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With the UK unemployment rate dropping quickly to 7.1%, in the three months to November 2013, there is a strong case for optimism in the jobs market. Roughly 30.15 million people are now in work, an increase of 280,000 in the last quarter – the biggest increase since records began in the 1970s.
As we went to press, however, this month’s figures put the rate at 7.2%. This is likely to be a blip showing nothing more than that the pace at which unemployment is falling has slowed. Take heart that overall, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says jobs vacancies have risen by 75,000 since 2012 and analysts say the general trend is that the jobs market is looking rosier.
What is significant?
The number of people out of work fell by 167,000 to 2.32 million, according to the ONS. This is the biggest quarterly drop in unemployment since the autumn of 1997 and is evidence, according to Chancellor George Osborne, that the economic plan is working.
To break the statistic down further, the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance fell by 24,000 to 1.25 million in December and the number of people in part-time work because they couldn’t find full-time jobs dropped by 12,000 to 1.4 million.
Youth unemployment is still a concern, but at least it’s going in the right direction, with the number of 16-24 year old out of work decreasing by 39,000 from the previous three-month period to 920,000.
According to ONS figures, the house sales industry has reported the biggest percentage increase in job vacancies, though this represents just 3,000 actual jobs up on December 2012. In fact, it’s the motor trades sector that has seen the greatest increase in job vacancies, up by 18,000 from last year. Construction, healthcare and public administration have also contributed to the total increase in jobs vacancies of 75,000 since 2012.

Other patterns in the jobs market
As of the last quarter of 2013, some 4.3 million workers in the UK are officially self-employed, an impressive increase of 573,000 workers since the recession of 2008-09, equivalent to a rise of 15%. It’s a trend that shows no sign of abating.
Professional HR body, the CIPD, estimates that this rise in self-employment has compensated for about 40% of job-losses during recession. It is likely that without this trend, unemployment would have reached three million. And women, who represent more than half of the self-employment growth since recession, would have been particularly vulnerable.
A Home Office study also shows that the number of British workers in low-skilled jobs is now rising at a faster rate than the employment levels of foreign nationals in similar roles, reversing a 10-year trend. The report says Brits have accounted for 92% of the total rise in employment in the 12 months to September 2013.

Wages
Unemployment might be improving surprisingly fast, but wages have not been. The ONS reports that average earnings increased by 0.9% in the year to November, unchanged from the previous month. Labour leader Ed Miliband has argued that average wages are £1,600 a year lower than they were in 2010.

Intersect Global is a specialist technical recruitment company with particular expertise in the construction and infrastructure sectors.
As part of our on going expansion plans we are seeking to appoint a Recruitment Consultant to join our existing team in Central London.

The technical construction sector is an extremely lucrative market to operate in, the demand for white-collar professionals is high and Intersect Global are in an enviable position of being preferred suppliers to many of the leading contractors and consultancies in London and the South East.

What is on offer?

We are seeking the top performing recruitment consultants in the industry, people who are genuinely passionate about their careers.
Our company culture differs from most of our competitors, we offer an above average and transparent commission structure, we offer flexible working conditions and generous holiday allowances.
We are also offering the opportunity to achieve equity shares to employees who help us grow the company and achieve our goals.

The Role

This is a varied role, which offers a great deal of autonomy.
Day to day duties will include :
Identifying new business opportunities
Sourcing and pre-screening candidates
Interviewing candidates
Meeting clients
Writing copy for and posting adverts on industry websites
Networking to expand candidate and client base
Building excellent sustainable client and candidate relationships
Managing client and candidate expectations throughout the recruitment process
Managing mentoring and training other members of the team.

Experience Required
We are keen to hear from recruitment consultants with no less that two years recruitment experience, ideally gained within the construction sector although we are open to candidates from other sectors of the industry.
You will ideally be educated to Degree level and live within easy commuting distance to Central London.
Most importantly we are seeking hard working, positive enthusiastic consultants that want to work in an environment where you will be supported and encouraged to reach to full potential.

