When in Rome...

I am off to one of my favourite European cities today.. Rome. What a lovely city. The buildings, the history, the people, the food, the drink... I can not think of anywhere better to spend the weekend. There is also the weather. As its been getting colder and colder here in the UK, going into minus figures in Scotland, I am looking forward to 18 degrees in lovely Rome.

As you may tell from lack of blog updates, its been a busy few weeks leading up to this break. The international accountancy job market has gone mad. Heaps of new vacancies coming through from all corners of the world. Australia, New Zealand, Far East, Middle East, Bermuda, Caribbean, Europe... you name it we have roles there! Now all we need is to find qualified accountants with the right experience to fit each role.

Post recession companies are still being very choosey regarding the experience, qualifications and personalities they are recruiting. There is certainly competition for the Hot Roles. However, I am told by the accountants we work with that we give the very best interview preparation they have ever received, thus giving them an edge over other applicants. The statistics seem to back this up, showing our applicants are more likely to secure a role than any other. We truly believe time invested in this area pays off. After all, all we want to do is Improve Lives....

Here's a question... How long do you spend preparing for
an interview?

4 Countries in 4 Days

First time I have had a minute to write on my blog since returning from Europe earlier this week.

At the end of last week I flew over to Luxembourg to meet with a number of international companies that are actively recruiting accountants to join their teams. It was the first time I had been there for a few years and it was interesting to note what had changed and what had not changed.

The city itself is still as pretty as ever. The city centre architecture remains lovely, with pretty, historic buildings. An old town and an even older town. The palace and a number of old buildings sitting high up on a rock. Not too dissimilar to Edinburgh. Luxembourg still feels safe, clean and easy to get around. The bars and restaurants were fantastic, lively and something for everyone.

The main change I noticed is there are the more new modern office buildings on the outskirts. Business have been doing very well during my absense and many have doubled in size with new ones entering the market.

Most companies boast having c40 different nationalities working for them, which makes for a pretty multicultural environment. With the city being less than 1 hours drive from France, Germany and Belgium this is no surprise.

So, I thought I would stay on for the weekend and test what it would be like to be living in this central European location... On Saturday I joined a friend and started the day in a lovely patisserie with fresh croissants, fresh orange, warming cups of Belgium hot chocolate and champagne and orange juice. We were surrounded by pastries, chocolates, ginger bread and all sorts of other delicacies to tempt us. Tearing myself away from these temptations we went out into a splendid market square. Lined with lovely historic buildings the square was full of stalls selling cheeses, pates, fresh fruit, dried fruit, meat, fish, spices you name it. After an hour of browsing and tasting the produce on offer I knew I had my dinner sorted!

Then it was time to cross the border. 50 minutes later I was in France, sitting, purchased a fresh stick of French bread to accompany dinner and sitting in a brew pub sampling beers brewed on the premises. Hard work this checking out what its like living in this region! The day finished as planned, plenty of cheese, wine, frois gras and of course some French wine.

Sunday took me back over the border, through Luxembourg and into Germany into the historic town of Trier. This is the oldest town in Germany, again with lovely architecture and interesting ruins. I just wish they hadn’t let Macdonald’s into their main square!

Monday morning flew back to Edinburgh. Not a pleasant experience because it was with Ryan Air, something I will avoid repeating again whenever possible, but not always possible…. Great weekend though!

I recommend Luxembourg as a location to live and work in to all ages, people with families or single. So much for everyone to do, excellent work experience available for accountants and a lovely place to live. Central in Europe. How great is that!

Abigail

This beautiful city I live in...

I have always said that I live in the best city in the UK and one of the best 2 cities to live in the world! To confirm this Edinburgh has won lots of awards. The most recent being The Top Gobal City. It is interesting that some many people considering a move to the UK always think of London first. London is a great city to visit, vibrant with so much history.. but hey that could also be a description of Edinburgh. Edinburgh then has the added bonus of stunning countryside, hills and lochs very nearby.

Not been to Edinburgh? Surf the internet to see more. Visit the numerous photography and tourism web sites. My favourite pictures are by Angus McComiskey a local photographer with amazing talent. He really captures the true beauty and vibrance of everywhere he photographs.

Guess which other city I love to live in and received the Judges Selection for Most Outstanding Global Entry... Sydney of course!

How right they are!

I believe in living where you want to work and not really letting work dictate where you live. Although I can definately see at some point in a career its worth sacrificing a period of time to live somewhere not perfect to gain the right experience.

This is why I have not got to a point in my life where I will be splitting my living between these two great cities, with the added benefit of being able to visit cities on both sides of the world on route or from the cities I am based in. I can not wait!

If you could choose anywhere in the world to live, where would you choose and why?

To Makeover or Not Makeover?

