However the candidates that are really ahead of the game are already in touch with us and many are now involved in exciting recruitment processes that will no doubt see them starting 2012 with a fresh new challenge!  That said it’s not too late, its only mid-November and if you are considering a move in the New Year then you should really be speaking with us now, why not get in touch to see what our clients are doing and what 2012 could potentially hold for you?

Another issue that has come up more than once in the office this week is the management of candidates CV’s.  We had an instance, and unfortunately this is not unusual, where a candidate had his CV submitted to a client by another recruitment company without his consent!  I can’t stress enough the important of working with a reputable gaming recruiter (of which there are several) as failure to do so can completely wreck your chances of employment.  Unfortunately on this occasion this is exactly what happened and instead of entering into an agency dispute the client simply scrapped his application and he was left with no chance of even an interview, all thanks to a recruitment company that just happened to have an old copy of his CV on file.  What a missed opportunity for the candidate and for us as the recruitment company who followed the correct procedure as we always do.  The warning is simple – be sure you are working with a reputable recruiter who guarantees that your CV does NOT get sent out without your consent!  If they do not state this during your consultation process then make a point of saying to them that you insist on being spoken to before your CV goes to any client!

That’s just about it from me this week, always good to catch up in blog land and please do get in touch if you would like to discuss any of the points raised today.

All the best

James Fleming James@bettingjobs.com

In a nutshell, my job involves matching job seekers to vacancies with employers…. if only if it was that simple. Unlike Will, I work in our Marketing team; however I use the term “Marketing” loosely given that we recruit for all roles in all locations, except for IT.  Our clients come to us because of our knowledge and expertise and our candidates utilize our services as they know we are connected with all the relevant companies they could want to work for. It is a very consultative environment where attributes such as industry knowledge, people skills and problem solving are absolutely key. Our clients and candidates are looking for consultancies who can become trusted advisers – not just matchmakers!

I can’t really describe a typical day as the role is so diverse – and that’s what I love about it. One day I will be headhunting a CEO for a start up gaming organization in Europe and the next I will assist one of the top iGaming organizations to grow their marketing team by 5. It’s all about finding the person with the right skill set for that particular client, which can be a great challenge. In between working on our current roles I am always looking for new clients to work with. This afternoon we agreed terms with a new marketing organization that is behind some of the top UK gaming brands, not only does this give us new and challenging roles to work on, it also opens up new roles for our candidates to consider.

Whilst there are other recruitment companies focused on the iGaming industry, most haven’t been around as long as us. This year will be our 9th year in the industry and part of our success is because we value our candidates as much as our clients. Many people we have helped to find new roles 2 or 3 times and have also worked with as a client on more than one occasion.

Although we mostly work from our HQ in Glasgow, we head to London frequently to meet our clients face to face. Industry conferences and shows also take place all year round and usually we attend 4 of these. It’s always good to get away from the office and meet our candidates and clients face to face, of course the cool locations and industry parties also makes it a little easier to be away from home!! Putting a face to a name at these instantly solidifies the relationships we already have with these clients and makes for a busy few weeks in the conferences aftermath. With 2 of our consultants back from partying….I mean working in Milan today, its sure to be a busy week

Having arrived in the office at 8.30am, first task is to check the BBC Sport page, sorry I mean first task is to check all emails that have arrived overnight! Joking aside, emails are checked on Iphone as soon as my eyes are open, convinced smart phone addiction will be a recognised medical condition in a couple of years…

Having checked the sport pages I set about planning the day ahead. The actual day to day tasks of a recruitment consultant don’t vary hugely; the only difference is how you prioritise them. Each day I ask myself what do I need to do and when do I need to do it…

It goes without saying that you prioritise matters that have a time restraint and need actioned immediately.

At the moment I am working with a US based client and having received interview confirmations overnight, I decide my first task will be to contact the candidates and pass on the relevant information. Tick box.

The next priority is to follow up with a client who conducted a few interviews yesterday through candidates supplied by BettingJobs. I am the lead client contact on this account, which basically means I need to do all the client contact work for my lazy colleagues! I can understand why clients request this, it must make their life easier but it sure adds to the work of the poor consultant who needs to do all the work on everyone’s behalf! Thankfully the client is quite pleased with the interviews and progresses with 2 of the 3 candidates. I inform my colleagues who contact the candidates and begin the process of arranging second interviews….

Next I move on to where recruitment consultants actually prove their worth, identifying suitable profiles for our client requirements. Personally I work on the technology team, our client requirements tend to be very niche and it is a labour intensive task to work through our network to try and find someone who may be at least open to discussing new job opportunities. I don’t think our clients really appreciate how much effort goes in to finding a software developer with specific experience of developing a poker product!   Trust me, it can take days, weeks even, if it is a particular skill set. For me, this is the dull part of the job, but as I said, I understand this is why clients will use an agency and I guess ultimately how they internally justify paying the invoices! There can’t be anything more important to any organisation than the staff you choose to hire, we take pride in the part we play in that process. Thankfully we have a great knowledge of the industry and use those insights to try and narrow the search to where we could find suitable candidates, always being aware of the fact we can’t headhunt from our existing clients!

