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Click4News- June 2007
News from June's issue of Click4News
Are you willing to relocate?
As you know we are continually trying to improve the site and as of the 13/06/07 we have added a new feature to the registration form asking 'Are you willing to relocate?'. All candidates that registered before this date have had their accounts defaulted to NO, so if you are willing to relocate you will need to login and go to 'edit profile' to amend this.
The Dilemma of having gaps in your CV
When writing your CV it is important not to ignore gaps in your CV, for a recruiter looking at your CV no explanation at all for these gaps is often looked at unfavourably and the truth is normally not so bad. There are many reasons for a gap between employment and you need to ensure that you fully explain these gaps.
Contract/ Freelance- Many people in the construction industry work on a contract or freelance basis and can often find themselves out of work at the end of a contract, this can be for many reasons so try and explain these reasons to an employer. An employer within the industry should understand how the industry works, but make sure that they know you were waiting for the right job rather than being lazy.
Travelling Many people take time out of employment to go travelling, this is not unusual and you should explain on your CV how this was a positive experience for you and for your career.
Family- Family is obviously a big part of everyone's life and sometimes you need to take time out to deal with various issues such as maternity/ paternity leave or to deal with bereavement, if an employer doesn't understand this maybe you need to think whether the company is going to be suitable for you.
Prison- If you have been in prison it is vital that you mention it on your CV, an employer will find out so it is best not to pretend it never happened. If you used your time in prison to learn new skills mention it on your CV, turn a negative into a positive and an employer will look at you more favourably.
Explaining gaps in your employment will put a recruiter's mind at ease rather than them thinking the worst which they invariably do, it is not unusual for people to have gaps in their CV's so don't be worried about mentioning them.
How will 1st July effect you?
You will probably have seen the adverts or if not you definitely would have heard that Britain will join Ireland on 1st July in a nationwide smoking ban. This is something that has been discussed widely for many years and as a non smoker myself I'm very pleased to see it enforced. However there are many of you out there that do smoke and will see 1st July as a huge change to your lives, going to the pub will never be the same again whether you smoke or not.
The smoking ban is being introduced to protect non smokers from the harmful effects of second hand smoke. Smoking will be banned in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed public places and workplaces, this includes public transport and work vehicles used by more than one person. Work places may or may not decide to arrange premises for smokers to use but many have taken the ban as a catalyst to have completely smoke free premises and no ‘fag breaks'. Although this is not true for all companies the customary fag break which many employees take throughout the day may be stopped.
The public have been asked to ‘report' possible breaches of the law with a freephone telephone number to report such incidents (0800 587 1667). If you are caught smoking in public you may face a fine of £50 (reduced to £30 if you pay within 15 days), employers failing to display the correct no smoking signs could be fined a maximum fine of £1000, and people in charge of smoke free areas will be fined for failure to prevent smoking in a smokefree place and could receive a maximum fine of £2500.
Whether you agree with the ban or not it is here to stay, if you have more queries about how the ban will effect you visit http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk/.
Tales of a nomad
My introduction to civil engineering began in earnest in June 1969.
I was 15 years old, still at school and looking forward to the summer holidays before I started my ‘O' level year. My dad was General Foreman on a sugar refinery in Greenwich, East London and asked me - well told me really - that he could get me from under my mum's feet for the summer. So, instead of doing what fifteen year olds do I went to work. Not for him, you understand, but for his labour only civil subcontractor. I would be employed by Kier Construction Ltd as a labourer but working directly for my dad's company, Matthew Hall Engineering, who were the main contractors for the job.
We travelled by train from Preston to London Euston one Sunday afternoon. In those days it normally would take about 4½ hours. But then, like now, Sundays were used for railway engineering works and we arrived in London some 5 hours late. Not the greatest of starts but being stuck on that train gave me one of life's invaluable social skills. I learned how to play a good standard of cribbage and have played in many a pub league since!
Now, in those days a great deal of the work in civil engineering was done by labour paid on what was called the "Lump". This meant that workers were paid in cash so much per day and they, not the employer, were responsible for paying their own tax and National Insurance. I ask you! Who on earth is going to voluntarily give up any part of their wages given that then civil engineering labour was as nomadic as mongolian horse farmers.
You'll get the gist of what I mean when I tell you that I was employed and paid under the fine old Australian rogue - Ned Kelly! Who on earth was ever going to look for an obviously itinerant Irish labourer.
Anyway, as a callow youth my dad saw to it that I was given the plum jobs ie. Those consistent with my nascent but as yet untested abilities. These meant I worked in the stores - this was light duty - and got so much stick taken out of me both because I was as gullible as they come and also because I was the GF's son. Bad news that! Another good one was to work in the canteen making sandwiches and tea for mid-morning and lunch breaks. I got plenty of stick for that too as I tended to be a bit heavy handed on everything but the sandwiches! The best one though was to be the site ‘drivers mate'. This got me all over and by the time I left I felt as if I'd passed "The Knowledge".
The driver, George, was a tiny but dumpy man. He was so short that my dad even had one of the fitters fix wooden blocks to the pedals so he could reach. He was also full of fun and took me into a pub one day for a totally illegal pint. It wasn't so bad in those days because I went for a beer every evening after work. The thing was - he didn't drink! He wanted to show me a famous pub, The Thomas A'Beckett, where Henry Cooper trained and where Cassius Clay's monstrous gloves were framed in the bar below the gym.
I was paid, then, £5/day and £6 on Sundays. A fortune compared to my friends at home who were managing to get the tidy sum of £3 10s - a week! My expenses were high though. B&B cost £5/week and the rail fare London-Preston return was £5 every week. Maybe I forgot to mention that my dad signed the time sheets!
I learned nothing of civil engineering on that, my first job but I learnt enough to be comfortable away from home with like minded souls who follow the money.
I regret to claim though that I was the only first team soccer player who started the season with a beer gut.
By David Gale.
03/07/2007
Click4News June
Click4News- June 2007
News from June's issue of Click4News
Are you willing to relocate?
01/02/2007
Click4construction proves it’s up to the job, again!
Click4construction.com is nominated as a finalist in onrec’s "Best Technical Innovation Award" category
14/12/2006
Importance of training within the construction industry
07/08/2006
New Construction Job Board Launches!