Happy New Year from Intersect Global, we hope that you enjoyed the Christmas break and are recharged and ready to tackle 2014 which is reportedly set to the biggest year of growth since the recession hit.

2013 was a good year at Intersect we are pleased to have seen employer confidence creeping back in the way of more permanent candidates being offered roles and importantly many senior appointments being made in many cases as a result of company growth.

The Construction Products Association, Experian and Leading Edge are next week expected to reveal the industry grew in 2013 after decline had been forecast over the course of last year, with stronger growth rates also expected for the following two years.
Construction Products Association economics director Noble Francis said upward revisions for last year would be largely due to significant revisions to output data from 
the Office for National Statistics.
Quarterly growth rates for the second and third quarters of 2013 leapt to 2.6 per cent from 1.9 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively.
“Unless Q4 2013 is disastrous, which we don’t anticipate it being, it would be hard to justify a negative for 2013,” he said.
Hopes for growth remain despite the UK’s battering by the worst storms in more than 20 years over Christmas and the New Year.
Aecom transportation director Paul McCormick said: “Most construction companies at the moment close down for two weeks over Christmas, and they are starting back with full workloads ahead of them.
“Overall I think the country coped remarkably well on what was a continued period of bad weather. Although it appears not to have delayed many construction projects, it will no doubt involve lots of construction professionals in clearing up and planning reactive and future mitigation schemes.”

Although this has been our first full week back after Christmas our activity reflect Paul McCormick’s comments. We have started back with a great deal of momentum with a range of fantastic career opportunities available within the civil engineering an infrastructure sectors.

If you would like to consider your career options please get in touch with Intersect we are currently recruiting for a wide range of positions from Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management to Site and Project Managers.

Infrastructure contractors have seen a significant rise in their workloads this year, with a substantial jump in new orders helping to create more jobs and stimulate the sector.

According to the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) workload trends survey for Q3 2013, 58 per cent of firms saw more work in the last 12 months compared with a year ago, while just 14 per cent reported a falling load of construction work resulting in an overall balance of +44 per cent.
As well as being a significant rise on 12 months ago, the figures are also a major increase on Q2 of this year, when the balance stood at -2 per cent.

Workload figures are now at their highest since 2007, after being in negative figures for the majority of the economic downturn, but contractors are expecting the positive conditions to continue improving, with a balance of +40 per cent predicting that they will have more work in 12 months’ time than now.
CECA director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner welcomed the boost in activity but warned that the sector is still facing certain obstacles.

“After the challenges of recent years it is encouraging to see some real growth in workloads for the UK’s civil engineering contractors,” he explained.
“We recognise that this growth has been supported by the actions of government, which has worked with industry to unlock vital infrastructure investment projects across the country.”
He went on to say it is “essential” that the wider economy returns to growth, however, and that there is “no loss of focus” on the continuing need to invest in national transport and utility networks.
Mr Reisner concluded: “A booming economy does not remove the need to tackle congestion and energy security – in fact it makes tackling these issues even more critical.”

Positive news for construction industry growth.
The construction industry has seen its fifth consecutive month of growth, according to the latest CIPS/Markit survey.
September saw the sector continue to go from strength to strength, with the report suggesting strong expansion of overall output levels, as well as further improvement in their new order books.
Despite growth seeing a slight dip during September, down from the 59.1 reported in August to 58.9, it was still above the 50 threshold that defines expansion in the industry.
Once again, it was residential construction leading the way, marking the sharpest rise in housing developments since November 2003. It seems this particular area is continuing to benefit from government schemes such as Help-to-Buy and funding for lending.
However, all three sub-sectors of construction grew last month – commercial, residential and public sector – causing Markit economist Tim Moore to say that the construction sector is “no longer the weakest link in the UK economy”.
“The third quarter of 2013 ended with output growth riding high amid greater spending on infrastructure projects and resurgent house building activity,” he added.
Furthermore, the industry experienced increased order books, helping to provide a boost to employment figures. The report revealed that the creation of construction jobs is at its fastest for almost six years.
“Moreover, builders are confident that a tide of new tender opportunities will continue to lift the construction sector in the months ahead, supported by improved development funding conditions and better underlying economic conditions,” Mr Moore continued.
“September’s survey suggested that constructors are beginning to react with confidence to the more positive landscape for the sector, as job creation and input buying both rose at robust rates over the month.”
Construction optimism has also increased among businesses, with 51 per cent expecting a rise in output in the coming 12 months. A fall in output was predicted by just under ten per cent.
We all hope for this trend to continue into 2014 and beyond.

