Blog

Are you returning to the office today after a long weekend of  “Peak Chocolate”, smug in the knowledge that you are on one of your 500 calorie days of your 5:2 diet and that the lunch in your bag is a Deliciously Ella “Glowing Green" Juice, only to find that it’s your colleague’s birthday and a huge chocolate fudge cake is doing the rounds at morning coffee break? It may be harder to resist for those in PA and Secretarial Jobs than others: here’s why and our top tips on how to survive the office hunger games.

Job acceptance criteria

In much the same way that candidates massage their CVs to suit a particular job, employers need to have a clear idea of what their top candidates will be expecting to see in a job offer. One of the first things to identify will be the necessary “job acceptance criteria”. Candidates who have multiple job offers on the table will have a very specific set of criteria that will determine whether or not they accept an offer, and the better you are at identifying those “deal-breakers” up front the better chance you have of securing the right candidate, according to top recruitment agencies in London.

In an increasingly mobile workplace it is not unusual for candidates to have breaks on their CVs and for those looking for PA jobs in London, it is worth putting some effort into considering how best to present the time out.

RMS Recruitment is recruiting for the top PA and Secretarial Jobs in London. When you secure that top job, you will want to look your best in the new office and make sure your look is appropriate for the company. London Stylist Hayley Richardson shows us how this Spring. Read all the way to the bottom for the chance to win a free personal shopping session with Hayley!

Step into Spring: how to be stylish, professional and stay warm

You might reasonably ask “What is an elevator pitch when it’s at home?” Well as you probably guessed, there’s some good old Americanisation going on there, but if we were to call it a lift pitch it wouldn’t have quite the same impact would it?

So what are we talking about? Well in a nutshell the elevator pitch assumes that you get in the lift with your boss, or the boss of a company you’d love to work for, and you’ve got the time it takes to get to the top floor (say 30 secs to a minute) to sell yourself for that job you’re after.

Why an elevator pitch is even more important for temps

London temp agency, RMS Recruitment thinks a polished elevator pitch is essential for a temp looking to move to a permanent role within the same company.

The good news is yes they do, but it is increasingly rare to see a job advertised as a secretarial role without some embellishment (think Team Secretary). Type in PA Jobs London into a Google search engine and over 94 million results appear. Type Secretarial jobs London into Google’s search engine and there are less than 2 million search results. Could the relative rarity of secretarial roles actually mean the remuneration is greater?

Consider this common scenario: it is Friday afternoon and talk in the office turns as always to weekend plans. For many London PAs and secretaries, Friday night is either dinner with a partner or drinks with friends. In the course of discussions, it is natural to reveal who your partner is or the venues where your friends intend to hang out. Inadvertently, you are immediately revealing clues as to your sexuality.  If you have hidden your sexuality during the recruitment process and then in the work place, you may now feel unable to join in these friendly conversations on a Friday. Does this make you feel as though you are working in an inclusive environment? Probably not. So is there an alternative?

You arrive at work already tired as you have woken early to complete the chores at home which are necessary for an only daughter in a household of brothers. As you make your way to your desk you watch the men scrolling through their news feeds on their mobile phones. You can’t do this as you are still saving for one. The desk next to you is empty as your female colleague has been removed from her post for drinking alcohol at an office party. You start your working day providing coffee for your male colleagues who thank you with an affectionate pat on the backside. You proceed to your boss’s office, a man, who introduces you to his business partner as “the other woman in my life”. You spend the morning doing work which does not challenge you and wondering whether you can afford the toiletries which are priced higher than equivalent mens’ products even though your salary is half that of the man in the same role. In the afternoon you are interviewed for a more senior role – the interview is abruptly terminated when you struggle to answer yes to the question whether you will be able to work long hours in the evening. 

Test your own unconscious bias first by seeing if you can work out the answer to the following:

A father and son are involved in a traffic accident in which the father is killed and the son is seriously injured. The father is confirmed dead at the scene of the accident and is taken to the local mortuary. The son is taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and immediately wheeled into theatre. A surgeon is called. Upon arrival in theatre, and seeing the patient, the attending surgeon cries, “Oh my God, it’s my son!”. The question is, who is the surgeon?

How honest are you when it comes to interviews at your recruitment company? Did you tell your last interviewer about your Bridget Jones moment when you entered the boardroom after a loo break with your knickers tucked in your skirt?

Joking aside, at RMS Recruitment, we believe that honesty is key to the relationship between candidate and consultant and only when that trust exists can the best match between client and candidate be made. It is human nature to omit elements of our work history which don’t show us in the best possible light but there are many instances where it pays to be up front about your experiences, personal priorities and likes or dislikes. 

While we are not suggesting that you need to reveal your secret fantasy of working for Justin Bieber, here are a few examples of how to be honest and still shine: 

FABULOUS PROMOTION FOR NEW CLIENTS IN LONDON!

Get 4 Hours Free* When You Book With Our Temp Agency

Offer applies to new clients who hire a temp for a minimum of 8 hours