Happy Monday all. I know many do not like Monday's because that means a whole work week in front of them. However, if that is the case I challenge them to consider changing jobs.... Radical? Well you are in work more of your waking hours than anywhere else and if you do not enjoy those hours then you should vote with your feet. Stop! Do not rush out there and hand your notice in though. Wait will you have something else to go to. It is important not to have gaps in employment dates on your cv (resume). Believe me the amount of accountants we have seen get rejected for gaps on cvs is extremely high.

There are heaps more jobs on the market now then over the last 18 months, so if you are considering a move and felt there was nothing to go to before, take a look now. If you are an accountant our web site has some very interesting and varied roles. We specialise in moving accountants around the globe. Why not consider an overseas move? After the tough times we have had in the UK over the last couple of years, maybe its time for a clean slate... or a Make Over?

Who else will be considering a make over? Well the top CA firms seem to have been giving it a go, recently PricewaterhouseCoopers have made the much anticipated change to pwc. Causing a little confusion as to if they are now 'pwc' or 'PwC'. Their logo seems to indicate 'pwc', but the media article on their sight indicates PwC, then why change their PwC logo other than to take off 'PricewaterhouseCoopers'? BDO also seem to be dropping off the various other names they have historically had to simply be BDO. This seems a good move to me. Rumour has it Ernst & Young will be next for the make over.

The question is, why spend such a large budget on a change, just as everyone is tight for money and coming out of a recession? Maybe that is just it. The firms have made a lot of change, redundancies, cut backs etc to survive this period and maybe feel they need a fresh image to forget the past.

Any comments on why companies change their brand? The pro's and the con's of doing so? ....

This time tomorrow... I need your ideas..

'Busy bee' is what Kenneth Martin called me. Well he is right, I am usually just that. The last couple of days have been no exception. I know people talk of a 'double dip', but our area of the recruitment market definitely seems to be on the up. This has to be good news because if companies are still recruiting then surely they have confidence they will have work for those they are recruiting. I do hate it when some people talk so negatively, this could lead us into a recession. So you won’t hear any of that on this page.

We are currently working on heaps of new vacancies spread across the globe and already just two days into the week received a number of confirmations of accountants securing new roles in Switzerland, Channel Islands, UK, Ireland and Bermuda. Got to be good!

So why did I name this blog 'this time tomorrow'? Well this time tomorrow I have am going into hospital for a foot operation under general anaesthetic. I have to say the whole idea scares me a lot. I know I will be in good hands. However, I hate being out with control of my own destiny. I am concerned I could wake up during the operation, or there could be a fire when I am under. However, of even more concern is what on earth will I do for the week I am confined to my house and the weeks I will not be able to run afterwards?...

I do not watch TV and usually only sleep 4 hours a day... See my predicament? I have a few ideas and can do some work from home. However, any ideas from out there welcome from all? ……..

Abigail

The Last Week...

Wow what a week and a half I have had! It was a crazy as predicted with moving down through England and accross to the Channel Islands.

I attended a very successful bowling night with the accountancy students in Leeds.

The next day I visited the Chartered Accountants Hall in London which we are going to use for Accountancy Worldwide Recruitment Forum in June 2010.

Over the two weekends I managed to run a half marathon and a 10k - at opposite ends of the UK!

In the middle I visited a number of companies seeking new accountants to join them in Guernsey and Jersey. The weather was lovely in the Channel Islands and it was a very pleasant trip.

Back in the office today and we have had acceptances for offers for accountants to move to Switzerland, The Channel Islands, Scotland and Ireland. Lots of new vacancies in based across the UK, Europe, Channel Islands, Australia, New Zealand and Bermuda. Its going to be a busy week again... which is exactly what we like.


Abigail

A quick one...

Just a quick entry today. Been extremely busy today. Lots of interview requests, new vacancies coming in and then organising my travel and meetings for the next week.

So what does the week have in store for me?

Tuesday evening - Edinburgh - Back to back meetings and then Edinburgh's Entrepreneurial Exchange Get Together

Wednesday - Edinburgh - half day meetings, half day reserved for proactive work! Then fun running club in evening

Thursday - Leeds. Taking part in a ten pin bowling night for trainee accountants. Should be fun and nice to meet them all!

Friday - London. Checking out a venue for Accountancy Worldwide Recruitment Forum that we will be hosting in 2011

Saturday - London to New Forest... Sunday - New Forest Half Marathon

Monday - Southampton to Guernsey. Meetings all day with clients.

Tuesday - Guernsey to Jersey - Meetings all day with clients and then back

Wednesday - Guernsey - attending a wedding in Guernsey

Thursday back to Edinburgh - hopefully in time for the Winning Entrepreneurs 2010 Formal Dinner - Edinburgh

Few so now you know why I do not have a lot of time today!

Abigail :)

Tweet

A superb day!