Construction firms’ ability to recruit enough skilled staff is the only thing holding back the industry, KPMG has said in response to the latest Markit construction PMI figures.
The latest survey of construction purchasing managers showed construction output expanded in August at its fastest pace since September 2007.
KPMG UK head of infrastructure, building and construction Richard Threlfall said the results were further evidence that sentiment across the construction industry had shifted, and that the positive outlook was helping drive construction output.
“It is particularly encouraging to see the improvement not only in the residential sector but in the commercial and civils sub-sectors as well,” he said.
“The only thing that is holding the industry back now is not a lack of demand, but the ability of businesses to recruit sufficient experienced staff.
“While there’s been a lot of scepticism as to how quickly the market would recover, history suggests that once the mood changes, construction demand will rocket.
“Time to hold on to your hard hats.”
Markit’s August reading of 59.1 was up from 57.0 in July and above the ‘no change’ level of 50 for the fourth consecutive month.
Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply CEO David Noble said: “A new dawn is breaking in construction.
“The industry recorded the fastest pace of growth since 2007 in August, leaving the dark days of recession behind.”
Respondents said that the amount of public infrastructure work had grown in addition to the widely reported rise in housing demand.
The amount of new work also grew at its fastest rate since March 2012 and construction employment rose for the third month in a row.
The majority of construction firms were confident about the year ahead, with 46 per cent expecting a rise in work and 10 per cent a reduction.
They said their confidence derived from improvements to the wider economy, which had made their clients more willing to spend.
The results echo those of the Construction News Barometer survey of the views of top contractors’ chief executives, chairman and directors, which found that the industry’s leaders are hopeful turnover will return to pre-recession levels by 2015.
However, they were worried that a shortage of skilled staff and rising costs could temper the recovery.
Mr Noble said: “Builders have seen a step change in recent months and are now starting to show their true potential to the UK economy.
“Nowhere is this more true than in new business, where growth is at its second-strongest rate in almost six years, leading to more jobs and increasing confidence.
“Robust expansion can be seen in all three sub-sectors: housebuilding is rising at a rate not seen since mid-2010, commercial growth is also strong, but it is the strongest growth in six years recorded in civil engineering that is a real cause for optimism and a sure sign the sector has overcome its previous difficulties.
“This new direction brings new challenges, not least the prospect of additional work and insufficient capacity to meet demand. How the sector navigates these tensions and manages the supply chain could come to define its performance over the coming months.”
Delivery times for materials lengthened by the highest amount since June 2007, reflecting the strongest level of purchasing since March 2012.
Markit senior economist Tim Moore said: “The latest construction purchasing managers index figures are yet another indication that the UK economy has performed impressively over the summer months.
“A steep upturn in civil engineering activity suggested that public sector demand has joined residential building as a key driver of construction output growth during August.
“With overall output levels now rising at the fastest pace for around six years, it seems highly likely that the construction sector will provide another positive contribution to UK GDP in the third quarter of 2013.
“New public sector infrastructure spending looks to have started making an impact on the ground, and this was a contributory factor behind the sustained construction sector job creation seen in August.”
Michael Conroy Harris, construction lawyer at law firm Eversheds, said: “After encouraging signs last month, the latest figures should continue to inject some much-needed confidence into the industry.
“While optimism around housing is rightly cautious as there is the risk that we might be looking at a bubble, it’s heartening to see an upturn in another sector and the increase in civil engineering activity suggests some strength and depth to the recovery.”

