Insights: Blog - September 09 | AP Personnel

​Hi, all. Welcome to the first of my blogs, the newest section of our exciting new website.

The aim of this section is to keep you up to date with everything that’s happening in the recruitment world in an interesting, yet light-hearted, kind of way – I read too many articles that are so starchy and boring you’re half asleep by the time you get past the first paragraph. This new approach is a theme I think you’ll find is consistent throughout the site. We’ve tried to step away from the norm and be a bit different and quirky, providing you guys with an innovative and informative medium that, while serving its primary purpose as a recruitment website, is also fun and easy to navigate and provides you with more than just recruitment information.

We’ve revamped our news section to cover local news, sport, public events and much more. Let’s be honest, it seems that on every page you turn or news programme you watch, it’s all doom and gloom. So, let us lift your spirits and get you using our website as your favourite news page.

As the site evolves, we will be adding new sections along the way – our IT team are in the process of putting together a ‘just for fun’ section, which will include games and a few other bits and pieces. We can also tweak the site based on your feedback – the site is for your benefit, so if there’s anything you want to see on here we’re happy to consider it.

Now, on a slightly more serious note (sorry), it would be remiss of me not to talk about the impact of the recession and its implications for the recruitment industry. I think my friends at OSA, Leapfrog and Source would all agree that it’s been a tough year as the market tightens and the squeeze on budgets and head count becomes ever more prevalent.

I don’t think that any of us in the recruitment industry could have predicted quite how seriously the situation was going to affect us. This has been a long time in the making, and it wasn’t until September 2008, while holidaying in the UK, that I sat up and paid attention to the Breaking News on BBC News 24. This, of course, was the first sign of the collapse of Wall Street, and I knew then that this was pretty grim stuff.

Without going into the nitty-gritty of it all – we’ve heard it a million times already – I also recall a leading economist saying at the time that it would take until Q3 of 2009 for the recovery to begin. Right on Q. Not wanting to enter into false optimism (let me tell you, this has happened numerous times this year), I feel that the industry has seen sustained growth during the past couple of months, and there is now more optimism in the market. That said, we should proceed with caution. The resurgence will be slow (and quite rightly so), but I know the islands will recover from this and be stronger for it. We’re a tough lot, us Channel Islanders, and once we’ve weathered the storm, the only way is up.

Anyway, before I sign off, I want to offer my thanks to those people who contributed to the construction of our new site and turned boardroom ideas into a great website. They are often the unsung heroes, so I want to personally give a big pat on the back to Lucy Mallett, Martin Renouf and Ieva Ruka-Start. I am absolutely delighted with the site’s look and content, and I hope you all like it too. I would certainly be keen to hear your comments about the bits you like or dislike – this website is for you, and if we can do anything to improve it, we will. Email me at stephen.gibson@ap-personnel.com with your feedback.

Until next time, happy job hunting