So how do we find candidates? Well there is no silver bullet; the honest answer is hard work and persistence. However that alone isn’t enough, we need to have the knowledge of how to identify suitable profiles, how to entice them to have an initial discussion and then finally to ensure that there is a match between their expectations and those of the client. That is just the beginning of the process and when it involves relocation, it can, understandably, take some time for candidates to decide to move forward. The ability to do this only comes through experience and knowledge of both recruitment and the igaming industry generally, thankfully there is enough old heads in the BettingJobs office who have been around iGaming for a long time now.

Having spent a few hours resourcing, I only have 30 minutes before lunch so I spend that time working with a junior colleague who has just joined the team. There is a definite skill to training and it’s as much of a learning curve for me as it is for the new consultant! To be fair, the training is more “on the job” as this is the quickest and most effective way to learn. Recruitment is more of a mindset that anything else and that is what I try to constantly convey. You definitely need a passion for finding that perfect match and a unique ability to manage the process to a successful conclusion, a 6^th sense is a prerequisite!

That brings me up to lunch at 1pm and the end of part 1!

With any move, there are advantages and disadvantages and ultimately it is personal circumstances which dictate if relocation is the best option or if indeed it is even possible.

The most common barrier to relocation is family circumstances. Aside from the obvious potential upheaval associated with a relocation, particular issues that need to be considered are partners, children and responsibility for elderly relatives.

It is wise to consider each of those carefully before embarking on relocation. Some questions you may want to ask are

1. If your partner works, can he/she find alternative employment in new location?
2. What education provisions are available for children? Importantly, if moving to non English speaking country where private education is required, what are the financial implications of this? It can be prohibitive in many cases.
3. What support networks are in place for extended family if you do move?

These are the main questions that need to be considered.

However, this is not to give you the impression that relocations are too onerous a process! Never before has it been so simple to move, in particular within the EU.

In the EU there is no need for complicated visa’s, if you own a mortgaged property in current location in most cities it is usually quite simple to rent this out during your move, only a short flight home, existence of support networks and facilities in new locations and finally the financial support from new employers all add up to make relocation entirely practical.

Advantages

The three main advantages and motivations for relocation are

1. The experience of living and working in new location
2. Enhanced career prospect
3. Financial

For someone working in northern Europe, the opportunity to work in a sunnier climate such as Malta or Gibraltar can be very attractive. For someone already in Southern Europe, the opportunity to work in a vibrant Northern European city such as London and Stockholm can prove to be a fantastic experience. Advantages and disadvantages to both of course, but in reality that is the point, the opportunity to have a new experience and adventure whilst continuing to further your career.

For future career prospects, it is usually accepted that those who are internationally mobile have an advantage. Relocation can facilitate a more rapid rise up the career ladder than those who need to stay in a specific location. The iGaming industry offers a wealth of opportunities to be part of a diverse workforce in successful international companies with clear growth strategies.

Individuals can also move for financial circumstances. In reality, this is usually not as great as you may imagine and whilst important, in most cases financial considerations are not usually the deciding factor. In practise, we find that higher salaries in one location are inevitably accompanied by higher taxes and higher cost of living. Of course, the opposite also applies, you may have a lower salary in Spain, but your rent will be 50% the cost of London.

From a financial perspective, there is always trust involved, but we advise individuals that in most cases you simply need to fit into existing salary structure at each location and company. Fortunately within the iGaming industry, the vast majority of our clients pay market leading salaries for their respective locations. A software developer for a gaming company will in all likelihood be getting paid more than someone doing the same job for the company in the business park next door…. This principle can prove to be difficult to practically manage if an individual has existing financial commitments (bank loan for example) in a high cost economy like the UK and is considering relocation to Malta. As great as it would be, your bank manager is unlikely to reduce your repayments simply because you are looking for some sun!

An important figure for your calculations is to identify your basic disposable income each month. Calculate this by subtracting your biggest monthly expenditure, which is accommodation, from your Net salary.

Tax can be complicated and is dependent on individual circumstances, child allowance etc, but there are several online guides to tax in the major gaming locations. BettingJobs can also advise.

Finally

All of the above points are generic and merely serve as a guideline. Individual circumstances can vary hugely, in particular the financial aspect. There may be occasions whereby companies have a particular need for a skill set and as such are willing to pay a higher than average salary for a specific role. Further, in some locations, tax structures can be very advantageous.

If you would like to discuss any of these matters or job opportunities please contact the relevant consultant at BettingJobs.com.

It can often be difficult to search for that perfect job without having to read numerous, dare we say laborious job descriptions. Of course, these are important to refer to (because then you apply for the job!) but we wanted to bring a different experience to you.  We decided to bring London-based illustrator, Rod Hunt, on board. You may be unfamiliar with this name if you are not enveloped in the creative world but perhaps this will ring a bell. He has worked with the likes of: British Airways, FHM, Orange, BBC and Lynx to name a few. So, you can imagine how excited we were to meet the man and to see what he would produce for us. Click on the image for a closer look:

The theory behind it: We wanted to highlight the close relationship we have with both clients and candidates in the i-gaming sector while making the searching of jobs more fun. So, we decided to develop an icartoon world. Each of the characters represents a different job sector in the industry. Customer engagement is important to us at BettingJobs, so we hope you enjoy the user experience as much as we do.

Why don’t you be nosy? Take a look at more of Rod’s work: http://www.rodhunt.com