Detailed designs for London Bridge station have been delivered by the HyderWSP joint venture to the main contractor.

Work is already underway on side to deliver the transformation as part of the £6 billion Thameslink Programme.

So far, three platforms have been demolished and associated track removed.

HyderWSP has now delivered more than 250 detailed architectural drawings to shape the stations redevelopment.

It has certainly been a very busy start to the year for us at Intersect the first quarter of 2013 has flown by.

The infrastructure sector continues to gain momentum and with the budget out the way it is good to see that the investment will continue in our sector creating many more jobs and opportunities.

We have noticed an increased demand for permanent employees amongst our clients, which is hopefully a sign of confidence creeping back.

On the subject of jobs I thought it would be a good opportunity to share some useful interview tips. You can avoid almost all interview mishaps if you put in the right preparation before hand. Here are my top tips.

1) The Role

Make sure that you understand what the actual role /vacancy is and that you are armed with a mental list of your top selling points. These should be well thought out (not just text book) and realistic and you should be able to talk about them with ease. This will ensure the interviewer is aware of your advantages over others.

2) The Company

There is nothing worse than going to an interview with little of no knowledge about the hiring company. Make sure you know their history, size, profitability and can talk about the markets in which they operate.

Do your homework ahead of time so you are ready to say why you want to work at that job and for that company.

3) Company Culture

The work environment will most certainly have a huge impact on whether you love your job or hate it. It is good practice to address the work culture with your interviewer to make sure your values align.

4) Industry Knowledge

This is a hugely important aspect that can make you stand out from other applicants

Show off your knowledge of the industry. Talk about recent newsworthy events or the company’s newest projects. Thoroughly understanding your industry proves your passion for the field. In addition, having this knowledge suggests you have a deeper level of expertise than the average candidate.

5) Past experiences

Your past experiences demonstrate how you would perform if you were offered the job. So, you want to be prepared to describe past experiences where you had a big impact.  Make sure that you have tangible examples that are relevant to the demands of the job on offer.

When talking about previous jobs always be positive and do not over explain your reasons for leaving, make sure that you are can demonstrate a forward step in your career at any moves you may have made.

6) Examples of Your Work

If possible and appropriate take a portfolio or  a visual representation of your past work. It not only shows off your accomplishments, it also gives you added value. While a portfolio may not be essential for many positions, having physical representations off your work that you can share upon request will make you look good because you went that extra mile.

7) Well Thought-out Questions

You must have questions at the end of the interview! Generally speaking hiring managers are disappointed if you don’t.

Well thought out appropriate questions help show your desire for the job. They can also give you more insight into the role, which may not have been addressed during the more formal portion of the interview.

A good example could be to determine what future prospects are available or what the hiring managers expectations of your achievements would be within the first 6 – 12 months.

8). Next steps

It is good practice to ask what the next stage of the interview process is.

In most cases a second interview will be required, it could also be that you will know the outcome for a few weeks. By asking about these next steps, you’ll know what to expect and gain some peace of mind. You’ll also show your enthusiasm for this position.

Hopefully these tips will help you to make sure that the interview process runs as smoothly as possible, go though this check list before your next interview.

Finally remember first impressions count!

Wear your smartest suit and greet your interviewer with a firm handshake.

Always maintain good eye contact throughout and leave on a positive note.

If you are interested in making a career move Intersect can help you  achieve your goals. We recruit on behalf of leading employers in the construction an infrastructure sector. Visit our site www.intersectglobal.co.uk give us a call on 020 76820668 or email your CV to info@intersectglobal.co.uk