the dead zone in terms of job vacancies. So it would be logical to assume that another period of electoral uncertainty would have the same affect.

Even though the proposed voting date on Scottish Independence has been suspiciously proposed to coincide with when we might be at our most nationalistic and euphoric, having just hopefully hosted a (hopefully) successful Commonwealth Games, the 700^th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn and hosting the Ryder Cup. There may be feel-good factor within Scotland, but this is not likely to influence external investors who will take a much more strategic view. It may well be that many external investors decide to not come immediately to an independent Scotland and take a ‘wait and see’ approach as they can still have a presence on this island in England or Wales.

After a yes vote, how inward investment is managed and how open we are as a nation to managing, attracting and maintaining external investors will be the key. Even if all the factors are there in terms of possible investors, how do we as a nation deal with them or do we make it so difficult in terms of demands that they go elsewhere. This is significant in terms of the red tape and restrictions around setting up in business in an independent Scotland and the attitude of the workforce.

No it wouldn’t

The argument of the pro independents is that Scotland has the natural resources, workforce and will to go it alone. The nationalists have provided figures stating that we can easily pay for ourselves and that we currently contribute more to the UK than we take out. However the anti – independents can produce equally valid, sexy and impressive figures to say the exact opposite.

However if we believe the argument that we can pay for ourselves then why wouldn’t we look like a good bet for companies to set up in? The plan is that corporation tax would be lower and that incentives would be high. . If we make it easy and inviting with a willing workforce then coming to a Scotland with something to prove may be an attractive draw

Where there are significant public sector cuts currently, it may well be that an independent Scotland may have to have a significant recruitment drive in order to have the political infrastructure that an independent nation requires. These roles include embassies etc

Unlike many who are currently writing on the pros and cons of an independent Scotland, I am very willing to say that I cannot call it on the question of jobs as I can see both sides of the argument both for and against. I honestly think that it will depend on our attitude and willingness to work particularly with inward investors but also the facilities and monitoring processes to grow home grown businesses.

Part 2 -Mcholmes in St Andrews

The job detective has sent us another snap from his holiday album,here savouring the atmosphere at golf's most famous landmark,the Swilken Bridge on the Old Course St Andrews,where many a golfer dreams to tread ....Keep your eyes peeled for wayward balls though Mcholmes!!

The job detective holiday snaps- Part 1

The job detective ,Sherlock Mcholmes who found employment through this site ,recently sent us here at Scottishjobsonthe.net ,some snaps from his recent break in Scotland.This time the detective visited Fife which indeed boasts an array of attractions ,which Mcsherlock captured in some of his shots:

Sherlock posing on a windy afternoon at Anstruther.Famous amongst other things for fishing and fish and chips.

Even the super sleuth couldnt unlock this mysterious secret from the Cold War.The Secret Bunker attraction ,St Andrews.

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