Wow, I cant believe it gone 7pm already! The day has gone so fast. Lots of good things happened today. We secured new positions for 2 accountants overseas. One will be off to the lovely Channel Islands and the other to sunny Bermuda. Then the phones didn't stop ringing with interview requests for other accountants we are assisting to find new roles.

It was interesting speaking to a contact in Bermuda who is a little nervous, but looking forward her potential first hurricane on the island! She is off to find a stock of ingredients for the lovely swizzle cocktail and some chicken wings.. and then its down the hatches. Its great that we can predict the hurricanes, the force they will hit and everyone can ride it out safely these days. Luckily Bermuda does not have very vicious hurricanes usually. I think only one in the last 20 years did damage to speak about and no-one got hurt.

Talking of natural disasters, my heart still goes out to my friends in New Zealand who were recently hit with an earthquake. It didn’t get reported too widely in the UK, but it was 7 on the richter scale and seems to have caused heaps of damage. On top of that it really shock people that were in up. My friends were in bed and got thrown across the room as they tried to get under the door frame. One cracked some ribs and briefly passed out. It sounded terrifying. However, again, brilliant to know that there were no fatalities even in a quake of that magnitude.

Only other sad news today was saying goodbye to a member of my team who has been with us for over 3 years. Unfortunately she is finding the commute too much now she has a young child. Her bubbly personality will be missed in the office.

So, onwards we now need to find another good recruitment consultant. They seem to be a bit thin on the ground these days. If you know a consultant who has high standards, a professional attitude towards their work and would like to Improve Lives, then please do tell them to contact me.

Well now, it is Friday night, so I should sign off and start my weekend.

Have a good one all.

Abigail

Today is another day

I spent the morning attending court for potential Jury Duty. The entire experience has been enlightening. From the minute I received the letter through the post, friends and colleagues have offered both serious and fun advice on how to get out of it. However, after lots of thought I felt I should do my 'duty'.

I spent an entire half day in court waiting to find out if I would be selected. Half hoping I wouldnt be selected because work is so hectic and half hoping I would out of intrigue. I was not selected.

Looking around the room I was amazed at how few of the people that had turned up seemed like 'business people'. Maybe it is true that you can get out of doing this duty by just phoning and up and saying its inconvenient for work. However, then one wonders, who does that leave to do such a serious task?

I must have watched too many movies and read too many John Grisham books. I was expecting the Jury to be 'selected' by the defendants, rather than names drawn out of a gold fish bowl. Although this is more humane and less personal if you are not selected - or maybe the other way round...

The great news is I now have half a day today in the office and no meetings. In fact they have asked me to phone each day this week to see if I will be needed the next day. What a fantastic excuse to have no meetings in my diary!

Then, this evening I am to do a talk over a dinner on the topic of doing business internationally. I am humbled by the attendee list. Each attendee has many many years experience of running successful businesses. I hope that they benefit from what I have to say and the conversation I stimulate. If not, at least they will be in the Scottish Malt Whiskey Society so they can enjoy the lovely malts instead...

Where is all the action?

After a few very hectic weeks travelling around the UK and Europe I had a quite weekend in Edinburgh looking at all the vacancies we are currently assisting companies to fill and working out where we will find the very best accountants for these vacancies.

We currently have positions in:
England
Australia
Holland
Ireland
Bermuda
Caribbean
Channel Islands
Russia
Middle East
Canada
Hong Kong
Bucharest
Germany
Scotland
Switzerland
Greece
Turkey
Gibraltar
Malta
Luxembourg

And the list goes on!!

Now all the team at Think Global Recruitment need to do is source good accountants to move to these locations. The companies recruiting are excellent organisations and the work experience would enhance anyone's cv. So it shouldn't be a hard task. Or will it? It does amaze me how sometimes we can not find suitable people for some of these roles. I mean, who wouldn't want to gain international experience? Who wouldn't benefit from such a great move?

Oh well, less wondering and more speaking to prospective accountants to be done...

Signing off for now..

Abigail Stevens

Cities I have visited

My first Blog.. What is it all about?

So this is the first time I have written a blog. However, having been using Twitter, Facebook and Linked in for quite sometime, I think I will enjoy the freedom of words available!

My plan will be to use this space to update anyone interested on topical knowledge of what is happening in the recruitment market worldwide and also include blogs about my travels. The recruitment market is a great indicator of the economic climate and I am a frequent traveller.

I mainly live and work in Edinburgh, although spend a large % of my time living in Australia and travelling the rest of the world. In the last 12 months I have visited and travelled across:

Australia
New Zealand
Thailand
England
Scotland
Ireland
Italy
France
Belgium
Guernsey
Jersey
Penang
Malaysia
Hong Kong

So, if you are interested in following my rather hectic lifestyle then please feel free to follow me.
Abigail